The development of AI has made boosting the importance of technical education “more important”, a senior minister has said.

Asked about the impact of AI on traditional graduate careers, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News: “I think that technological change makes this more urgent than it has been in the past.

“In some ways, I think this is government and policy catching up with the conversation that is going on among young people themselves, because they are very alive to the point that you’ve just made about how technological change can influence career options.

“So perhaps the assumptions about what was a safe and secure job in the past no longer apply today.

“I think that gives new life to the traditional trades. It gives new life to some of the technical skills that we want to prize through the announcement that we’re making today.

“And the labour market is changing. This is a general-purpose technology, it will both destroy jobs and create jobs.

“And if you’re a young person starting out in life at the moment, thinking about what you’ll do in the future, I think the calculations that you make about your employment security are probably different today than they would have been 10 or 20 years ago.”

Former John Lewis chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield has said Andy Burnham’s reforms to technical education could be a “watershed” moment.

Sir Charlie said the Prime Minister’s plans, which will see new technical education routes made available from the age of 14, are a “significant” step to tackling youth unemployment.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday, Sir Charlie said: “It could even be, I think, a watershed moment. Obviously, whether it is depends on what happens.

“But there’s two major reasons for that. The first is, I think, what is being signalled here by the Prime Minister is a shift from an academic default to recognising that there’s a range of education of what constitutes education.

“And then the second point, which I think is very significant, is giving more responsibility to mayors and local leaders.”

Shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan has accused the Government of being “extremely dishonest” about the early release of prisoners, as the Conservatives called for emergency legislation to stop the scheme.

The Tories have said the Government’s own legislation does not differentiate prisoners according to offences, meaning serious offenders such as rapists and paedophiles will be released early from September.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday, Dr Mullan said: “I’m afraid the Government have been extremely dishonest about what this legislation does.

“They told the public and victims that it would exclude the most serious offenders.

“They told the public and victims that these perpetrators would have to earn their releases. Neither of those things are true.”