Reshuffle Day - The Transfer Deadline Day for PB.com.
Wait till you see us on Indy referendum night.
I worry that will be a damp squib actually, if No is too far ahead come September. Good for Cameron to give us a much larger than expected reshuffle as a backup.
Well I have some brilliant news about the Indyref.
I will be guest editing the site for a few weeks straight after the Indyref.
So no matter the result I'll have fun.
That is good news, you're even better than your usual form when you're having fun.
Gove leaving is about consolidation, which is the right way of doing things less than a year to the election. The current state and the manifesto can be presented by someone without the fierce hatred that blinds opponents (the same is true on both sides).
Reshuffle Day - The Transfer Deadline Day for PB.com.
Wait till you see us on Indy referendum night.
I worry that will be a damp squib actually, if No is too far ahead come September. Good for Cameron to give us a much larger than expected reshuffle as a backup.
Well I have some brilliant news about the Indyref.
I will be guest editing the site for a few weeks straight after the Indyref.
So no matter the result I'll have fun.
That is good news, you're even better than your usual form when you're having fun.
Well if Yes win I'll troll Labour supporters saying they killed nationalism stone dead and that Dave should disenfranchise Scottish voters from the 2015 GE.
If No wins, well, you can guess the rest.
As a general PB rule, when Mike's on holiday something major happens.
The danger with what Cameron has done to Gove is that he looks like a duplicitous, spineless scum-bag who doesn't have the courage of his convictions to stand by his Ministers when they are doing the things he want's them to do!
But I think being a spineless, duplicitous scum-bag totally bereft of any conviction is factored in to Cameron's "story" anyway? I doubt you can get to Number Ten these day's without having these "qualities" LOL!
Gove has set in train all the fundamental changes he needed for Education. It's a matter now of consolidation.
Reshuffle Day - The Transfer Deadline Day for PB.com.
Wait till you see us on Indy referendum night.
I worry that will be a damp squib actually, if No is too far ahead come September. Good for Cameron to give us a much larger than expected reshuffle as a backup.
Well I have some brilliant news about the Indyref.
I will be guest editing the site for a few weeks straight after the Indyref.
So no matter the result I'll have fun.
Fantastic the good news keeps on coming.
Might see you at the secret screening tonight. I will be the one lighting up the cinema to check the EICIPM position at 9.55
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
I notice that at the end of the last thread @surbiton posted (and bolded!) an article about ICM.
Pointed out that, prior to spiral of silence, Labour and the Tories were neck and neck at 35%. So no crossover!
Must be worrying for Labour that this far out, one of their most tribal supporters, seems to think that neck & neck is a good place to be for the sole serious opposition party vs. a Coalition living through a difficult economic period....
You can give any interpretation you like. My point was , prior to UKIP, there was an understandable "conspiracy of silence" since some Tory supporters hid their support because effectively they were ashamed to make their choice public.
With the advent of UKIP, an even more disliked party, by all accounts, that "silence" factor is no longer relevant.
THe other important point is that by assuming those 2010 LD voters who are saying "Don't know" , they are really LD supporters now is total hogwash. Barely, 30% of GE2010 LD voters are now telling they would vote LD. By operating the conspiracy of silence factor here really distorts the final outcome.
It is a different ballgame now. It is better to look at marginals at a micro level rather than waste time looking at the country as a whole.
Is that essentially a derivative bet on Osborne next PM ?
GO next FS , Gove CoTE, Cam steps down in 2018/19..
That's exactly how I see things if Cameron remains PM in 2015. He will retire as PM early in 2018 having presided over the EU referendum victory (57-43) in 2017. George Osborne, the Foreign Secretary, will be unopposed to become Tory Leader and PM.
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
Many thanks Bob.
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
Is that essentially a derivative bet on Osborne next PM ?
GO next FS , Gove CoTE, Cam steps down in 2018/19..
That's exactly how I see things if Cameron remains PM in 2015. He will retire as PM early in 2018 having presided over the EU referendum victory (57-43) in 2017. George Osborne, the Foreign Secretary, will be unopposed to become Tory Leader and PM.
That's exactly how I see things if Cameron remains PM in 2015. He will retire as PM early in 2018 having presided over the EU referendum victory (57-43) in 2017. George Osborne, the Foreign Secretary, will be unopposed to become Tory Leader and PM.
Gove had one of the hardest jobs, in improving education and reversing a lot of educational theory and non-competition rubbish, in the face of so many sectors who had a vested interest in keeping in the status quo.
However, his job was made harder as he is an earnest but not very personable man in public life - his heavy glasses and lack of smiles made it difficult for people to relate to him favourably - even if they agreed with his educational direction. The constraints of time (5 years) and dissenting coalition partners made his job even more difficult.
And that, your honour, completes the case for the defence.
Gove undoubtedly was concerned to improve education. However, his chosen vehicle -- free schools (more or less an extension of Labour's academies) -- was at best a distraction. Freedom was open to those who would run bad schools, as well as good ones, and also to extremists. Freedom was less fashionable for the rest, where it was said Michael Gove's desk was the biggest LEA in England.
Gove also let his own prejudices get in the way -- he did not like sport, so selling off playing fields accelerated (and this while the Prime Minister was talking about the importance of school sport around the Olympics). He did not like American books, so To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men were for the chop.
