One interpretation of the Butler model was to provide proper secondary education at a time when the nation couldn't really afford it. The 11+ was a rationing according to need/aptitude, and it fitted the spirit of the 1940s/50s. Hence the fairly arbitrary cutoff for grammar school access depending on where you lived.
There's no fundamental reason not to massively expand that sort of academic rigour; it was roughlythe ideal of the Gove era. It didn't happen, because of some of the bad ideas in the system. In the same way, 1970s comprehensiviation didn't have to lead to progressive silly; that was a separate decision that got taken at the same time.
As for school size, you can set with about 125-150 in a year group. As long as a school doesn't run its own sixth form, that's about 700 pupils, which is manageable.
David Davis has promptly said they don't, it's Sturgeon's attempt to look powerful.
Or perhaps Davis trying to proive he si not an absolute donkey.
Or perhaps both? At the moment everyone is trying to look like they are in charge due to the instability we are going through.
It is called politics, Sturgeon is hardly likely to say " yes if theresa says jump I will just ask how high" and Davis is not going to admit that teh SNP have any power. There will be horse trading and on that will depend whether we have another referendum, UK does have to tread carefully whether they like it or not, I doubt they want to be left as rUK only.
It's one of those fake media rows. May has to show she's consulted all the 'stakeholders'. Everyone has input. Those inputs can be sifted, prioritised or discarded and those that remain will form the basis of our negotiating position. It's all incredibly dull and ritualistic as a minuet.
Yes and we all know that Westminster will not take any account of Scotland's wants or wishes, it will be a narrow Westminster Tory viewpoint and dictact. Which will go down like a cup of sick.
May will likely agree EFTA plus and EEA for Scotland, her first visit was to Sturgeon in Edinburgh showing she is willing to listen
David Davis has promptly said they don't, it's Sturgeon's attempt to look powerful.
Or perhaps Davis trying to proive he si not an absolute donkey.
Or perhaps both? At the moment everyone is trying to look like they are in charge due to the instability we are going through.
It is called politics, Sturgeon is hardly likely to say " yes if theresa says jump I will just ask how high" and Davis is not going to admit that teh SNP have any power. There will be horse trading and on that will depend whether we have another referendum, UK does have to tread carefully whether they like it or not, I doubt they want to be left as rUK only.
If sturgeon has any sense she will insist on EFTA/EEA to retain single market access and maximum devolution of repatriated powers such as fisheries and agriculture.
Hopefully she will put up a proper fight and get a good deal that suits Scottish opinion and interests. I am not hopeful that the Tories will be munificient, would be a first.
David Davis has promptly said they don't, it's Sturgeon's attempt to look powerful.
Or perhaps Davis trying to proive he si not an absolute donkey.
Or perhaps both? At the moment everyone is trying to look like they are in charge due to the instability we are going through.
It is called politics, Sturgeon is hardly likely to say " yes if theresa says jump I will just ask how high" and Davis is not going to admit that teh SNP have any power. There will be horse trading and on that will depend whether we have another referendum, UK does have to tread carefully whether they like it or not, I doubt they want to be left as rUK only.
It's one of those fake media rows. May has to show she's consulted all the 'stakeholders'. Everyone has input. Those inputs can be sifted, prioritised or discarded and those that remain will form the basis of our negotiating position. It's all incredibly dull and ritualistic as a minuet.
Yes and we all know that Westminster will not take any account of Scotland's wants or wishes, it will be a narrow Westminster Tory viewpoint and dictact. Which will go down like a cup of sick.
I respect that Scotland is a country in its own right. However, it has roughly the same population as SW England or Yorkshire and Humberside. It will receive more weight than them because of Scotland's unique circumstances in the Union. However, Scotland's imperatives can't drive the whole thing. That would be daft.
David Davis has promptly said they don't, it's Sturgeon's attempt to look powerful.
Or perhaps Davis trying to proive he si not an absolute donkey.
Or perhaps both? At the moment everyone is trying to look like they are in charge due to the instability we are going through.
