Polliing Day in the general election is as close to today as the end of first week of August 2013.At that time YouGov were putting Lab at 38-39% Con 31-34% LD 10-11% UKIP 11-12%. Not a lot has changed.
What WILL change is a vote-winning Budget and a vote-losing Labour manifesto....
The suppliers sometimes lie and say the can cater for Vegan and all food requirements to win the contract for the government institution. The kids need an opt out option for the failings of the food prepindustory. E.g. the food companies find and prepare tastie nutritional with caloris to help the children with their mathematics andsupport for the calorie exstimation.
Gove will lose the election for the Tories. Today's polling is a further indication of this.
Hmmn.
I wonder what this year's PISA results will tell us. How will state-run Wales fare against academy England??
It would be interesting if Free school academy England started to shake itself out of the educational torpor that has afflicted the country since Labour took over (Labour Wales has already told people not to expect any improvement).
State-run England against state-run Wales, you mean.
Groups who naturally want good education: parents, teachers, and Michael Gove. It is, then, a remarkable political failure for Gove to have alienated the people who started out in his corner. Not to mention school places, school playing fields, and the paradox of the man who proclaims freedom turning his own desk into the biggest LEA in the country.
Another example of the long shadow cast on the Conservatives' natural allies by the decision to form the ECR group (aka as the Latvian homophobes issue):
The members of the EPP are not natural allies of the Tories; they are essentially Blairites (or more accurately, Blair was essentially a Christian Democrat). They are a federalist grouping which is a long way out of line with majority Conservative thinking.
How would Conservative Party policy differ if they were a 'federalist' party?
It wouldn't be looking for the sort of reform it is, nor threatening to leave if it can't get it, for a start.
What reform are they looking for? The governments Review of Competences found none required. Mr Hannan reports none are being sought.
The big problem in education at the moment isn't the issue of free schools, it's the provision of school places themselves. One County Council in the south for whom I do some work has to find an additional 900 places for this autumn's intake - I found about this at the end of last month.
That's a huge task which I understand is being repeated across much of the country. It's an issue around how quickly new classrooms can be added, how quickly local planning issues can be resolved and how quickly the rest of the school infrastructure (including the provision of meals) can be put in place.
New secondary schools are being built as are new primaries to take on this influx of children and the "free" schools have to fight for availability of land - there's a massive issue around land at the moment. Between the demands for additional school places and additional space for residential accommodation for the elderly on top of the Government requirement for building new homes the planning process in some areas is on the cusp of meltdown.
It's not just about the "i" word - there are other demographic and economic pressures at work which knock on to other areas such as the provision of medical and transport services.
But it's not as though we are actually short of land - there's masses of it but its usage for anything meaningful is blocked by antiquated concepts of "green belt" and the like but that blockage serves a purpose as well as the current infrastructure could not stand a house building free-for-all while the cynic in me suspects successive Governments have realised that keeping homeowners sweet by keeping the value of their capital asset high by manipulating supply and demand is the key to electoral success.
When I moved to Colchester last year most of the local primary schools would not even return phone calls they were so overcrowded.
As it happens that worked in our favour, but it was a real eye opener at the time.
I think you need competition and incentives for things to work properly. If someone invents a version of socialism that includes those things then i'll go back to it. In the mean time there's only free market capitalism.
However the natural end result of free market capitalism *isn't* free markets, it's cartels i.e. the end result of free market competition isn't free market competition.
So *continuing* free market competition *requires* the state to constantly break up cartels as they form.
Hence the point about regulatory capture.
It's a capitalist argument. It just sounds socialist because a lot of the free market people have never actually thought about the mechanics of why free markets work better.
Very well said. Adam Smith himself warned of the power of corporations. Which is why it's so idiotic when people claim 'capitalism has failed'. It hasn't failed; it's not being operated correctly.
Speak for yourself ! If I don;t get an appointment same day I'm fed up. Provided you turn up first thing in the morning at the surgery you can normally get one of the appointments that are only released that mornings. If its really busy so you can't get a doctor you can normally see the practice nurse and she can make prescriptions for run of the mill things. But then I live somewhere civilized, not London :-) I don't think people are generally aware of the massive massive difference in the quality of public services such as schools and hospitals between cities and market towns in rural areas, despite the fact that we get much lower grants per head than inner cities.