Gove took his eye off the ball, and presided over a massive shortage of school places -- and probably this is why he was so unpopular with parents.
He also showed no great interest in programmes like Teach First, which were improving education.
But worst of all, politically he was useless -- whatever you think about teachers, as a group they do care about education yet Gove preferred confrontation to consensus and contrived to alienate parents and teachers, both of which groups should have been on his side.
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
Many thanks Bob.
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
Regardless of its effect on VI, his sacking should come as a massive relief to all parents. The guy believed in drilling in facts to children - easily google-able facts. Like focusing on handwriting, it was the methods of the past. I'm interested in people with imagination, ideas, free thought. I hope the newcomer is a wiser owl.
And that, your honour, completes the case for the defence.
Gove undoubtedly was concerned to improve education. However, his chosen vehicle -- free schools (more or less an extension of Labour's academies) -- was at best a distraction. Freedom was open to those who would run bad schools, as well as good ones, and also to extremists. Freedom was less fashionable for the rest, where it was said Michael Gove's desk was the biggest LEA in England.
Gove also let his own prejudices get in the way -- he did not like sport, so selling off playing fields accelerated (and this while the Prime Minister was talking about the importance of school sport around the Olympics). He did not like American books, so To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men were for the chop.
Gove took his eye off the ball, and presided over a massive shortage of school places -- and probably this is why he was so unpopular with parents.
He also showed no great interest in programmes like Teach First, which were improving education.
But worst of all, politically he was useless -- whatever you think about teachers, as a group they do care about education yet Gove preferred confrontation to consensus and contrived to alienate parents and teachers, both of which groups should have been on his side.
LOL! Are you bidding for a prize in satirical political fantasy?
I particularly liked the invention about American books. The idea that Michael Gove, of all people, doesn't like American books is hilarious.
Do Labour need any help in their East Dunbartonshire campaign btw ?
I'd be available - was looking at SNP position in Scotland yesterday and somehow arrived at the conclusion the 1-2 for Labour there was tremendous value in East Dunbartonshire and went balls deep there on Labour.
If anyone is reading, I'm available to help out as follows come GE2015:
UKIP - Great Grimsby or Thurrock Conservatives - Pudsey or Sherwood SNP - Inverness, Bairn, Strathspey Labour - East Dunbartonshire
Mr. Fett, rote learning has its place in education. Just because something can be googled doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't be learnt. Do we want a nation unable to do its times tables or remember the capital of France without using the internet?
Mr. Smithson/Mr. K, often difficult to offer an apology, nice to see Mr. K felt able to do so.
And that, your honour, completes the case for the defence.
Gove undoubtedly was concerned to improve education. However, his chosen vehicle -- free schools (more or less an extension of Labour's academies) -- was at best a distraction. Freedom was open to those who would run bad schools, as well as good ones, and also to extremists. Freedom was less fashionable for the rest, where it was said Michael Gove's desk was the biggest LEA in England.
Gove also let his own prejudices get in the way -- he did not like sport, so selling off playing fields accelerated (and this while the Prime Minister was talking about the importance of school sport around the Olympics). He did not like American books, so To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men were for the chop.
Gove took his eye off the ball, and presided over a massive shortage of school places -- and probably this is why he was so unpopular with parents.
He also showed no great interest in programmes like Teach First, which were improving education.
But worst of all, politically he was useless -- whatever you think about teachers, as a group they do care about education yet Gove preferred confrontation to consensus and contrived to alienate parents and teachers, both of which groups should have been on his side.
LOL! Are you bidding for a prize in satirical political fantasy?
I particularly liked the invention about American books. The idea that Michael Gove, of all people, doesn't like American books is hilarious.
The point is that the Secretary of State should not be micromanaging the syllabus.
Do Labour need any help in their East Dunbartonshire campaign btw ?
I'd be available - was looking at SNP position in Scotland yesterday and somehow arrived at the conclusion the 1-2 for Labour there was tremendous value in East Dunbartonshire and went balls deep there on Labour.
If anyone is reading, I'm available to help out as follows come GE2015:
UKIP - Great Grimsby or Thurrock Conservatives - Pudsey or Sherwood SNP - Inverness, Bairn, Strathspey Labour - East Dunbartonshire
Sounds like you have quite the road trip planned. I'm up for the Scottish segment, but any chance of swinging by Eastleigh on your way up?
For the political geeks, often the most interesting element of reshuffles is the various promotions/dismissals at Minister of State and PUSS levels.
Few will have heard of any of them but what fates will befall people like e.g. Gavin Barwell (whip), Nick Boles (Planning), Kris Hopkins (Housing) etc. And who else from the 2010 will be handed the first steps on the ladder?
Do Labour need any help in their East Dunbartonshire campaign btw ?
I'd be available - was looking at SNP position in Scotland yesterday and somehow arrived at the conclusion the 1-2 for Labour there was tremendous value in East Dunbartonshire and went balls deep there on Labour.
If anyone is reading, I'm available to help out as follows come GE2015:
UKIP - Great Grimsby or Thurrock Conservatives - Pudsey or Sherwood SNP - Inverness, Bairn, Strathspey Labour - East Dunbartonshire
Sounds like you have quite the road trip planned. I'm up for the Scottish segment, but any chance of swinging by Eastleigh on your way up?
