Vote to keep the state at bay
LUKE JOHNSON’S brilliant column last week (“The enemies of enterprise — from unions to bankers”) should be compulsory reading for all voters, entrepreneurs (existing and budding), politicians and the destructive elements he highlighted, in particular self-serving, anachronistic, hypocritical socialists and union officials hellbent on promoting more state influence. Support Jeremy Corbyn and his ilk at your peril.
David Reynolds Haslemere, Surrey
Gender shift starts in classroom
THE debate about female quotas in Britain’s boardrooms should be re–framed (“Women wanted: pressure is on to swell ranks of FTSE super six”, last week).
While there is growing equality in the service sector, where the number of female directors has increased significantly, it is not happening in manufacturing and engineering, where women are seriously underrepresented. Solving the problem of imbalance clearly requires a cultural shift in education to encourage more girls to study mathematics and the sciences.
Only about a fifth of female students take physics at A-level and a third take mathematics. This is reflected in those studying the subjects at university. It is therefore unlikely that many women will be qualified to rise to the levels of seniority in engineering and technology necessary to meet demands for more gender balance in the boardroom.
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We need to change young women’s perception that manufacturing is a man’s world. That is the first step in establishing a pipeline from which women will emerge to take up senior positions on merit, rather than thanks to political correctness.
Vacuous talk about glass ceilings and gender quotas will do little to develop the vital contribution that women can make to the economy and the UK’s ability to pay its way.
John Barker Prestbury, Cheshire
EU talks — the business approach
THE success of the renegotiation with the EU is of paramount importance to the UK.
When I was in business, if we had an issue that was crucial to the success of the business, we set up a full-time project team to examine it, determine a strategy for success and then to progress the matter until a satisfactory conclusion was reached.
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The obvious choice of project manager is the foreign secretary, supported by the Europe minister.
Why does David Cameron not do this? He seems to have had several bursts of activity at it and now it has been reported that George Osborne has taken over.
He does make life difficult for himself — and for us.
John Spiller Long Ashton, Bristol
Utilities need young talent
ALL of us depend on water, power and other utilities but I wonder how many of your readers know about the skills crisis that threatens these essential services.
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With the recent news that unemployment has unexpectedly gone up, they might be surprised to learn that gas, electricity and water companies are struggling to recruit new people to replace an ageing workforce.
Younger generations may perceive working to install, maintain and repair utilities as unglamorous. This is not the case; it is vital and technically demanding work that people should be proud to do.
The industry is waking up to the scale of the problem — a shortfall of hundreds of thousands of workers by 2020 — but everyone can help by treating these skilled engineering jobs with respect and encouraging young people to take up apprenticeships and other opportunities in the utilities and avert a looming crisis in the country’s infrastructure.
Chris Wood chief executive, Develop Training, Derby