It is called politics, Sturgeon is hardly likely to say " yes if theresa says jump I will just ask how high" and Davis is not going to admit that teh SNP have any power. There will be horse trading and on that will depend whether we have another referendum, UK does have to tread carefully whether they like it or not, I doubt they want to be left as rUK only.
It's one of those fake media rows. May has to show she's consulted all the 'stakeholders'. Everyone has input. Those inputs can be sifted, prioritised or discarded and those that remain will form the basis of our negotiating position. It's all incredibly dull and ritualistic as a minuet.
Yes and we all know that Westminster will not take any account of Scotland's wants or wishes, it will be a narrow Westminster Tory viewpoint and dictact. Which will go down like a cup of sick.
I respect that Scotland is a country in its own right. However, it has roughly the same population as SW England or Yorkshire and Humberside. It will receive more weight than them because of Scotland's unique circumstances in the Union. However, Scotland's imperatives can't drive the whole thing. That would be daft.
Agree , will never happen and given the population balance never should, hence why I think the union is such a joke.
David Davis has promptly said they don't, it's Sturgeon's attempt to look powerful.
Or perhaps Davis trying to proive he si not an absolute donkey.
Or perhaps both? At the moment everyone is trying to look like they are in charge due to the instability we are going through.
It is called politics, Sturgeon is hardly likely to say " yes if theresa says jump I will just ask how high" and Davis is not going to admit that teh SNP have any power. There will be horse trading and on that will depend whether we have another referendum, UK does have to tread carefully whether they like it or not, I doubt they want to be left as rUK only.
It's one of those fake media rows. May has to show she's consulted all the 'stakeholders'. Everyone has input. Those inputs can be sifted, prioritised or discarded and those that remain will form the basis of our negotiating position. It's all incredibly dull and ritualistic as a minuet.
Yes and we all know that Westminster will not take any account of Scotland's wants or wishes, it will be a narrow Westminster Tory viewpoint and dictact. Which will go down like a cup of sick.
'Cup of cold sick? You whinging Jocks should be grateful that out of the goodness & generosity of our hearts that we're willing to give you a fine, hearty cup of English sick.'
The idea that Scotland might keep closer relations to the EU compared to England and Wales is certainly interesting and could provide an encouraging way forward.
I'm not sure the EU will go for it though. They are generally loathe to give boosts to "nationalists" etc. I have a feeling the EU will tell Scotland they are to leave on the same terms as the rest of the UK. But we shall see.
It's interesting that since Theresa took over we already seem to moving much more towards "solutions" and how we can make this work rather than the wailing and hand wringing we saw while Osborne and friends were hanging about.
I worked extensively in both comps and a grammar up to headteacher level. The setting in comprehensive schools to work effectively requires typically a school size of at least 1500 and preferably much more - otherwise you cannot offer the range of subjects especially post-16 cost-effectively. This then often causes major issues with behaviour management and institutional identity. On your second point behavioural issues are much greater with a mixed intake - and then stability in the workforce becomes much more important. Floating teachers really is not an easy system to manage effectively in this respect. In short [even today] teachers are a pretty intelligent and clued up bunch. If the solutions were easy we wouldn't be discussing them.
I've only experienced it first hand at my school - with a population of 1,250 or so it worked ok (although it was not particularly resource constrained).
Floating teachers I'm only thinking about for minor subjects - I believe we had floating teachers for Russian and Mandarin, for instance, but more mainstream subjects like Latin and Greek had full time employees.
But yes, ultimately, a lot flows from empowering teachers with appropriate authority and trusting them to get on with the job. I would remove the right of parents to appeal decisions!
Lol - love your last sentence - I was responsible for admissions and appeals in my grammar school for a number of years. The latter was probably a key factor in my decision to retire early!!
Part of the problem we have across the UK as a whole - not just schools - is the unwillingness of politicians to trust professionals to do their job.
Grammars were killed off because they worked and Labour were terrified of that.
Grammars were killed off because secondary moderns were rubbish, and 85% of parents saw their kids go to secondary moderns.
Our local comprehensive was built as a secondary modern. It now has nearly two thousand pupils, cricket football and rugby pitches a school theatre with tiered seats and various other things I have only come across in top end private schools.