I'm struggling to get a clear picture of how big the issue is. Both when I lived in Broxtowe and now in London I've had no problem whatever in seeing a GP within a day or so when I ask. In both cases I've signed onto large group practices and I don't demand to see one particular doctor - perhaps that's the reason? But I've asked around, and none of my acquaintances - including Labour people who are not averse to complaining about the government - have a problem either. Are we just lucky, or is the issue very localised?
And neither practice has the ridiculous "ring up/turn up at 815am and keep trying till you get through" system - they both have appointment books like every normal business. Why doesn't everyone?
Perhaps sub 48 hour appointments could be delivered if the parties seriously addressed the crisis in General Practice recruitment, or even aknowledged the problem exists.
True enough. My vote is more likely to be shifted by health policy than most.
Incidentally, every one of my GP friends heads sank at Milibands 48 hour pledge for appointments. More arbitrary targets to be met by putting something else on the back burner. No wonder the East Midlands GP scheme has 38% vacancies unfilled in the training scheme.
On topic, education policy will be marginal, not decisive, at the next election.
That could true of many issues, which excite passionate interest among a small number, though.
Such a pledge is but one example of a knee-jerk reaction to a problem, not a properly thought through response. Both sides do it!
Speak for yourself ! If I don;t get an appointment same day I'm fed up. Provided you turn up first thing in the morning at the surgery you can normally get one of the appointments that are only released that mornings. If its really busy so you can't get a doctor you can normally see the practice nurse and she can make prescriptions for run of the mill things. But then I live somewhere civilized, not London :-) I don't think people are generally aware of the massive massive difference in the quality of public services such as schools and hospitals between cities and market towns in rural areas, despite the fact that we get much lower grants per head than inner cities.
Surely if free schools get good results they can stay, if they get poor results they can close. Maybe, offering parents the chance to ballot to open some new grammar schools as well as closing them would also be beneficial
Surely if free schools get good results they can stay, if they get poor results they can close. Maybe, offering parents the chance to ballot to open some new grammar schools as well as closing them would also be beneficial
Would you ballot them on opening new Secondary Moderns?
Speak for yourself ! If I don;t get an appointment same day I'm fed up. Provided you turn up first thing in the morning at the surgery you can normally get one of the appointments that are only released that mornings. If its really busy so you can't get a doctor you can normally see the practice nurse and she can make prescriptions for run of the mill things. But then I live somewhere civilized, not London :-) I don't think people are generally aware of the massive massive difference in the quality of public services such as schools and hospitals between cities and market towns in rural areas, despite the fact that we get much lower grants per head than inner cities.
I'm struggling to get a clear picture of how big the issue is. Both when I lived in Broxtowe and now in London I've had no problem whatever in seeing a GP within a day or so when I ask. In both cases I've signed onto large group practices and I don't demand to see one particular doctor - perhaps that's the reason? But I've asked around, and none of my acquaintances - including Labour people who are not averse to complaining about the government - have a problem either. Are we just lucky, or is the issue very localised?
And neither practice has the ridiculous "ring up/turn up at 815am and keep trying till you get through" system - they both have appointment books like every normal business. Why doesn't everyone?
I'm in London and at the surgeries around me it's rare to get a same week appointment. I'm now on my third surgery and have the same issue.
If it's a really localised issue than the obvious solution is to abolish catchment areas. I'd happily travel twenty minutes on the tube to some other part of London if I could get healthcare when I wanted it.
Good to see Darling has agreed to debate Salmond on the Union. Though it seems illogical for Salmond to demand Cameron debates with him considering Cameron is English, albeit with Scot ancestors, and therefore cannot vote in the referendum. If he were to debate then logic would suggest the English and rUK can also have a vote in the referendum too
Gove will lose the election for the Tories. Today's polling is a further indication of this.
Hmmn.
I wonder what this year's PISA results will tell us. How will state-run Wales fare against academy England??
It would be interesting if Free school academy England started to shake itself out of the educational torpor that has afflicted the country since Labour took over (Labour Wales has already told people not to expect any improvement).
State-run England against state-run Wales, you mean.
