Below, a profile/interview in today’s Education Guardian by Peter Wilby.
Taking advantage of the net, and net democracy, I have put in a few corrections and some commentary at the bottom of the piece. Perhaps the Guardian or other newspapers might try this, in print and on line, sometime?
Keeping faith in comprehensives
Melissa Benn still believes the public can see the benefits of the classic comprehensive school system
Education has the potential to create a “common culture” according to Melissa Benn.
Britain doesn’t have many American-style political dynasties, but the Benns are an exception. Three generations have produced a cabinet minister apiece: Tony Benn, once the stuff of bourgeois nightmares but now an octogenarian “national treasure”, is the best-known and his son Hilary, a New Labour minister from 2001, is the most recent. And from the next generation, Emily Benn, Tony’s granddaughter, stood unsuccessfully, aged 20, as a Labour candidate in last year’s general election. Continue Reading