Speeches by Sewards.

“The hon. Member has been very generous with her time. On the points that she made about funds for state schools and about the other difficult decisions that this Government have had to make, does she not accept that when we came to power, we found an economy that had been absolutely ruined by the Conservative party? We…”

“rose—”

“I am incredibly grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way again. The simple fact is that we have the electoral system we have, and it is incumbent on whomever wins a majority to deliver their manifesto pledges to govern the country. She may take issue with the electoral system, but it is the one that we have, and we mus…”

“Does the hon. Lady not accept that this Government won an election on the basis of a promise that we would introduce VAT on private school fees, so it is incumbent on us to deliver that manifesto pledge?”

“The Bill is designed specifically to revive our high streets. The hon. Gentleman will remember, because his party was in government at the time, that our high streets were struggling and suffocating, and it is incumbent on this new Government to revive them. That is why it is so important for us to pass the Bill today.…”

“The Bill is necessary to support our high streets. It strikes a fairer balance between small businesses and large, and I am pleased to have contributed during most stages of its progress. I rise to address some of the amendments put forward by the other place, which would reduce the effectiveness of the Bill. Amendment…”

“Veterans have already been mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher). Would my hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to Veterans In Need Together? He talks about organisations that support men. That organisation supports men every Wednesday at Morley fire station wi…”

“In the interest of time, I will keep it brief. My question is to Lee again and is changing track a little. The chief inspector of Ofsted said, “It cannot be right that some children spend up to 23 hours each day alone in their cells with no access to education or other pursuits that might improve their chances of rehab…”

“Tessa has already teased out quite a lot of the information that I was going to ask about, but I wanted to ask you about the level of need across prisons. Of course, Annick, you have already set out what the percentages are for the prisons that you work with. My question would be then to Jon and Michala: does that matc…”

“I am the MP for Leeds South West and Morley. I am a former maths teacher, and all my interests are declared on the website.”

“Brilliant. Thank you so much. If you have further input, I am very happy to take that later on as well. Can we go to you next, Sarah?”

“Is there anything you think schools could do to improve? So let us say, as you articulated very well, that you do not think inclusivity works. What would you suggest?”

“My name is Mark Sewards. I am an MP from Morley, which is in Leeds. I have several parts to this question, but you have already answered the first part very well, so feel free to focus on the second part. I will mix it up a bit with who we go to first. What were your experiences in mainstream and specialist education s…”

“Thank you. Are there any final thoughts?”

“Brilliant, thank you very much.”

“This is a question for you all, but I might start with Catherine, if that is okay. Is the DFE’s definition of an inclusive mainstream education clear across early years, across schools and across further education? If that is not clearly defined, how should it be defined?”

“That is just over the last year. Something like 87% of all inspections over the last five years have been inadequate or requires improvement, so the state of prison education is not good. What needs to be done to improve it?”

“In the interest of time, I will keep it brief. My question is to Lee again and is changing track a little. The chief inspector of Ofsted said, “It cannot be right that some children spend up to 23 hours each day alone in their cells with no access to education or other pursuits that might improve their chances of rehab…”

“It does.”

“Of course. It is quite a long question. I am happy to repeat it as many times as you like. What were your experiences in mainstream and specialist education settings, and how could this have been improved? The second part is, how can schools make sure they meet the needs of all their students regardless of ability, bac…”