Abstract
The triple education mantra used by New Labour (and the Tory opposition) in the 1997 election has been nauseatingly over utilised in the last few years. However, Its recent replacement by the new mantra 'Skills, Skills, Skills' is not just nauseating - it is seriously misguided and potentially damaging to VET policy and practice. Cycles of fashion and changes of label and language seem to be a permanent feature of educational policy-making but, arguably, VET has - more than any other sphere - been especially afflicted in recent times by such sloganising and 'newspeak' trends.