“There is a direct link between the work I’m doing now and the experience I had growing up”
@wesstreeting has a painful and personal understanding of his role as shadow secretary of state for child poverty
thetimes.co.uk/article/labour…
@wesstreeting has a painful and personal understanding of his role as shadow secretary of state for child poverty
thetimes.co.uk/article/labour…
“Even among the working-class kids, it felt like we were the poor working class"
He can still feel the embarrassment of being on free school meals. “You had to queue for a dinner ticket. Instantly, in front of the entire hall, you were marked out as one of the poor kids.”
He can still feel the embarrassment of being on free school meals. “You had to queue for a dinner ticket. Instantly, in front of the entire hall, you were marked out as one of the poor kids.”
He now operates in a different world as a Labour MP and home owner. “I’m not ashamed to say I lead a very middle-class life now,” he says, but his background is never far from his mind. “It has shaped who I am.” 
He is a gay Christian Cambridge graduate who is also tough on crime and patriotic.
“We’ve given the impression in recent years that we’re more comfortable with other people’s flags than our own and that’s a problem"
“We’ve given the impression in recent years that we’re more comfortable with other people’s flags than our own and that’s a problem"
Streeting is a natural optimist, but he says his party must understand how dire things have become. “We must never underestimate how bad that 2019 defeat was and the level of change that is needed"
He is baffled by leftwingers who boast that they could “never be friends with a Tory”.
“You only win general elections when you’re the Labour Party by persuading people who previously voted Tory to vote Labour,” Streeting says. “Of course I’ve got Tory friends.”
“You only win general elections when you’re the Labour Party by persuading people who previously voted Tory to vote Labour,” Streeting says. “Of course I’ve got Tory friends.”
He is relieved finally to have a leader who he actually wants to see in No 10. “I can knock on doors, look people in the eye and say, ‘This person is the best candidate for prime minister.’ ”
At the age of 38, Streeting is already being talked of as a possible future Labour leader, a centrist who supporters say could win back the party’s traditional working-class voters without alienating middle England
Does he think the country is ready for a gay prime minister? “I don’t think there are barriers to those things any more,” Streeting replies.
"I think people often underestimate the decency of the British people."
Read the full interview: thetimes.co.uk/article/labour…
"I think people often underestimate the decency of the British people."
Read the full interview: thetimes.co.uk/article/labour…
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