Category: “Education”

Despite feeling like death warmed up on waking – am on antibiotics for a chest infection and anti-depressants for Le Chien Noir – I enjoyed the BBC Big Questions debate. I know Nicky – no relation – Campbell inspires mixed views, but I think he holds the ring in live, and lively debates, really well. [...]

As Liam Fox and Chris Huhne were embarrassing themselves and the government last night, I won’t have been the only one to have liked the younger, more feminine look of the new shadow cabinet. But I am sure Ed Miliband and his team understand – getting the new team together is the easy bit. Now [...]

With thanks to Labour’s media monitoring department, and to the Financial Times, here is the first’s account of the second’s report today on school standards. ‘Poorer pupils seen to be catching up in exams’ (FT p4) – Poorer children closed the educational achievement gap on children from wealthier backgrounds during Labour’s last term of office, [...]

To a posh Knightsbridge hotel last night, and the launch of the Harvard Business Review in London, which they chose to celebrate with a discussion between me and BT chairman Sir Michael Rake. Nice guy, and very smart. At one point the moderator, the splendidly named Adi Ignatius, chastised us gently for ‘agreeing too much’. [...]

‘Maximum openness for maximum trust’ was one of the principles I tried to operate when heading up attempts to co-ordinate communications across government. There were risks attached to that, of course. But I think I can count on the fingers of one hand, for example, the number of times we suffered from a leak of [...]

Very much in ‘partner of’ role, I went the other evening to the launch of School Wars, a book on the current battle for the future of education policy, written by Fiona’s fellow campaigner for comprehensive schools, Melissa Benn. Melissa is a good writer and thoroughly nice person, so I overcame my general reluctance to [...]

It will be no surprise to regulars to hear that I am a Francophone. My year spent in Nice as an ‘assistant d’anglais’ was one of the happiest of my life. I love the French language, much of French culture, and am most definitely not one of those Brits who holds the view that the [...]

Nick Clegg is right to say the violence in London has been unacceptable, and the thieving opportunistic, and the senior police officer put up to do interviews in the absence of a Commissioner right to say the rooters and looters do not represent their communities. But both are wrong if they see this purely as [...]

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a Lecture on Happiness at Birmingham University. Today I give the blog over to KIRSTY MACK, the university’s head of stakeholder relations, so that she can ruminate on the theme, and also ask for your ideas on who might be a suitable (female) speaker on this theme next [...]

It is evidence of just how badly David Cameron has handled the News International scandal that he is having to cut short a planned – and important – trip to Africa. Indeed, amid all the talk of victims of phone hacking, the victims of the spreading famine can be added to the list. But for [...]