HM Government

Foreword

Gordon Brown
Prime Minister

Our children are growing up in the new global economy, and will live out their working lives competing not just in local or national terms, but globally. So if they are to succeed, and fulfil our dreams for them, we must take action to invest in their future now - with education, skills and lifelong learning to meet that challenge.

For however tough the months ahead will be, it is likely that in the next two decades the world economy will double in size. As many as one billion new jobs for skilled workers will be created worldwide. And there will be new opportunities for British business as Asia becomes a market not just of millions of producers - but also millions of consumers too.

If Britain can seize the opportunities of this new global age, our future is full of potential. Our country will be richer in the years to come. But the ultimate prize will be greater still: the opportunity to create not just a richer country, but a fairer society.

This is the modern definition of social justice: not just social protection but real opportunity for everyone to make the most of their potential in a Britain where what counts is not where you come from but what you aspire to become, a Britain where everyone should be able to say that their destiny is not written for them, but written by them.

That is why - alongside the action we have taken to prevent the collapse of the banking system and to invest in real help now, such as bigger pensions, tax cuts and new support for those who lose their jobs - this White Paper sets out our plans to invest now to create real hope for the future.

By making the right choices today and investing in tomorrow, Britain can be poised to create a great wave of new opportunities as the global economy recovers and grows.

And whereas in the past young people were held back by limited chances and limited room at the top, in today’s global economy there is no longer a national limit to the number and quality of jobs that will be available to the British people.

So a downturn is no time to slow down investment. And we will not slow down our efforts but step them up, using this period to prepare ourselves fully for the upturn, investing now in the potential of every Briton at every stage and every season of life.

The measures in this White Paper provide that investment and support for people to make the most of their potential throughout their lives: not just one chance at 11 or 16, but lifelong chances to succeed.

We will continue our pre-school revolution: offering more free early learning and childcare places to disadvantaged children and giving extra help to families in real trouble.

We will take the next steps in raising standards in schools: offering new rewards for the most effective teachers to work in the schools that face the biggest challenges.

We will offer school leavers a September guarantee - with every 16- and 17-year-old guaranteed a place at college or school or learning at work. And we will give more support and encouragement to young people from families with no experience of higher education, ensuring they have the kind of mentoring and advice that their peers can expect.

And to support opportunity throughout people’s lives we will radically extend financial support for those who want to retrain, gain new qualifications and get better jobs.

Britain faces a pivotal moment in its history. The decisions we take today will define the opportunities of a generation.

With the measures in this White Paper we will not just manage the downturn fairly, but make of it the beginning of a new era for our nation - with an historic commitment to the greatest possible achievement of modern progressive politics as we lay the foundations of true social mobility and social justice in modern Britain.

For by acting now to provide real help when people need it most and by investing in real hope for the future we are not just planning for tomorrow. We are building for tomorrow - and we are building for tomorrow today.

Gordon Brown
Prime Minister