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Tag: Stephen Twigg

  • Stephen Twigg – 2012 Speech to Stonewall Conference

    Below is the text of the speech made by Stephen Twigg, the Shadow Education Secretary, to the Stonewall Conference held at the British Library in London on 5th July 2012.

    Good morning everyone. It is great to be here and to have the opportunity to address you on the very important issues of how we tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying in our schools. Schools- and the education system more broadly- have made very real progress in tackling discrimination and bullying in its many forms since I was at school. I will leave it to you to judge how long ago that was. As a young gay man at school, I was unable to share the truth about my sexual orientation openly. In fact I only shared it with a single friend, even though I knew for years that I was gay. I am pleased to learn about the brilliant work that is being done by schools, local authorities, trade unions, businesses and third sector organisations to ensure that young LGBT people feel that they can be more open than I felt I could be.

    Television and the media can be powerful beacons for exposing discrimination and addressing homophobic bullying in society. I want to pay tribute to programmes like Hollyoaks that has tackled this issue head on.

    Whilst schools play a very important role, which I will come on to, the media – and increasingly social media- can be influential in combating the discrimination that scars the lives of too many young people. It is fantastic to have Mark Thompson with us today and to hear his thoughts on how the media takes forward its responsibility.

    I welcome today’s publication of the Schools Report 2012. This is a very important contribution to this debate. As Labour’s education spokesman, I have the pleasure of being able to spend a good deal of time visiting schools and colleges right across the country.

    Schools should be safe environments, conducive to learning, enquiry and discovery. They should be spaces for young people to develop as individuals.

    Places where we celebrate culture and diversity within our society, at home and around the world. Schools are the vehicles by which children embark on their own journey of destiny and fulfilment.

    But we know that this vision is not one that is offered to all young people and today’s report highlights that, whilst progress has been made, as Ben rightly points out in his introduction to the School Report 2012, today’s findings leave little room for complacency. More than half of the 1600 young people surveyed for this study reported experience of homophobic bullying. Of those, over 2 in 5 have attempted or thought about taking their own life as a direct consequence. These findings show just how far we still have to go in realising the vision for all children, in all of our schools that I have just set out.

    To strike a more positive note, there are real improvements. Levels of homophobic bullying down 10% since Stonewall’s 2007 School Report. The number of schools that say homophobic bullying is wrong has more than doubled.

    A testament to all of those people and organisations that have taken the initiative and led from the front. We may finally be moving out of the long dark shadow cast by Section 28. I want to pick out a couple of examples of schools that are doing exactly this.

    I want to pay tribute to the pupils at the Magna Carta School in Surrey. Charlotte Hewitt, Molly Russell, Hannah Wells, Cara Houghton and Duncan Lewry produced, as part of their creative and media diploma, a short film to expose the reality facing those on the receiving end of homophobic bullying. ‘Homophobia: Our Closeted Education’ won praise from the Prime Minister. In taking on this project, these young people have shown excellent examples of leadership and we should all commend their efforts.

    To take another example. Earlier this week I visited Royal Wootton Bassett Academy to learn about their excellent Every Child Matters programme. The school sets aside 5 days per year for pupils to learn about social issues.

    I joined Year 9 students to hear Eva Clarke a Holocaust Survivor give her very powerful testimony and make explicit connections with prejudice and bigotry today.

    I welcome that schools are taking the initiative and structuring their curriculums to educate young people on what it is to be a citizen in today’s society.

    And in a few minutes we will learn the winner of this year’s Stonewall Education Equality Index. I look forward to presenting this important award.

    I want to say a few words now on changes in the education landscape and how these are likely to impact on our efforts to combat homophobia in schools.

    I believe in a broad curriculum, grounded in rigour and one that allows flexibility for schools. Labour in government introduced citizenship to the secondary curriculum. I am a passionate believer that schools have an important role in fostering young people who have high standards in Numeracy and Literacy, and in creating citizens and the civic leaders of the future. We are often presented with a false choice by the current government on this.

    It’s rigour and standards versus a rounded education, they say. I say, yes to rigour and high standards, for all children in all schools. And yes, to a curriculum that enables schools, whatever the type of school, to equip children with a rounded education, one that challenges prejudice and celebrates diversity.

