David Lammy: ‘I would have been a criminal if I hadn’t been a choirboy’

David Lammy has said that becoming a choir boy helped him avoid falling into a life of crime.

The Tottenham MP, who grew up in London, took up a choral scholarship in Peterborough as an 11-year-old in the 1980s.Speaking to Yahoo’s White Wine Question Time podcast, Lammy spoke about the importance of leaving home to take his place.

“It was one of those moments.

It’s why my politics are like they are.

“I’ve got friends who ended up in prison.

It was just a roll of a dice and I could’ve been like that as well.” he said.Asked what might have happened if he hadn’t had the opportunity, Lammy said: “I would’ve ended up inside, certainly caught up in crime.”