In my nine months as a member of Parliament, Cornwall has welcomed two royal visitors. Back in February, King Charles was accompanied by the Prime Minister and deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, on a tour of Nansledan, in Newquay. And last week we welcomed the Princess Royal. The first time I’ve ever been in a line up to welcome royalty to the constituency.

I was involved in two of the Princess Royal’s visits last week where she celebrated our rich and thriving industries. First, she went to Cornish Metals Inc. at South Crofty and unveiled a plaque to mark the official reopening of the New Cooks Kitchen Shaft. She even went down the mine! South Crofty could be a great success story. Tin is used in the manufacture of virtually every single electrical device that we use and is therefore crucial to our transition to a fossil fuel-free economy and with demand for tin over the last decade or so driving prices ever higher it makes commercial sense to reopen this historic mine.

After South Crofty, Princess Anne visited Cockwells Modern and Classic Boatbuilding at Ponsharden, where she launched a boat and unveiled a plaque to open the new training academy, where apprentices will learn the traditional craft of boatbuilding as well as all the latest technological advances that put Britain on the map of the marine industry. Cockwells has developed the academy in partnership with the Cornwall Marine Network. There were over twenty apprentices in attendance and Her Royal Highness took the time to speak to every single one of them, which was really good to see. In four years they'll be expert boatbuilder, and starting a career in the marine sector.

As we all know, starting a career, particularly as an apprentice, isn't only about earning money. It's about having a purpose and a direction. That's something that this government strongly believes and what we saw with the reform of the skills system earlier this year that's going to unlock thousands of apprenticeships in the region by reducing bureaucratic boundaries. For example, currently, anyone taking an apprenticeship of level 2 or higher needs to have passed their GCSE English and maths qualifications before they can complete an apprenticeship. Labour will remove this requirement for those aged 19 and over.

The first set of statistics under the new Labour government saw an increase in apprenticeship starts. In Truro and Falmouth we have over 1,000 apprentices currently on a course. Also, as part of year’s wage rise, under 18s and apprentices saw their wage rise to £7.55 an hour.

Apprenticeship collapsed under the Conservatives' watch. Cornwall has more young people who are not in education, employment or training than the national average. Yet we have more growing new or heritage industries than many other areas, as Princess Anne's visit shows. Part of the Government’s broader agenda to create a fairer society is ensuring young people have access to more opportunities, particularly apprenticeships.