    I see from the workshops planned for the breakout sessions that you will hear for yourselves excellent examples of schools, primary and secondary, using the flexibilities within their curriculum to do exactly this. I am excited by schools like School 21, being set up in Newham, and Reddish Vale Technology college, where I visited recently, that are taking innovative approaches to embedding PSHE and citizenship education within their curriculum. There are many tools being deployed in our schools.

    The use of extended projects that require independent enquiry and investigation across subject areas. Scheduled debating time built into the school day. Speaking and listening skills should be at the core of a 21st century curriculum. School volunteering projects, working with community partners to take action in local communities. Theatre and the arts as a means for expression and celebration. These are just some of the exciting initiatives that schools are taking.

    I regret that the Government looks set to backtrack on this agenda on citizenship, in pursuit of an education system guided by a rose tinted view of what worked in the past. But I know that there is a great deal of good will and desire from within the school system and that many schools will use the flexibilities afforded to them to maintain a broad, rich and inclusive curriculum.

    The schools landscape is changing very rapidly in England. The school system will be a very different one at the next General Election to the one that the Government inherited in May 2010.

    We are seeing an unprecedented centralisation with the proliferation of academies and introduction of free schools. This presents big questions on how schools, and other agencies in education, work together to continue to raise standards for all children in all schools.

    Traditionally, local authorities have been an integral part of the school system. Now that more than half of all secondary schools in England are academies, we are seeing a fragmentation in the school system. I welcome the opportunity for more innovation in our schools. However, it is not desirable nor is it feasible for so many schools to be accountable only to the Secretary of State. It creates a democratic deficit.

    Schools should not operate as independent islands. I am a true believer in both autonomy and collaboration. There is so much potential in greater collaboration between schools and between teachers in different schools. We have the best generation of teachers ever and we must build on this.

    So we must look carefully at the impact of this fragmentation on raising standards. But also, on how schools and agencies can respond to promote collaboration more broadly. We know that many teachers have not had sufficient training on how to address homophobic bullying. The report today highlights this. Where voids have been created, I welcome the work that is being done to fill them by Stonewall, trade unions and others.

    I have launched a consultation looking into these questions around, what has been termed ‘the middle tier’, in the school system to see how best we address concerns about democratic accountability and how schools can work in partnership and I would welcome submissions from you here today.

    The School Report sets out challenges for schools, the DfE and Ofsted. It also makes recommendations for local authorities and Academy Chains. It is vital that these proposals are adopted.

    In closing, let me again pay tribute to Stonewall and its crucial Education for All programme. I’m delighted that Wes Streeting has joined the Stonewall Team to lead this important work. I hope that today’s report will be a strong reminder to us all that yes progress has been made and we are right to champion this success. But also to show that there is no room for complacency and that it is incumbent upon us all to challenge homophobic bullying and discrimination wherever it rears its head.

  • Stephen Twigg – 1997 Maiden Speech in the House of Commons

    Below is the text of the maiden speech made by the new MP for Enfield Southgate, Stephen Twigg, in the House of Commons on 16th May 1997.

    It is a great privilege to have the opportunity to make my maiden speech so early in the parliamentary Session, and I am delighted to be here as the first ever Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Enfield, Southgate. I hope to be the first in a long line of Labour Members of Parliament elected by the people of Enfield, Southgate, where I was born and brought up.

    During my lifetime, there have been just two Members of Parliament for the constituency before me. Michael Portillo was elected in a by-election in 1984. Shortly after his election to Parliament, he visited Southgate school, where I was then a sixth former. Although our politics were miles apart, Michael Portillo impressed me then as an articulate, charismatic and candid politician. Since then, he has provided more than 12 years of professional service to the people of Enfield, Southgate. During the general election campaign, on our rare encounters, he was always courteous and charming, and on the night of the election count his dignity in defeat earned him widespread and well-deserved respect. I am sure that, if he chooses to do so, he will continue to play an important role in the public life of this country.

    Mr. Portillo succeeded Sir Anthony Berry, who was tragically killed in the Brighton conference bombing in 1984. Sir Anthony Berry represented the people of Enfield, Southgate for more than 20 years in the House and is still remembered with great respect and affection by many of my constituents. In his maiden speech here in 1965, Sir Anthony warned of the dangers of the introduction of comprehensive education in Enfield. As a product of Southgate comprehensive school, I have to say that I think that many of his fears have proved to be unfounded.

