26 May 2023 , 13:01
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Kids should be given "arguing" lessons at school to get them interested in politics, Alastair Campbell has said.
Tony Blair's former spin chief said children should be given a political education at an early age - and said state school pupils needed to learn to "fight their corner".
“We teach our kids that PE, running around the playground, is good for them. I think we should teach our kids to be interested in and engaged in politics,” Mr Campbell told the Hay festival.
Political education needs to start in primary schools, and then become part of the “everyday debate” in children’s entire school experience, he said, in comments reported by the Guardian.
He went on: “Maybe you don’t call it politics,” saying it could be called “arguing”, “policy” or “big issues”.
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Children should get a political education from a young age, Alastair Campbell said (Getty Images)“Some of the most enjoyable stuff I do is going into schools and trying to teach young kids what politics is.
“When they sit down and they start thinking about stuff, it’s just so fascinating and innovative.”
Mr Campbell argued that state schools needed to teach children “how to communicate, how to argue, how to fight their corner” from a young age so they can rival their privately-educated peers.
Boris Johnson and David Cameron are among the 20 British Prime Ministers who went to Eton, while Rishi Sunak and Tony Blair were also educated at elite schools.
Liz Truss claimed to be the first PM to go to a comprehensive school, although Theresa May's school was a grammar but became a comp while she was there.
Analysis by the Sutton Trust of Mr Sunak's first Cabinet found 61% of top ministers were educated at fee-paying schools, while 23% went to a comprehensive and 13% attended a grammar school.
In Ms Truss’s Cabinet 68% were privately educated, compared to 64%, in Mr Johnson’s first Cabinet (64%).
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