It's hilarious that the people responsible for this mess are considered reasonable by the chattering class, and those of us wanting to not import hundreds of thousands of people with very different values systems are claimed to be "fringe".
No change for Esther McVey apart from now attending Cabinet according to Nick Robinson.
What a huge vote of confidence.
I read somewhere that Esther had blotted her copybook with Dave over something she said during the Maria Miller debacle. Whatever...she hasn't emerged well from this reshuffle - I rate her rather more highly than Nicky Morgan.
Gove has been education secretary for 4 years. Are the reforms going to be reversed? No He has a senior party role and it seems will be an enhanced and (for once) talkative chief whip. There seems to be a bit of over excitement going on about all this
The impact on policy and reform may not be huge, but going from a senior cabinet post to head of the whips is a significant demotion for him personally I would have thought. Still trusted, just not to actually do anything with any government money or decisions, only to hound fellow MPs. That's not nothing, but it ain't what he was able to do and say before.
4. Osborne's slow and clandestine take-over of the Tory Party continues.
If Jeremy Hunt had been given his cards it would have given us a full house, but even so I think Tim may have spontaneously combusted with all of this!
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
I think listening to the weight of dislike for him by just about every teacher interviewed this morning illustrates your point well. It seems to have gone beyond self-interest and had become a visceral and, crucially, unproductive response.
With luck the direction of travel will be maintained and although I think that one must be cautious in listening only to the constituents of an institution you believe needs reform, there seems to be no doubt that Gove was becoming the "story".
(continued) 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.
A common problem in difficult areas. When something requires major overhaul and change, you inevitably come up against people who complain and raise objections at the prospect of any change, and you need to be tough and driven to force an amount of change. As you say, the problem comes when because of that atmosphere, you tend to treat any complaint or objection as being a kneejerk response to be dismissed even if it raises a valid point. A siege mentality develops and any objection to a specific change treated as though it is without merit.
Mr. Socrates, I have mixed views on Fraser. His economic pieces a few years ago were completely divorced from political reality (I agree his suggestions would've made things better economically, were it not for the fact they would have destroyed the government) and when evaluating Osborne's performance he compared it to the fairy story of Darling's magical incantation about a deficit reduction plan, which was not so much based on economic facts as the mystical alignment of the stars.
That said, he is an independent voice and, whilst I don't always agree with him, he does come across as a clever chap.
perhaps the top down reorganisation has been applied to the nhs rather than the one third women one?
To be fair, they only have 48 women MPs. Only 1 in 7 Tory MPs is a woman.
I make it five of seventeen Conservative cabinet posts, with Wales still vacant.
Great news to be a woman minister. First somehow through the teeth of Conservative Association's opposition, become an MP. Then, ho ho, you have 1 in 8 chance of becoming a cabinet member. 6 / 48.
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.
Junker has clearly said that matters can be negotiated and if the EU countries agree to the results then things will change. Junker defending the principle is irrelevant. The EU may not agree, but why should you or anyone bother. The issue is a referendum in 2017.
It's hilarious that the people responsible for this mess are considered reasonable by the chattering class, and those of us wanting to not import hundreds of thousands of people with very different values systems are claimed to be "fringe".
Enoch right again... The people that made the decision to ruin the country would rather see it destroyed than admit they were wrong
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.
This is the number one priority for repatriation of the British public. If Juncker sticks to his guns, this is a huge boon for eurosceptics. Cameron will need to get major repatriations elsewhere. As I've said before, there are four big areas where the EU holds us back:
Free Movement Common Agricultural Policy Common External Tariff Labour and product regulation
How many do we genuinely think Cameron will get back? A half of one?
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'm always amused, in a dark way, when the latest managerial or administrative fad comes along about improving processes and dynamic structures and the like, with very basic ideas of efficiency and flexibility treated as though they are some innovative new concept to some no doubt trademarked training programme, and employees being taken down this path - sometimes for good, sometimes to little effect - are forced to endorse it in silly team sessions where people gather in groups and are presented with a question like 'In groups, explain how 'managerspeak' is good for the development of this team/industry', which helpfully prevents anyone from perhaps suggesting they don't think it is a good idea. A way has been chosen, pretending there is low level engagement is important, so they have to make it seem like everyone is involved in the latest game of choice.
As I say, sometimes you need to force these things on teams and entire sectors, the key is spotting when it is truly necessary, otherwise you get the situation you describe where a way has been agreed and no-one can genuinely speak out against that.