Doubt the Lib Dems need any help in Eastleigh tbh - I DO however live quite near Sherwood so mayb could do some campaigning there, and if I wasn't betting on the Election I'd be 100% Conservative.
And that, your honour, completes the case for the defence.
Gove undoubtedly was concerned to improve education. However, his chosen vehicle -- free schools (more or less an extension of Labour's academies) -- was at best a distraction. Freedom was open to those who would run bad schools, as well as good ones, and also to extremists. Freedom was less fashionable for the rest, where it was said Michael Gove's desk was the biggest LEA in England.
Gove also let his own prejudices get in the way -- he did not like sport, so selling off playing fields accelerated (and this while the Prime Minister was talking about the importance of school sport around the Olympics). He did not like American books, so To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men were for the chop.
Gove took his eye off the ball, and presided over a massive shortage of school places -- and probably this is why he was so unpopular with parents.
He also showed no great interest in programmes like Teach First, which were improving education.
But worst of all, politically he was useless -- whatever you think about teachers, as a group they do care about education yet Gove preferred confrontation to consensus and contrived to alienate parents and teachers, both of which groups should have been on his side.
LOL! Are you bidding for a prize in satirical political fantasy?
I particularly liked the invention about American books. The idea that Michael Gove, of all people, doesn't like American books is hilarious.
The point is that the Secretary of State should not be micromanaging the syllabus.
He's not. The examination syllabus is put together by Edexcel, AQA, etc. They are the ones who choose which books are studied.
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
Many thanks Bob.
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
Regardless of its effect on VI, his sacking should come as a massive relief to all parents. The guy believed in drilling in facts to children - easily google-able facts. Like focusing on handwriting, it was the methods of the past. I'm interested in people with imagination, ideas, free thought. I hope the newcomer is a wiser owl.
And if those people cannot express their free thoughts? When 20% of school leavers are functionally illiterate and about 40% have the mathematical ability of a primary school child and when it is possible to get a C in English GCSE despite being unable to string two coherent sentences together then perhaps some attention needs to be paid to the basics.
Wonderful to have imagination, free thought and be terribly creative but if you can't formulate those thoughts because you don't have the vocabulary or express them because you can't write then a life of burger flipping or worse awaits. Poor educational standards hurts the poorest children most.
Mr. Pulpstar, quite. Tilke has cocked up most of the circuits he's designed (I think the Hungaroring was his first). On the other hand, if it's dry, it's well worth checking the odds on No Safety Car in Hungary (cars tend to get spread out for aerodynamic reasons, and there are huge run-off areas).
Meanwhile, where the decisions that matter are made...
Tim Aker MEP (@Tim_Aker) 15/07/2014 09:41 Juncker now defending free movement, rules will not change he says. No chance to get back UK borders while we're in the EU.
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
Many thanks Bob.
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
Regardless of its effect on VI, his sacking should come as a massive relief to all parents. The guy believed in drilling in facts to children - easily google-able facts. Like focusing on handwriting, it was the methods of the past. I'm interested in people with imagination, ideas, free thought. I hope the newcomer is a wiser owl.
And if those people cannot express their free thoughts? When 20% of school leavers are functionally illiterate and about 40% have the mathematical ability of a primary school child and when it is possible to get a C in English GCSE despite being unable to string two coherent sentences together then perhaps some attention needs to be paid to the basics.
Wonderful to have imagination, free thought and be terribly creative but if you can't formulate those thoughts because you don't have the vocabulary or express them because you can't write then a life of burger flipping or worse awaits. Poor educational standards hurts the poorest children most.
When I was an employer, from the early 60's- mid 80's there were always complaints from my peers that children weren't as well educated as they used to be.
Do Labour need any help in their East Dunbartonshire campaign btw ?
I'd be available - was looking at SNP position in Scotland yesterday and somehow arrived at the conclusion the 1-2 for Labour there was tremendous value in East Dunbartonshire and went balls deep there on Labour.
If anyone is reading, I'm available to help out as follows come GE2015:
UKIP - Great Grimsby or Thurrock Conservatives - Pudsey or Sherwood SNP - Inverness, Bairn, Strathspey Labour - East Dunbartonshire
Sounds like you have quite the road trip planned. I'm up for the Scottish segment, but any chance of swinging by Eastleigh on your way up?
Doubt the Lib Dems need any help in Eastleigh tbh - I DO however live quite near Sherwood so mayb could do some campaigning there, and if I wasn't betting on the Election I'd be 100% Conservative.
Unfortunately for me I have a 16/1 shot at Eastleigh which isn't the LDs. I think my horse most certainly will need help.
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
Many thanks Bob.
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
Regardless of its effect on VI, his sacking should come as a massive relief to all parents. The guy believed in drilling in facts to children - easily google-able facts. Like focusing on handwriting, it was the methods of the past. I'm interested in people with imagination, ideas, free thought. I hope the newcomer is a wiser owl.
Who are these people who claim to speak for "all" parents. I'm a parent and I was rather pleased to have as Education Secretary someone who believed in high educational standards for all rather than follow the all too prevalent and patronising assumption that poor children are too thick or deprived to be taught to and achieve the highest standards.