    Enfield, Southgate is a wonderful and diverse local constituency. We embrace both the busy, urban life of Palmers Green and the north circular road, and the rural tranquillity of Hadley Wood and the green belt. Much of my constituency is a collection of villages—Southgate Green, Oakwood, Grange Park and Winchmore Hill, which has been spared a drive-through McDonald’s because of the determined opposition of local people and the good sense of our local Labour-controlled council.

    Southgate’s diversity is a great strength. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious community. Only this week, I had the privilege to lay the foundation stone for the new Hindu community centre of the Darji Mitra Mandal. There is a large Jewish community, as well as significant numbers of Christians, Muslims and Sikhs. It will be a privilege to represent them all.

    During my election campaign, perhaps the biggest single issue on the doorstep was the future of the island of Cyprus. I warmly welcome the Government’s commitment in the Gracious Speech to seeking a just and lasting settlement in Cyprus and I look forward to giving my full and active support to those efforts.

    Perhaps the most positive feature of the recent campaign for me was the opportunity to discuss politics with large numbers of young, first-time voters in my constituency. For me, the first sign of the large swing to Labour in Enfield, Southgate came with the results of the mock elections at our three local secondary schools, Winchmore, Broomfield and Southgate. All three schools voted Labour by overwhelming majorities. That showed the way forward for the results in Enfield, Southgate.

    I have never accepted the widely held idea that young people today are apathetic and not interested in politics. I am involved in a Fabian Society research project working with young, first-time voters, talking to them about their attitudes and opinions. In my experience, young people have clear values and strong opinions. What they reject is not politics itself, but the way we do politics in this country—the style, the language and, above all, the adversarial culture. It is an adversarial culture which is best symbolised by the old way that Prime Minister’s Question Time was done. I am sure that many people will welcome the change made in the past week.

    At the election, the biggest swing to Labour was among first-time voters. This Parliament owes it to our young people to forge a new sort of politics based on consensus, dialogue and co-operation. That is why constitutional reform is so important.

    I welcome the commitments in the Gracious Speech to devolution, the incorporation of the European convention on human rights and to reform of Parliament itself. This is not some arcane, abstract debate that is of interest only to the so-called chattering classes. It is about devolving power to the people and starting to restore people’s faith in politics.

    As a Greater London Member of Parliament, I especially welcome the proposals for a new strategic authority and a directly elected mayor for London. This country is alone in the democratic world in denying its capital city a democratic voice. The removal of that voice was one of the most petty and vindictive acts of the previous Government. I look forward to a new elected authority, working alongside an elected mayor. The mayor will be a powerful champion of London’s interests, ensuring that our first-class capital city has the impact and influence that it rightly deserves. I hope that all hon. Members representing London, regardless of their party, will unite in campaigning for a yes vote in the proposed London w ide referendum.

    Constitutional reform is not some academic debating point; it has real relevance to the bread and butter concerns of our constituents. A new authority for London can start to improve the appalling state of our transport system. Greater London’s crumbling transport infrastructure is letting down the people and the economy of this great city. We need a new authority and we need a new mayor to take the lead and get London moving again. The Labour party supports a proportional voting system for the proposed new Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. I hope that we shall also adopt a similar system for the new London authority. That will ensure that we have a credible London voice representing the diversity of opinion in our capital city.

    More widely, as my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) said, our manifesto proposes a commission on electoral reform for the House of Commons, followed by a referendum. Proportional representation for this House is an idea whose time has come. Electoral reform is an important democratic change, which will assist in the renewal of hope and faith in politics itself. Labour’s proposed referendum will enable the people to decide how the House is elected. It is a momentous and crucial commitment. Following the election result in Scotland, Wales and much of urban England, it is an argument that I hope the Opposition will take more seriously than they have done, both in the interests of democracy and of their party.

    This Parliament is often described as the mother of Parliaments. There is much in our parliamentary history of which we can be proud. Constitutional reform is not about tearing up our history, but about building on what is good and changing what is not. I support the Government’s proposals, both because they are good and because they will contribute to the renewal of politics and democracy in this country. Now is the time for a new, consensual politics in the United Kingdom. I look forward to playing my small part in securing those important and long-overdue reforms.