To be checked against delivery

Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, distinguished guests, staff and students of the Open University.

You do me great honour in awarding me this honorary degree. I am very conscious that I am in the company of totally exceptional people- the students of the Open University who in studying for their degree have shown exceptional qualities of hard work, tough sacrifices, great dedication and total commitment.

I, on the other hand, only have to make this short address to get my degree - actually I already have it and they cannot take it back! It’s not fair, is it?

But it is a pleasure for me to be in the company of individuals who have seized a second chance - in many cases, against the odds and their own expectations.

Congratulations on what is a remarkable personal achievement. For you, today must taste very sweet.

Congratulations too to your family and friends who have had to put up with your highs and lows. That support will have been crucial. Today you proudly share the credit.

And to the OU and its staff, congratulations too. You can be proud of your work - and to have the privilege of seeing your students swell with the confidence that a sense of achievement can bring. Without your efforts as teachers, scholars, coaches, motivators, counsellors, and administrators, there would be no celebrations of success today. You have made it all possible.

So this celebration is not just about personal achievement - real though that is - but about collective effort and common endeavour too - the best things in life usually are.

Trade unions have always known that the individual thrives best as part of a collective framework, just as, by the way, Britain can never be an isolated island in the world but must be active with our neighbours in the world’s biggest peace, solidarity and prosperity process - the European Union.

Learning has always been close to the trade union heart. Second chance education was largely started by trade union influenced bodies like the Workers Education Association, Ruskin College, the miners libraries, mechanics institutes and so on. And we claim that our genes were present at the conception of the OU, and are in its culture today.

And the work goes on. With the Government - and some employer- encouragement - unions are helping individuals who missed out at school get a footing on the learning ladder.

As you will know, many adults don’t want to go back to school which they associate with failure - not having been one of those who collected the glittering prizes.

And many others will be suspicious and resistant when an employer takes the initiative on learning opportunities. They think that if they fail, they will top the next redundancy list.

Unions fill the gaps - giving people the confidence to learn - with more than 8000 union learning representatives (and a target of 22,000 by 2010). One of the proudest moments of my life as TUC General Secretary happened when I was presenting certificates at Solihull College. People were filing across the platform like today when one man stopped and said “can I say something?” He said

“This is the first certificate I have ever had (it was Level I, health and safety) and all the family are here to see me receive it. It’s the proudest day of my life. I would like to thank Land Rover, Solihull College, my union, the T&G, and the TUC for making this moment possible, my best day ever.”

There was not a dry eye in the house.

There are probably many stories of heroic endeavour out there among you - I am not encouraging you all to stop and tell them today - but please, pass them on to inspire others.

“No man is an island” said the poet John Donne “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.” No-one has put it better than that.

And as you all move on, savour today the delight of achievement, but remember too the obligations to all the others.

Thank you. *****