Tulip Siddiq MP

• HUNDREDS of head teachers marched to Downing Street this month to demand that the government safeguards their supplementary funding after 2020.

The teachers warned that without the funds guaranteed soon they will be unable to plan for the future and unable to survive.

Working with Granville nursery in our constituency and the fantastic head teacher, Leslie Benson, I have seen the pressure that our maintained nurseries face.

A few years ago we fought to save the school from closure. As a former governor, I know first-hand the immense value the Granville provides. I will not, and cannot, allow it to close.

I was pleased to support the lobby day and I will continue to scrutinise the government’s record on our nurseries.

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group, I am holding an inquiry into the funding crisis facing nurseries, which I hope will inform better policy-making in the future.

Long-term, substantial funding is needed to support our nurseries not only to survive, but to thrive.

If the government is serious in tackling our “burning injustices” they must guarantee these extra funds without delay. If not, a whole generation of children will lose out, and our society with them.

TULIP SIDDIQ MP
Labour, Hampstead & Kilburn