Gisela Stuart MP and Tristram Hunt MP
Edgbaston Stadium staged a mock trial earlier this week. Barristers from No 5 Chambers enacted a personal injury trial. This for the benefit of risk assessors who were given insight into cross examination and the questions raised when determining fault.
Shadow Secretary for Education, Tristram Hunt MP ended the week at the same venue speaking at a Labour Finance & Industry Group dinner. In a room peppered with members of the education community, it didn’t feel far removed from being a mock trial of the Stoke on Trent MP. Come May 2015, is this man capable of leading The Department for Education?
David Lock QC welcomed attendees to the fundraiser and introduced Gisela Stuart. The MP for Edgbaston spoke about the importance of Tristram Hunt’s department, explaining education is central in a city like Birmingham where 40% of its citizens are under the age of 25. Opening statements over, the defendant entered the witness box.
Tristram Hunt spelt out three priorities for Labour’s approach to Education, adding ‘if we are lucky enough to assume power next May.’ No objections raised there.
1. The first is affordable child care for working families, increasing the number of free childcare hours from 15 to 25 hours for 3-4 year olds “making a very real difference to the cost of living pressures.” With that comes a statutory 8am to 6pm wrap around service incorporating breakfast and after school clubs.
2. Focusing on what Ed Miliband calls the forgotten 50%, namely those not pursuing the university pathway, opting for a technical or vocational alternative. This incorporates an effective apprenticeship system, focusing on further education colleges, ensuring young people are ready for the world of work and new plans for a 14-19 curriculum with a national baccalaureate.
Tristram Hunt expanded on this by speaking of a commitment to rebuilding Careers Advice securing the right outcome for young people. Social justice for those young people without the networks and contacts for internships.
3. There is a growing appreciation of some of the limitations of an exam factory approach to schools. “We know that what we want our young people to come out of school with is a sense of character. This is an attribute employers want.”
Tristram Hunt closed by saying “These values will tackle youth unemployment and earn our way out of the cost of living crisis. We need the supply of skilled, resourceful, educated and motivated young people. That is what Labour in power is committed to delivering.”
Asked whether there was an appetite within the Labour Party to reinstate the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) program, the Shadow Secretary explained there was a need for 250,000 new school places, adding “a Labour Government would build schools in the future without reinstating the BSF as it was under Tony Blair.”
The priority may be content rather than bricks and mortar. Tristram Hunt set out earlier “…we know that students from disadvantaged backgrounds suffer exponentially from poor teaching in the classroom. Because they do not have the backup at home, because they do not have support structures, it is even more essential they have great teaching in the classroom.”
Tristram Hunt didn’t break a sweat under cross examination. The Jury will return a verdict in the May 2015 General Election. Will Labour, under the leadership of Ed Miliband receive a five year sentence? Who am I to judge?
Jas Sansi is a freelance photographer based in Birmingham. Follow on Twitter @jassansi
Jas Sansi PHOTOGRAPHY 