Recent UK exports across the Atlantic include Piers Morgan and James Corden. But could the next one be apprenticeships?
Before becoming Dear Leader, Donald Trump made a name for himself in the US version of TV show The Apprentice. It’s near identical to the BBC version; both centre around a wealthy old white man, mad with power, who invites a dozen or so “business people” with unresolved issues to compete for gold coins in a series of humiliating and fruitless trials. Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Oxbridge g-rah-duates.
No longer in the business of entertainment TV shows (he tells himself), President Trump now has his sights set on boosting the number of real-life apprentices in workplaces across the US, and could well be looking to the UK for ideas.
On a visit to Wisconsin - the first US state to pass a law establishing apprenticeship programmes back in 1911 - the president toured Waukesha County Technical College. And he went on to say: “During my campaign for president, I talked about the crucial importance of vocational training - teaching young people the skills, crafts and trades that are vital to our economy and our success as a country, and their success as an individual. America must not only teach but celebrate the skilled labourers that produce and maintain the world’s greatest machines, buildings, products and infrastructure - innovations that improve our quality of life, help keep us safe, and have the power to inspire awe and wonder.”
Trump has since been criticised for cutting workforce development budgets and refusing to increase the measly $90 million (£70,500,000) for apprenticeships in his federal budget, while cutting his Labor Department’s budget for job training by a third.
The plans appear to be embryonic, with only 500,000 apprentices recorded in the past financial year, but at an event for CEOs, Trump reportedly touted a target of 5 million apprenticeships over five years.
But, unfortunately, with the president’s UK visit seemingly kicked into the long grass, it doesn’t look like FErret will get the chance to give him some pointers any time soon. Sad!
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