'EDUCATION, education, education." It was the battlecry Tony Blair famously used to announce his priorities when he became Prime Minister. Education was our future and it therefore had to be at the top of the agenda.

So it is hard to see how that fits with the cost-cutting measures which could reduce jobs at the body set up to improve learning and skills in Britain.

Union officials have warned that more than 100 jobs could be axed in the Learning and Skills Council offices in our region. And that is sure to have an adverse effect on post-16 education and training.

Education is not just about children. The country's future prosperity depends on the effectiveness of lifelong learning provision so that people of all ages can acquire new skills.

Here in the North-East, the decline in manufacturing and traditional industries has placed a particular emphasis on the need for a flexible workforce able to adapt to new challenges.

Colleges throughout the region have already had to limit courses because of funding cuts. The latest proposals for streamlining the LSC, which threaten 1,300 jobs nationwide, are an additional cause for concern.

"Education, education, education." Remember?