Tristram Hunt condemns David Cameron as a 'low-rent PR man'

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/04/tristram-hunt-condemns-david-cameron-low-rent-pr-man

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The shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, has launched a vitriolic counterattack against David Cameron, claiming that he has demeaned the office of the prime minister by publicly citing Hunt's private education as evidence of Labour party "hypocrisy" over its schools policy.

Hunt says Cameron's "highly personalised attack on me, my family and upbringing" during his party conference speech last week was reminiscent of the "boorishness" of Jeremy Clarkson, and shows that the Eton-educated Tory leader is incapable of investing the office of prime minister with the dignity it deserves.

Hunt, an historian educated at University College School in north London and Trinity College, Cambridge, fires both barrels in today's Observer, saying Cameron has moved on little since his time as "a low-rent PR man".

In his conference address to the Tory faithful in Birmingham on Wednesday, Cameron singled out Hunt, saying that what appalled him most about many of the top Labour politicians was their hypocrisy.

"Tristram Hunt, their shadow education secretary, like me, had one of the best educations money can buy," the prime minister said. "But guess what? He won't allow it for your children. He went to an independent school that wasn't set up by a local authority … but no, he doesn't want charities and parents to set up schools for your children.

"He had the benefit of world-class teachers who happened not to have a government certificate … but no, he wants to stop people like that from teaching your children. I tell you – Tristram Hunt and I might both have been educated at some of the best schools in our country. But here's the difference: you, Tristram – like the rest of the Labour party – want to restrict those advantages. I want to spread them to every child in Britain."

Hunt, who opposes the Tory policy of allowing unqualified teachers to teach in state-funded academies and free schools, says that Cameron's "ad hominem assault" was triggered in part by a psychological refusal among the Tories "to believe that anybody called Tristram could or should be a member of the Labour party".

He says that unlike the prime minister and many Tories who, having enjoyed advantaged backgrounds and education, believe their first priority is "to pull up the ladder", he enjoyed those benefits and moved on to pursue a belief in social justice through politics. That's because my belief system is very different to David Cameron's vision of social justice, where the 'big society' equates to sorting out an internship for your first cousin."

He adds: "The fact that I enjoyed a generous upbringing makes me even more alert to the loss of opportunity and butchered public services that the Conservatives are committed to."

The row over private schooling has some echoes, in political reverse, of former Conservative leader Michael Howard's infamous attack on Tony Blair in 2004, when he remarked upon the Labour leader's background, saying of himself: "This grammar school boy is not going to take any lessons from that public schoolboy."

Labour politicians regularly taunt Cameron over his elite education, and the way that he appears to surround himself in Downing Street with ex-Etonians, saying that it explains why his government is "out of touch" with ordinary people.

Hunt also attacks coalition education strategy, saying: "The government has lost sight of what really matters in education: quality of teaching and strength of leadership. There has been a damaging rise in the number of unqualified teachers and a widening attainment gap between kids on free school meals and their better-off peers.

"Meanwhile, Gove's relentless exam-factory model of schooling has seen the real purpose of education – the development of character and resilience, alongside academic and vocational rigour – brutally downgraded."