It takes every kid in Ampthill and Flitwick from the feeder middle schools who wants to go there and applying is just a case of filling out an online form and waiting for the confirmation then the kids walking to school. Results are excellent.
Sod Buckinghamshires policy of fannying around with entrance exams and people travelling miles to a grammar school.
What helps is that most of the kids are country/small town kids and fairly bright so the dimmer kids get pulled upwards and the school meets the comprehensive ideal of a grammar school education for everyone.
The problem in inner cities is that the majority of kids are as thick as two planks so a comprehensive school becomes a secondary modern, struggles to get decent teachers and bright kids who want to work are despised and picked on by the thickos. The only option then is segregstion by ability or segregation by parents mobilty and wealth (so they can go to live in areas with the good schools). At the moment we have the latter.
The problem is what we do with the thickos who have no academic ability, and now few semi or unskilled jobs so that they can have a decent life.
Yes -- the Euro benefits Germany and harms the rest by locking in a competitive (or artificially low) exchange rate. Three cheers for Gordon Brown and his five tests!
Broadly, countries with flexible labour markets (Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland) have done well from Euro membership. Those with inflexible ones (Italy, France, Greece) have done badly.
Spain is the interesting one, because they've gone from inflexible to flexible, and are now the fastest growing large economy in Europe.
Ireland and Spain both had, even with flexible labour markets, property development bubbles which burst, and from which their economies are now recovering.
Agreed (and the same is true of Portugal), which was a consequence - or at least encouraged - by being in the Euro, resulting in too low interest rates.
(Of course: it's quite possible the governments would have let their housing markets get out of control outside the Euro... we've managed it)
The Labour Party in fighting an election is like an elephant attacking a host of ants. The elephant will kill thousands, perhaps even millions, of voters, but in the end their numbers will overcome him, and he will be eaten to the bone.
--Colonel Bernd Von Kleist
Was the analogy originally about Germany invading Russia?
Italy has disastrous demographics, appalling government debt and one of the least flexible labour markets in the world.
There's never a single cause.
And the euro prevented them devaluing
That was a particular issue for Italy, as its historic growth model was based around using a devaluing currency to alleviate the issues caused by an inflexible labour market.
And it was compounded by the fact that Italy has the worst demographics in Western Europe.
More positively, private sector debt in Italy is tiny compared to that in most countries. And Renzi at least recognises that he needs to reform bankruptcy and labour laws. The question is whether he'll manage to get the country on the right path before the crazies get in.*
* The Five Star Movement are crazies. For the record, it's not their Euroscepticism that makes them crazy, but their views on almost everything else, and their complete lack of understanding of basic economic principles.
The Labour Party in fighting an election is like an elephant attacking a host of ants. The elephant will kill thousands, perhaps even millions, of voters, but in the end their numbers will overcome him, and he will be eaten to the bone.
--Colonel Bernd Von Kleist
Was the analogy originally about Germany invading Russia?
I believe so. As Colonel von Kleist passed away in 1976, his opportunities for commenting on Labour's current political woes are necessarily limited.
Only one of my three friends seems to have made it to junior ministerial level...
Yes, but Gavin Barwell (whom JohnLoony and I both rate highly too!) going straight from being a junior whip to Minister of State is a clear sign of preferment: if you like at the other whips (Hopkins, Coffey, Kirby, James) they were only promoted to PUSSes.
I suspect that Kwasi will stay on the backbenches for quite a while.....
Actually, these junior ranks are not unimpressive. Hunky Dunky and David Jones both return to government, good also to see Paul Maynard, who suffers from mild cerebral palsy, getting on the ladder. Can't discern any 'ideological' pattern which is reassuring. Laughs all round that "Sir" MIchael Ellis becomes Deputy Leader of the House, but then he was Theresa's PPS.
Overall, I'd give the new Ministry in its totality 7 out of 10.
Italy has disastrous demographics, appalling government debt and one of the least flexible labour markets in the world.
There's never a single cause.
And the euro prevented them devaluing
That was a particular issue for Italy, as its historic growth model was based around using a devaluing currency to alleviate the issues caused by an inflexible labour market.
And it was compounded by the fact that Italy has the worst demographics in Western Europe.