From the Guardian live feed " Lord Hill, an Education Minister, remains in his post after apparently trying unsuccessfully to resign from the Government during the reshuffle two weeks ago.
The Prime Minister is said to have been distracted and failed to catch what Lord Hill was saying to him when they met in Mr Cameron's Commons office at the end of what had been a long day of blood-letting.
Warned he was late for a photocall, the Prime Minister left the room telling the minister to "carry on the good work," leaving him with little choice but to remain in office." [Edited, wrong live blog]
Seems to me to be a clear sign from Cameron that he does not give a toss about the EU, and is manoeuvring us for the exit. Why else nominate a political nobody?
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
Bookies are evens, you can have 11/10 with me
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
Lord Hill? Why the hell was he chosen? It can only be because Juncker has given Cameron the middle finger and is refusing to give the UK any power at all, so he appointed someone minor. If that's the case, it's truly a humiliation of the UK.
It's hilarious that the people responsible for this mess are considered reasonable by the chattering class, and those of us wanting to not import hundreds of thousands of people with very different values systems are claimed to be "fringe".
Enoch right again... The people that made the decision to ruin the country would rather see it destroyed than admit they were wrong
I heard the item on the Today programme. What was bizarre was that one of the girls said that she had no clue as to who the differing factions in Syria were but that she wouldn't want to get involved in fighting Muslims. Dear God! Who on earth does she think is doing the fighting in Syria and Iraq: this is a Muslim civil war. It's the combination of ignorance and blind faith which is so worrying.
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
Bookies are evens, you can have 11/10 with me
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
Bet is most total votes in the Uk in the GE held next May ?
From BBC: Stephen Crabb, who replaces David Jones as secretary of state for Wales, will be the first bearded Tory cabinet minister since 1905
And not a very convincing beard either.
Lord Hill? Whatever the other reasons for the appointment, the 'let's avoid a by-election' factor probably did come into play, unless Cameron is thinking his first choice will be rejected and has a surprise backup.
Ydoethur - what a fascinating and balanced insight.
I think your views explain why this is a good move for cameron. Whilst those on the right wing seem to hold Gove in extremely high regards, of all ministers in general popularity he is quite low and this must be down to his standing in other voters.
He has a tendency to get in to detailed arguments, and pick fights related to his brief , but he has a very adept and and agile mind and can hold his own 24 hrs news media - will certainly be an upgrade on the Eric Pickles / Grant Shapps I remember from the recent elections, who parroted their lines without being able to pick apart opponents.
I think your other point about this getting some votes in the leafy suburbs is also right, as Gove had allowed himself to be portrayed to be on an ideological mission in education. Whilst this was undoubtedly the case, the fact that his zeal was ideological, but the unions and labours desired status quo could not be pegged as ideological is worrying, because their ideology is wedded to a failing system that significant numbers of people are not happy with.
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
Bookies are evens, you can have 11/10 with me
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
Bet is most total votes in the Uk in the GE held next May ?
Thanks very much to ydoethur for the interesting perspective. At a purely political level, Gove was certainly vote-repellent among teachers, though to be fair he was one of the few ministers of either party who clearly had a calling for that specific job (IDS is another). Making him the public face of the coalition is an interesting move.
The British love these low-profile people for commissioner jobs, don't they? Finland sent their Prime Minister...
We don't want to give the impression we care enough to send a titanic figure, not that we have many. Of course we still want one of the important commissions, but as one of the larger EU nations we don't want to appear desperate.
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
Bookies are evens, you can have 11/10 with me
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
Bet is most total votes in the Uk in the GE held next May ?
Lord Hill? Why the hell was he chosen? It can only be because Juncker has given Cameron the middle finger and is refusing to give the UK any power at all, so he appointed someone minor. If that's the case, it's truly a humiliation of the UK.
Maybe it means Hague is getting EUCO. The commission jobs may now be following normal political rules (no gravy for your enemies) but the member states don't usually like to kick sand in the losers' faces, even if the said loser is being a total pain in the arse with their whining and grandstanding.
Gove at education was the biggest positive in the Coalition.
Only if you are Toby Young.
The man has lost the support among the profession, parents and was a liability with the majority of the electorate IMHO
Some of us care more about improving education than winning plaudits in the teachers' unions. They are one of the worst vested interests in the country.
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
Bookies are evens, you can have 11/10 with me
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
Bet is most total votes in the Uk in the GE held next May ?
