0:00:09 > 0:00:11Every young person should
0:00:11 > 0:00:13feel they can have a career,
0:00:13 > 0:00:14a future, like I had.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18You know, it shouldn't be the lucky few.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27In the early '80s I was the deputy head of a local comprehensive school
0:00:27 > 0:00:31called Haverstock in the London Borough of Camden.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35That is, of course, where I met Ed Miliband.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39I think the education that I got in this comprehensive
0:00:39 > 0:00:41was so much more than how to pass exams.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44It was about how to look after yourself.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48It was about the world as a complex place with people of all kinds
0:00:48 > 0:00:53and all nationalities, all classes, all races.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56And that is a really important lesson in life.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I hung around with Ed from about the age of 12 onwards.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01He was like a very bright guy.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Umm...picked everything up so, so quickly.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09And to be honest, when it came to maths, kind of,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12the way that that his kind of brain works, was incredible.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17There is no doubt in my mind that Ed gets what these schools need.
0:01:17 > 0:01:23It is someone that can be trusted, and someone who was quite,
0:01:23 > 0:01:29quietly, but determinedly getting on with what needed to be done
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and not being influenced, not needing to change who he was.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36I will always be grateful to Haverstock because I don't,
0:01:36 > 0:01:37I honestly don't believe
0:01:37 > 0:01:41I would be leader of the Labour Party if it wasn't for the grounding,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45the education, the learning about life that I had from this school.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Ed was an incredible lecturer.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55He has got this incredibly wide range of knowledge and thirst
0:01:55 > 0:01:57for more knowledge, and I think
0:01:57 > 0:02:01to make the journey like that from your local comprehensive school
0:02:01 > 0:02:05to teaching at Harvard, you have probably got to have that knowledge.
0:02:05 > 0:02:12So my sophomore year at Harvard, I took a class called "What's left?"
0:02:12 > 0:02:14And there was Professor Miliband,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16it was a really difficult class to get into, actually.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21I had to stand in the hallway for the first class
0:02:21 > 0:02:23because it was so packed.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26You have got to reflect all sides, all different points of view.
0:02:26 > 0:02:27Because you are a teacher,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31you're not somebody who is trying to sort of tell people,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33"This is what you should think."
0:02:33 > 0:02:36And so you have got to listen to all sides.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39But in the end, you have got to say to people where you're coming from
0:02:39 > 0:02:40and what you're...what you believe.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44And, uh, I had a blast, it was fantastic.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Coming from a comprehensive like I did and like Ed did,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51maybe that does give you a slightly different perspective
0:02:51 > 0:02:54when you end up somewhere like Harvard, I don't know.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56But all I do know is he came across as very down to earth
0:02:56 > 0:02:57and like a decent bloke.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02One common theme from Haverstock to Harvard to training in economics,
0:03:02 > 0:03:03is hard work.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05And that came from my parents.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Not because the said all the time "You must work hard,"
0:03:08 > 0:03:12but they instilled in us a sense that
0:03:12 > 0:03:16if you wanted to get something out you need to put something in.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21If you are appointed, well in my field, a headteacher, it is sensible
0:03:21 > 0:03:25to get to know the people you are supposed to be guiding, leading.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28If you are a teacher, it is sensible to get to know
0:03:28 > 0:03:30the children that you are moving on.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32If you're going to be Prime Minister,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35well, for heaven's sake, if you don't so anything about
0:03:35 > 0:03:37most of the people in the country,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39how can you make a rational decision?
0:03:39 > 0:03:43So, to start your life in local schools,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47meeting a huge range of people, a cross section
0:03:47 > 0:03:49of that part of London,
0:03:49 > 0:03:54had to have been an advantage to him later in life as a politician.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59I think anybody with Ed's experience and background
0:03:59 > 0:04:03in that kind of school environment must be good for this country.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07I want every kid at Haverstock, at this school, who can,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11wants to go to university and has the qualifications to be able to do so,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14but equally, I want those who don't want to go to university
0:04:14 > 0:04:17but have huge talent and ability in other ways,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19I want that to be tapped into,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I want them to be able to not be bored at school
0:04:21 > 0:04:24or just sort of drift through life with no qualifications,
0:04:24 > 0:04:25let's get them the best qualifications,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27the best vocational qualifications.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Let's celebrate what they can do.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32When I have people coming up to me, saying, "I am a young person
0:04:32 > 0:04:36"I can't find a job, I have sent off my CV to so many people
0:04:36 > 0:04:38"and nothing seems to be going right for me,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41"banging my head against a brick wall."
0:04:41 > 0:04:43That makes me angry and frustrated and think,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46"Actually, I could be doing a much better job than this lot
0:04:46 > 0:04:48"and we could be doing something about it."