𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

While Bridget Phillipson has spent the last few weeks attempting to rewrite her legacy, the truth is her botched cuts to PE funding in schools puts our chances of winning any future world cups at risk. Britain is a sporting nation. Always has been, always will be. Jonny Wilkinson’s sensational drop-goal in 2003. That sensational “Super Saturday” at the London 2012 Olympics when Sir Mo Farah, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, and Greg Rutherford brought home three gold medals in the space of an hour. Andy Murray lifting the Wimbledon trophy in 2013.

Kane and Bellingham giving their all for the Three Lions. These are the moments that bring us together, the moments we cherish, the moments that inspire us all.

Of course, the heroic success of our national football team has shown, yet again, sport’s unmatched power to bind this country together. These teams made up of ordinary working-class lads from every corner of the country, represent the absolute best of modern Britain. Whilst the lads sadly didn’t make it to the final, the sterling performances of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham yet again showed the power of sport.

Yet, we often forget where these journeys begin. Many of Britain’s greatest sporting heroes are the direct product of school PE. Whether it is a dedicated PE teacher delivering life-changing lessons or a child discovering an unexpected passion on a muddy school pitch, it is impossible to overstate the value of sport in our education system. From cold, wet winter football matches to sunny athletics days on school fields, the sight of children taking part in sport is one of our finest, most enduring traditions. It is a love of sport that Britain famously exported to the rest of the word. A legacy other nations have spent decades trying to replicate.

Recognising this, the Conservatives introduced the PE and Sport Premium following the London 2012 Olympics. This ring-fenced funding was designed to bolster the quality of PE directly at the grassroots level, ensuring that every child regardless of their background or postcode, had the chance to lead a healthy and active life.

Shamefully, the Labour government has now slashed this vital fund by 22 per cent, quietly replacing it with a watered-down “Sports Partnerships Network.” Snuck out under the cover of the May half-term, this devastating cut has left headteachers entirely in the dark. It has been described by headteachers as a ‘funding cut dressed up as an initiative to boost PE and sport in schools.’

Labour’s priorities are completely wrong. Labour has been more focussed on spending millions on pompous advertising campaigns all the while slashing budgets that keep our children healthy and active. Just this week Phillipson responded to legitimate criticism from Kemi Badenoch from a few weeks ago by publishing a video of her holding a t-shirt calling herself a “spiteful class warrior.” Is this really the best use of an Education Secretary’s time?!

This cut in PE funding is a national scandal. Ironically, of course, her PE cuts, like much of what she has done, will hit the least well off the hardest. Instead of standing up for our children and helping them become the champions of tomorrow, Labour is trying to hold them back. Our future lions and lionesses deserve better than this.