Category: “Education”

Apart from lots of journos who send their kids to private schools doing their best to suggest Michael Gove’s cocks-up are not too serious, and David Cameron being ‘terrified’ of London state comprehensives (all part of paving the way for his ‘free schools’ nonsense),the continuing wall-to-wall coverage of Moat-hunt, and the odd (I mean odd) [...]

Michael Gove cut a rather sad figure with Apology Number 1, in the House of Commons, and an even sadder one with Apology Number 2, at a local government conference where he looked lonely on stage, and the normal liveliness had vanished from his effervescent Scottish tones. The conference was just unlucky timing, coming directly after [...]

I was surprised during the election that the parties did not get pushed harder to define what they meant by ‘frontline services.’ As the election fall-out continues, it would seem from Michael Gove yesterday that in relation to education, it means paying teachers and classroom assistants. If, however, they are operating in makeshift portakabins and [...]

Dear George and Danny, Many thanks indeed for the expression of interest in my views, and those of every other citizen, as to where you should consider making cuts in public expenditure. I hope you will ignore that old cynic Nigel Lawson and his preposterous suggestion that this consultation exercise is all a Public Relations ploy [...]

After shadow education secretary Michael Gove’s barely comprehensible (especially after he ‘explained’ it) ‘toffs for teachers’ elitist schooling plan, the Tories have now turned their attention to child poverty. According to the FT’s Nick Timmins, one of the most reliable public policy journos around (sorry, I know how that will damage him but it is [...]

A friend of ours is a member of Bafta and so gets all the films up for awards. We have been lucky enough to see about a dozen in recent weeks, from Up In The Air (I liked it, Fiona loved it) to Funny People (Adam Sandler is a very funny person), Brothers (strong) to [...]

Well, we got a good little debate going yesterday on the back of my blog on Fiona’s exchanges with Toby Young on Sky News over his plans to set up a new school. Amid the differences of opinion btween them was a shared disdain for the angst of middle-class parents who support State education in [...]

Well done to Fiona Millar – I shall declare an interest shortly – in her just televised debate with Toby Young, who wants to set up his own school in West London. Ah yes, it was that Fiona, the one I have lived with for 30 years? As readers of The Blair Years will know, those [...]

Lots of happy young people around today as the GCSE success story unfolds around the country. Cue lots of middle-aged, middle-class, media-driven moaning about dumbing down. There is something peculiarly and unpleasantly British about the refusal to take at face value the idea that in part because of extra investment, in part because of sustained [...]

The triathlon season is well under way, and today is my first of the summer. However, in part because of a shoulder injury which has prevented me from swimming, I am taking part in a relay, with Olympic gold medal-winning canoeist Tim Brabants the one getting wet for the cause, before I get on the [...]