Alastair Campbell inadvertently but accurately summed up everything that is wrong with politics in this country when he suggested that “arguing” could be the name for teaching politics in schools (Politics should be taught in primary schools, Alastair Campbell says, 25 May). Arguing is a sterile, counterproductive activity if it does not have a philosophical base. Simple philosophical ideas do have a place in every child’s life from an early age. Some of the words form part of early vocabulary.
How often do adults explore with children words such as fair, kind and share? How often are the consequences of doing what you want discussed beyond the immediate and practical? If politics or arguing is to go beyond pure self-interest, it needs a philosophical base. Rooting it in the real world with its limitations and resources is where economics comes in. Philosophy, politics and economics in primary school should be seen as basic life skills and embedded in the curriculum. The performance of PPE graduates in parliament seems to indicate that it is a university course of little merit in character-building.
John Sommer
Saltford, Bristol
• It is debatable if lessons in arguing, as Alastair Campbell recommends, would improve the dreadful state of politics. An English teacher I met, who actively supported inter-school debate, said that being expected to effectively argue either side of a topic undermined the reality that often one policy is correct and one point of view true. He illustrated this perfectly with Boris Johnson’s two articles before the Brexit referendum, when winning tactics were all that mattered.
Martin Cooper
Bromley, London
• Lowering the voting age to 16 when about a third of 18- to 24-year-olds aren’t even registered to vote seems perverse (Starmer is right – giving young people the vote will mean fewer big Tory wins, 26 May). Meanwhile, Alastair Campbell talks about the importance of education in politics starting at an early age. What is needed is joined-up thinking and a campaign to explain the way that our governance works, focused on young people but open to all.
Lyn A Dade
Twickenham, London
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