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Health and Education

My hon. Friend has made a valid point, which I was not going to cover in my speech, so I thank him for that. As he knows, I am a huge supporter of union learning representatives, who do amazing work in encouraging people back into education when, for whatever reason, they did not have adequate chances at school. I definitely did not come into the House to quote literature, but there has been much talk of the hard times that we are now facing. As my learned and highly intelligent colleagues will know, ““Hard Times”” is also the title of a book by Charles Dickens that marked him out as an early supporter of the rights of the working class—something that I certainly did come into the House to be. Dickens used that book to call on people to strike the heaviest blow in their power. With the measures set out in the Gracious Speech, the Government seem to be striking their own blow. Some have said that it contains only a small number of Bills, but that does not worry me or my constituents as long as it has a big impact. I hope that it will do so, especially for children with special educational needs, as well as for those living in poverty. If it does, this year's legislation will be not only about impact but about legacy, and I very much welcome the measures in it.