It may well be right to move Gove on and we'll see what this new person does. What I'm clear about is that Labour have on the whole been disastrous for education - despite some good initiatives - because their default assumption is too often to make excuses for poor performance and to see education as a means to achieve some other social or economic end rather than as an end in itself i.e. that everyone - whatever their job - should be as well educated as possible because education - in the widest sense - is about more than simply getting a better job or earning more money. The best education does stimulate imagination, ideas and free thought but it needs a good foundation of knowledge.
I am surprised by Gove. It looks a bit of a retreat to me but Cameron is obviously looking at the polling and focussing on the election now. He is brilliant in the Commons but I am not so sure about external media. And the Chief Whip pretty much never speaks in the Commons does he?
I feel we are getting 4 years of reshuffles at once here. Being in the Osborne camp is looking a very sound strategic move at the moment.
Do Labour need any help in their East Dunbartonshire campaign btw ?
I'd be available - was looking at SNP position in Scotland yesterday and somehow arrived at the conclusion the 1-2 for Labour there was tremendous value in East Dunbartonshire and went balls deep there on Labour.
If anyone is reading, I'm available to help out as follows come GE2015:
UKIP - Great Grimsby or Thurrock Conservatives - Pudsey or Sherwood SNP - Inverness, Bairn, Strathspey Labour - East Dunbartonshire
Sounds like you have quite the road trip planned. I'm up for the Scottish segment, but any chance of swinging by Eastleigh on your way up?
Doubt the Lib Dems need any help in Eastleigh tbh - I DO however live quite near Sherwood so mayb could do some campaigning there, and if I wasn't betting on the Election I'd be 100% Conservative.
Unfortunately for me I have a 16/1 shot at Eastleigh which isn't the LDs. I think my horse most certainly will need help.
Just back the Lib Dems there tbh - 16-1 is good value on UKIP there, I'm on them at 7-2 (4-6 Lib Dems for more...)
Meanwhile, where the decisions that matter are made...
Tim Aker MEP (@Tim_Aker) 15/07/2014 09:41 Juncker now defending free movement, rules will not change he says. No chance to get back UK borders while we're in the EU.
UKIP need to get back in the news somehow methinks
Regarding Gove, we'll have to wait and see exactly how Cameron uses him in his new role. From the Beeb:
10:09: Norman Smith says Michael Gove's move to chief whip is "in conventional terms... a demotion". But he says the former education secretary will have a high-profile role as the "go-to face of Team Cameron".
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
Many thanks Bob.
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
Regardless of its effect on VI, his sacking should come as a massive relief to all parents. The guy believed in drilling in facts to children - easily google-able facts. Like focusing on handwriting, it was the methods of the past. I'm interested in people with imagination, ideas, free thought. I hope the newcomer is a wiser owl.
And if those people cannot express their free thoughts? When 20% of school leavers are functionally illiterate and about 40% have the mathematical ability of a primary school child and when it is possible to get a C in English GCSE despite being unable to string two coherent sentences together then perhaps some attention needs to be paid to the basics.
Wonderful to have imagination, free thought and be terribly creative but if you can't formulate those thoughts because you don't have the vocabulary or express them because you can't write then a life of burger flipping or worse awaits. Poor educational standards hurts the poorest children most.
Well said. Creativity is about 1% inspiration and 99% hard work. A point which is often forgotten by those who think that just letting childrens' imagination run riot is all that's needed.
Do Labour need any help in their East Dunbartonshire campaign btw ?
I'd be available - was looking at SNP position in Scotland yesterday and somehow arrived at the conclusion the 1-2 for Labour there was tremendous value in East Dunbartonshire and went balls deep there on Labour.
If anyone is reading, I'm available to help out as follows come GE2015:
UKIP - Great Grimsby or Thurrock Conservatives - Pudsey or Sherwood SNP - Inverness, Bairn, Strathspey Labour - East Dunbartonshire
Sounds like you have quite the road trip planned. I'm up for the Scottish segment, but any chance of swinging by Eastleigh on your way up?
Doubt the Lib Dems need any help in Eastleigh tbh - I DO however live quite near Sherwood so mayb could do some campaigning there, and if I wasn't betting on the Election I'd be 100% Conservative.
Unfortunately for me I have a 16/1 shot at Eastleigh which isn't the LDs. I think my horse most certainly will need help.
Just back the Lib Dems there tbh - 16-1 is good value on UKIP there, I'm on them at 7-2 (4-6 Lib Dems for more...)
I probably will end up with a UKIP/LD semi-arb, can't see it as much of a risk.
"10.00 There’s nothing positive about the decision to move Michael Gove from Education Secretary, says Fraser:
There is no positive gloss to put on Michael Gove’s move from Education Secretary. It’s an appalling decision, which suggests that the Prime Minister is more worried about party management than children’s education. He’ll be replaced by Nicky Morgan – her credentials for education are what, precisely?
Gove was working on this for years before taking the job: he knew exactly what to do which is why he was able to pass his Education Act in 77 days. Morgan will be getting her head around the brief, aided by civil servants who will advise her to stop this reform malarkey and let the empire strike back. The teachers unions will be delighted, as will their allies in the Education Department. They will be able to run rings around the new minister: not because she’s stupid, or lazy. But because education reform is (with welfare reform) the toughest, most complex issue in the British government.
