A former primary school teacher has used her maiden speech to urge schools to teach children to think critically in the era of ”fake news”.

Newly elected Labour MP Emma Hardy, who represents Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle and will sit on the Commons Education Select Committee, railed against reducing schools to “learning factories” as she described how she became interested in politics while working as a teacher.

Speaking during a debate on drugs policy in the Commons this afternoon, Ms Hardy said the “narrowing” of the curriculum means the talents of many children were being wasted.

She told MPs: “We should not be making our schools into learning factories who churn out compliant, unquestioning units for work.

“We want our children to be creative, to question, to inquire, to explore and think independently, especially during this era of fake news.

“We are discussing the reform of drugs law without asking ourselves if we only ever teach our children to obey adults unquestioningly, how can they ever understand when they shouldn’t?”

Ms Hardy called for drugs education to be included in wider personal, social and health education, which she said must be protected rather than being pushed out of the curriculum like many arts subjects.

She said: “There is no point having a drugs education programme if there is no time to teach it.

“Some parents can compensate for the narrowing of this curriculum by paying for music, dance, art, drama or sports clubs.

“But many can’t and we are wasting the talents and abilities of so many of our children because of the failed way we judge schools.”

Paying tribute to her father, who left school without many qualifications and went on to become a headteacher, she also urged ministers to invest in further education to offer people a second chance.