Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life - Statement

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 7:33 pm on 7 July 2025.

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Photo of Lord Addington Lord Addington Liberal Democrat 7:33, 7 July 2025

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. It is good to have the whole thing read out; it gives you some context. As pages 4 and 6 of the Statement mention, we are talking about parents reading to children—and, before that, the Minister spoke about how good an advantage it is if you do all the right things. We then talk about SEN. To go back to nurse, in my case, I am dyslexic, and 70% of the dyslexics in the country are unidentified. It tends to have a downward spiral effect on your income and earnings. What are we doing to make sure that libraries and assistive technology are used to get children used to the idea that books are good things? You cannot rely on all parents doing this. Will we, for instance, make sure that libraries are available and that they have access to the new technology? Before I sit down, I had better remind the House that I am chairman of Microlink PC, which is an assisted tech company.

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