More positively, private sector debt in Italy is tiny compared to that in most countries. And Renzi at least recognises that he needs to reform bankruptcy and labour laws. The question is whether he'll manage to get the country on the right path before the crazies get in.*
* The Five Star Movement are crazies. For the record, it's not their Euroscepticism that makes them crazy, but their views on almost everything else, and their complete lack of understanding of basic economic principles.
I agree. But theory behind entering the euro was that it would force Italian politicians to fix their economy. I think I can see the flaw in that plan...
If there's a Commons vote and we don't leave the EU, the electoral implications are enormous.
I watched the Grieve, Stuart bit. That's not quite what he said. He said convention expected a vote on such a serious matter. Not that a vote was required. Mrs Stuart then said this was just an attempt to force a 2nd referendum.
I don't think the Gov't will risk a vote on triggering A50.
(today's episode isn't available on the iPlayer yet)
EDIT Mr Grieve doesn't seem to have a gov't role at the mo, and none of his select committees look relevant to Brexit.
If there's a Commons vote and we don't leave the EU, the electoral implications are enormous.
Bear in mind that parliament won't vote against leaving the EU as such, they'll vote against leaving the EU at that particular time, [ with that particular plan | without a plan ].
This gives the opposition a lot of room to play both sides, eg people who voted for leave have a right to expect you to [ cut immigration | stay in the single market ].
One of the reasons we have to delay serving article 50 is to get bilateral free trade agreements drawn up with the 30 odd nations that the EU already has deals signed with as well as the likes of Australia and New Zealand.
Overall, I'd give the new Ministry in its totality 7 out of 10.
If you ignore the Dominic Raab decision, what would your score be?
Still the same. It is a shame he was fired (having real talent) but, as you remarked yesterday, shall we say his referendum 'peace' was less than optimal (though he and Mrs M have had 'issues' long before, so I believe there was an element of vindictiveness).
One of the reasons we have to delay serving article 50 is to get bilateral free trade agreements drawn up with the 30 odd nations that the EU already has deals signed with as well as the likes of Australia and New Zealand.
As I understand it the current non-EU-EU trade deals will remain in force in the UK unless either the UK, or the non-EU nation, objects.
One of the reasons we have to delay serving article 50 is to get bilateral free trade agreements drawn up with the 30 odd nations that the EU already has deals signed with as well as the likes of Australia and New Zealand.
As I understand it the current non-EU-EU trade deals will remain in force in the UK unless either the UK, or the non-EU nation, objects.
One of the reasons we have to delay serving article 50 is to get bilateral free trade agreements drawn up with the 30 odd nations that the EU already has deals signed with as well as the likes of Australia and New Zealand.
As I understand it the current non-EU-EU trade deals will remain in force in the UK unless either the UK, or the non-EU nation, objects.
That's very unlikely.
"As a WTO Member and signatory of the EU’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in its own right16, the UK will continue to be bound by these obligations and should expect other countries to reciprocate17.
To do so would be in the interest of both parties: aside from the basic economic benefits of free trade, continuing to honour their FTAs with the UK would require no additional negotiation and would maintain the status quo; to repudiate them would result in the raising of tariff barriers and increased costs for both exporters and importers in the partner countries as well as the UK.
Whilst it might not be a priority for all of these partners to negotiate an FTA with the UK if one did not exist already, maintaining an existing one would almost always be advantageous.
Nevertheless, this should not be taken for granted. An urgent dialogue with key trading partners should take place shortly after the referendum to establish the above as a common position and reaffirm the existence of FTAs between the UK and its partners."
