Thank you chair.
In 1997 I heard a phrase: ‘education, education, education’. Little did I know what impact that pledge would have on my life.
Two years later I was at my local comprehensive and predicted better grades than I could ever have imagined; not due to a privileged upbringing or a private education; but to hard work, family support, but most importantly the dedication of my teachers who spent hours of their own time making sure I reached my potential.
Three months before my GCSEs I fell pregnant. As you can imagine, the whole family were devastated; sure that the academic future I had planned would no longer be possible, instead I would be assigned to the scrap-heap, myself and my beautiful daughter nothing more than a picture of Cameron’s so called ‘Broken Britain’.
But we didn’t have a Tory government.
Already in their short time in power Labour had implemented policies that meant opportunities were mine for the taking, I just had to embrace them. I finished my GCSEs; did my A Levels, I went to university, all with childcare provided. I received a first in the family scholarship and a higher education grant. Not only this but I was able to work in a minimum wage job and send my children to a sure start nursery.
There are sections of society who would still have had me sent to a workhouse. But Labour party policy meant that nothing held me back; not my working-class roots, not my comprehensive education, not my family circumstances.
All of this meant I could have a career, become a taxpayer, provide for my family and become a role model for other teenage parents in my community who are told their lives are over before they’ve even begun.
I’m worried that if Cameron and Gove have their way, my children will suffer under their two-tier education system. They believe education is for the privileged few. My children deserve the best opportunities in life, opportunities I was given by a Labour government and opportunities this Tory-led government are determined to take away.
That’s why I believe in Ed’s One Nation, a country where everyone can succeed through hard work and determination rather than just those with privilege, wealth or power.
This is why I’m Labour.
This is why we need a Labour government, so ordinary people can fulfil their potential in ways they never thought possible.
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Natalie Fleet is a member of Ashfield CLP. She tweets @NatalieFleet