On Saturday I took my youngest son to visit Warwick University for an open day, doing very much the same thing as my parents did with me 35 years ago. Coming from a mining area and very, very working class stock - even though I would have liked to attend - at the time university was not for me. What we now describe as the barriers to education were as high as they could have been for anyone.
My mum would tell me "you don't need education, get a job in the hosiery factory", my dad would tell me "you can't afford education, get a job in the hosiery factory".
Within a decade, of course, all of the hosiery factories had gone. Just like the impact of the pit closures that came before them too many young lads who left school at the same time as me had little in the way of a future.
I didn't go to university, but I was relatively fortunate that I learned from an early age that if you could talk a good game and, more importantly, understand the meaning of the word 'nuance' doors would open for you.
I went from working in a butchers, to working at the council, in IT, education, journalism, politics and now public affairs.
Last week I flew to Belfast to chair a panel at a conference of headteachers of some of the world's leading schools. It amazes me that in thirty years that I've gone from plucking turkeys to that.
But, you know what?
More than anything I've learnt for all their good intentions my parents were wrong. There is nothing more important than education. I have been incredibly lucky in taking an irregular route, so many are not so fortunate.
Sadly, there are still far too many white working-class households who don't value education and with each passing generation they, and the outcomes they experience, keep falling behind.
There is nothing more important in Britain today than addressing the cultural challenge of improving educational outcomes amongst the white working-class. Until that happens the inequality gap will only ever become wider.