Mr. Socrates, I have mixed views on Fraser. His economic pieces a few years ago were completely divorced from political reality (I agree his suggestions would've made things better economically, were it not for the fact they would have destroyed the government) and when evaluating Osborne's performance he compared it to the fairy story of Darling's magical incantation about a deficit reduction plan, which was not so much based on economic facts as the mystical alignment of the stars.
That said, he is an independent voice and, whilst I don't always agree with him, he does come across as a clever chap.
Mr. Socrates, I have mixed views on Fraser. His economic pieces a few years ago were completely divorced from political reality (I agree his suggestions would've made things better economically, were it not for the fact they would have destroyed the government) and when evaluating Osborne's performance he compared it to the fairy story of Darling's magical incantation about a deficit reduction plan, which was not so much based on economic facts as the mystical alignment of the stars.
That said, he is an independent voice and, whilst I don't always agree with him, he does come across as a clever chap.
I think the opposite - he does not come across as clever at all and when he tries to criticise the government economically he comes across as quite duplicitous. Your mother-in-laws dead grandmother could rip Brown's economic policies apart. It does not take a genius.
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
Bookies are evens, you can have 11/10 with me
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
Bet is most total votes in the Uk in the GE held next May ?
Of course!
£50000 ?
Kidding.
£50 ?
Youre on!
Excellent - a cyber handshake on it. Register with PtP if required.
I'm not sure, and TBH I'm surprised, although it's true that he was getting rather divisive. Obviously we'll have to wait and see how big a role his new job turns out to be.
This was Isabel Hardman's take, which is interesting:
Michael Gove is, as the teaching union placards have demanded for so long, out. He’s left the education department to take up the post of chief whip. It had long been suggested that Gove was getting a bit bored: he has achieved a great deal in education, but the downside of getting all the big reforms through quickly was that he often had a bit of time on his hands to start fights about the historical interpretation of the First World War. Even some of his closest allies felt he needed to chill out a bit.
Dave must think 2015 is a good election to lose if Gove is going to be seen as the face of the Tories in GE2015
He comes across pretty well every time I've seen him - enthusiastic, intelligent, not bland - perhaps he might do ok parroting government lines and arguing in a general way the case for the government, when not burdened with the additional baggage of a set of hugely unpopular within teaching education reforms which are very much his personal design. Making him speak for the government without any power to do anything in government might fit his presentational skills better.
Interesting posts. I hope you hang around and continue to contribute.
My sister is a teacher in Scotland and her views are the problems are not with the teachers (who generally work very hard and are conscientious) but with the teacher training which is largely warmed over Marxist sociology with an inadequate focus on actual teaching skills.
I think the problem Gove had was that every idea, no matter how sensible, was opposed which made it much harder for him to see that the opposition had a point when it did. The rate of change was also destabilising.
In Scotland we have had the cultural revolution of Curriculum for Excellence which is a very mixed bag and has put tremendous stress on teachers learning new methods and new curricula at the same time. I fear Gove was doing something similar. There comes a point in any organisation that permanent revolution is a recipe for failure, not success.
The hot air generated by this reshuffle is enormous. And everyone has to find a criticism and it has to be different, leading to some truly absurd tweets and posts here.
It is as if everyone wants to be a living stunning Sun headline.
@Hurst True enough - literacy and numeracy are supremely important and need to be drilled in.
The date an ancient king died does not. There's an app for that.
A general level of basic facts is not, however, harmful. Knowing the broad historical development of the nation we live in is important as well, it contextualizes everything. It takes up little time to ensure some general facts and skills alongside the more aspirational aims of inspiration etc etc, along with basic literacy and numeracy.
Did Gove put too much emphasis on that focus on facts? Maybe, people hardly need to know a great deal of specific detail of arcane facts, but I regard it as pretty shameful that I managed to get to get through school without being taught anything about the British Civil Wars of the 17th century, to pick one example. Even if most of the specifics are not necessary to know, the impact of those events were hugely significant in determining how the country has ended up in the style it is now, and understanding how we got to where we are is very useful in figuring out why things are the way they are and how they perhaps should be and how to achieve that.
I'll join others in offering SO many congratulations on his 25th wedding anniversary.
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.
Your experience is a very familiar one today - it would appear that many non-UK graduates are better educated in the fundamental subjects and skills than our home-educated people.
