Oh Britain, what have you done (part ∞+21)?

And while Brexit rumbles on.

Our schools are beyond breaking point – where is the outrage

‘Early April brought news of a school in West Yorkshire that has introduced a once-a-week “dark day” when all the lights are turned off.’

‘
And if you want a case study in the awfulness of modern education policy, look no further than Baron Agnew of Oulton, the 58-year-old alumnus of Rugby school and businessman who, as if to highlight the smooth workings of our 21st-century meritocracy, is a minister at the Department for Education. Last year, he said he was “like a pig out hunting for truffles when it comes to finding waste in schools”. The baron bet headteachers a bottle of champagne that advisers dispatched by the DfE could find proof of needless spending.

Three weeks ago came news of the kind of thing he had in mind: among 20 schools visited by his “school resource management advisers”, some had been variously told to replace teachers with support staff on limited contracts, teach some classes three at a time in a dining hall, keep half of any money they raised for local charities – including a children’s hospice – and, when it came to lunch, submit to “reviewing the portion size”’

Stephen

 

The Baron’s idea of economic sustainability will be having the children in the mills in the morning then afternoons in class but only if they bring in a tenner for the teacher each day.

 

I was a caseworker for the teachers union until last year. Despite teacher shortages more and more teachers were being forced out of the profession by workload and bullying. It was the case that it was mostly teachers in their 50’s who were being targeted, then replaced by younger, cheaper teachers. But I was seeing more and more younger people coming to me complaining about workload and bullying and the age that teachers were being forced out seemed to be getting younger and younger.

The bullying climate in teaching is a direct result of this government’s policy.

The funding crisis in schools is a direct result of this government’s policy

The lives and futures of millions of ordinary children have been impoverished by this shameless, elitist, uncaring, Elton posh boy, backward thinking, pompous, arrogant, master and slave minded government.



PS

 

I can't in all honesty like this post - it turns my stomach, particularly the last paragraph - but it's a great post.

 

A mate of mine put up a post on Facebook about the visit of Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg to Britain.

"There is hardly a politician of any persuasion I can bear listening to today without feeling a dulling sense of rage and despair," he said. "I feel like they contaminate my soul with their equivocal smarm and that to listen is to collude. This feels different."

My mate is coming up to 70 years old and Greta Thunberg is 16. They are linked by an emergency.

Decades of divide and rule has killed off any belief in 99% of the UK's politicians for me. The only ray of hope has been the schoolkids climate change strike inspired by Greta Thunberg and the Extinction Rebellion demos going on at the moment.

Greta spoke to Extinction Rebellion protestors in Marble Arch yesterday. She said politicians have long gotten away with not doing anything about the climate crisis. Activists in London and around the world will change this.

"We will never stop fighting, we will never stop fighting for this planet, for ourselves, our futures and for the futures of our children and grandchildren."



The last people to be trusted about this issue are the Tories and Labour. They are in the back pocket of energy giants and have done very little in the last few decades anyway. If there is going to be any kind of revolution, it will come from young people.

Yesterday was the hottest Easter day ever. This isn't good news. Climate records are being broken year after year.

Green MP Caroline Lucas was one of the co-hosts for Greta's visit to London. She has written a great piece in The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-london-climate-movement-extinction-rebellion

"Our task now is to meet every promise by a politician with a demand to go further, to scale up our ambition as those at the top seek to appease us with warm words and rousing rhetoric," argues Lucas.

"If we don’t rise to this task,and don’t rise to it now, then we condemn Greta’s generation, and generations to follow, to a future framed by wildfire and drought – it’s as simple as that."

Jack

 

This is fundamentalist ideology at its worst, in today's world a nation needs a well educated workforce to compete, if spending on education is not necessary why do these people need to send their own kids to public schools?. To be honest I think cutting back on education is treason and should be treated as such, Baron Agnew should be thouroghly ashamed of himself.

 

What I find frustrating is that people are too stupid or just don't take notice what the Tories have been doing. A cycling pal of mine is a typical example. He's a copper and is fuming at the way his shift patterns have changed (for the worse) his pension has got worse and he hasn't had much of a pay rise for about a decade.

When I pointed out to him that the police are now getting the same treatment as teachers, nurses, doctors, prison officers, social workers etc have been suffering over the past decade. He said: "So what's the answer?"

I said "Make sure you and you mates stop voting Tory". He looked puzzled and he obviously was as he said "I don't see how that would make any difference"

Think of the millions of teachers, nurses, prison officers, care workers etc etc who have been totally fcuked over by the nasty party and there should be a Labour landslide at the next GE. Sadly we have media brainwashing, cognitive dissonance and selfish bastards who don't care who is screwed over as long as they're OK.

 

If you need it explaining to you then you're beyond help. You're as bad as your mate asking why it would make any difference.

 

Oh, really? I don't recall that I needed anything explaining. But I'm not very bright and you seem like a clever bloke who is itching to enlighten me. So, put aside the fact that you think I'm beyond help and feel free. Why would anyone vote Tory?

 

Because like your mate said, most folks don't see any difference. After they all got caught with their nose in the trough with expenses and now none of them seem to give two shits about Brexit and remaining, folks have no faith in any of them, they're all the same so why would they think voting Labour would make any difference? Nothing to do with media propaganda.

 

Right. I see. Well, I suppose the Tories have at least made it easier for people to buy their own homes. After all, interest rates at a historic low, help to buy scheme etc. means that there's now virtually nobody unable to get a mortgage to buy their own place. A Conservative triumph that I salute.

 

House buying has been out of the realms of most normal folk for nearly 20 years, it started with Labour.

I suppose at least folk sitting back in their massively over priced pads can brag about how nobody can afford to buy their house where they live.

 

.Ditto here, We are watching Poldark on Netflix at the moment it seems times haven't changed. How have they matched to keep the UK in the middle ages? French sorted that centuries ago

 

Very few had their noses in ‘the trough’. What most did do was claim expenses they were entitled to (increased as pay rises were politically problematic) then told these were also unacceptable after the event. Imagine if that happened to you.

Even the famous ‘duck house’ was never paid for. It was weeded out when the claim went in.

Most MPs are not like the ones who get the most publicity. People seemed shocked at how good an MP Jo Cox was. There are plenty more like her.

Listen to’The Reunion’ on R4 this week on the expenses saga.

Stephen

 

I just about could afford a house in 1987 by having lodgers for about ten years. I was on the average wage.

It started well before Labour.

Stephen

 

But Labour didn't manage to do anything about it, even after what, 10 years?

 

Really? My three kids all own their own homes. All bought in the last few years. Daughter has a fabulous five bedroomed Victorian semi, eldest son a modern detached with double garage and youngest son just bought his very nice place in the Yorkshire Dales for cash.

These people who are pissing high rents against the wall are obviously doing something wrong. If my three wasters can succeed I don't know what to suggest.

PS 31, 28 and 25.

 

I think you'll find Labour did do very good things with the NHS and schools to name but two. But I suppose you're not planning to use schools or hospitals.

 

I'm surprised that you seem to be unaware that was "New Labour" a hostile takeover that made Mrs Thatcher proud. Tony Blair is (apart from a few alt-hard-sensible-centrists) rightly vilified. The present leadership bears no relation to that error/era.

 

Steve, you're wasting your breath. In Matt's world they're all the same. Multi-millionaire, public school educated Rees Mogg and his privileged Tory chums can be totally relied on to improve state schools and the NHS. Why wouldn't they? And man of the people Boris would ensure wages increased so that people could get mortgages. It's obvious. Only a fool would think otherwise. Good eggs those Tories, they always look after the working classes