Understandably, the Olympics have been in the news a lot lately.  There is just one year to go till the opening ceremony in Stratford and the start of the biggest sporting event in the world.

Visiting local schools, I see how the spirit of the games has reached and inspired our children with the most important Olympic message of all:  be the best we can and work hard to achieve our goals.

It is important that we remember, though, that a plucky spirit is not enough.  Our children need investment in their futures, so they can realise this potential.

I often join primary children for lunch, watching them fill their plates with colourful food.  To set a good example, I always ensure there is plenty of salad on my plate, too.

In Newham, 30,000 primary school children are eligible for free school meals, through a pilot introduced by the last Labour Government and now fully funded by Newham Council.

The Council faces swingeing cuts and is losing the resources to plug the gaps left by Cameron’s Government.

As an avid fan of ‘The Apprentice,’ I was not surprised to hear how Lord Sugar dismiss Jim’s business plan for educational services. “ What have school’s not got?  Money!”

Significant cuts are hurting our school budgets, despite claims by the ConDems that the ‘Pupil Premium’ will bring extra money to communities like ours.

Our schools are forced to reduce the number of vital support staff, while cuts to the Exceptional Resource Fund mean the children who most need help will, sadly, no longer have access to the support Labour made possible.

This Government promised us additional funding.  That promise, like so many others, has been broken.