I first learned the power of a Labour government to transform lives growing up in my hometown of Stockport.

We can't have children growing up feeling unloved - the price is too high for that.

2018 marks 30 years since Margaret Thatcher's government introduced Section 28, one of its most abominable policies. As a part of the Local Government Act, this Section was designed to prevent local authorities and schools from the so-called promotion of LGBT+ issues.

I never thought I would get a degree of any type.

I remember going round to my friends' houses and asking them to ask their mum and dad if I could stay for dinner because I wasn't going to get fed.

I am not OK with the system that allows certain people to fail or be chucked out. I don't accept that.

Mental health is a case study in Tory failure.

I mean getting into parliament was quite an achievement in itself and then I have to pinch myself at the thought of actually running a department.

The graduate earnings premium, used by the Tories to justify many of their regressive higher education policies, is fast becoming a myth.

I'm a mum and I hate the thought of any child going a whole day at school without a healthy meal.