Andrew Miller
Main Page: Andrew Miller (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)Department Debates - View all Andrew Miller's debates with the Department for Education
(12 years, 2 months ago)
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Michael Gove
Judging by the reaction from the Labour Benches, that question was, to use a fencing term, a palpable hit. I agree that it is important that we support the growth of competitive and team sports in all our schools. One of the things I have been most impressed by when visiting state schools is the way so many of them are using academy freedoms to provide not only greater facilities but more sporting opportunities for our young people.
Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)
Will the right hon. Gentleman make it a requirement that free schools provide sport in the way he has just described?
Michael Gove
Free schools are already doing a fantastic job in providing that opportunity—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman, having missing the penalty the first time, is trying to come back, put the ball on the spot and have another go. The whole point is that free schools are doing a superb job in providing great sporting facilities, and the reason for that is that they are free of the sort of centralist interference that old socialists like him, in their sweet but frankly out-of-touch way, are still nostalgic for.