Solidarity MSP Rosemary Byrne has welcomed calls from Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary, for a return to old style apprenticeships. Smith has attacked New Labour's flagship education plans for skills academies and instead said that businesses should take on school leavers and pay for them to attend universities and Colleges. Solidarity Co-Convenor Byrne agrees:

"Young people should be paid to go to university while working, as Grahame Smith suggests. The Executive seem to think that teaching young people plumbing at school while making them stay on until 18 will solve the skills problem. But this a nonsense, if businesses want to address the shortage of skills they should be prepared to pay for it. Too many young people have no choice in opportunities, Grahame Smith's ideas would allow school leavers to train, be educated, and earn at the same time."

Smith recently replaced Bill Speirs as General Secretary of the STUC and has described Gordon Brown’s plans for 100 skills academies as "absolute nonsense".