In a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride, the former owner of Pimlico Plumbers called for state-backed apprenticeship schemes to tackle the growing levels of economic inactivity.

According to Mullins, if more young people were able to access the trade, then GPs would spend less time “composing notes”.

He also suggested that apprenticeships be offered as a “second chance” to graduates that have gone “into debt”.

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The recent drop in construction output in February, due largely to the weather, illustrates the weakness in the UK economy – that’s according to the Federation of Master Builders.

Government figures released last week revealed a 1.9% drop in construction output, after what had been a positive start to the year.

Chief executive of the FMB, Brian Berry called the figures “concerning”.

“While growth had been seen in January, these figures underline the challenging winter period that UK construction has faced,” he added.

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A British builder who had driven to Ukraine at the outbreak of the war with Russia, to rescue a friend stuck in hospital, died last week after an accident on site.

Andrew Ponting was pulled from the rubble after a wall had collapsed on him, while working in the south of France.

Local authorities have opened an official investigation into the incident.

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