DAVID Cameron has pledged a “revolution” in Britain’s state education.

The Conservative leader, speaking exclusively to the M.E.N., revealed plans to allow co-operatives of parents and teachers to set up and run their own schools.

He was speaking as a new report penned by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith put education at the heart of the problems facing a “divided” Manchester.

The document – called “Breakthrough Manchester” – contrasted the booming city centre with a range of social and economic problems facing the inner city estates.

It pointed out the Manchester had the highest truancy rates in the country, low levels of academic achievement, the nation’s lowest male life expectancy and – in Greater Manchester as a whole – more crime per head than anywhere else in England and Wales.

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Cameron said Mr Duncan Smith’s report had been “optimistic, not pessimistic” despite referring to “social breakdown” in the city.

“In the last 10 years we have seen real strides forward for Manchester,” said Mr Cameron. “If you look at some of the fantastic infrastructure and the economy there have been real improvements. But there are also real problems.”

The Tory leader said the city’s education performance was “just not good enough in this day and age”.

“Money is not enough,” he said. “We have got to have real discipline in our schools. We have got to allow headteachers to exclude pupils who are wrecking the education of others.

“We have got to have teaching methods that really work.”

Co-operatives

Mr Cameron said co-operatives were one of a number of “new bodies” who should be allowed to set up and run schools.

“The co-operative movement started here in Manchester,” he said. “Let’s have more co-operative schools owned by parents or teachers or combinations of parents and teachers. It works elsewhere.

“This is a revolution. At the moment all schools are effectively owned, run and controlled more or less by the state.

“In other countries – Holland, Sweden – what you see is other organisations coming into schools and raising standards.”

On health, Mr Cameron said Manchester’s low life expectancy was “a scandal”.

He called for a prioritisation of public health matters – such as obesity and problem drinking – saying it had been “treated the like poor relation” of the NHS.

Mr Cameron said it was “the responsibility of all of us” to cut crime rates. But he accused the government of failing to tackle the deep-rooted problem that fuelled gun and gang violence.

Measures

“A horrific shooting takes place, a crackdown is announced, a package of measures is thrown out there to appease the press – but the long-term things that need to be done are forgotten about,” he said. “That is about family and social breakdown.”

Mr Cameron said it was not acceptable that one in five working age adults in Manchester were not working, but instead living on benefits. He pointed out there were 18,000 people in the city who have been on incapacity benefit for more than five years.

“Some people should be on benefits, who can’t work, and they need to be supported by society,” he said. “Then there are people on incapacity benefit who could work but are not being pushed in terms of the right work for them. And there are some who really just should not be on the benefit and should be in work.”

Mr Cameron said the planned supercasino in east Manchester – which would have bought 3,000 jobs to the city before Gordon Brown put the brake on the development in summer – was not the answer.

“We have always had worries about problem gambling,” he said. “It looks like the supercasino is off the agenda. Frankly from our perspective, before it comes back we really want to see our concerns about problem gambling addressed.”

Mr Cameron said the new report showed his party remained committed to Manchester despite still having no seats on the city council.

“We recognise what an important city it is to Britain, to our economy, our culture,” he said. “We are thoroughly committed to Manchester. Of course I want us to be represented but sometimes these things can take a bit of time.”

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