The difference is that in the DWP, the civil servants are on side. Gove was, quite literally, out to get rid of most of the civil servants and then change the department into a free school to make his point. Gove may say that he pulled the genie of school choice out of the bottle. John Major thought so too until Labour was re-elected and abolished the ‘direct grant’ schools (the precursor to City Academies).
Cameron struggles to control his own party, as evidenced by the defeats they keep inflicting on him. So I can see why he has moved Gove into this lesser, parliamentary-based role. And I can see why Gove, ever the loyalist, agreed to do this. But I’m afraid that the speed of reform now slows – and that this reshuffle puts party before pupils."
I suppose Gove sacking should have been foreseen, although most did seem to think he would get an equivalent level post, not a major demotion. I cannot say I've noticed anything positive or negative coming out of all this free school blather from the local schools in my area, but he had some decent ideas as far as I can see, a grounding of specific skills and facts within a framework preparing modes of thought and expression etc etc, seemed a good balance. A bit of a humiliation for him though.
Regarding Gove, we'll have to wait and see exactly how Cameron uses him in his new role. From the Beeb:
10:09: Norman Smith says Michael Gove's move to chief whip is "in conventional terms... a demotion". But he says the former education secretary will have a high-profile role as the "go-to face of Team Cameron".
PB lefters seem annoyed - suggests it is a smart political move.
"10.00 There’s nothing positive about the decision to move Michael Gove from Education Secretary, says Fraser:
There is no positive gloss to put on Michael Gove’s move from Education Secretary. It’s an appalling decision, which suggests that the Prime Minister is more worried about party management than children’s education...this reshuffle puts party before pupils."
I think that more than anything else what occupies Cameron's thoughts is handling his nightmare of a parliamentary party. I will say that as has been beaten in to us by the commentariat over and over again, virtually nothing new would have been coming down the pipeline anyway, so while Gove or others being moved might remove some departmental impetus in certain areas, any damage that could be done, and any fixing as well, should not be that extensive. It is about party management, about presentation, for a bit of extra logn campaigning for 2015, so while many might think it a bad decision to move Gove, I don't think even in that circumstance it can be called appalling, as the impact is not as significant as if it had happened, say, a year ago.
Well practically you can't have no reshuffles and much as ministers want to see their pet policies through to fruition, there is a never-ending process of government, reform, setback, progress.
It's a shame Gove has gone as he gave many parents the confidence to think that someone was on their side who had the intellectual capacity to argue for education. But no one can go on forever.
As to the women, well Cam is right if late. The Cabinet should reflect the country, of sorts. It will also send a message to the constituency parties that they won't lose out on high profile appointments if they select a woman PPC.
So in all, and mindful of the blancmange-like tendency of Cam I think it is a good thing. Clumsy, but good. Breath of fresh air heading into GE2015.
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
Many thanks Bob.
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
Regardless of its effect on VI, his sacking should come as a massive relief to all parents. The guy believed in drilling in facts to children - easily google-able facts. Like focusing on handwriting, it was the methods of the past. I'm interested in people with imagination, ideas, free thought. I hope the newcomer is a wiser owl.
And if those people cannot express their free thoughts? When 20% of school leavers are functionally illiterate and about 40% have the mathematical ability of a primary school child and when it is possible to get a C in English GCSE despite being unable to string two coherent sentences together then perhaps some attention needs to be paid to the basics.
Wonderful to have imagination, free thought and be terribly creative but if you can't formulate those thoughts because you don't have the vocabulary or express them because you can't write then a life of burger flipping or worse awaits. Poor educational standards hurts the poorest children most.
When I was an employer, from the early 60's- mid 80's there were always complaints from my peers that children weren't as well educated as they used to be.
When it comes to mathematics they probably weren't! I have on my shelves a maths text book aimed at 14/15 year olds in the 1940s it contains topics that are now only taught at A level or university.
Seriously, yes I know there is a tendency to look at the past through rose tinted spectacles however I was employing and managing people up until 2006 and the standards of applicants was not good. Often they were good people but their education had let them down very badly. Even further up the chain I had problems with youngsters who had been through Uni, got good degrees but still struggled to express even marginally complex ideas on paper. I vividly remember one report from a junior manager I read it four or five times but I still couldn't understand what he wanted to say.
Leaving anecdote aside, the literacy and numeracy figures quoted come from the time of the last Labour government and really do speak for themselves.
Regarding Gove, we'll have to wait and see exactly how Cameron uses him in his new role. From the Beeb:
10:09: Norman Smith says Michael Gove's move to chief whip is "in conventional terms... a demotion". But he says the former education secretary will have a high-profile role as the "go-to face of Team Cameron".
PB lefters seem annoyed - suggests it is a smart political move.
I'm a teacher, moving from the state sector (which I left a few weeks ago) to the private sector. I've specifically signed up to comment on the Gove reshuffle in the hope of informing others about the problems he has caused.
