'Work hard, aim high and you will achieve...'
I believe that education is absolutely vital in improving young people’s life chances. There should surely be consensus that everyone in the country deserves the same life chances, and that every child has a right to an excellent standard of education, whatever their circumstances, and wherever they live.
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September 22, 2017
Yorkshire united: One Yorkshire Devolution Deal
Despite the best efforts of council leaders in South Yorkshire, we now know that the Sheffield City Region deal is not going to happen. This does not mean we should give up on devolving power to our region altogether. Instead, we should seize this opportunity to be more ambitious.
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September 19, 2017
Do you know about the Barnsley Parkrun?
It’s a free-to-enter, 5 kilometre run that takes place every Saturday at 9am in Locke Park and is part of a national chain of events in parks across the country. I’ve taken part in the event a number of times and I always enjoy the great atmosphere and camaraderie of the run.
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April 04, 2017
Statement on the terrorist attack on Westminster
Over the coming hours, days and weeks much will be said about the attack that took place in Westminster yesterday. It will be analysed and explored from every angle, with every possible cause and effect considered.
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March 23, 2017
My Private Member's Bill to tackle child poverty
My Private Member's Bill sets out to introduce a target to reduce Child Poverty. As in life, if you want to achieve something in Government, it is useful to set a target. I believe setting a target would help realise a common purpose to tackle child poverty, which includes communities, employers and government at every level.
February 03, 2017
The scandal of Sure Start and Children's Centre closures
In December 2016 I asked the Government a series of Parliamentary Questions that revealed how deeply their cuts had affected Sure Start and Children's centres.
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January 09, 2017
Pause for Christmas – and then make a life-changing commitment for the New Year
This has felt like the longest and most difficult of years. Whilst every year brings its challenges, 2016 has had an extraordinary ability to surprise, confound and disturb.
December 23, 2016
We should enshrine in law a target for cutting child poverty
We are living through the biggest increase in relative child poverty in a generation.
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December 20, 2016
My questioning of Government reveals they abolished child poverty unit
In response to my parliamentary question, the government admit they have abolished the Child Poverty Unit. So they now have no target, no unit and no intention of ending child poverty.
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December 20, 2016
Child poverty should scar our conscience - my Times article
I have written for The Times about why we should enshrine in law a target for cutting child poverty. You can read the full article here.
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December 20, 2016