Brexit Gridlock Puts Social Mobility On Hold
Justine Greening blames Brexit and is still considering joining the Conservative leadership race
Putney MP Justine Greening launched her Social Mobility Pledge a year ago but has told this website that the Brexit gridlock has out it and many other important issues on hold: "I launched the Social Mobility Pledge a year ago this week to work directly with Britain’s businesses and to try to make a meaningful difference to boosting opportunity. I am proud that today over two million employees are now covered by the Pledge. It’s fantastic that local businesses and Wandsworth Borough Council are part of it too. However, the gridlock over Brexit means that many of the issues that really make a difference to people’s lives, like social mobility and opportunity aren’t getting the attention they need. It’s crucial we find a way through Brexit so that we can start working together to finally achieve equality of opportunity for young people in Wandsworth and much more widely around our country."
Last year when she launched her pledge Ms Greening said: “For our country, Brexit has to be a catalyst, a moment for change, when we can smash that class ceiling on opportunity once and for all, for a new generation of young people growing up in our country."
Meanwhile, in an interview with Caroline Wheeler at The Sunday Times (31st March), Putney's MP did not rule out the possibility of her taking part in the Conservative leadership race when broached: "I might well do. . . It’s 32 years since we had a landslide and we have to answer the question about why we have failed to connect with people and their ambitions. Until we have a leadership that understands why that’s happened, we won’t be able to change it."
She continued that the party needed to pick a leader for the “2020s, not the 1920s”
What roles has Justine Greening MP had in government?
Justine Greening became Member of Parliament for Putney 1t the general election of 2005. In May 2010, Justine Greening was appointed as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury within the Coalition Government. In October 2011, she was then appointed to the role of Secretary of State for Transport. In September 2012, she was appointed Secretary of State for International Development, and from July 2016 to January 2018 she was Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities.
March 31, 2019