Penny Mordaunt – Minister of State at DWP Mike Penning – Minister of State at MoD Brandon Lewis – Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service at the Home Office Matt Hancock – Minister of State responsible for digital policy at DCMS Jane Ellison – Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jo Johnson – Minister of State at the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, leading on universities and science John Hayes – Minister of State at the Department for Transport Damian Hinds – Minister of State for the Department of Work and Pensions Greg Hands – Minister of State in the Department for International Trade Robert Goodwill – Minister of State for immigration in the Home Office Lord Price – Minister of State at the Department for International Trade Philip Dunne – Minister of State at the Department of Health Sir Oliver Heald – Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice Nick Hurd – Minister of State at Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Ben Wallace – Minister of State for Security at the Home Office Baroness Williams – Minister of State at the Home Office Sir Alan Duncan – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Anelay – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development Earl Howe – Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords Nick Gibb – Minister of State at the Department for Education Edward Timpson – Minister of State at the Department for Education Robert Halfon – Minister of State at the Department for Education David Jones – Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union Baroness Neville-Rolfe – Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Lord Freud – Minister of State for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions Gavin Barwell – Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Minister for London at the Department for Communities and Local Government George Eustice – Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Rory Stewart – Minister of State at the Department for International Development
So Mrs May is a secret socialist - she has appointed Shirley Williams as a Minister of State! Unfortunately it turns out to be Baroness Williams of Trafford not Baroness Williams of Crosby.
Penny Mordaunt – Minister of State at DWP Mike Penning – Minister of State at MoD Brandon Lewis – Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service at the Home Office Matt Hancock – Minister of State responsible for digital policy at DCMS Jane Ellison – Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jo Johnson – Minister of State at the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, leading on universities and science John Hayes – Minister of State at the Department for Transport Damian Hinds – Minister of State for the Department of Work and Pensions Greg Hands – Minister of State in the Department for International Trade Robert Goodwill – Minister of State for immigration in the Home Office Lord Price – Minister of State at the Department for International Trade Philip Dunne – Minister of State at the Department of Health Sir Oliver Heald – Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice Nick Hurd – Minister of State at Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Ben Wallace – Minister of State for Security at the Home Office Baroness Williams – Minister of State at the Home Office Sir Alan Duncan – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Anelay – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development Earl Howe – Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords Nick Gibb – Minister of State at the Department for Education Edward Timpson – Minister of State at the Department for Education Robert Halfon – Minister of State at the Department for Education David Jones – Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union Baroness Neville-Rolfe – Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Lord Freud – Minister of State for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions Gavin Barwell – Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Minister for London at the Department for Communities and Local Government George Eustice – Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Rory Stewart – Minister of State at the Department for International Development
So Mrs May is a secret socialist - she has appointed Shirley Williams as a Minister of State! Unfortunately it turns out to be Baroness Williams of Trafford not Baroness Williams of Crosby.
The payroll vote will soon include almost all except Osborne and Gove.
Penny Mordaunt – Minister of State at DWP Mike Penning – Minister of State at MoD Brandon Lewis – Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service at the Home Office Matt Hancock – Minister of State responsible for digital policy at DCMS Jane Ellison – Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jo Johnson – Minister of State at the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, leading on universities and science John Hayes – Minister of State at the Department for Transport Damian Hinds – Minister of State for the Department of Work and Pensions Greg Hands – Minister of State in the Department for International Trade Robert Goodwill – Minister of State for immigration in the Home Office Lord Price – Minister of State at the Department for International Trade Philip Dunne – Minister of State at the Department of Health Sir Oliver Heald – Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice Nick Hurd – Minister of State at Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Ben Wallace – Minister of State for Security at the Home Office Baroness Williams – Minister of State at the Home Office Sir Alan Duncan – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Anelay – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development Earl Howe – Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords Nick Gibb – Minister of State at the Department for Education Edward Timpson – Minister of State at the Department for Education Robert Halfon – Minister of State at the Department for Education David Jones – Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union Baroness Neville-Rolfe – Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Lord Freud – Minister of State for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions Gavin Barwell – Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Minister for London at the Department for Communities and Local Government George Eustice – Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Rory Stewart – Minister of State at the Department for International Development
So Mrs May is a secret socialist - she has appointed Shirley Williams as a Minister of State! Unfortunately it turns out to be Baroness Williams of Trafford not Baroness Williams of Crosby.
Greg Hands lived in West Berlin and attended Cambridge University. Clearly a russian spy!