Groups who naturally want good education: parents, teachers, and Michael Gove. It is, then, a remarkable political failure for Gove to have alienated the people who started out in his corner. Not to mention school places, school playing fields, and the paradox of the man who proclaims freedom turning his own desk into the biggest LEA in the country.
When you look at how the teaching unions react to proposals like shortening the summer break, for which the empirical evidence clearly says is better for children, it becomes clear that their primary agenda is their own perks, rather than quality of education.
I've also met a number of headteachers who privately agree with Gove but know that it would go down like a lead balloon if they mentioned that to their staff. One specifically told me that he had to carefully raise points on an issue by issue basis about how a particular reform has advantages, as it's the only way to get a hearing. If he had come out and said most of Gove's stuff is good, their staff just won't listen.
Just thinking about Chukka's very strange (some might even say wild eyed) notions about UKIP.
It seems to me that the clearest evidence against his proposition that UKIP voters are less technologically advanced than other voters is the fact that, as has often been pointed out on PB, UKIP seems to get better poll ratings in the online polls than in the old fashioned phone polls. Surely this indicates that UKIP supporters are more, rather than less, au fait with email and browsing the internet than the average voter?
Another example of the long shadow cast on the Conservatives' natural allies by the decision to form the ECR group (aka as the Latvian homophobes issue):
Christian Democracy does not have much in common with British Conservatism. That's why a separate group is needed.
The "natural allies" line is a bizarre one to trot out. National sovereignty is a central tenet of British conservatism. People that believe in the diametric opposite to that aren't allies, they're opponents. It would be like the Greens being part of a grouping that supported more coal power plants to provide energy jobs, just because they're both left-wing.
NoOffenceAlan They can already ballot to close grammar schools if they wish if that is such a fear (but selective areas like Bucks and Trafford have above average GCSE results), so only seems fair they should also be able to ballot to open new ones
SeanF/Socrates On the EPP there is an argument, as Sikorski the Polish FM made today, that had the Tories stayed in the EPP there MEPs could have blocked his leadership and this would never have been an issue. The ECR, while ideologically purer with the likes of the AfD, never had a chance of being the largest party in the parliament unlike the EPP. While it makes sense for UKIP to join an anti federalist group, as all its MEPs are anti EU, many MEPs on the Tory side are actually pretty pro-EU
Socrates Of course Rocard completely ignored the fact the French Euro elections were won by a fiercely nationalist and anti EU party in the FN with a rather less savourary past than UKIOP
"The Panelbase poll of 1060 voters, commissioned by the "Yes" campaign, found that once undecideds were excluded, support for secession grew to 48 percent, with 52 percent against.
In ICM's latest poll, support for separation improved by 2 points to 36 percent while those rejecting independence fell by three points to 43 percent."
I don't know about the rest of Britain, but in London N2 Michael Gove's "flagship policy" is very popular, and this is quite a lefty suburb.
So lefty that the people of Finchley were among the first to elect a woman to parliament when no-one had even heard of AWS's. Margaret Somehing-or-other; went on to be Prime Minister.
East Finchley is now fashionable (believe it or not) when once it was dowdy. Hence the influx of Guardian reading, affluent, trendy families, and lots of leftier voters.
Not unrelatedly, a pleasant two bed flat in East Finchley costs £400,000. Quite cheap for a well connected London suburb, horribly expensive for anywhere else in the world.
London is different to the UK, and gets more different by the day.
The situation isn't sustainable. Something has to give. Either London has to try harder to be like the rest of the country, or it should become an independent city state.
That's just an extraordinary request. How does an entire metropolis of 10 million people "try harder to be like the rest of the country"? What should it do exactly? Fill in the tubes and deregulate the buses so everyone drives instead? Chuck out the immigrants? Knock down all towers and stick a few Beazer Homes on there? Build a CentreParcs on Epping Forest?
I'm in London and at the surgeries around me it's rare to get a same week appointment. I'm now on my third surgery and have the same issue.
If it's a really localised issue than the obvious solution is to abolish catchment areas. I'd happily travel twenty minutes on the tube to some other part of London if I could get healthcare when I wanted it.
