Contributions
1,367 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsThere is no reason that schools should need to make any kind of change. Of course, headteachers make practical decisions about how they feel they should run their schools. We are…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsYet again we hear about the urgent need to reform our SEND system. We are determined to turn it around. We will work with everyone across the House and anyone with an interest in…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI recognise the challenging context that many schools experience after 14 years under the Conservatives. At the Budget, notwithstanding the severe challenges that we face, the…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Lady is absolutely right. Far too often our staff have had to focus on maintenance and buildings rather than driving up standards in our schools. The Conservatives talk…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsMy hon. Friend brings real expertise to this matter from her experience in education. We are reviewing the relationship, sex and health education guidance to ensure that schools…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsThere was an awful lot in that but very little about how we deliver higher standards for our children, and that is what the Bill is all about. The only people in hock to vested…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsIt was a Labour Government who created the academies movement, and a Labour Government will ensure that they continue to flourish. The Conservative Government left a thousand…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI strongly agree with my hon. Friend’s concerns, and I am determined to tackle the scourge of misogyny. She brings experience to this place—27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsThat brilliant initiative shows what a champion my hon. Friend is for his constituents, and I will consider his request seriously. I would certainly be happy to visit his…27 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsToday marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. As the years slip away, our duty to remember only strengthens. I have had the privilege in recent months…27 Jan 2025HANSARDEarly Learning GoalsMy hon. Friend is right to raise that issue on behalf of his constituents. I would be more than happy to meet him to discuss it further. We are working rapidly through the whole…27 Jan 2025HANSARDEarly Learning GoalsChildren growing up in our country deserve the best start in life—nothing less. Through our plan for change, Labour will get a record share of children school-ready. We will make…27 Jan 2025HANSARDFree SpeechI have had the privilege of visiting hundreds of schools across our country, and I can tell Members that children in the schools I visit are usually never backward in coming…27 Jan 2025HANSARDFree SpeechIt was a Labour Government who first enshrined freedom of expression in law, and Labour is to this day committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom. That is why we are…27 Jan 2025HANSARDChild SafeguardingParents who choose to home educate their children are within their rights to do so. Those who provide a safe, loving environment and a good standard of education have nothing to…27 Jan 2025HANSARDChild SafeguardingOpposition Members might not like it, but that is what the Leader of the Opposition said. The Conservatives had 14 years to stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks.…27 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Student SupportThe Government announced on 4 November a significant package of measures to support students and stabilise the university sector. We need to put our world-leading higher education…20 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI agree with my hon. Friend that, across the board, there are big challenges in the university sector. That is why I took the difficult but necessary decision last year to…15 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI am confident that the OfS, as the regulator, and its director for freedom of speech will seek to engage with a range of views, including those of Jewish students and community…15 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI know that the right hon. Gentleman is probably used to his party engaging in these discussions on quite difficult and sensitive issues in a rather reckless and irresponsible…15 Jan 2025