Published: Thursday, 13th November, 2008 12:00
Rob Wilson's Westminster Diary
By Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East
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Reading East MP Rob Wilson
THERE were several elections last week, but you may be forgiven for thinking that there was only one.
There was certainly one dominating discussion around the Palace of Westminster.
Barack Obama became President-elect of the United States of America, the country’s first black President. It was the culmination of one of the most intense ‘election seasons’ (as they call it) there has ever been.
It was an incredible advert for democracy and proves that America is still the most vibrant country on earth. It lived up to its billing as a land where anything is possible, no matter what your background.
Of course all the talk now is about whether the UK could have a black Prime Minister.
I doubt it in the near future.
Social mobility in this country is stuck. There is strong evidence that what your parents do remains more important in shaping your destiny in Britain than in most other advanced countries. Here, the number of books in the family home is, for example, a far more powerful predictor of how a child will do at school than it is in France and Germany.
If you are born into certain social groups, a young person’s chances of success are limited, for example, with black, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and white working class groups.
Parents play a part in this by setting a young person’s aspiration. But education also plays a big role and there is no doubt we have failed as a nation to provide an education ladder of opportunity to all our citizens.
This is why it will be that much more difficult for a black person to become our Prime Minister. Mrs Thatcher, our first woman Prime Minister, currently looks like she was an exception to the rule. However, we can and will change this when we form a Government and my brief, Higher Education, will have a pivotal role in doing so.
There are also great voluntary organisations that are trying to make a difference.
In Reading East there is the Community Education Trust (CET) that receives no public money at all. Through its own fund-raising and several kind local businessmen, CET provides extra support on a Saturday morning to about 90 children from the local Pakistani community.
The group makes a priority of engaging parents and raising aspiration as well as educating the children. It is incredibly motivating and impressive. The results are stunning with these children competing with the very best in Berkshire and beyond to get into Kendrick School and Reading Boys.
Which leads me to ask the question; why do so few Reading Borough children end up going to our local grammar schools?
Whatever happens now, Barack Obama will be remembered by history. Many of my Conservative colleagues were in the US supporting him, not because they support his left wing policies but because he represents something that America needed: a fresh start after George W Bush.
America needed a big figure to bring people together and I hope that is what they have got. It’s early days and the President-elect faces huge economic and military challenges, but we should all wish him well.
Nobody should take anything for granted, but David Cameron will face similar challenges in a little over a year.
This country has been worn down by the mess Prime Minister Brown made as Chancellor. We are expected to believe he can clear up his own mess, but the signs are it’s more of the same, for example, tax cuts funded by borrowing and more spending on the ‘never never’.
We are in very serious trouble indeed.
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Leader: Honourable honours