Kate Osborne MP: The future of manufacturing is being built in our region today

​Last week I was pleased to visit Washington Metalworks in our constituency. They had visited me in Parliament and as well as being great to tour the site it was good to discuss what they and other businesses need to see from our new Government.

Many are now operating in an increasingly challenging global environment. Earlier this year a number of companies contacted me because changes intended to protect domestic steel production could unintentionally increase costs for businesses that rely on specialist steel products unavailable from UK suppliers. I raised those concerns directly with Government Ministers because it is essential that businesses have their voices heard in Parliament.

Protecting Britain's steel industry is important, and I support the ambition of rebuilding domestic manufacturing capacity. But industrial strategy cannot stop at the steelworks gate. The success of our steel producers depends on the manufacturers who use that steel every day, so we must support the whole supply chain - from steelmaking through to precision engineering, fabrication and advanced manufacturing.

I welcome Andy Burnham’s renewed focus on ending the deindustrialisation of the North of England. For communities like ours, deindustrialisation is something people lived through. Factories closed, skilled jobs disappeared and communities across the North East paid the price. Too often, people were told those industries belonged in the past.

But anyone who spends time with manufacturers in our region knows that isn't true. The future of British manufacturing is being built here today – in factories, in offshore energy, advanced engineering, defence, rail, automotive and green technologies.

The same also applies to our shipyards, and I have been working closely with them to support plans that will help grow business, bring more work onto the Tyne and create more skilled jobs. As the last remaining dockyards on the Tyne, they are an important part of our industrial heritage and have a vital role to play in our future.

That investment must also extend to people. Bridging the engineering skills gap means investing in the next generation through apprenticeships, technical education and vocational routes alongside university.

I was particularly pleased to see the Government commit to expanding technical education, giving young people the opportunity to combine academic study with vocational and technical subjects from the age of 14. For too long we've acted as though university is the only route to success. It isn't.

Our country depends on skilled welders, fabricators, electricians, engineers and technicians, and those careers deserve to be properly recognised and supported.

I'm proud to work alongside businesses already investing in the next generation. Stella Engineering's apprenticeship programme in the constituency is giving local young people valuable skills and hands-on experience, and I'm excited about the next steps in growing our Apprenticeship Academy.

By giving local people real project experience, we're helping build lasting careers here in the North East while strengthening British engineering.

When young people can see exciting careers in companies like this on their own doorstep, they are far more likely to build their futures here rather than feeling they have to leave the North East to succeed.

Businesses need affordable energy, better infrastructure, access to export markets and a stable policy environment that encourages long-term investment.

We have talented workers, innovative businesses and communities with a proud industrial tradition. I will continue working with local employers, educators and industry to bring more jobs, more investment and more opportunity into the North East.

If ending the deindustrialisation of the North is to mean anything, it must result in lasting, practical action that supports businesses, creates skilled jobs and gives the next generation every opportunity to build their future here in the North East.

That is a goal worth working towards – and one I will continue to champion in Parliament.

There isn’t much to be said about the inaccurate reporting of some in our so-called media, my statements are there for all to see.

What I will say is of course I did not blame anyone for the attack in Berlin other than the perpetrator himself, what I did say is that from Romania, to Berlin to here in the UK there is a worrying rise in hate targeted towards the LGBT+ community – that is patently true and something I will always speak out on.

That has been proven by the shameful response to what I said with the police taking some of the threats against me very seriously.

I will not let them silence me and my thoughts as always are with all those impacted by the attack in Berlin.