We can't have children growing up feeling unloved - the price is too high for that.
— Angela Rayner
Child poverty is more than an abstract problem to me. It's something I know all too much about.
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.
Give children healthy food and they behave better at school, concentrate more in class and perform better in exams.
In the 2010 general election, the Liberal Democrats built their campaign around a pledge to abolish tuition fees. By the end of that year, however, they had tripled them instead. The Liberal Democrats had made young people feel as if they were on their side. They were not.
Grammar schools are about stigmatising children, not on the grounds of their ability, but on their background.
I wanted to prove I wasn't that person everyone wanted to stereotype me. You can slag me off, I talk about my upbringing now and try and do it in a way that inspires others, but I never felt good about it.
I was pregnant when I left school, so I needed income support. I didn't even have functional skills, not even GSCEs in English and Maths, so I needed to go back to college.
You never, ever give up the chance to change things, ever, no matter how hard it is. If you're elected, and have got the opportunity to make a difference, you take it.
Some of the Tories say, 'She left school at 16, she doesn't have a university degree, what does she know about education?' I say, I may not have a degree - but I have a Masters in real life.
I've seen at first-hand what Labour Governments can achieve in power.
The Tories should treat working families with more respect.
The graduate earnings premium, used by the Tories to justify many of their regressive higher education policies, is fast becoming a myth.
Half of those people who experience mental health difficulties do so before the age of 14. The problems begin early - so early interventions are essential.
If our tax system, as a whole, is progressive, then those with the broadest shoulders will make the greatest contribution, as it should be.
Instead of helping a lucky few to escape disadvantage, a Labour government will aim to abolish poverty completely and create a more equal society, raising the living standards and well-being of all.
In a parliamentary democracy, it is the job of parliament to decide the law, not the government.
Many parents know that hugging your children - telling them how amazing they are - is so important. Some parents, through no fault of their own, don't realise this. My mum was one of those who didn't realise, and I almost was too.
I've met many lesbian, gay and trans activists who've told me what they face, sometimes even within the school gates: hate crime, fear of discrimination, physical and verbal abuse, domestic violence and homelessness.
Free school meals for all children, no matter what their background, will improve the education and health of our children.
I'm a mum and I hate the thought of any child going a whole day at school without a healthy meal.
We need to focus on helping EVERY child to get a world-class education in EVERY school in this country.
We must ensure that every single child can go as far as their ability and their aspirations will take them.
From 13/14 I was always hanging about with older boys. Boys in school used to call me names. But outside older boys would pay me attention because I looked older for my age. I was going to clubs from 14. I wanted to be loved.
My job is making sure that every child gets a good school place. If there is a particular disadvantage to a community, you invest more. Because that's the Labour way.
Every child has potential. Every child can succeed. No child should be left out or left behind.
Sure Start transformed my life as a mum and allowed me to get back to work.
Politics is a lot like football. Both involve people working in a team. One week you can be top of the league, the next week, you might slip a place. But I've never for one minute wanted to give up my devotion for my team.
People understand that any major reform to pensions is likely to create losers as well as winners.
We need a sustainable system of student finance that promotes opportunity, encourages aspiration, increases social mobility and is governed by fairness. But all the Tories can offer is unsustainable, mounting debt, punishing students for wanting an education. And discouraging thousands of young people from climbing the ladder to a better life.
Surely in a country that works for everyone ensuring that everyone has access to an excellent education should be the first priority of any government?
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds will have the most debt, and then, being less likely than their affluent peers to go straight into high paying jobs, they will spend most of their working lives trying but failing to pay off that debt.
We need radical, transformative solutions to address the inequality that is blighting millions of people's lives.
To give every child a fair chance to succeed, we need to give them the best possible start in life. For far too many that isn't happening.
Growing up without love, without being cared for, might be the worst type of poverty.
It took 15 years and a Labour government to finally see Section 28 taken off the statute books. But this victory belongs to the LGBT+ activists who campaigned for so many years, fighting for change from the ground up.
We as a nation cannot be satisfied with our children suffering health problems through no fault of their own.
During the 2010 election campaign, Liberal Democrat candidates, including Swinson, signed the National Union of Students pledge to vote against tuition fees. Looking back, students were among the first to see the reality of the Liberal Democrats in government.
The evidence shows that grammar schools overwhelmingly benefit those from more affluent backgrounds.
One the reasons I talk about my story is I want other people who are in the circumstances I was in to understand they are just as good and as valuable as everyone else.
Mum grew up in Wythenshawe, one of 12. My mum didn't really go to school and didn't see the need for education, she got bullied so she excluded herself.
Sometimes you have to invest in people to get the best out of them. To me, that is socialism. That is why I'm a Labour member rather than a Conservative.
I understand that every parent wants the best for their child because I want the best for my children too.
Supporting any team has its ups and downs. But being part of a united team on the brink of victory, is the only way we're going to change the country for the better.
If people are going to be made worse off, the government should at least let them know. I don't think that's asking too much.
Maintenance grants, a proud Labour achievement which made it easier for children from lower and middle income families to go to university, have been abolished in one fell swoop. To be replaced with loans.
Mental health is a case study in Tory failure.
Building a country that worked for everyone was supposed to be about supporting ordinary working class families, which is exactly what Labour's plan to bring back the maintenance grant would do.
Any success I have had is thanks to Labour governments that provided the council house, minimum wage, tax credits and Sure Start children's centre that enabled me to achieve it.
The privileged have become more wealthy, while people from disadvantaged backgrounds have had their opportunities to get on and move up closed off. That's the Tory way.
