Will SEND be Labour's Next Rebellion?
Politics Unpacked
Anna Covell
4.1 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The government hopes to tackle the sensitive and costly system for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) in England - but will Labour MPs support the reforms, or force Starmer into yet another U-turn?
Hugo Rifkind unpacks the politics of the day with Charlotte Ivers and Seb Payne.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Hugo Rifkin, and now we're going to be unpacking the politics of the day. |
| 0:09.3 | From where the Labour rebels will look to force another government you turn on special education, |
| 0:13.6 | to reforms pledged to restore Britain as a Christian nation, |
| 0:17.3 | and we'll also get nerdy about Erskine May as well. |
| 0:19.9 | And joining me today is Jacob Rees-Mogg's favourites. Well, I actually agree with what Sebastian Payne wrote in the Times recently. Hello, Seb. That's my alarm clock that when I get up. Thank you for that, Hugo. And we are also joined by Charlotte Ivers, who unlike me and Seb, doesn't have a clip of praise from Jacob Rees-Mogg, but we asked him about it and he said, I can't think why your listeners would care about my views, but I will |
| 0:40.9 | keep an eye out for pieces by Charlotte Ivers so that I can make an obliging comment in the natural course of events. Thank you, Jacob, so fingers crossed. Hello, Charlotte. Fascinating. I did not know this had been happening. |
| 0:50.7 | Well, I'm sure he'll be reading your looming |
| 0:52.9 | TV reviews. |
| 0:54.3 | Exactly. |
| 0:54.6 | But I now worry if we don't hear from him. |
| 0:56.2 | He's read every single one desperately trying to find Well, I'm sure he'll be reading your looming TV reviews. |
| 0:54.5 | Well, exactly. I'm not worried if we don't hear from him. |
| 0:56.2 | He's read every single one desperately trying to find something to praise and just go, oh no. Terrible. Yeah, not that one. I can't in good faith put my name to this. Look, fingers crossed, it'll happen soon. We've got a lot to cover. Let's crack on. a major overhaul for children with special educational needs and disabilities. |
| 1:11.1 | It's going to see four billion pounds of funding for England's mainstream schools. cover, let's crack on a major overhaul for children with special educational needs and disabilities. |
| 1:14.4 | It's going to see four billion pounds of funding for England's mainstream schools. |
| 1:17.9 | The Education Secretary Bridget Philipson has been speaking this morning. |
| 1:21.0 | That journey of change in our schools still has far to go. |
| 1:25.1 | Because our system works well for some children, but not all. |
| 1:26.3 | Not all. |
| 1:30.0 | I was lucky. Jack was lucky. These sorts of stories give me hope, but it's the others that drive me. The children like us who went off to school |
| 1:37.1 | every morning, just like we did, with dreams to do well just like we had, but who went to different |
| 1:43.7 | schools, taught by different teachers, |
... |
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