John Glen
Main Page: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)Department Debates - View all John Glen's debates with the Wales Office
(13 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)
Q13. Following the report in December by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field) about how to prevent poor children from becoming poor adults, what actions does the Prime Minister intend to take to address the central recommendation of the report—that greater prominence should be given in public policy to the earliest years?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is quite right. It is good that the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field) has produced this excellent report about how we try to help children out of poverty. The two most important steps we are taking are funding two-year-olds in nursery education—a pledge never made and never delivered by Labour—and a pupil premium for all children who are on free school meals so that the money follows them into school. Labour Members shake their heads. They had 13 years to do it; they never did.