Kim Johnson

I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention, and I totally agree with him about the amazing work that Bernard Coard and all those families were involved in as they tried to seek justice and to enable their children to fulfil their potential. That needs to be recognised. Opportunities to access meaningful, well-paid work were denied to those children, and they continue to face financial hardship because of the barriers to work for those without an education. This has had an impact on their families. A few have succeeded in the face of adversity, gaining qualifications and better jobs. That is a testament to their strength and determination, but they should never have had to struggle in this way. I would like to take this opportunity to recognise all those whose campaigning helped to get us here today, as well as the incredible campaigners who were misclassified as ESN and who are fighting for justice. My thanks go to Bernard Coard, who pioneered this campaign; to the educator and anti-racist campaigner Gus John for a lifetime of work challenging racism in the British education system; and to all those parents and communities who organised and fought for change so that our children could receive fair and equal treatment and thrive and achieve their full potential. The incredible No More Exclusions group has done invaluable work shining a light on the injustices of the current system of exclusions, and challenging the racist policies and educational segregation that drive the school-to-prison pipeline. I want to recognise the work of Frances Swaine and Leigh Day solicitors in their pursuit of justice for the survivors, and thank Professor Leslie Thomas KC, Dr Cynthia Pinto and Professor Christine Callender for their pioneering work in this area. I also recognise the incredible work of journalists and producers Lyttanya Shannon and Sir Steve McQueen for exposing this scandal with the BBC documentary, “Subnormal: A British Scandal” and the incredible “Small Axe” series. We have seen with “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” and Jimmy McGovern’s “Common” just how crucial TV and film can be in bringing miscarriages of justice to light, and I hope the same will prove to be true here and that the momentum from this campaign and these dramas will secure justice for those impacted and change a system still producing the same racist outcomes today. I hope the Minister will join me today in recognising the wrong that was done to the survivors of ESN. A public inquiry into the scandal of ESN schools is necessary, not only to secure justice for the victims of these historical discriminatory policies, but for us to understand how systemic racism and discrimination take form in our current education system and how we can eradicate them. The survivors and campaigners are calling on the Government to give due consideration to a public inquiry, four decades on from the first public inquiry report into racism in education, to learn the lessons of the past and secure justice for all those whose lives were impacted and who continue to suffer.