Last week I challenged Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, to tell students  from City and Islington College why the Tory-led  Government is scrapping the Educational Maintenance Allowance.

City and Islington College is an excellent College with great students. It’s been nationally recognised for its performance, with a Beacon Award for Excellence in 2005, and it gets fantastic results.

The students I spoke to are the “Free School Dinners” kids that the government claims it wants to get to University.

For them, the EMA isn’t a luxury-they use it to pay for the books, the travel and the food that they need for College.

During the EMA debate last Wednesday, I challenged Michael Gove to meet the students from City and Islington and explain why he  is scrapping the EMA. He has agreed to come with me to City and Islington, and I am looking forward to the grilling the students will give him. If he comes with an open mind, he will have it changed.

I was featured with the City and Islington students on the Politics Show last Sunday.

And the Islington Tribue featured the City and Islington students in last week’s edition