Yes, what's the argument against it? It doesn't apply to dentists - my NHS dentist is up in Barnet, which is nowhere near where I live, but he was recommended to me and he's good: there wasn't any trouble in signing up with him, and as you say it's worth travelling for 20 minutes to go to someone readily available. Why are GPs different? (I know this was the case when I was an MP too, but it isn't really a big issue in Broxtowe so I never looked into it.)
Yes, what's the argument against it? It doesn't apply to dentists - my NHS dentist is up in Barnet, which is nowhere near where I live, but he was recommended to me and he's good: there wasn't any trouble in signing up with him, and as you say it's worth travelling for 20 minutes to go to someone readily available. Why are GPs different? (I know this was the case when I was an MP too, but it isn't really a big issue in Broxtowe so I never looked into it.)
Presumably it's a legacy from the days when GPs did home visits. Even now there is a theoretical possibility that they might actually come and see you if you're ill.
Socrates Of course Rocard completely ignored the fact the French Euro elections were won by a fiercely nationalist and anti EU party in the FN with a rather less savourary past than UKIOP
They're Euro elections, you look at the results across the whole EU.
Surely if free schools get good results they can stay, if they get poor results they can close.
Good heavens! Common sense about schools.
Rare indeed as I have lost count on the number of articles I've read advocating the closure of Faith Schools without even mentioning their exam results.
Yes, what's the argument against it? It doesn't apply to dentists - my NHS dentist is up in Barnet, which is nowhere near where I live, but he was recommended to me and he's good: there wasn't any trouble in signing up with him, and as you say it's worth travelling for 20 minutes to go to someone readily available. Why are GPs different? (I know this was the case when I was an MP too, but it isn't really a big issue in Broxtowe so I never looked into it.)
Presumably it's a legacy from the days when GPs did home visits. Even now there is a theoretical possibility that they might actually come and see you if you're ill.
Something else that we could (re)learn from other countries, perhaps. Come to that, I remember with great affection our vet in Switzerland, who paid two house visits, one of them late on Christmas Eve, to treat our sick cat. He didn't seem to feel it was special service, just part of his job.
EdinTokyo The EPP and the SPD both lost seats, and the EPP did not win a majority, Juncker may lead the largest party, but it was not exactly a mandate. Anyway, night!
EdinTokyo The EPP and the SPD both lost seats, and the EPP did not win a majority, Juncker may lead the largest party, but it was not exactly a mandate. Anyway, night!
It's a mandate when you first get the most seats then get other parties to support you to make 50%, hence David Cameron PM. Really, this stuff isn't complicated.
For each World Cup match I assess various criteria in determining which team I should support. It was particularly evenly balanced between the USA and Portugal:
Geography? Portugal, because it's European. Politics? (e.g. is it in the Commonwealth?) equal, because both are reasonably liberal & democratic Language? USA (English) Family? USA (my brother lives in NY) Colour? Portugal (red = bright) rather than USA (white = boring) Anthem? USA (the Portuguese anthem is difficult and awkward) Culture? Portugal, because the Americans still incorrectly call it "soccer"
So I found myself supporting both teams and cheering all 4 goals. After the 2nd goal I predicted (in about the 82nd minute) that there would probably be a 3rd goal. After the 3rd goal, I predicted that there was still a 30% chance that there would be a 4th goal, and that Portugal would equalise. Even in the last minute I thought it was about 20%.
So, commiserations to all the USA supporters but still a bit of Schadenfreude at their last-minute disappointment.
This is a stunning World Cup. Endlessly absorbing matches. Best I can remember... since... well, ever?
It's kinda tragic that this marvellous global tournament of the world's favourite sport-invented-by-the-English is gonna be demeaned by the very idea of Qatar 2022. Absurd.
Perhaps the only good thing about Qatar 2022 is that Fifa will insist on proper recognition of Israel (especially after the disappearing flags at the swimming) and unlike certain Middle East peace envoys, is powerful enough to do so. Whether Israel qualifies is another matter,
Speak for yourself ! If I don;t get an appointment same day I'm fed up. Provided you turn up first thing in the morning at the surgery you can normally get one of the appointments that are only released that mornings. If its really busy so you can't get a doctor you can normally see the practice nurse and she can make prescriptions for run of the mill things. But then I live somewhere civilized, not London :-) I don't think people are generally aware of the massive massive difference in the quality of public services such as schools and hospitals between cities and market towns in rural areas, despite the fact that we get much lower grants per head than inner cities.
