Chancellor Gordon Brown has told employers that they can't afford to not invest in skills in a global market.

Speaking at the CBI Conference this week, the Chancellor said that Britain was turning out 250,000 graduates a year compared to four million in China and India.

Meanwhile jobs for those without skills are disappearing.

“For today's six million British adults without basic skills there are now jobs for only three million of them - and by 2020 there will probably be jobs for only half a million,” Brown said. “So, either we will have to bear the social security costs, or they will have to gain new skills.

“Some people ask if we can afford to invest in skills. The actual truth is we cannot afford not to.”

Brown said that employers, employees and government would need to work together to increase skills.

“Employees taking responsibility to upskill, employers offering time off, government paying for the basic training.”