CCHQ Press Office @RicHolden 2m PA: "Labour leader Ed Miliband knew about the activities of disgraced former spin doctor Damian McBride, Dame Tessa Jowell has claimed."
Time to grab popcorn...
Indie - "McBride, operating on orders from Ed Balls, helped deliver the “culprits” who’d given the PM the “wrong advice”. Those then in Downing Street recall McBride discussing who to blame. “We’ll f*** over wee Dougie,” he’s alleged to have said. Douglas Alexander, along with Ed Miliband, were subsequently made to carry the can."
Not only did Ed know, he also appears to have been on the receiving end.
Was not St Barack of O'Bama lauded at the 2004 Democrat convention? Good betting observation for local-parishioners at the point the tip was made but t'Economist made the aware aware long before....
How is "Dave: Next to be out. 150-1" coming along? OGH is a good puntah but a broken-clock can be right twice in a day (as my betting performance amply illustrates)....
Tipped by Henry G Manson when he was at 33/1 on Politicalbetting in Mar http://bit.ly/YK5zyw
That was a great tip whatever happens
Ed has proposed that, for the next London Mayoral election, Labour will use a “primary” to select our candidate. Any Londoner should be eligible to vote in that selection provided they have registered as a supporter of the Labour Party at any time up to the ballot. This draws on experience in other countries, which have seen an enormous outreach to new supporters in the course of a primary process.
Thats from the Collins review.
So somebody from Tower Hamlets will get the nomination ?
Picking him is to prevent that.
The Collins report says it will be a primary - you suggesting that the Collins report is of Andrex quality ?
No i mean picking him to stand. They want someone who is "just enough but not too much" to avoid the ethnic coalition splitting in two.
CCHQ Press Office @RicHolden 2m PA: "Labour leader Ed Miliband knew about the activities of disgraced former spin doctor Damian McBride, Dame Tessa Jowell has claimed."
Time to grab popcorn...
Indie - "McBride, operating on orders from Ed Balls, helped deliver the “culprits” who’d given the PM the “wrong advice”. Those then in Downing Street recall McBride discussing who to blame. “We’ll f*** over wee Dougie,” he’s alleged to have said. Douglas Alexander, along with Ed Miliband, were subsequently made to carry the can."
Not only did Ed know, he also appears to have been on the receiving end.
They probably made him go to buy the coffees for a while..
Actually ultimately this will actually be good for labour in the long run. The boil of fear and loathing at the heart of new labour needed to be lanced, and the poison and puss needs draining.
Quite what the fall out will be, and in short term not good for either Ed, they might have a chance to move on from the Blair/Brown years, and need to do that. If they can do it with either Ed at the helm, then that's another question.
The new young guns like the Reeves and Creasy's etc won't be tainted by this.
Slack
Isn't Ed Balls the main obstacle to such a cleansing?
He was at the heart of the BB wars. Hard to see him disappearing overnite, one way or another.
Perhaps the good voters of Morley and Outwood could do us all a favour....but it's a big ask.
Mark Littlewood: "Total welfare spending – including state pensions – will stand at about £220bn next year. For that sum of money, you could shove £10,000 in used banknotes through the letterbox of every front door in the country. Yet we still apparently have not solved the poverty."
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Not sure yet about Nuttall. He certainly seems to have the public presence and presentational skills (although clearly not to the same extent as Farage). Personally I was very disappointed when Farage won the last leadership election and would rather have had Tim Congdon who would have been far better at building a leadership team around him rather than simply trying to run the whole party on his own and attacking anyone who disagreed with him.
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Not sure yet about Nuttall. He certainly seems to have the public presence and presentational skills (although clearly not to the same extent as Farage). Personally I was very disappointed when Farage won the last leadership election and would rather have had Tim Congdon who would have been far better at building a leadership team around him rather than simply trying to run the whole party on his own and attacking anyone who disagreed with him.
UKIP fielded as many candidates as the LDs in the May 2013 elections. That took organisation.
