At a Party conference fringe event, organised by the Engineering and Technology Board (ETB), the professional community group, Mr Cable called for a debate on how government should put industry and engineering back into the spotlight.

"The role of government should be to do those things that the private sector does not do, such as ensuring that there are enough young people studying maths and science, and enough qualified professionals at all levels to teach them all they need to know to secure the future of science and engineering," he said.

Leading academic and IT innovator Professor Dame Wendy Hall also called for a shake up of attitudes to skills for women, warning: "There need to be incentives for women and under-represented communities to enter and stay in engineering."

ETB is organising more fringe events at the Labour and Conservative party conferences over the coming weeks, as it aims to raise the profile of the profession and encourage more engineers to engage in national debate.

(Pictured: Vince Cable MP at Lib Dem engineering fringe event)