Labour MP Peter Swallow has made a powerful case for rebalancing the education system, warning that Britain’s future workforce will lack critical skills unless humanities subjects are given equal weight alongside STEM.

Writing in a comment piece for Labour Home, Swallow – a former Latin teacher – argued that the rise of AI makes humanities education more vital, not less. While science and technology are central to innovation, he stressed that “building useful systems also requires effective communication and creative problem solving,” skills best honed through the study of literature, history, philosophy, and the arts.

“The danger,” he wrote, “is that we develop technology without morality, innovation without empathy, and progress without wisdom.”

Swallow pointed to the government’s English Baccalaureate (EBacc) reforms as a major barrier, saying the narrow subject list introduced under Michael Gove has “discouraged students from studying what they really love” and undervalued disciplines like art, music, drama, and economics. He urged reform of the EBacc to allow greater choice and breadth.

The MP drew on both personal and political experience to illustrate his point. Reflecting on the Assisted Dying Bill, he said it was a moment that required “collective questioning of who we are and how we may want to approach the end of our lives”—a fundamentally human and humanities-driven question.

Swallow also highlighted the challenges posed by “agentic AI” – artificial intelligence systems capable of operating autonomously – and warned that Britain risks falling behind on AI ethics and governance if it produces a workforce without the human skills to guide technology responsibly.

Citing the Skills Builder Partnership’s 2024 Essential Skills Tracker, which found that only 24% of professionals believe students are being given opportunities to strengthen skills like problem-solving and literacy, Swallow argued for urgent curriculum reform. He noted that the last national review of the curriculum was in 2014 – before TikTok, before OpenAI, and when the iPhone was just seven years old.

“Students’ futures look remarkably different today,” he wrote, “and while the argument for STEM remains valid, so too is the call for a more holistic approach that incorporates humanities education to equip students with the age-old skills to tackle the problems of the future.”

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By Labour Home Staff Writer