Sir Keir Starmer pledges speaking lessons for children as he promises education overhaul under Labour
A Labour government would provide speaking lessons for children, with its leader saying an “inability to articulate your thoughts fluently is a key barrier to getting on and thriving in life”.
Sir Keir Starmer made the pledge in an article in The Times, promising to put oracy at the centre of his party’s plans to overhaul the education system.
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“The ability to speak well and express yourself should be something that every child is entitled to and should master,” he wrote.
“But the curriculum doesn’t allow us to provide this. This is short-sighted. An inability to articulate your thoughts fluently is a key barrier to getting on and thriving in life.
“It’s key to doing well in a job interview, persuading a business to give you a refund, telling your friend something awkward. Oracy is a skill that can and must be taught.”
The article comes ahead of the Labour leader’s launch of his fifth and final mission for government, due to take place in Kent later today.
Sir Keir will promise to break the “class ceiling” with a goal of half a million more children reaching their early learning targets by 2030 and with a target to recruit 6,500 more teachers into shortage subjects.
To help reach the 2030 target, the party will double the number of health visitors, provide further mental health support for parents, as well as early years speech and language therapy – which would be funded by scrapping the VAT exemption on private schools.
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Starmer sets out Labour’s five missions
Labour will also set out plans for annual Ofsted inspections and an alternative grading system as part of its mission to overhaul education, Sky News has been told.
Inspections will move from happening every four years to every year and will also assess the wellbeing of the school.
And instead of a one-word rating – such as outstanding, good or inadequate – there will be a more complex dashboard in which different aspects of the school are graded to give a fuller picture.
The reforms will also see Labour carry out a review of the curriculum to include more music, art and creative subjects. There are not expected to be any changes to GCSEs as part of the review.
In his speech, Sir Keir is expected to say the “pernicious” class ceiling acts as a “barrier in our collective minds, that narrows our ambitions for working-class children and says, sometimes with subtlety, sometimes to your face: this isn’t for you”.
“It’s about economic insecurity, structural and racial injustice – of course it is. But it’s also about a fundamental lack of respect,” he will say.
“A snobbery that too often extends into adulthood. Raising its ugly head when it comes to inequalities at work – in pay, promotions, opportunities to progress.”
The Labour leader will add that children must be prepared for a future of artificial intelligence, genomics, and further advanced technology.
The National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) union welcomed Labour’s proposals but warned they must be matched by “significant additional investment” not only in education but in community support and social care.
Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “A child’s background should never determine their opportunities in life, but inequalities have been exacerbated over the last decade by funding cuts to schools and other public services, the pandemic, and now the cost of living crisis. It is therefore positive to see that Labour will put tackling inequality at the heart of their education policy.
“There is no doubt that schools can play a vital role in helping children to thrive no matter what their background, but they need the appropriate resources to do so.
“Fixing the current recruitment and retention crisis has to be an urgent priority and it is essential that the next government makes teaching and school leadership an attractive proposition once again and gets to grips with the factors driving so many out of the profession.”
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The role of Ofsted has faced renewed scrutiny after Ruth Perry, the headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading, took her own life in January while waiting for the body’s assessment of her school.
Campaigners have called for Ofsted to abolish one-word assessments, which have been defended by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan as clear and easy for parents to understand.
Caversham Primary School was found to be “good” in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be “inadequate”.
Following Ms Perry’s death, Ofsted introduced its own set of reforms but stopped short of banning the single-word ratings.
Ruth Perry died in January
The reforms include the launch of a formal consultation on changes to the complaints system, which the watchdog believes could help resolve complaints more quickly.
Schools will also be given more information about the timing of their inspections. Although the watchdog will still turn up with only a day’s notice, there will be “more clarity” about the year schools are likely to be inspected.
Inspection reports will also refer to the school, rather than individuals, when discussing areas of weakness from September onwards.
Of Labour’s planned proposals, current education secretary Ms Keegan said: “Labour’s empty words are easy – delivery is difficult. Under Labour we had worse standards in schools, poorer outcomes for kids, and skills training that promoted pole fitness and balloon artistry.
“Labour offers nothing but flip flop after flip flop, from tax hikes to tuition fees – showing there is no guarantee that they will even stick to their word.
“Keir Starmer’s track record shows he will have probably changed his mind by the start of the summer holidays. So there’s no way parents and teachers can rely on anything he says.”
World
Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem
South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.
His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
Stock markets around the world fell on Thursday after Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs – with some economists now fearing a recession.
The US president announced tariffs for almost every country – including 10% rates on imports from the UK – on Wednesday evening, sending financial markets reeling.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
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All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
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It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”
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