Gorton MP announces child poverty initiative at Manchester TUC event

The Labour MP for Manchester Gorton, Afzal Khan, revealed his plans for a new leadership scheme aimed at young people on Saturday 1 December.

The scheme aims to improve the extreme levels of child poverty that young people in Gorton currently face.

It will teach the students leadership skills and offer them career advice to propel them out of hardship.

Mr Khan, 60, said: “Giving the young people this encouragement and giving them the knowledge of the things that they can do helps.

“It opens doors for them and gives them a wider vision.”

18-24 year olds will be removed from the classroom environment and given the chance to learn more about the decision-making bodies in the UK.

Students will visit large institutions in the hope of inspiring them to become future leaders and decision-makers themselves.

These institutions will include Manchester city council, the Houses of Parliament and the Royal Courts of Justice.

The Pakistan born politician revealed his plans at the Trade Union Congress (TUC) 150 Years of Fighting For Equality event at the beginning of the month.

The TUC event offered members of the public the opportunity to attend talks on issues including human trafficking, the far-right and LGBT rights in the workplace.

Lynn Collins, 53, the Regional Secretary of North West TUC, said: “We need to address the ways in which we are more attractive to young workers and the ways in which we develop young leaders.

“Working with Afzal on that will be really interesting.”

Earlier this year, the End Child Poverty coalition named Manchester Gorton as the constituency with the fifth highest level of child poverty in the UK.

Paul Jenkins, North West organiser of United Against Facism, spoke at the TUC event. Mr Jenkins, 50, said of the scheme: “I think it is an excellent initiative.

“The importance of leadership generally in the community and society is very important.”

Mr Khan will begin the scheme in his Manchester constituency in the summer of 2019.

He has aspirations for the programme to expand beyond the Northern city to help young people across the country.