Watch: Rishi Sunak announces apprenticeships pledge amid party divisions over leadership

Watch as Rishi Sunak set out the Conservatives’ pledge to create up to 20,000 more apprenticeships in a speech on Monday, 18 March.

The prime minister detailed plans the government says will fully fund training for young people and cut red tape for small businesses.

Mr Sunak’s reforms “will unlock a tidal wave of opportunity”, he said.

The announcement was made at a conference for small firms in Warwickshire.

Under the plans, the government will pay the full cost of apprenticeships for under-21-year-olds in small businesses from 1 April in a move aimed at reducing burdens for employers and providing more professional training places for young people.

It comes as Mr Sunak’s premiership faces a threat from a chaotic plot of backbench Tory MPs who want to replace him with Penny Mordaunt before the general election.

Politicians from across the party are said to have met and held talks about “coronating” the leader of the House of Commons as prime minister in what would be the Tories’ sixth PM since the 2010 general election.