A lot of the time, he was bang right in his diagnosis. It is almost impossible, these days, to believe in things like imparting facts and teaching advanced skills in a state school, or to understand that actually some children simply won't be able to get some concepts. Far too often, it's about being 'inspirational' and 'engaging' to ensure 'above average achievement for all' (I'm sure everyone here is intelligent enough to spot the problem with that). This is particularly true of people who want to get promoted, so there is a dangerous homogenity in the top echelons that not only won't but somehow can't confront the failings of the system. I've no objection to making my lessons fun, but when the last comes to the last, I believe I'm there to teach them things. There are too many others in the profession who don't quite grasp that.
Certain key standards of thought must be accepted by all teachers, on pain of being disciplined, even if they are wrong or even disturbing - for example, there's quite an unpleasant anti-clerical, especially anti-Catholic, undercurrent to much of the curriculum in maintained schools and expressing disquiet about it leads to cries of 'bigot' or even 'fascist'. Those of us who do object - even those of us who are not Catholics - tend to learn to keep our mouths shut to keep our jobs. Finally, the unions appear to be completely unaware that in terms of salary and pension, teachers have a very privileged position. Things like delaying the retirement age and PRP are not only inevitable, they were long overdue. But the NUT in particular have been stupidly trying to defend the indefensible rather than concentrating on areas where they could make a meaningful difference - in terms of workload, especially class sizes and marking policies.
Regarding Gove, we'll have to wait and see exactly how Cameron uses him in his new role. From the Beeb:
10:09: Norman Smith says Michael Gove's move to chief whip is "in conventional terms... a demotion". But he says the former education secretary will have a high-profile role as the "go-to face of Team Cameron".
PB lefters seem annoyed - suggests it is a smart political move.
Hardly, Boba Fett and SO have said it was great news haven't they?
Nothing on that 11/10 LD bt Ukip? You said it was nailed on
(continued) Gove did at least try to go some way to removing this ideological straitjacket and improving academic standards, as well as refusing to buckle to union pressure, particularly from the cloth-eared NUT (known in teaching as the Nutters, incidentally). However, whether he achieved it is open to debate. Gove's problem was that he could never find it in himself to admit when he was wrong. He would always push through anything he decided on in the teeth of opposition. When he was right, that was great. When he was wrong - which he was almost half the time - that was a fiasco. The problem was that he seemed to have neither the judgement to distinguish between the two, nor the humility to listen to those who could do it for him. He ran into opposition he couldn't understand, and merely became abrasive, even abusive. As a result, teachers simply started to dislike him, which after several needless run-ins, hardened into hatred. It was, for example, the real reason for that strike the other day. It also meant that teachers would dig their toes in and attempt to ignore or block his actually sensible policies - e.g. the new National Curriculum will probably not be implemented in any meaningful fashion in any school including LEA schools. Regardless of any achievements he had to his credit, that makes his move a sensible one.
Gove came into office on a wave of goodwill. More of us voted Tory in 2010 than any other group, having endured Ed Balls - arrogant, rude, nakedly ambitious, disdainful of his role and despite his reputation extremely stupid - for three ghastly years. We hoped Gove, who actually wanted the job and had some reputation as a calmer, more thoughtful person, would do better. The very bitter disappointment may be seen in how far teachers have turned to Labour.
Teachers, on the whole, don't like change - it causes upset, more work and stress in what is already an overworked and highly stressed position. They could be naturally Conservative, with the right encouragement. Gove was not the right person for that. Cameron may just have picked up some crucial votes in the leafy suburbs by removing him.
As an aside, however, in my lifetime only two SoS for Education have ever been really popular - John MacGregor (who actually took the trouble to listen to teachers directly, rather than managers or unions) and Estelle Morris (who was one and therefore understood the stresses and strains of the job). I'm guessing Morgan will probably go the same way (Tristram Hunt, who makes Ed Balls look like Hermione Granger, certainly will) but she might just be able to postpone things until after the election simply by not being Gove.
Gove has been education secretary for 4 years. Are the reforms going to be reversed? No He has a senior party role and it saeems will be an enhanced and (for once) talkative chief whip. There seems to be a bit of over excitement going on about all this
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If No wins, well, you can guess the rest.
As a general PB rule, when Mike's on holiday something major happens.
Might see you at the secret screening tonight. I will be the one lighting up the cinema to check the EICIPM position at 9.55
Consider if it were for 'Men and Equalities' or 'Straight People and Equalities'.
Meanwhile, a simply brilliant move by Cam, sacking Gove. I think this could really help shift votes. The guy was - for good reason - utterly toxic. He believed education was about filling a bucket. The wise know it should be lighting a fire.
'If elected, by the end of our first Parliament I want a third of all my ministers to be female'
April 2009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1175106/A-Tory-Government-ministers-women-claims-Cameron.html
You can give any interpretation you like. My point was , prior to UKIP, there was an understandable "conspiracy of silence" since some Tory supporters hid their support because effectively they were ashamed to make their choice public.
With the advent of UKIP, an even more disliked party, by all accounts, that "silence" factor is no longer relevant.
THe other important point is that by assuming those 2010 LD voters who are saying "Don't know" , they are really LD supporters now is total hogwash. Barely, 30% of GE2010 LD voters are now telling they would vote LD. By operating the conspiracy of silence factor here really distorts the final outcome.
