I often get asked why I am so bothered about state education and the choices families make. The answer is that I went to a comprehensive in the 1970s/80s that wasn't supported by the whole community because it had recently been a secondary modern school. I believe that my classmates would have done better if everyone in the town had got behind the school, plus it would have strengthened the local community.

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I spent 21 years at the BBC, mainly as a TV reporter. For ten years I was Newsnight's first culture correspondent, finding original stories within the world of arts and culture and interviewing celebrities.