Completely off-topic, yesterday you asked what PBers do all day. I have been an independent consultant for years and currently help new high-tech companies to grow globally. (Graduated in Chem Eng as well as MBA). Also I work with the World Bank on infrastructure projects (mainly in sub-Saharan Africa) as well as advising emergent governments in the art of governance (capacity building, capability and competence). In my spare time, I am a member of a group of advisors to HMG on such subjects as Trade, Foreign Relations and Education.
Quite reasssuring that evidently nobody near Number 10 is doing any insider trading (as was alleged over past Speakers' elections and other things where being close to it had a clear advantage.
Question (work-related): is Eric Pickles confirmed? I'm supposed to be handing in a petition about a breeding facility for lab animals at the DCLG, directed to him this afternoon. I'm sure he won't be popping down for a chat, but it would be sensible to have it addressed to the right person.
Thanks DavidL. I'll add a quick reply before I have to return to my paperwork.
I agree about teachers. Even though sometimes my colleagues seem to me to be missing the point, they do all work hard and they do all want to do well for the children. Otherwise, they tend not to last long because the job is so demanding and so stressful. As one very wise old music teacher said to me, 'Teachers don't wake up on Monday morning wondering how they can ruin the education of 500 children this week.'
I'm not sure I would agree about training. My training course was not like the one described - but that was in the South of England and I appreciate in Scotland it may be very different. I was a teacher both before and after doing a PGCE (long story) and I'm in no doubt whatsoever that I am a far better teacher after doing the PGCE than I was before, because I did indeed learn new teaching skills on the course (and I didn't hear any Marxism, although Vygotsky reared his head). That's not to say every person who wants to be a teacher has to be qualified (which is the NUT position) - merely that I'm not a 'natural' teacher and while I could muddle along on instinct and common sense I had to take the trouble to learn it before I was good at it.
I think a large part of the problem was the LEA system - it had some good points but having worked in a couple of LEA schools, then an academy, corruption and complacency were becoming big problems. This also spread its tentacles into school management. However, Gove's attempts to get rid of them were being opposed, at the finish, simply because the idea came from him.
I also agree entirely about the destabilising effect of change - in England, a new national curriculum is in force from September, a fairly drastically altered A-level from the following September and a completely revamped GCSE (bearing no resemblance to the old one) from September 2016. Reworking all the resources, planning new schemes of work and doing all the necessary preparation is going to be hard. It's also going to be extremely costly - I'm estimating a bill of at least £1,000 for each change for my department alone, and I could be being optimistic. And that's in a private school where I have the money to spend. The new GCSE is actually pretty good, better than the one we have now - but it should really have been phased in much more slowly and much more carefully resourced.
Again, we come back to Gove's reluctance to distinguish between good ideas and bad ideas, and his habit of ignoring sensible warnings.
"The date an ancient king died does not. There's an app for that. "
This sums up everything that to me is wrong. Unless you have a basic understanding of the facts - the narrative - of our history and that of other countries, of basic scientific concepts, of mathematical concepts etc, how on earth do you know that what you are being told is true. How can you ask intelligent questions? How on earth do you think that you can design an app or whatever will replace them?
Education is not just a collection of random facts that you pick up from an app, anymore than if you collected facts from an encyclopaedia or words from a dictionary. That's just confusing the sort of random knowledge that might win you points on a pub quiz team with education. You need a good solid basic understanding of what happened, how things work, how to use numbers, how to express yourself etc,. Without this, you will always struggle no matter how many apps you have.
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
Oh I missed that - is that the odds you are offering or the bookies ?
Bookies are evens, you can have 11/10 with me
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
Bet is most total votes in the Uk in the GE held next May ?
Of course!
£50000 ?
Kidding.
£50 ?
Youre on!
Excellent - a cyber handshake on it. Register with PtP if required.
Comments
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28293033
It's hilarious that the people responsible for this mess are considered reasonable by the chattering class, and those of us wanting to not import hundreds of thousands of people with very different values systems are claimed to be "fringe".
And this man knows what he is talking about? Spare me please - he is just another teenage scribbler.
1. Hague gone.
2. Gove demoted.
3. Cameron trying to address his "women problem"
4. Osborne's slow and clandestine take-over of the Tory Party continues.
If Jeremy Hunt had been given his cards it would have given us a full house, but even so I think Tim may have spontaneously combusted with all of this!
who he??
Oh. Leader of the House of Lords.
Not a big name then
I think listening to the weight of dislike for him by just about every teacher interviewed this morning illustrates your point well. It seems to have gone beyond self-interest and had become a visceral and, crucially, unproductive response.