It is a different ballgame now. It is better to look at marginals at a micro level rather than waste time looking at the country as a whole.
Why on earth would GO be next Foreign Sec - Surely PM, LOTO or bust for him ?
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As Chief Whip Gove will not be full member of Cabinet, No10 confirms. He will 'attend Cabinet as key member of PM's core team' #reshuffle
Michael Fallon is the new Secretary of State for Defence
Agree about Gove. It's a very positive move for the Tories.
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Michael Fallon has been appointed as Defence Secretary @DefenceHQ #reshuffle
If its not broke don't fix it!
Anyway, enough of all that ...
Gove undoubtedly was concerned to improve education. However, his chosen vehicle -- free schools (more or less an extension of Labour's academies) -- was at best a distraction. Freedom was open to those who would run bad schools, as well as good ones, and also to extremists. Freedom was less fashionable for the rest, where it was said Michael Gove's desk was the biggest LEA in England.
Gove also let his own prejudices get in the way -- he did not like sport, so selling off playing fields accelerated (and this while the Prime Minister was talking about the importance of school sport around the Olympics). He did not like American books, so To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men were for the chop.
Gove took his eye off the ball, and presided over a massive shortage of school places -- and probably this is why he was so unpopular with parents.
He also showed no great interest in programmes like Teach First, which were improving education.
But worst of all, politically he was useless -- whatever you think about teachers, as a group they do care about education yet Gove preferred confrontation to consensus and contrived to alienate parents and teachers, both of which groups should have been on his side.
A few of weeks back I went too far in an attack on JackW for which I apologise. I will try to keep further comments within civilised bounds.
I particularly liked the invention about American books. The idea that Michael Gove, of all people, doesn't like American books is hilarious.
I'd be available - was looking at SNP position in Scotland yesterday and somehow arrived at the conclusion the 1-2 for Labour there was tremendous value in East Dunbartonshire and went balls deep there on Labour.
If anyone is reading, I'm available to help out as follows come GE2015:
UKIP - Great Grimsby or Thurrock
Conservatives - Pudsey or Sherwood
SNP - Inverness, Bairn, Strathspey
Labour - East Dunbartonshire
Mr. Smithson/Mr. K, often difficult to offer an apology, nice to see Mr. K felt able to do so.
Gove fronting the media is unbelieveably good news.
Few will have heard of any of them but what fates will befall people like e.g. Gavin Barwell (whip), Nick Boles (Planning), Kris Hopkins (Housing) etc. And who else from the 2010 will be handed the first steps on the ladder?
He's not. The examination syllabus is put together by Edexcel, AQA, etc. They are the ones who choose which books are studied.
Wonderful to have imagination, free thought and be terribly creative but if you can't formulate those thoughts because you don't have the vocabulary or express them because you can't write then a life of burger flipping or worse awaits. Poor educational standards hurts the poorest children most.
15/07/2014 09:38
That'll teach Michael Gove for having the courage to reform and actually change things.
Another broken promise
perhaps the top down reorganisation has been applied to the nhs rather than the one third women one?
Funny how that phrase keeps coming up on twitter and even radio and TV. The SEAL team going gangbusters.
Keeps hem out of trouble moaning about Ed I suppose.
Tim Aker MEP (@Tim_Aker)
15/07/2014 09:41
Juncker now defending free movement, rules will not change he says. No chance to get back UK borders while we're in the EU.
It may well be right to move Gove on and we'll see what this new person does. What I'm clear about is that Labour have on the whole been disastrous for education - despite some good initiatives - because their default assumption is too often to make excuses for poor performance and to see education as a means to achieve some other social or economic end rather than as an end in itself i.e. that everyone - whatever their job - should be as well educated as possible because education - in the widest sense - is about more than simply getting a better job or earning more money. The best education does stimulate imagination, ideas and free thought but it needs a good foundation of knowledge.
He shouldn't have made those comments on Eton and Etonians.
I feel we are getting 4 years of reshuffles at once here. Being in the Osborne camp is looking a very sound strategic move at the moment.
Summary of the reshuffle is that the GE is all - every move is targeted and positioned to be most favourable for next May. Will it work ?
10:09: Norman Smith says Michael Gove's move to chief whip is "in conventional terms... a demotion". But he says the former education secretary will have a high-profile role as the "go-to face of Team Cameron".
"10.00 There’s nothing positive about the decision to move Michael Gove from Education Secretary, says Fraser:
There is no positive gloss to put on Michael Gove’s move from Education Secretary. It’s an appalling decision, which suggests that the Prime Minister is more worried about party management than children’s education. He’ll be replaced by Nicky Morgan – her credentials for education are what, precisely?
Gove was working on this for years before taking the job: he knew exactly what to do which is why he was able to pass his Education Act in 77 days. Morgan will be getting her head around the brief, aided by civil servants who will advise her to stop this reform malarkey and let the empire strike back. The teachers unions will be delighted, as will their allies in the Education Department. They will be able to run rings around the new minister: not because she’s stupid, or lazy. But because education reform is (with welfare reform) the toughest, most complex issue in the British government.
The difference is that in the DWP, the civil servants are on side. Gove was, quite literally, out to get rid of most of the civil servants and then change the department into a free school to make his point. Gove may say that he pulled the genie of school choice out of the bottle. John Major thought so too until Labour was re-elected and abolished the ‘direct grant’ schools (the precursor to City Academies).
