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Health and Education

It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Selby (Mr. Grogan). Obviously, in many ways, I would rather he were not here, but he always speaks with great courage and independence. I noted what he said about opposing top-up fees and tuition fees, and he will be pleased to know that the Welsh Assembly today voted against top-up fees. He is not alone and—one never knows—the Opposition might give him another chance to vote on the issue before this Parliament is out. We have had an excellent debate and I am delighted to respond to it on behalf of the Opposition. We have heard a remarkable set of maiden speeches from people who are genuinely passionate about the areas that they represent including, most recently, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), who gave a very good speech. I agree with the Prime Minister about one thing—there is no more important issue for our country than education. It is not just that we desperately need to raise standards and release the potential of our young people. Education lies at the heart of the challenges we face—the skills problem, the crime problem, the drugs problem and the frustration of unfulfilling lives problem. At the root of all those problems, much of the solution lies in education. I say to the Secretary of State that huge common ground exists on this issue between the parties. Everybody knows that we must move away from the idea that one size fits all in state education. The hon. Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier), in a great maiden speech, spoke in favour of academies and she was right. Everyone knows that we have to give schools freedom to make more decisions about their culture and their spending. Everybody knows that we have to break down the Berlin wall between state education and independent education. We all know that we must end the snobbery about vocational education, and that means investing in it, so that young people do not switch off from learning at 14 and 15. We all know that choice and involvement of parents should be encouraged.