I first learned the power of a Labour government to transform lives growing up in my hometown of Stockport.

We can't have children growing up feeling unloved - the price is too high for that.

Growing up without love, without being cared for, might be the worst type of poverty.

My mother suffers mental health problems and has a learning deprivation.

Nothing annoys academics more than pointing out how little time they actually spend teaching students.

The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher.

I come from a background in the military where everyone had health care. We understood the value of education as a given. You learn a skill, earn a pension and go on to 'Be all that you can be'... You invest in people. You hold people accountable.

Yesterday in this country we had people die of hunger and malnutrition. In some parts of this country, the infant mortality rate rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa. We have a public education system that ranks below that of almost any other Western nation.