This chapter reflects on the speaker's happy childhood despite experiencing poverty and highlights the impact of their parents' energy and joy. The speakers discuss the admiration for a politician who grew up in poverty and became a role model, and the impact of poverty on their own political beliefs. They emphasize the importance of equal opportunities for children from different backgrounds.
The Labour MP Wes Streeting reveals his childhood struggle with poverty and the inspirational figures who set him on the path to university and politics in this discussion with BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Justin Webb. Streeting grew up in London’s East End and is now the UK’s shadow health secretary. He explains how the influence of his mother and two grandfathers had a lasting impact on his outlook and how an innate sense of optimism has allowed him to get to where he is today, as told in his recent book: One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up.
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