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
The extraordinary bit is not the hijabs, it's this:
"Sue Arguile, branch secretary of Derby National Union of Teachers, said: "There are worries over practices concerning the discrimination between male and female pupils in the school, with the girls being told to sit at the back of the class regardless of whether they can see the board properly"
And this school is state-funded.
It is a Free School, so we will not know how much funding it actually gets.
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Not sure yet about Nuttall. He certainly seems to have the public presence and presentational skills (although clearly not to the same extent as Farage). Personally I was very disappointed when Farage won the last leadership election and would rather have had Tim Congdon who would have been far better at building a leadership team around him rather than simply trying to run the whole party on his own and attacking anyone who disagreed with him.
UKIP fielded as many candidates as the LDs in the May 2013 elections. That took organisation.
I am not saying that Farage is useless and I do have a lot of time for him. I am just of the opinion that he has upset and driven out a lot of very good people because of his apparent need to have absolute control over everything. Some of those who left or were pushed may well have had their own problems but a lot have seem to have simply made the mistake of thinking that they might disagree with Farage. He is a great figurehead and overall an asset to the party. Just not sure he is doing any good by remaining as leader.
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
Don't worry. Judging by the article it sounds like the NUT is on the case. However this isn't simply an issue about the veil, let's not forget it's also about 'free' schools.
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
The extraordinary bit is not the hijabs, it's this:
"Sue Arguile, branch secretary of Derby National Union of Teachers, said: "There are worries over practices concerning the discrimination between male and female pupils in the school, with the girls being told to sit at the back of the class regardless of whether they can see the board properly"
And this school is state-funded.
One of Gove's free schools, leaked right before the Labour conference. I wonder if they're planning to run with this.
Presumably we've seen the most exciting revelations from the Damian McBride book? You'd splash with the biggest stuff first, wouldn't you?
You'd think so.... If that is the case, it's not really told us much more than we knew already. Brown was a 'orrible £$%&, aided by Balls, and Milliband knew a little about it. Hardly earth shattering, but nice to have it confirmed, though.
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
The extraordinary bit is not the hijabs, it's this:
"Sue Arguile, branch secretary of Derby National Union of Teachers, said: "There are worries over practices concerning the discrimination between male and female pupils in the school, with the girls being told to sit at the back of the class regardless of whether they can see the board properly"
And this school is state-funded.
Secretly funded by Gove and can do what the hell it wants, it's a Free School, you may have read about the worries regarding religious groups in conjunction with Messiah Gove heading down this path
Like any media report like this, we probably shouldn't automatically assume that it's true. Seems like the kind of thing Labour need though, doesn't it?
One of Gove's free schools, leaked right before the Labour conference. I wonder if they're planning to run with this.
That would be bold. Labour were the architects of multi-culturalism and of mass immigration.
They can't have it both ways. Either you accept the mass immigration of people with (by traditional UK standards) bizarre cultural and religious customs which you then encourage, indeed mandate, the rest of the country to accept in the name of 'diversity', or you don't. You can't complain about it only because one particular manifestation of multiculturalism has got Michael Gove's name tangentially attached to it.
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
The extraordinary bit is not the hijabs, it's this:
"Sue Arguile, branch secretary of Derby National Union of Teachers, said: "There are worries over practices concerning the discrimination between male and female pupils in the school, with the girls being told to sit at the back of the class regardless of whether they can see the board properly"
And this school is state-funded.
Secretly funded by Gove and can do what the hell it wants, it's a Free School, you may have read about the worries regarding religious groups in conjunction with Messiah Gove heading down this path
There's a certain irony that the man who wrote Celsius 7/7 could be enabling anti-British religious practices to thrive in our schools.
As Southam points out, this being a free school, don't expect to hear too much about what goes on. They may get a lot of public money but they have a strong right to privacy. I would acknowledge that we started down this path with New Labour's initial academies programme.
One of Gove's free schools, leaked right before the Labour conference. I wonder if they're planning to run with this.
Nice Labour attack: "Faith-schools should not be run according to their faith". I am sure when they look back on their education (and that of their kids) they will find spiritual [sic] justification. [It is eight: Do'h!]