With luck the direction of travel will be maintained and although I think that one must be cautious in listening only to the constituents of an institution you believe needs reform, there seems to be no doubt that Gove was becoming the "story".
That said, he is an independent voice and, whilst I don't always agree with him, he does come across as a clever chap.
SHADSY WINS !
The EU may not agree, but why should you or anyone bother. The issue is a referendum in 2017.
Anyone absent you add to your list of astroturfers or, more kindly, party activists who are at the counts.
Another one bites the dust...
http://youtu.be/cfNPJgfmhJ4
Free Movement
Common Agricultural Policy
Common External Tariff
Labour and product regulation
How many do we genuinely think Cameron will get back? A half of one?
As I say, sometimes you need to force these things on teams and entire sectors, the key is spotting when it is truly necessary, otherwise you get the situation you describe where a way has been agreed and no-one can genuinely speak out against that.
" Lord Hill, an Education Minister, remains in his post after apparently trying unsuccessfully to resign from the Government during the reshuffle two weeks ago.
The Prime Minister is said to have been distracted and failed to catch what Lord Hill was saying to him when they met in Mr Cameron's Commons office at the end of what had been a long day of blood-letting.
Warned he was late for a photocall, the Prime Minister left the room telling the minister to "carry on the good work," leaving him with little choice but to remain in office."
[Edited, wrong live blog]
He's our big-hitter for the EU Commission?
Seems to me to be a clear sign from Cameron that he does not give a toss about the EU, and is manoeuvring us for the exit. Why else nominate a political nobody?
Does Clegg have nobody to reshuffle?
Quincel, Pulpstar and rcs1000 can vouch for my prompt payment, no OGH/ScottP style wriggling!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Stowell,_Baroness_Stowell_of_Beeston
And not a very convincing beard either.
Lord Hill? Whatever the other reasons for the appointment, the 'let's avoid a by-election' factor probably did come into play, unless Cameron is thinking his first choice will be rejected and has a surprise backup.
The man has lost the support among the profession, parents and was a liability with the majority of the electorate IMHO
Mind you if he was a liability at education heading up the media arm could keep the toxic one in the public eye.
I for one hope he is on TV lots at GE 2015
He's 41!
I think your views explain why this is a good move for cameron. Whilst those on the right wing seem to hold Gove in extremely high regards, of all ministers in general popularity he is quite low and this must be down to his standing in other voters.
He has a tendency to get in to detailed arguments, and pick fights related to his brief , but he has a very adept and and agile mind and can hold his own 24 hrs news media - will certainly be an upgrade on the Eric Pickles / Grant Shapps I remember from the recent elections, who parroted their lines without being able to pick apart opponents.
I think your other point about this getting some votes in the leafy suburbs is also right, as Gove had allowed himself to be portrayed to be on an ideological mission in education. Whilst this was undoubtedly the case, the fact that his zeal was ideological, but the unions and labours desired status quo could not be pegged as ideological is worrying, because their ideology is wedded to a failing system that significant numbers of people are not happy with.
2015 is that brick wall.
Hague backers must feel particularly aggrieved.
Kidding.
£50 ?
Oh.
Your mother-in-laws dead grandmother could rip Brown's economic policies apart. It does not take a genius.
I'd most likely bring a Laptop anyway
Why has Gove been demoted?
Still want to see if UKIP or LD is ahead in the "real" figures...
The power of PB.
This was Isabel Hardman's take, which is interesting:
Michael Gove is, as the teaching union placards have demanded for so long, out. He’s left the education department to take up the post of chief whip. It had long been suggested that Gove was getting a bit bored: he has achieved a great deal in education, but the downside of getting all the big reforms through quickly was that he often had a bit of time on his hands to start fights about the historical interpretation of the First World War. Even some of his closest allies felt he needed to chill out a bit.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/07/the-hiring-begins-live-blog-of-cabinet-reshuffle/
Anyone who wants to know more might find this link of use:
http://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/07/15/gove-goes-live-reaction.aspx
Edit to add: Did we say something to upset Dave?
You are clearly doing that thing again where you don't actually read your opponents' posts. Have a read then come back to me.
True enough - literacy and numeracy are supremely important and need to be drilled in.
The date an ancient king died does not. There's an app for that.
Lord Hill was 20/1 to be next EU Commissioner. No-one backed him. Ladbrokes owe PM a drink.
Interesting posts. I hope you hang around and continue to contribute.
