ANDY BURNHAM: Major change needed to save children's futures - we should look to Germany

All over the country, as GCSE results sink in, young people are waking up this morning to big decisions about their futures.

Sadly, that is much easier for some than it is for others. For too long, under all parties, education in England has been dominated by the university route. Don’t get me wrong – that is a great choice for many young people. The UK has some of the best in the world and it is good that these days they are open to many more than they used to be. The problem is it is not right for everyone.

In Greater Manchester, two thirds of young people don’t take the traditional university route. To many of them, it feels like they are forgotten by an education system which doesn’t give the same priority to technical education nor open up the same clear paths beyond school.

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The truth is, this morning, about a third to a half of young people will have a clear direction ahead through A Levels, UCAS and university while a majority will be left to work out for themselves the best way to plan their journey towards the world of work. We cannot carry on like this.

A report from manufacturing organisation Make UK and software firm Sage this week found the digital skills gap is holding back business growth, and we are over-reliant on immigration. At the same time, around a million young people are not in education, employment or training. Something must change. The time has come for a major overhaul of our education system to create one similar to the German model based on parity between academic and technical routes.

Society needs both but, for almost three decades, politicians have obsessed on only one. I want to see the day when young people with GCSEs have equally clear paths ahead of them and, through devolution, that is what we are working towards here. We are building the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate – or MBacc – intended to give our young people a clear line of sight to jobs in the UK’s fastest-growing economy and the qualification and work placements they can take to get there.

We are embracing the T-Levels of the last government as an important vehicle for change, as they have lifted the status of technical education and come with 45-day work placements proving to be a game-changer. Of the young people taking T-Levels in Greater Manchester, colleges report most go on to work permanently for the employers who provided them. This morning, there are more than 800 new work placements available to our students because of our work with employers to increase the supply of them.

Young people at 16 now have a direct route into our NHS and towards our newly-integrated public transport system, the Bee Network. My goal by the end of this decade is to get to a point where there is a 45-day work placement available to every young person getting GCSE results through a centralised application system.

Then each would have a sense of direction in life rather than being left to find their own way. Imagine the huge social and economic benefits that would come with that. As with other things, Greater Manchester is ready to pioneer a new way of doing things. Education is in dire need of that.

Employers are crying out for the MBacc approach. And there are rising numbers of young people who don’t see the technical route as the inferior one but one which can take you all the way to a Degree Apprenticeship but without any of the debt that comes with the university route.

Surely it’s time to help many more take that path and make GCSE results day less confusing and stressful?

Unity on war is our trump card

Surely I’m not the only one who felt uneasy watching Trump’s efforts to end the warin Ukraine? From clapping Putin off his plane to making President Zelensky feel he had to thank him repeatedly, things seem to be the wrong way round. And despite all this “diplomacy” Putin hasn’t given an inch and the pressure seems to be all on the Ukrainians to give up territory.

The one truly encouraging thing I see in all this is the unity of Europe. Given Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, followed by their efforts to interfere in the Brexit referendum, it is clear to me they were building to this moment. Their underhand efforts to advance Brexit were intended to weaken Europe in the face of this long planned invasion.

But they haven’t succeeded – and credit goes to our Prime Minister for playing a leading role in building this united European front.

Noel and Liamunited nations

Before they leave these shores for the USA, can we pause and applaud Manchester’s finest? Noel and Liam have not always been seen as candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the two brothers and Bonehead have brought unbridled joy to a country that desperately needed it. They proved two uplifting things. First, that Britain still bosses the world when it comes to guitar bands.

Second, that the bond between brothers is unbreakable. Oasis, you have owned summer 2025. So before taking your leave – Liam, Noel, Bonehead and the entire touring party, please turn to face a grateful nation and take a bow.

Hillsborough Law for a faster route to justice

This week brought a major breakthrough in a long-running Mirror campaign.Thames Valley Police has launched a "major crime review" into evidence of a potential cover-up in theMinistry of Defence affecting veterans who served our country overseas and were sent into nuclear fall-out without protection or consent.

This is a huge victory for this newspaper, which has been a voice in the wilderness on this issue, and for its outstanding journalist Susie Boniface (also known as Fleet Street Fox) who helped people tell their stories who would otherwise have been forgotten. It is also a huge embarrassment for Parliament.

Just as with Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office, it has been presented with the same evidence of wrong doing but failed to act and hold Whitehall to account. It forced veterans who don’t have time on their side to ask the police for help. It shouldn’t be like this. We need wholesale change so public servants are required to tell the truth at first time of asking or face criminal sanctions.

That is the purpose of theHillsborough Law – not to help the Hillsborough families but others like them still fighting for justice like the nuclear test veterans.We need justice for them – and aHillsborough Law now.

Joker Jenrick a hotel hypocrite

And the 2025 award for Biggest Brass Neck in British Politics goes to... Shadow JusticeSecretary, Robert Jenrick. Let’s not forget he was the Tory government’s Immigration Minister after the pandemic, when boat crossings ramped up and the number of visas increased exponentially.

He was in charge when the Government rode roughshod against the view of local councils and placed people in hotels without consultation. I know because our councils in GreaterManchester voiced those concerns.But, as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, he stands outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, campaigning against the chaos he helped create.

Labour is trying to clear up the Tory mess and the Home Office is right to target gangs and build cooperation with France. And I hope it does what the Tories didn’t – truly listens to local councils and works with them on fairer ways of dealing with asylum seekers.

Time to get on the ‘twirly’ bus

This August, we have been running a pilot to see if we can help an overlooked group in society – the "twirlies". Every day, they can be spotted at around 9.25am, queuing at bus stops, only to be told by the driver: "sorry love, you're twirly (too early)". It is the 9.30am restriction on older people's bus passes which has created the "twirly" phenomenon.

But there is a real issue here. Why shouldn't older people who have caring responsibilities or hospital appointments not be able to get out and about like everyone else? In Greater Manchester we think they should. So we removed the 9.30 rule inAugust and will run another pilot with a view to make the change permanent."

No room for bullies

Don’t you just despise the playground bullies of social media? Last week they targeted a young footballer for her appearance on the day she signed her first professional contract with Kilmarnock.

How did she respond? By curling a beautiful free kick into the top corner. Skye Stout told her critics she’d let her football do the talking – and she shut them up in style doing something they never could.

Get in there, Skye!

How do you know the Premier League is back?

When Everton fans are up in arms about a dodgy VAR decision.

But we weren’t the only ones with a gripe. Aston Villa and Newcastle supporters sang in unison on live TV against unfair spending rules. The Premier League is still the best in the world. But growing numbers, myself included, feel it is not a level playing field. Those who run the game need to even things up before it is too late.