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Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Every time I come here to announce the positive changes that a Labour Government are bringing, whether it is free breakfast clubs, school-based nurseries or our “best start in life” strategy, what is the right hon. Lady’s response? The same confected outrage, the same negativity, and the same petty point scoring. She has no plan or vision for the future of our education system, and for giving our children the best start in life, which they deserve. The Conservatives can talk all they want, after 14 years in government, about what they put in an unsuccessful manifesto, but it came with a post-dated cheque if ever there was one. The British people rightly judge their politicians not on what they claim they will do, but on what they actually deliver, and it is on that basis that this Government will be judged.

The right hon. Lady asked a number of detailed questions about what we are delivering. We are trebling investment in Best Start family hubs across the spending review period. All the detail is there for her to see in the many documents that have been published with the spending review, and in the strategy that we published today. This is additional investment that we are putting into supporting our youngest children, because this Labour Government prioritise the early years and want to make sure that all our children get the best start in life. The only policy that the right hon. Lady has is to cut budgets in state schools and hand a tax break to private schools. That is it. [Interruption.]