Member

A pattern is emerging. At the start of the debates on the Bill, we and many in the education profession pointed out that the Bill would threaten to cut teacher pay, but the Education Secretary said that that was not true and we did not understand. However, she was later forced to produce pages and pages of amendments to her own Bill, and it turned out that it was not us who did not understand the legislation. Last summer, Michael Gove was being held up by the Secretary of State as the great Satan of education, but in her most recent speech, he has become a “great education reformer”. Just weeks ago, banning smartphones from our schools was a “gimmick”, but over the weekend we learned from the Secretary of State that they have “no place” in our schools. So the policy is a “gimmick”, but they have “no place” in our schools, although they are going to vote against a ban today—I think we can all see where this is going. Tonight, Labour Members should swallow their pride, vote for our new clause and do the right thing for our children.