In a muzzie-school the hajib must be seen as a consequence of employment for women: No ifs; no buts. As seanT points-out it is the exclusion of girls to the rear of the classroom that should offend: But that is how we allow Islam (and other obscure practices) to break the law (if only in spirit)....
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Why?
UKIP have cornered the disgruntled Golf club Tory market, but I feel there is a rich vein of working class voters (& current non voters) that Nuttall would appeal to more because of his accent and background. I think he comes across very well on television, and would also be completely different to the big three party leaders, even more so than Farage
Also I wouldn't be surprised if their was dirt on Farage somewhere that would stick. I don't think he is racist/fascist, but reading between the lines, it seems he may have responded to uber PC lefty ness by veering outlandishly to the right in his younger days... much like SeanT does here for effect, and I have myself in the past.
Anyone else listening to Kevin Maguire on Boulton&Co right now?!
He's tribal Labour, had links to some of the main protagonists, of course he's going to try and play it down. I dunno why they put him on with Pierce every time, Pierce never gets a word in!
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
The extraordinary bit is not the hijabs, it's this:
"Sue Arguile, branch secretary of Derby National Union of Teachers, said: "There are worries over practices concerning the discrimination between male and female pupils in the school, with the girls being told to sit at the back of the class regardless of whether they can see the board properly"
And this school is state-funded.
Secretly funded by Gove and can do what the hell it wants, it's a Free School, you may have read about the worries regarding religious groups in conjunction with Messiah Gove heading down this path
I suspect the hand of Macbride in this story eh Tim?
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Why?
UKIP have cornered the disgruntled Golf club Tory market, but I feel there is a rich vein of working class voters (& current non voters) that Nuttall would appeal to more because of his accent and background. I think he comes across very well on television, and would also be completely different to the big three party leaders, even more so than Farage
Also I wouldn't be surprised if their was dirt on Farage somewhere that would stick. I don't think he is racist/fascist, but reading between the lines, it seems he may have responded to uber PC lefty ness by veering outlandishly to the right in his younger days... much like SeanT does here for effect, and I have myself in the past.
The politicos/journos have been trying to smear Mr Farage for years.
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Why?
UKIP have cornered the disgruntled Golf club Tory market, but I feel there is a rich vein of working class voters (& current non voters) that Nuttall would appeal to more because of his accent and background. I think he comes across very well on television, and would also be completely different to the big three party leaders, even more so than Farage
Also I wouldn't be surprised if their was dirt on Farage somewhere that would stick. I don't think he is racist/fascist, but reading between the lines, it seems he may have responded to uber PC lefty ness by veering outlandishly to the right in his younger days... much like SeanT does here for effect, and I have myself in the past.
Farage is a largely unreconstructed city wideboy. A protest party could well benefit from someone 'ordinary' like Nuttall. However with UKIP making real gains in recent polling it's a bit perverse to question Farage's position. He might have a ceiling though when it comes to appealing to the disenfranchised.
One of Gove's free schools, leaked right before the Labour conference. I wonder if they're planning to run with this.
That would be bold. Labour were the architects of multi-culturalism and of mass immigration.
They can't have it both ways. Either you accept the mass immigration of people with (by traditional UK standards) bizarre cultural and religious customs which you then encourage, indeed mandate, the rest of the country to accept in the name of 'diversity', or you don't. You can't complain about it only because one particular manifestation of multiculturalism has got Michael Gove's name tangentially attached to it.
The Maharishi Transcendental Meditation school has been going for much longer (est 1986) and people used to pay fees, it wasn't in the state system, now Gove has decided the taxpayer should pick up the tab and it's a Free School. Thats the model you support, they can do whatever they want and they are funded in secret, centrally by Gove.
The specifics of each school are not really pertinent, but you knew this would happen.
Yet McBride is a saint for publishing his mea culpas and giving the funds to a similar cult school ?
You can't have it both ways tim - what is good for your hero McBride is good for Gove..
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Why?
