I said, what would you say to a mother who is desperate to get her child into a good school?

And you've reduced the number of places at that good school so she can't get a child in.

Ms. Philipson did not have a response.

She's saying she loves academies.

But if you take away those freedoms from academies, they are no longer academies.

It's the freedoms that we've got that have

raised standards. She said to me several times, well, we just disagree. And I said, well, what experience

do you have? Have you ever run a school? Have you ever been a teacher? Do you know what I'm talking

about? She's not listening. Hello, I'm Fraser Myers, Deputy Editor of Spiked, and I'm delighted to be

joined in conversation with Catherine Berble Singh, the head of the Michaela School. Catherine,

welcome. Thanks for having me.

Catherine, a lot of people will know about Labour's war on private schools, but some of the things

it's planning for state schools, which affects a far larger number of pupils and schools

like your own are probably a bit less well-known. You have written two open letters to Bridget

Philipson, the education secretary.

You've had meetings with her about her plans.

I think it's fair to say you're deeply unimpressed by what's being proposed.

Could you give the viewer a sense of what she's planning and why is it so dangerous?

Yeah, sure. And, you know, most importantly, why is it so dangerous? Yeah, sure.

And, you know, most importantly, why is she not asking questions of the successful leaders in the country, school leaders,

who obviously know more than she does about how to run a successful school?

So what are the things?

...