Reaching The People That Matter Most

If I was advising a Deputy Leadership contender, I would be telling them to remember our children.

After ten years of prosperity under The Great Leader, many of us have done very well for ourselves. Some, like Diane Portillo and myself, are just a generation or two away from the peasantry but are now basking in the privileges bestowed by private education, private property and a handsome income (although her income is a weenie bit bigger than mine).

But it's not nice to read something like this. Especially as Tony came to power in 1997 with the mantra "education, education, education" resonating with all of us. Coming on the heels of falling levels of state school enrolment in our elite universities and record levels of school truancy, this is very disappointing news.

So I think I'll ignore it completely and write about more cheerful things such as the changing face of Labour under Tony Blair, social housing policy, the Black Socialist Society, Frank Field and which newspapers a politician should read. Hopefully that will put everyone's thoughts a mile away from UNICEF and its miserable little report.

Linda... Linda... Do we have a social housing policy, Linda?

Footnote: I've just spotted that this muckraking report has already stirred up Labour students in my family county of Kent. Shame on UNICEF. And as for you, Jonathan, get on with your studies!