Was a pleasure to speak with Peter Cardwell on TalkTV.

I shared my views concerning Gove’s wholly discriminatory (and unlawful?) initiative to stop the benefits of families whose children ‘truant’.

Neurodivergence, trauma, mental health issues, bullying and draconian behaviour policies are just a few reasons why thousands of children CANNOT access learning. High time the government addressed these issues by investing the billions needed to better fund, train and resource schools and mental health services, as opposed to conveniently passing the blame to families for the government’s continued negligence.

Professor Chris Pascal OBE said of the interview:

What you did (and the call after helped too) was to completely take the wind out of the simplistic and morally repugnant argument that parents should lose benefits and that this would fix the problem by focusing brilliantly on the complex needs of these children and the failure of the system to offer them and the families the support they deserve and need. You shifted the moral high ground right back to children’s rights and needs and shamed these ethically bankrupt, ill-informed and arrogant opinion formers. You were clear, informed, persistent and morally secure in your position. Hurrah for Dr Mine Conkbayir!