Cameron struggles to control his own party, as evidenced by the defeats they keep inflicting on him. So I can see why he has moved Gove into this lesser, parliamentary-based role. And I can see why Gove, ever the loyalist, agreed to do this. But I’m afraid that the speed of reform now slows – and that this reshuffle puts party before pupils."
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/the-spectator/2014/07/the-hiring-begins-live-blog-of-cabinet-reshuffle/
It's a shame Gove has gone as he gave many parents the confidence to think that someone was on their side who had the intellectual capacity to argue for education. But no one can go on forever.
As to the women, well Cam is right if late. The Cabinet should reflect the country, of sorts. It will also send a message to the constituency parties that they won't lose out on high profile appointments if they select a woman PPC.
So in all, and mindful of the blancmange-like tendency of Cam I think it is a good thing. Clumsy, but good. Breath of fresh air heading into GE2015.
Seriously, yes I know there is a tendency to look at the past through rose tinted spectacles however I was employing and managing people up until 2006 and the standards of applicants was not good. Often they were good people but their education had let them down very badly. Even further up the chain I had problems with youngsters who had been through Uni, got good degrees but still struggled to express even marginally complex ideas on paper. I vividly remember one report from a junior manager I read it four or five times but I still couldn't understand what he wanted to say.
Leaving anecdote aside, the literacy and numeracy figures quoted come from the time of the last Labour government and really do speak for themselves.
A lot of the time, he was bang right in his diagnosis. It is almost impossible, these days, to believe in things like imparting facts and teaching advanced skills in a state school, or to understand that actually some children simply won't be able to get some concepts. Far too often, it's about being 'inspirational' and 'engaging' to ensure 'above average achievement for all' (I'm sure everyone here is intelligent enough to spot the problem with that). This is particularly true of people who want to get promoted, so there is a dangerous homogenity in the top echelons that not only won't but somehow can't confront the failings of the system. I've no objection to making my lessons fun, but when the last comes to the last, I believe I'm there to teach them things. There are too many others in the profession who don't quite grasp that.
Certain key standards of thought must be accepted by all teachers, on pain of being disciplined, even if they are wrong or even disturbing - for example, there's quite an unpleasant anti-clerical, especially anti-Catholic, undercurrent to much of the curriculum in maintained schools and expressing disquiet about it leads to cries of 'bigot' or even 'fascist'. Those of us who do object - even those of us who are not Catholics - tend to learn to keep our mouths shut to keep our jobs. Finally, the unions appear to be completely unaware that in terms of salary and pension, teachers have a very privileged position. Things like delaying the retirement age and PRP are not only inevitable, they were long overdue. But the NUT in particular have been stupidly trying to defend the indefensible rather than concentrating on areas where they could make a meaningful difference - in terms of workload, especially class sizes and marking policies.
(continued)
Nothing on that 11/10 LD bt Ukip? You said it was nailed on
Gove did at least try to go some way to removing this ideological straitjacket and improving academic standards, as well as refusing to buckle to union pressure, particularly from the cloth-eared NUT (known in teaching as the Nutters, incidentally). However, whether he achieved it is open to debate. Gove's problem was that he could never find it in himself to admit when he was wrong. He would always push through anything he decided on in the teeth of opposition. When he was right, that was great. When he was wrong - which he was almost half the time - that was a fiasco. The problem was that he seemed to have neither the judgement to distinguish between the two, nor the humility to listen to those who could do it for him. He ran into opposition he couldn't understand, and merely became abrasive, even abusive. As a result, teachers simply started to dislike him, which after several needless run-ins, hardened into hatred. It was, for example, the real reason for that strike the other day. It also meant that teachers would dig their toes in and attempt to ignore or block his actually sensible policies - e.g. the new National Curriculum will probably not be implemented in any meaningful fashion in any school including LEA schools. Regardless of any achievements he had to his credit, that makes his move a sensible one.
Gove came into office on a wave of goodwill. More of us voted Tory in 2010 than any other group, having endured Ed Balls - arrogant, rude, nakedly ambitious, disdainful of his role and despite his reputation extremely stupid - for three ghastly years. We hoped Gove, who actually wanted the job and had some reputation as a calmer, more thoughtful person, would do better. The very bitter disappointment may be seen in how far teachers have turned to Labour.
Teachers, on the whole, don't like change - it causes upset, more work and stress in what is already an overworked and highly stressed position. They could be naturally Conservative, with the right encouragement. Gove was not the right person for that. Cameron may just have picked up some crucial votes in the leafy suburbs by removing him.
As an aside, however, in my lifetime only two SoS for Education have ever been really popular - John MacGregor (who actually took the trouble to listen to teachers directly, rather than managers or unions) and Estelle Morris (who was one and therefore understood the stresses and strains of the job). I'm guessing Morgan will probably go the same way (Tristram Hunt, who makes Ed Balls look like Hermione Granger, certainly will) but she might just be able to postpone things until after the election simply by not being Gove.
He has a senior party role and it saeems will be an enhanced and (for once) talkative chief whip.
There seems to be a bit of over excitement going on about all this