I'm struggling to get a clear picture of how big the issue is. Both when I lived in Broxtowe and now in London I've had no problem whatever in seeing a GP within a day or so when I ask. In both cases I've signed onto large group practices and I don't demand to see one particular doctor - perhaps that's the reason? But I've asked around, and none of my acquaintances - including Labour people who are not averse to complaining about the government - have a problem either. Are we just lucky, or is the issue very localised?
And neither practice has the ridiculous "ring up/turn up at 815am and keep trying till you get through" system - they both have appointment books like every normal business. Why doesn't everyone?
We have the 8.15 phone in session. But you can short circuit it by turning up at the surgery in person at 8AM or booking online at 8.15.
Agree if you want a specific doctor book well in advance. Theres a specific doctor I *wont" see but thats easier.
Perhaps sub 48 hour appointments could be delivered if the parties seriously addressed the crisis in General Practice recruitment, or even aknowledged the problem exists.
True enough. My vote is more likely to be shifted by health policy than most.
Incidentally, every one of my GP friends heads sank at Milibands 48 hour pledge for appointments. More arbitrary targets to be met by putting something else on the back burner. No wonder the East Midlands GP scheme has 38% vacancies unfilled in the training scheme.
On topic, education policy will be marginal, not decisive, at the next election.
That could true of many issues, which excite passionate interest among a small number, though.
Such a pledge is but one example of a knee-jerk reaction to a problem, not a properly thought through response. Both sides do it!
Speak for yourself ! If I don;t get an appointment same day I'm fed up. Provided you turn up first thing in the morning at the surgery you can normally get one of the appointments that are only released that mornings. If its really busy so you can't get a doctor you can normally see the practice nurse and she can make prescriptions for run of the mill things. But then I live somewhere civilized, not London :-) I don't think people are generally aware of the massive massive difference in the quality of public services such as schools and hospitals between cities and market towns in rural areas, despite the fact that we get much lower grants per head than inner cities.
I'm in Bedfordshire thank you very much in the south Midlands (chimney country - alright disused chimney country and now Centerparcs country), the leafy home counties end abruptly when you hit Luton. We vote UKIP up here not tory like Harpenden do. There are even roadsigns with "THE SOUTH" on the A6 at the northern end of the county.
GPs do home visits, and are indeed obliged to do so in certain circumstances, mostly these domestic visits are to the frail elderly. They also coordinate with other locality based services such as district nurses and community psychiatric services. Under Labour's internal market and under the more recent Lansley reforms, GPs are responsible for commissioning care with local providers. Coordinating care with units remote from the practice makes the logistics more difficult.
Abolishing catchment areas requires either the above roles end or are fundamentally altered.
Yes, what's the argument against it? It doesn't apply to dentists - my NHS dentist is up in Barnet, which is nowhere near where I live, but he was recommended to me and he's good: there wasn't any trouble in signing up with him, and as you say it's worth travelling for 20 minutes to go to someone readily available. Why are GPs different? (I know this was the case when I was an MP too, but it isn't really a big issue in Broxtowe so I never looked into it.)
Presumably it's a legacy from the days when GPs did home visits. Even now there is a theoretical possibility that they might actually come and see you if you're ill.
Something else that we could (re)learn from other countries, perhaps. Come to that, I remember with great affection our vet in Switzerland, who paid two house visits, one of them late on Christmas Eve, to treat our sick cat. He didn't seem to feel it was special service, just part of his job.
For all the criticism in advance, Brazil has organised a stunning world cup, with great atmosphere and games. Its what happens when you put the World Cup in a country with a football culture and allow fans to have a good time. Qatar will be dismal and sterile, if it actually happens.
This is a stunning World Cup. Endlessly absorbing matches. Best I can remember... since... well, ever?
It's kinda tragic that this marvellous global tournament of the world's favourite sport-invented-by-the-English is gonna be demeaned by the very idea of Qatar 2022. Absurd.
