To be truly radical is to make hope possible

By Lisa Nandy MP

It’s only my eighth week as the MP for Wigan and I am battling to stay positive: dealing with the ConDem coalition’s ideological battle against the most vulnerable in our society is fast becoming how I spent most, if not all of my time.

This morning I visited Abraham Guest Secondary School in my constituency – a brilliant example of the investment that went into schools during Labour’s thirtreen years in government. This school was deemed ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in its last inspection, which makes it a prime target for the government’s proposals on academies.

Before I came into parliament, I worked in the charity sector, campaigning for some of the most vulnerable children in the UK and across the world; I was also a Hammersmith councillor. In both capacities I opposed Labour’s policy on academies but at the same time could see that the drive behind it was well-intentioned. This new breed of academies does not warrant the same name. Dig beneath the surface and you find classic Conservative ideology.

To be fair, the Tories may be right about one thing: you can’t just pump money into school buildings or schools in general and expect problems to be solved. But, Abraham Guest is living proof that top-class facilities alongside top-class staff can transform a school into a world-class establishment – whatever problems the kids are struggling with outside of school. This morning in sports week they had everything – from BMX and rocket ball to a climbing wall (which I admit I may have occupied for more than my fair share and upset one or two children) in order to teach kids the importance of discipline and structure. You could really see them come alive and it was inspiring to witness how passionate the teachers were about bringing out the best in them.

If this school were to convert to academy status or even worse, a free school, these opportunities for under-privileged young people would very quickly begin to disappear for precisely the children who most need them. If you look beneath the headlines of ‘giving power back’ to teachers and pupils, it’s not hard to see what this means: less funding and the break-up of the Local Authority family. The drive to marketise education is manifested in the first of this government’s Bills on education, which they are trying to push through without proper scrutiny before the summer recess and, as ever, will hit the worst-off the hardest, especially in constituencies like mine.

It’s times like these can make you despair for the future of the people you’re trying to represent – but it’s at just such times that you need to push beyond that and provide hope for your constituents. I’ve often heard my colleague, Jon Cruddas, quote Raymond Williams who famously said “to be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing” and I’d encourage all my colleagues on the opposition benches to remember that when bringing the fight to the appallingly right-wing measures of this government.