My sister is a teacher in Scotland and her views are the problems are not with the teachers (who generally work very hard and are conscientious) but with the teacher training which is largely warmed over Marxist sociology with an inadequate focus on actual teaching skills.
I think the problem Gove had was that every idea, no matter how sensible, was opposed which made it much harder for him to see that the opposition had a point when it did. The rate of change was also destabilising.
In Scotland we have had the cultural revolution of Curriculum for Excellence which is a very mixed bag and has put tremendous stress on teachers learning new methods and new curricula at the same time. I fear Gove was doing something similar. There comes a point in any organisation that permanent revolution is a recipe for failure, not success.
It is as if everyone wants to be a living stunning Sun headline.
Did Gove put too much emphasis on that focus on facts? Maybe, people hardly need to know a great deal of specific detail of arcane facts, but I regard it as pretty shameful that I managed to get to get through school without being taught anything about the British Civil Wars of the 17th century, to pick one example. Even if most of the specifics are not necessary to know, the impact of those events were hugely significant in determining how the country has ended up in the style it is now, and understanding how we got to where we are is very useful in figuring out why things are the way they are and how they perhaps should be and how to achieve that.
Your experience is a very familiar one today - it would appear that many non-UK graduates are better educated in the fundamental subjects and skills than our home-educated people.
Completely off-topic, yesterday you asked what PBers do all day.
I have been an independent consultant for years and currently help new high-tech companies to grow globally. (Graduated in Chem Eng as well as MBA). Also I work with the World Bank on infrastructure projects (mainly in sub-Saharan Africa) as well as advising emergent governments in the art of governance (capacity building, capability and competence). In my spare time, I am a member of a group of advisors to HMG on such subjects as Trade, Foreign Relations and Education.
Question (work-related): is Eric Pickles confirmed? I'm supposed to be handing in a petition about a breeding facility for lab animals at the DCLG, directed to him this afternoon. I'm sure he won't be popping down for a chat, but it would be sensible to have it addressed to the right person.
I agree about teachers. Even though sometimes my colleagues seem to me to be missing the point, they do all work hard and they do all want to do well for the children. Otherwise, they tend not to last long because the job is so demanding and so stressful. As one very wise old music teacher said to me, 'Teachers don't wake up on Monday morning wondering how they can ruin the education of 500 children this week.'
I'm not sure I would agree about training. My training course was not like the one described - but that was in the South of England and I appreciate in Scotland it may be very different. I was a teacher both before and after doing a PGCE (long story) and I'm in no doubt whatsoever that I am a far better teacher after doing the PGCE than I was before, because I did indeed learn new teaching skills on the course (and I didn't hear any Marxism, although Vygotsky reared his head). That's not to say every person who wants to be a teacher has to be qualified (which is the NUT position) - merely that I'm not a 'natural' teacher and while I could muddle along on instinct and common sense I had to take the trouble to learn it before I was good at it.
I think a large part of the problem was the LEA system - it had some good points but having worked in a couple of LEA schools, then an academy, corruption and complacency were becoming big problems. This also spread its tentacles into school management. However, Gove's attempts to get rid of them were being opposed, at the finish, simply because the idea came from him.
I also agree entirely about the destabilising effect of change - in England, a new national curriculum is in force from September, a fairly drastically altered A-level from the following September and a completely revamped GCSE (bearing no resemblance to the old one) from September 2016. Reworking all the resources, planning new schemes of work and doing all the necessary preparation is going to be hard. It's also going to be extremely costly - I'm estimating a bill of at least £1,000 for each change for my department alone, and I could be being optimistic. And that's in a private school where I have the money to spend. The new GCSE is actually pretty good, better than the one we have now - but it should really have been phased in much more slowly and much more carefully resourced.
Again, we come back to Gove's reluctance to distinguish between good ideas and bad ideas, and his habit of ignoring sensible warnings.
This sums up everything that to me is wrong. Unless you have a basic understanding of the facts - the narrative - of our history and that of other countries, of basic scientific concepts, of mathematical concepts etc, how on earth do you know that what you are being told is true. How can you ask intelligent questions? How on earth do you think that you can design an app or whatever will replace them?
Education is not just a collection of random facts that you pick up from an app, anymore than if you collected facts from an encyclopaedia or words from a dictionary. That's just confusing the sort of random knowledge that might win you points on a pub quiz team with education. You need a good solid basic understanding of what happened, how things work, how to use numbers, how to express yourself etc,. Without this, you will always struggle no matter how many apps you have.