'Brighton and Hove is at the forefront of the digital revolution'

As part of Labour’s week of campaigning on education, Tom Watson joined Hove’s MP Peter Kyle visiting FuturLab, an award winning mobile and console games developer.

He met with the firm's development director Kirsty Rigden and managing director James Marsden.

Mr Watson, who is also Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Brighton and Hove is at the forefront of the digital revolution, and it’s brilliant to see what so many new tech businesses are doing for the area.

“FuturLab is at the centre of progress on virtual reality and are producing fantastic games.

"I'm a gamer, I've played thousands of games over the years, but their newest release, Tiny Trax, was the most impressive virtual reality game I've played yet.

“If we are going to sustain the success story that is the British games industry we have to invest from early on and make sure we have an education system that produces the talent we need to sustain growth.

“The current situation where 22 per cent of school IT equipment is ineffective and 65 per cent of computer science teachers don’t have a relevant qualification is just not good enough.

“Labour will make it a priority that the sector gets the support it needs so Brighton and Hove’s success story can be replicated across the country.”

Mr Kyle said: "I'm so proud to be MP for an area that has such talent and creative entrepreneurs.

“I set up my own digital company 20 years ago so I understand the pressures and the rewards of working in Hove and Portslade - that's why week in, week out I'm working to support these amazing small businesses to grow."