Students and staff had the fabulous opportunity to hear from Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley and Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding.
Her first talk, to students currently studying Politics A-level, was a real deep-dive into the work of an MP and her own route into politics, both of which connect back to her passion for activism and social work in her community. In the Q&A with students, she was quizzed on a wide range of topics including her thoughts about private schools, recent controversial Labour social media campaign tactics and why the party was now in a better place under the leadership of Keir Starmer than under Jeremy Corbyn.
Her second talk was to the wider school community and focused on the importance of activism; how the major positive changes in society have all come about because ordinary people stood up and fought for the things they thought were important. As Anja Suthers remarked – ‘As she talked I was thinking of how inspiring listening to a confident, ambitious yet down-to-earth woman would have been when I was 18 – the students are really fortunate and I’m sure they’ll remember it.’
Questions ranged from gender equality to reform of the Metropolitan Police and were all answered with Jess’s characteristic wit, directness and insight.
We thank Jess for carving out so much time in her busy schedule to visit the school.
Categories: Senior School Sixth Form
