0:00:08 > 0:00:13Every young person should feel they can have a career, a future.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14Like I had.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17You know, it shouldn't be the lucky few.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25In the early '80s, I was the deputy head
0:00:25 > 0:00:29of a local comprehensive school called Haverstock
0:00:29 > 0:00:31in the London Borough of Camden.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35And that's, of course, where I met Ed Miliband.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38I think the education that I got in this comprehensive
0:00:38 > 0:00:41was so much more than how to pass exams.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It was about how you look after yourself,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46it was about... that the world is a complex place
0:00:46 > 0:00:50with people of all kinds and all nationalities,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52all classes, all races.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55And, you know, that is a really important lesson in life.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59I kind of hung around with Ed from about the age of 12 onwards.
0:00:59 > 0:01:05He was, like, a very bright guy. Picked everything up so, so quickly.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09To be honest, when it came to maths, kind of,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12the way that his kind of brain worked was incredible.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17There is no doubt in my mind that Ed gets what these schools need.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20He's someone that could be trusted.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22And someone who was, you know,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26quite quietly but determinedly,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30getting on with what needed to be done and not being influenced,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33not needing to change who he was.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36I'll always be grateful to Haverstock.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Because I honestly don't believe I'd be leader of the Labour Party
0:01:39 > 0:01:42if it wasn't for the grounding, the education,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45the learning about life that I had from this school.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Ed was an incredible lecturer.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53He's got this incredibly wide-ranging knowledge,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56and thirst for more knowledge.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58And I think to make a journey like that
0:01:58 > 0:02:02from your local comprehensive school to teaching at Harvard,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04you've probably got to have that knowledge.
0:02:04 > 0:02:11So my sophomore year at Harvard, I took a class called What's Left.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14And there was Professor Miliband.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17It was a really difficult class to get into, actually.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21I had to stand in the hallway for the first class,
0:02:21 > 0:02:22because it was so packed.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26You've got to reflect all sides, all different points of view.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Because if you're a teacher, you're not somebody who is
0:02:29 > 0:02:32trying to, sort of, tell people, "This is what you should think."
0:02:32 > 0:02:35And so you've got to listen to all sides, but in the end,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38you've got to say to people where you're coming from,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and what you believe.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43And I had a blast, it was fantastic.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Coming from a comprehensive like I did, and like Ed did,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50maybe that does give you a slight different perspective,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53when you end up somewhere like Harvard. I don't know.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54All I do know is
0:02:54 > 0:02:57he came across as very down-to-earth and like a decent bloke.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02One common theme from Haverstock to Harvard to training in economics,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04is hard work. And that came from my parents.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Not because they said all the time "You must work hard,"
0:03:08 > 0:03:12but they instilled in us a sense that, you know,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15if you wanted to get something out, you need to put something in.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19If you're appointed, well, in my field, head teacher,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22it's sensible to get to know the people
0:03:22 > 0:03:24you're supposed to be guiding, leading.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26If you're a teacher,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29it's sensible to get to know the children that you're moving on.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33If you're going to be Prime Minister, well, for heaven's sake,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36if you don't anything about most of the people in the country,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38how can you make a rational decision?
0:03:38 > 0:03:43So to start your life in local schools, you know,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46meeting a huge range of people,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50a cross section of that part of London,
0:03:50 > 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 > 0:04:06I want every kid at Haverstock, at this school,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08who can, who wants to go to university
0:04:08 > 0:04:10and has the qualifications, to be able to do so.
0:04:10 > 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 > 0:04:23or just drift through life with no qualifications.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Let's get them the best qualifications,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27the best vocational qualifications.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28Let's celebrate what they can do.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32When I have people coming up to me saying, "I'm a young person,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36"I can't find a job, I've 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 > 0:04:40"banging my head against a brick wall."
0:04:40 > 0:04:44You know, that makes me angry and frustrated and think,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46actually, I could be doing a much better job than this lot
0:04:46 > 0:04:48and we could be doing something about it.