International Day of Education

Debate between Andrew Rosindell and Valerie Vaz

Thursday 22nd January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Member for Southgate and Wood Green (Bambos Charalambous) for securing the debate—I am sorry that I could not have been here earlier; I was in the Chamber.

I know the focus of the debate is on what Britain does when it comes education, but the other side of it is that many churches across all of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including in my constituency, have built schools and universities. Does the hon. Gentleman recognise the good work done by the churches in my constituency? The Elim church has built a hospital, a health centre, a primary school and a secondary school, and it does work on job training for farming as well. All these things are done by people from Newtownards going to Malawi, to Swaziland and to Zimbabwe. That is an example of what can happen if we all look at some of the good things that are happening.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

Order. The debate is about the International Day of Education.

[Andrew Rosindell]

That was a fine intervention and I entirely endorse everything the hon. Gentleman said. One of the reasons Britain has had so much outreach around the world is because of our Christian foundations. It is so important to uphold and cherish our Christian heritage. Of course, Christian missionaries have travelled the world and established schools, hospitals, universities and churches, helping countries far and wide and people of all religions. I entirely endorse the hon. Gentleman’s examples from his constituency; my constituency also has many churches that do excellent work and support causes around the world. I thank him for raising that point.

The Commonwealth is, I believe, a tangible force for good—I am sure we can all agree with that—and it should be central to any Government’s foreign policy. A voluntary association bound by shared language, legal traditions and educational standards embodies the very arguments that we are debating here in Parliament this afternoon. Above all, it provides Britain with a unique global reach that no other country enjoys. There are Commonwealth countries in every part of the world, including, let us not forget, our cherished overseas territories and Crown dependencies, such as the British Indian Ocean Territory, which should remain a British territory.

The Commonwealth has presented our great nation with an inheritance that is the envy of the world. But, obviously, soft power works only when it also serves the national interest. I am afraid that is where this debate has to be honest. Too often, international education policy has drifted away from British priorities and towards fashionable global causes, administrated by bloated bureaucracies with little regard for value for money or outcomes. My new party, Reform UK, believes in engagement with the world, but on Britain’s terms, not at our expense.

Last month, in my previous role as shadow Minister, I met with the British Council. It does invaluable work—I place that clearly on the record—but what I heard in that meeting should concern the House. Funding from the Foreign Office has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The British Council is being forced to consider the closure of up to 35 country offices, with 10 having already been lost during covid. Just £20 million would stabilise the British Council network, yet at the same time, this Government appear perfectly relaxed writing cheques running into the tens of billions for the handover of a British territory, thereby betraying British people, based on questionable interpretations of international obligations that deliver nothing tangible for the British taxpayer.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

Order. I ask the hon. Member to stick to the motion.

[Sam Rushworth]

While the hon. Member is on that point, we are all aware of a letter that he wrote in 2020, in which he urged President Elect Joe Biden to do exactly what the Government are doing. Will the hon. Member say why his opinion has changed on the matter?

[Andrew Rosindell]

I am so pleased that the hon. Member has raised that point. With your permission, Ms Vaz, I will answer it.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

I have been advised that we have to stick to the motion, which is about the International Day of Education.

[Andrew Rosindell]

I will certainly do so. To say one brief thing to the hon. Member, the letter was written to reflect the consensus of an all-party parliamentary group that I happened to be the chair of. The letter did not necessary reflect my opinions on everything. Self-determination should always determine decisions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

Order. Could the hon. Member address the Chair, please?

[Andrew Rosindell]

I will go back to the point. We are told that there is no money for the British Council, yet somehow we find the cash for all sorts of other things: for housing the people who are coming to this country illegally; for the failing digital identification experiment; and for a long list of projects that do nothing to strengthen Britain’s position in the world or to promote education.

I am sure we will shortly hear warm words from the Minister about the importance of international education, and rightly so, but those words will ring hollow when the Government are presiding over an erosion of Britain’s ability to support education, influence and cultural engagement across the globe. What makes matters worse is that the cuts are focused on British Council offices in developed countries—the countries that need our support more than most. These are places where English teaching may not be the primary objective, but where influence, networks, science, culture and diplomacy absolutely are.

The British Council is certainly not just an English teaching charity. Its stated aims are to foster cultural, scientific, technological and educational co-operation with the United Kingdom. Undermining that mission weakens Britain. However, Reform UK is not calling for a blank cheque—far from it. If Britain is to help educate the world, that education must champion the United Kingdom and its values, free speech, our model of parliamentary Government and the rule of law. It must never put Britain second.