Penny Mordaunt – Minister of State at DWP Mike Penning – Minister of State at MoD Brandon Lewis – Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service at the Home Office Matt Hancock – Minister of State responsible for digital policy at DCMS Jane Ellison – Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jo Johnson – Minister of State at the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, leading on universities and science John Hayes – Minister of State at the Department for Transport Damian Hinds – Minister of State for the Department of Work and Pensions Greg Hands – Minister of State in the Department for International Trade Robert Goodwill – Minister of State for immigration in the Home Office Lord Price – Minister of State at the Department for International Trade Philip Dunne – Minister of State at the Department of Health Sir Oliver Heald – Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice Nick Hurd – Minister of State at Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Ben Wallace – Minister of State for Security at the Home Office Baroness Williams – Minister of State at the Home Office Sir Alan Duncan – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Anelay – Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development Earl Howe – Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords Nick Gibb – Minister of State at the Department for Education Edward Timpson – Minister of State at the Department for Education Robert Halfon – Minister of State at the Department for Education David Jones – Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union Baroness Neville-Rolfe – Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Lord Freud – Minister of State for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions Gavin Barwell – Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Minister for London at the Department for Communities and Local Government George Eustice – Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Rory Stewart – Minister of State at the Department for International Development
So Mrs May is a secret socialist - she has appointed Shirley Williams as a Minister of State! Unfortunately it turns out to be Baroness Williams of Trafford not Baroness Williams of Crosby.
Greg Hands lived in West Berlin and attended Cambridge University. Clearly a russian spy!
One of the reasons we have to delay serving article 50 is to get bilateral free trade agreements drawn up with the 30 odd nations that the EU already has deals signed with as well as the likes of Australia and New Zealand.
As I understand it the current non-EU-EU trade deals will remain in force in the UK unless either the UK, or the non-EU nation, objects.
That's very unlikely.
"As a WTO Member and signatory of the EU’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in its own right16, the UK will continue to be bound by these obligations and should expect other countries to reciprocate17.
To do so would be in the interest of both parties: aside from the basic economic benefits of free trade, continuing to honour their FTAs with the UK would require no additional negotiation and would maintain the status quo; to repudiate them would result in the raising of tariff barriers and increased costs for both exporters and importers in the partner countries as well as the UK.
Whilst it might not be a priority for all of these partners to negotiate an FTA with the UK if one did not exist already, maintaining an existing one would almost always be advantageous.
Nevertheless, this should not be taken for granted. An urgent dialogue with key trading partners should take place shortly after the referendum to establish the above as a common position and reaffirm the existence of FTAs between the UK and its partners."
Only one of my three friends seems to have made it to junior ministerial level...
Yes, but Gavin Barwell (whom JohnLoony and I both rate highly too!) going straight from being a junior whip to Minister of State is a clear sign of preferment: if you like at the other whips (Hopkins, Coffey, Kirby, James) they were only promoted to PUSSes.
I suspect that Kwasi will stay on the backbenches for quite a while.....
Actually, these junior ranks are not unimpressive. Hunky Dunky and David Jones both return to government, good also to see Paul Maynard, who suffers from mild cerebral palsy, getting on the ladder. Can't discern any 'ideological' pattern which is reassuring. Laughs all round that "Sir" MIchael Ellis becomes Deputy Leader of the House, but then he was Theresa's PPS.
Overall, I'd give the new Ministry in its totality 7 out of 10.
I see Gavin Barwell has had his private members bill pass Royal assent. Impressive. I believe not many Private members bill actually become law.
Mental Health (Discrimination) (No. 2) Bill 2012–13[9]
People who are worrying that the Cameroons are going to rebel need to remember that Mrs May has been very canny and made a Cameroon the Chief Whip and will keep them all in line.
Are they actually "old friends" or people who happened to be at Oxford at the same time? Sounds like some newspaper scribbler trying to find a hook to hang the government on. (I don't subscribe to Murdoch publications)
Comments
One interpretation of the Butler model was to provide proper secondary education at a time when the nation couldn't really afford it. The 11+ was a rationing according to need/aptitude, and it fitted the spirit of the 1940s/50s. Hence the fairly arbitrary cutoff for grammar school access depending on where you lived.
There's no fundamental reason not to massively expand that sort of academic rigour; it was roughlythe ideal of the Gove era. It didn't happen, because of some of the bad ideas in the system. In the same way, 1970s comprehensiviation didn't have to lead to progressive silly; that was a separate decision that got taken at the same time.
