‘Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that the bill be now read a second time.’
With these words, we will put before the House of Commons for debate our first education bill of the next Labour government. During the long days of the campaign, as I travel around the country from Harrow East to High Peak, Ealing to Erewash, I never lose sight of the end game. A chance to serve and to change Britain has to be at the forefront of all of our minds as we enter the third week of the short campaign.
Finally, the opportunity to invest in and reform our education system is within touching distance. Last week Ed Miliband, Chuka Umunna and I launched our Better Plan for Education. It is a progressive, deliverable and exciting vision: creating an apprenticeship for every young person who gets the grades; new Institutes of Technical Education – our sponsor academy programme for advancing excellence and innovation in our further education sector; maths and English to 18 for all young people; face-to-face careers guidance for all young people so that no door is closed off to them; and new technical degrees supplying the skilled labour that will be the prerequisite to Britain succeeding in the global economy.
These are the pledges that will comprise our first education bill – and I am more convinced than ever that in the summer months, we will legislate to make this vision reality. And here is why.
The last week we have seen a desperate Tory campaign. Whether on spraying about unfunded spending commitments, personal attacks on Ed Miliband that demean the practice of politics, or the contorted explanations for defending the status quo of non-doms. But what this speaks to is the sum parts that make up Project Cameron. A Tory leader too weak to insist on the level of decency that the electorate rightly expects. A politics that is dwarfed by the magnitude of the challenges that we face as a nation. A sop to the interests of a section of society exempt from making a fair and proper contribution to our tax system.
Contrast this with a Labour campaign that is aggressively on the front foot, a campaign that is calling the shots.
Political leadership on Europe – an outward looking vision for a country that wants to make its way in the world, not close itself off. Answers to how we will fund the future of our National Health Service. Protecting the entirety of the education budget in real terms so that we can revitalise Sure Start, protect our schools and reform 16-19 education. On all of these issues and more, we are leading the campaign.
From Chris Oxlade in Crawley to Lee Sheriff in Carlisle, from Mari Williams in Cardiff to Jo Cox in Batley, great Labour candidates are ensuring that throughout the campaign, day after day, our message is filtering through and the choice is becoming ever clearer in the minds of the British people.
So as the early starts and long days begin to take their toll, as progressives we must not lose sight of just what is at stake in this election. After five years of opposition we are now within touching distance of transforming Britain for the better. Now is the time to defy the naysayers who said we could not be a one term opposition – and use every hour to make our vision for Britain a reality for Britain. Because those few extra doors, that third leaflet round, that final turn on the Riso is going make the difference between the passing of our education bill and it not being on the table at all. That is what we are fighting for.
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Tristram Hunt is shadow secretary of state for education and a vice-chair of Progress
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