Robots to replace 1 in 3 UK jobs over next 20 years, warns IPPR

Study calls for billions to fund retraining after pinpointing hospitality, retail, transport and manufacturing sectors and poorest parts of UK as most at risk

A leading thinktank has urged the government to spend billions of pounds helping poorly skilled workers in the less prosperous parts of the UK cope with the threat of the looming robot revolution.

The left-leaning Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said in a new report that those most at risk from automation were concentrated in low-skill sectors of the economy and were least able to adapt to change.