Prime Ministerial hopeful Liz Truss has claimed Leeds City Council “cared more about political correctness” than teaching English and maths when she was at school in the city.
Ms Truss, who is widely tipped to become the next Conservative Party leader on Monday, attended Roundhay High School in the late 1980s and early 90s.
Ms Truss has made similarly scathing comments about her education in Leeds before, including earlier on in the leadership contest in July, when she claimed standards were “poor” at the school.
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Critics later accused her of misrepresenting the area, in north-east Leeds, and the school itself. But speaking at an LBC event on Wednesday night, Ms Truss doubled down, saying: “What I saw at my school, is I saw some children being let down.
“They were let down by low expectations, because of the area of the city they lived in. They were let down because of Leeds City Council, who cared more about political correctness, than making sure all the children understood English and maths.
“They were let down by a lack of opportunity in the area and I thought that waste of talent was wrong.”
Leeds City Council declined to respond to the comments on Thursday.
But Labour’s MP for Leeds North East, Fabian Hamilton, accused Ms Truss of trying to throw the school “under the bus” and noted that she went onto Oxford University after attending the secondary.
He wrote on Twitter: “She seems to forget that it was her party that was in power throughout her education. Roundhay is a great school and was rebuilt by Labour.”
The school was rated ‘satisfactory’ by Ofsted during Ms Truss’ time there. It is now rated ‘outstanding’.
The Foreign Secretary’s latest remarks echo similar sentiments she expressed in December 2020, when she was then minister for women and equalities. At that time, she said: “While we were taught about racism and sexism, there was too little time spent making sure everyone could read and write.
“Rather than promote policies that would have been a game changer for the disenfranchised like better education and business opportunities, there was a preference for symbolic gestures.”
In response to that at the time, Leeds City Council’s then cabinet member for employment and skills, Jonathan Pryor, said: “The fact that a Conservative MP infers that being taught about sexism and racism is a waste of time speaks volumes.
“Schools should absolutely be teaching that sexism and racism have no place in society.
“Liz Truss should be thanking teachers now, not obsessing over her poor recollection of the 1980s.”
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