This site requires JavaScript for certain functions and interactions to work. Please turn on JavaScript for the best possible experience.

Menu

Wed, 5 February 2025

PoliticsHome

Search

Newsletter Signup

Rob Halfon MP

@halfon4harlowMP

The government must act now to ensure thousands of ‘ghost’ pupils return to school

02 Oct 2022 Environment

The government must act now to ensure thousands of ‘ghost’ pupils return to school

A new term beckons. New teachers, fresh uniforms, unfamiliar classmates. In Parliament, a new Prime Minister and Cabinet to boot.

Prisoners should be offered apprenticeships while incarcerated to help them gain skills for jobs upon release

21 Jan 2022 Education

Prisoners should be offered apprenticeships while incarcerated to help them gain skills for jobs upon release

It is little wonder that reoffending rates are so high in this country – at around 42 per cent – when the odds of finding a job are stacked against prison leavers.

We should introduce a ‘triple lock’ of protections to safeguard against future school closures

03 Nov 2021 Education

We should introduce a ‘triple lock’ of protections to safeguard against future school closures

Readers will have heard me say before that school closures have been nothing short of a national disaster for our children. Between the outbreak of the pandemic and July 2021, pupils have missed 58 per cent of all classroom time.

We must act to stop our children’s life chances being forever harmed by Covid

05 Oct 2021 Education

We must act to stop our children’s life chances being forever harmed by Covid

As we emerge into a world changed by Covid, we need an education system that gives everyone, no matter their background or where they are in the country, the chance to climb the ladder of opportunity.

Without a proper education recovery plan, we risk creating a generation of ghost children

02 Jul 2021 Education

Without a proper education recovery plan, we risk creating a generation of ghost children

We often talk about limiting the damage to the economy – but there can be nothing more important than acting to protect the lives and future prosperity of our young people.

Anti-Semitism on university campuses must not be ignored

19 May 2021 Home affairs

Anti-Semitism on university campuses must not be ignored

As a proud British Jewish MP, I never imagined that I would live at a time when I and the Jewish community would question whether Britain is a safe place for Jews anymore.

We need a long-term education plan to ensure left-behind pupils aren’t mired in a Covid swamp

06 Jan 2021 Education

We need a long-term education plan to ensure left-behind pupils aren’t mired in a Covid swamp

The decision to close schools will accelerate education social injustices. We need to ensure a level playing field for all students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Lessons from 2020: Extending free school meals has changed government policy on hunger and is a step towards ending child food poverty

15 Dec 2020 Education

Lessons from 2020: Extending free school meals has changed government policy on hunger and is a step towards ending child food poverty

There is more the government could do to cement policies that tackle food poverty in the long term. 2020 might just be the year we started strengthening our social capital.

Failing to plug skills gaps will set us back on the road to recovery

17 Nov 2020 Education

Failing to plug skills gaps will set us back on the road to recovery

Putting colleges at the centre of recovery is the only way to drive us to a better, more prosperous future, with skills gaps in crucial sectors, closing, not widening.

Now more than ever the government must implement a long-term strategy to combat child hunger

19 Oct 2020 Education

Now more than ever the government must implement a long-term strategy to combat child hunger

The Prime Minister should work with Marcus Rashford on a long-term solution to end child food poverty. Extending free school meals over the school holidays - at least while Covid-19 restrictions remain and job losses continue - would be a welcome first step.

The consequences of Covid-19 means radical reform is needed in Kurdistan – Britain can help

09 Oct 2020 Foreign affairs

The consequences of Covid-19 means radical reform is needed in Kurdistan – Britain can help

Due to Covid-19, demand for oil has plummeted. On top of this are the costs of war, looking after more than a million displaced people, and years of under-funding by Baghdad governments – radical reform and economic diversification is needed.