LABOUR leader Ed Miliband was quizzed on benefit reforms and other hot topics by Notts teenagers.
Mr Miliband and his wife Justine visited West Bridgford School yesterday.
They were given a tour of the school by students and head teacher Rob McDonough, while Justine – a former pupil – met some of her old teachers.
Then Mr Miliband was grilled by students in the school hall in an hour-long question-and-answer session.
One student asked him about the benefit reforms being brought in by the current coalition Government which included lower-than-inflation rises in welfare benefits, and what, if anything, he would change.
He responded: "What we have to do is unify the country. There are lots of people out there who are desperate to work and don't have a job and who are on benefits. We have got to create jobs for these people.
"But there are a minority who are not working when they could be working. These would see their benefits cut."
Mr Miliband was also asked what he would do to improve provision for people with mental health issues if his party won the next General Election.
He said: "If you have a physical health problem, you go to the hospital or to see your GP.
"If you have a mental health problem, it is so much harder because there is embarrassment involved. We have to change that.
"This is not just an issue for the health service, but for employers and schools and so on."
Another student asked whether people should be able to vote at 16, as has been suggested by some MPs. He questioned whether the Education Maintenance Allowance, money given to 16 to 18-year-olds to go into further education, would have been scrapped if this had been the case.
And one student asked Mr Miliband if he felt the cost of a first-class stamp – currently 60p – was justified.
"It is expensive," he said. "But that is something I'm unable to talk too much on."
Mr Miliband told the gathering of students and staff that it was vital more jobs were created and that apprenticeships were just as valuable as university degrees.
He commended the students for their questions, telling them: "These were brilliant questions. These were the best set of questions I have had in a long time."
He told the Post he had enjoyed his visit – including finding out his wife had occasionally caused difficulty for her teachers in the 1980s.
"I didn't realise she was a trouble-maker," he joked.
Mr McDonough said: "It went really well. We were delighted to meet Justine and for a number of staff to see her again.
"Having a politician of the standing of Ed Miliband in school was great for the children."