Perhaps the only good thing about Qatar 2022 is that Fifa will insist on proper recognition of Israel (especially after the disappearing flags at the swimming) and unlike certain Middle East peace envoys, is powerful enough to do so. Whether Israel qualifies is another matter,
EdinTokyo Cameron gained seats in 2010, and most Tory voters were clearly voting for him to be PM, less clear EPP voters were voting for Juncker to be Commission President
Comments
Groups who naturally want good education: parents, teachers, and Michael Gove. It is, then, a remarkable political failure for Gove to have alienated the people who started out in his corner. Not to mention school places, school playing fields, and the paradox of the man who proclaims freedom turning his own desk into the biggest LEA in the country.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100264175/david-cameron-wants-to-stay-in-the-eu-on-something-like-the-current-terms-but-hes-our-only-chance-of-a-referendum/
As it happens that worked in our favour, but it was a real eye opener at the time.
Dan Roan @danroan 2m
Telegraph front page tmrw "match-fixing deal casts cloud over World Cup"
pic.twitter.com/EyoKjSArpj
And neither practice has the ridiculous "ring up/turn up at 815am and keep trying till you get through" system - they both have appointment books like every normal business. Why doesn't everyone?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10918321/Football-match-fixing-deal-casts-cloud-over-World-Cup.html
If it's a really localised issue than the obvious solution is to abolish catchment areas. I'd happily travel twenty minutes on the tube to some other part of London if I could get healthcare when I wanted it.
I've also met a number of headteachers who privately agree with Gove but know that it would go down like a lead balloon if they mentioned that to their staff. One specifically told me that he had to carefully raise points on an issue by issue basis about how a particular reform has advantages, as it's the only way to get a hearing. If he had come out and said most of Gove's stuff is good, their staff just won't listen.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/comment/columns/adamboulton/article1425088.ece
Is TSE around? I'd like to ask him whether WIFI is available in the stands at Headingley cricket ground.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/06/french-message-britain-get-out-european-union
His biggest complaint is that we are opposing the democratic choice to head the EU executive.
Surely the rest of the Europeans can see that a party grouping that got only 0.2% of the vote in the UK has no legitimacy at all to rule over us?
"The Panelbase poll of 1060 voters, commissioned by the "Yes" campaign, found that once undecideds were excluded, support for secession grew to 48 percent, with 52 percent against.
In ICM's latest poll, support for separation improved by 2 points to 36 percent while those rejecting independence fell by three points to 43 percent."
General Owls @GeneralBoles 7h
Lynton's put me in charge of combating Labour's #owl initiative #nailedit #demonowls
FT Westminster @ftwestminster 48s
Osborne to propose Leeds-Manchester ‘HS3’ http://on.ft.com/1sxCoDF
Rare indeed as I have lost count on the number of articles I've read advocating the closure of Faith Schools without even mentioning their exam results.
I'm just hoping the USA hold on. Ive got the USA and Germany to get out of this group and its looking pretty good.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigua_and_Barbuda_general_election,_2014
Geography? Portugal, because it's European.
Politics? (e.g. is it in the Commonwealth?) equal, because both are reasonably liberal & democratic
Language? USA (English)
Family? USA (my brother lives in NY)
Colour? Portugal (red = bright) rather than USA (white = boring)
Anthem? USA (the Portuguese anthem is difficult and awkward)
Culture? Portugal, because the Americans still incorrectly call it "soccer"
So I found myself supporting both teams and cheering all 4 goals. After the 2nd goal I predicted (in about the 82nd minute) that there would probably be a 3rd goal. After the 3rd goal, I predicted that there was still a 30% chance that there would be a 4th goal, and that Portugal would equalise. Even in the last minute I thought it was about 20%.
So, commiserations to all the USA supporters but still a bit of Schadenfreude at their last-minute disappointment.
Agree if you want a specific doctor book well in advance. Theres a specific doctor I *wont" see but thats easier.
OOOOH - the cheek of it
;-)
GPs do home visits, and are indeed obliged to do so in certain circumstances, mostly these domestic visits are to the frail elderly. They also coordinate with other locality based services such as district nurses and community psychiatric services. Under Labour's internal market and under the more recent Lansley reforms, GPs are responsible for commissioning care with local providers. Coordinating care with units remote from the practice makes the logistics more difficult.
Abolishing catchment areas requires either the above roles end or are fundamentally altered.