As for school size, you can set with about 125-150 in a year group. As long as a school doesn't run its own sixth form, that's about 700 pupils, which is manageable.
I'm not sure the EU will go for it though. They are generally loathe to give boosts to "nationalists" etc. I have a feeling the EU will tell Scotland they are to leave on the same terms as the rest of the UK. But we shall see.
It's interesting that since Theresa took over we already seem to moving much more towards "solutions" and how we can make this work rather than the wailing and hand wringing we saw while Osborne and friends were hanging about.
Micromanaging is usually a bad thing.
It takes every kid in Ampthill and Flitwick from the feeder middle schools who wants to go there and applying is just a case of filling out an online form and waiting for the confirmation then the kids walking to school. Results are excellent.
Sod Buckinghamshires policy of fannying around with entrance exams and people travelling miles to a grammar school.
What helps is that most of the kids are country/small town kids and fairly bright so the dimmer kids get pulled upwards and the school meets the comprehensive ideal of a grammar school education for everyone.
The problem in inner cities is that the majority of kids are as thick as two planks so a comprehensive school becomes a secondary modern, struggles to get decent teachers and bright kids who want to work are despised and picked on by the thickos. The only option then is segregstion by ability or segregation by parents mobilty and wealth (so they can go to live in areas with the good schools). At the moment we have the latter.
The problem is what we do with the thickos who have no academic ability, and now few semi or unskilled jobs so that they can have a decent life.
(Of course: it's quite possible the governments would have let their housing markets get out of control outside the Euro... we've managed it)
And it was compounded by the fact that Italy has the worst demographics in Western Europe.
More positively, private sector debt in Italy is tiny compared to that in most countries. And Renzi at least recognises that he needs to reform bankruptcy and labour laws. The question is whether he'll manage to get the country on the right path before the crazies get in.*
* The Five Star Movement are crazies. For the record, it's not their Euroscepticism that makes them crazy, but their views on almost everything else, and their complete lack of understanding of basic economic principles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36818055
#Corbyn supporters putting up posters attacking Labour MP Harriet Harman in her constituency https://t.co/6tyTx9HXO3
BBC Archive
#OTD 1984 Stephen King tells Selina Scott what scares him the most
https://t.co/penO3xCsVz
I suspect that Kwasi will stay on the backbenches for quite a while.....
Actually, these junior ranks are not unimpressive. Hunky Dunky and David Jones both return to government, good also to see Paul Maynard, who suffers from mild cerebral palsy, getting on the ladder. Can't discern any 'ideological' pattern which is reassuring. Laughs all round that "Sir" MIchael Ellis becomes Deputy Leader of the House, but then he was Theresa's PPS.
Overall, I'd give the new Ministry in its totality 7 out of 10.
I don't think the Gov't will risk a vote on triggering A50.
(today's episode isn't available on the iPlayer yet)
EDIT
Mr Grieve doesn't seem to have a gov't role at the mo, and none of his select committees look relevant to Brexit.
http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/mr-dominic-grieve/16
This gives the opposition a lot of room to play both sides, eg people who voted for leave have a right to expect you to [ cut immigration | stay in the single market ].
To do so would be in the interest of both parties: aside from the basic economic benefits of free trade, continuing to honour their FTAs with the UK would require no additional negotiation and would maintain the status quo; to repudiate them would result in the raising of tariff barriers and increased costs for both exporters and importers in the partner countries as well as the UK.
Whilst it might not be a priority for all of these partners to negotiate an FTA with the UK if one did not exist already, maintaining an existing one would almost always be advantageous.
Nevertheless, this should not be taken for granted. An urgent dialogue with key trading partners should take place shortly after the referendum to establish the above as a common position and reaffirm the existence of FTAs between the UK and its partners."
p.14
http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/the-iea-brexit-prize-a-blueprint-for-britain-openness-not-isolation
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/754652888752910336
Mental Health (Discrimination) (No. 2) Bill 2012–13[9]
Alan Duncan
Philip Hammond
Damian Green
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/after-the-may-revolution-the-humocracy-is-dead-long-live-the-chumocracy-6l7psh3dp
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