We should not be funding programmes to apologise for our history, undermine our institutions, or promote ideologies fundamentally hostile to our way of life. Nor should international education be used as a back door for uncontrolled migration or permanent settlement. Students should come to Britain to learn, and then return home as ambassadors for this country and assets to their peers. They should certainly not be numbers that disappear into a broken system that is already overstretched.

Ahead of the International Day of Education, I say that, yes, education changes lives, but it also helps to shape geopolitics. If we hollow out our soft power while pouring money into symbolic global gestures, we will wake up—as we have for some time—poorer, weaker and less respected. Reform UK believes that Britain should engage with all nations of the world and treat all countries with respect, working with all nationalities and peoples for the best interests of humanity, but always in Britain’s national interest. Our educational institutions and global networks remain world class—dare I say, the best—but the question is whether the Government are willing to end the bipartisan policy of managed decline and once again put British cultural influence back on the map.

Local Newspapers

Debate between Andrew Rosindell and Valerie Vaz

Thursday 19th March 2015 Westminster Hall

[Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Mr Rosindell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell), who is not here, and the hon. Member for Maldon (Mr Whittingdale) for going to the Backbench Business Committee to secure this important debate.

I also pay tribute to the previous Chair, Sir Hugh Bayley. I wanted to make these remarks while he was here, and I told him I would be making them, but he has now left. This may well be the last debate he chairs—it is certainly the last debate in which I will appear before him—because he is retiring. I pay tribute to him for all his efforts in the House. He was actually in the Speaker’s Chair when I made my maiden speech, and it would have been nice to complete the circle, but that is not to be. However, I have you, Mr Rosindell, which is just as good.

[Andrew Rosindell (in the Chair)]

Thank you.

[Valerie Vaz]

I do not know whether hon. Members are aware of this, but one of my earliest jobs, before I went to university, was at the local newspaper, the Richmond and Twickenham Times, which was run by the Dimbleby newspaper group. One of the major stories that broke when I was very young was by a reporter on the Brentford and Chiswick Times called Malcolm Richards, who went on to become the editor of the Richmond and Twickenham Times. It was about a new women’s refuge in Chiswick—the first ever women’s refuge, which was set up by Erin Pizzey—and there was a lovely photograph of Malcolm and Erin sitting on the refuge steps. However, that piece would not have come about had it not been for a local reporter. Malcolm could have gone on to become a very important journalist in what we then called Fleet Street. However, he chose to stay at the Richmond and Twickenham Times, and it remained a flourishing local newspaper.

That is why it is so important for young journalists to cut their teeth in local journalism and to find out what it is like. When I was at Cambridge for a short while doing some research, one of the local journalists at the Cambridge Evening News was Alan Rusbridger. He was a fine, outstanding journalist, and we know where he has ended up. It is important for young journalists to cut their teeth on local newspapers; writing a blog or writing for the internet are slightly different from the journalism we want to see. When people have time to get the facts right and to get the evidence, we get a proper, balanced article.

The Government have a role to play, not in interfering with, but in supporting the local newspapers that inform people. When I first came to the House, local newspapers contacted me to say they were alarmed by the fact that adverts had been pulled from them. That was a pity and a shame, because it is important to encourage and support local newspapers. Local people want to be informed.

Many people will know that young David Pearce designed the new pound coin that was announced in the Budget, and he is on the front page of the Walsall Express & Star because he is a pupil at Queen Mary’s grammar school. I am very proud of the fact; it is in my constituency. That is not major news to everyone else. David was given a small piece in some of the other newspapers—but local people want to know about that. That is the importance of local newspapers.

Another major event will happen on Sunday when for the first time in its history Walsall football club will go to Wembley, for the Johnstone’s paint trophy final. We wish the team well. There will be a souvenir edition of the Walsall Advertiser and the Express & Star. It is probably not of interest to everyone else, but it is very much of interest to local people. I wonder how someone could get a souvenir edition of a blog or something on the internet. Many people keep souvenir editions. I think I have kept one of The Times from when my daughter was born. It is wrapped up in a plastic bag, and I am keeping it for her. Many parents do that with announcements about their children, or items about things that happen to them—particularly people such as David Pearce’s parents.

I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington and support the call by the NUJ not just for Government consultation but a full inquiry. The hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards), who is not in his place, mentioned that it is important to ensure that there are different models and ways of working, and it is also important to enhance the quality of local journalism. That will be a help to local journalists and the national journalists of the future. We need thriving local papers to survive in a thriving democracy.