On the day last month when Rishi Sunak took an hour to explain why cancelling trains to the north was a good thing, I was listening to a different political speech altogether. In a cluttered and curtained-off further education college classroom in Banbury, Oxfordshire, a student was arguing for a curriculum and learning styles that adapt to individual students, rather than forcing them into cramped uniformity.
Her nonchalant teenage audience surprised themselves by nodding in spontaneous agreement. Some even offered up a parliamentary-style “hear, hear”. Her voice wavering as she recounted her experiences at school, and made a plea for those “shunned for differences that should have been embraced and nurtured in their youth”. That speech was just a few minutes long. Written in under two hours, and lacking the polish that paid professionals could provide, it was nevertheless a more grounded, heartfelt and engaging argument than the one being cheered by the Conservatives in Manchester.