UKIP have cornered the disgruntled Golf club Tory market, but I feel there is a rich vein of working class voters (& current non voters) that Nuttall would appeal to more because of his accent and background. I think he comes across very well on television, and would also be completely different to the big three party leaders, even more so than Farage
Also I wouldn't be surprised if their was dirt on Farage somewhere that would stick. I don't think he is racist/fascist, but reading between the lines, it seems he may have responded to uber PC lefty ness by veering outlandishly to the right in his younger days... much like SeanT does here for effect, and I have myself in the past.
The sort of working class voters who'd vote Tory or UKIP don't have the attitude to class that people think they have.
One of Gove's free schools, leaked right before the Labour conference. I wonder if they're planning to run with this.
That would be bold. I thought Labour were the architects of multi-culturalism and in favour of mass imimigration?
They can't have it both ways. Either you accept immigration of people with (by traditional UK standards) bizarre cultural and religious customs which you then encourage, indeed mandate, the rest of the country to accept in the name of 'diversity', or you don't. You can't complain about it only because one particular manifestation of multiculturalism has got Michael Gove's name tangentially attached to it.
Maybe they used to be in favour of mass immigration, but I don't think they are now, or if they are they're pretending they're not.
But even then, this is a bit weird from the point of view of normal left-liberal multi-culturalism. (The word "multi-culturalism" means so many different things to different people that there's hardly any point in using it at all.) If you're on the liberal-left you'd tend to want people expressing their delightful rainbow-coloured range of equally-valid religions in the school, but you wouldn't want the school to have a dominant religion that was forced on everybody.
New Labour also had a kind of traditionalist authoritarian strain (Blair, Blunkett?) that liked strong traditional institutions, so I guess you could see them supporting religiously dogmatic Islamic schools, which you have to do if you also want to support religiously dogmatic Christian schools, but aren't prepared to have the state discriminate. I guess this is basically the position Gove is in right now. But I don't think there's much of that left now, and if there is they'll want to keep it under wraps until after the election.
Anyhow from a cynical political point of view the move would be to pick out aspect of this that will be unpopular and say, "This isn't what should be happening in a our society", say it in a way that doesn't contradict the idea of welcoming different cultures (see above) and hope the people who think there are too many foreigners around pick up on the fact that you're criticizing the Islamic school.
Anyone else listening to Kevin Maguire on Boulton&Co right now?!
He's tribal Labour, had links to some of the main protagonists, of course he's going to try and play it down. I dunno why they put him on with Pierce every time, Pierce never gets a word in!
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
Don't worry. Judging by the article it sounds like the NUT is on the case. However this isn't simply an issue about the veil, let's not forget it's also about 'free' schools.
No school in this country - no matter how it's funded - should be allowed to behave like this: treating girls as second-class, forcing people to wear (alleged) religious symbols etc. It simply should not be licensed as a school.
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Why?
UKIP have cornered the disgruntled Golf club Tory market, but I feel there is a rich vein of working class voters (& current non voters) that Nuttall would appeal to more because of his accent and background. I think he comes across very well on television, and would also be completely different to the big three party leaders, even more so than Farage
Also I wouldn't be surprised if their was dirt on Farage somewhere that would stick. I don't think he is racist/fascist, but reading between the lines, it seems he may have responded to uber PC lefty ness by veering outlandishly to the right in his younger days... much like SeanT does here for effect, and I have myself in the past.
The sort of working class voters who'd vote Tory or UKIP don't have the attitude to class that people think they have.
One of Gove's free schools, leaked right before the Labour conference. I wonder if they're planning to run with this.
That would be bold. Labour were the architects of multi-culturalism and of mass immigration.
They can't have it both ways. Either you accept the mass immigration of people with (by traditional UK standards) bizarre cultural and religious customs which you then encourage, indeed mandate, the rest of the country to accept in the name of 'diversity', or you don't. You can't complain about it only because one particular manifestation of multiculturalism has got Michael Gove's name tangentially attached to it.
Difficult to argue that they can run a private school but couldn't run a state school. If it's harmful to the children's education then allowing it in private schools (where the school is carrying out the duty of the government to provide universal education) is difficult to justify. Not impossible, but difficult.
Much as I like Nigel Farage, cant help thinking Paul Nuttall would be a better UKIP leader in the long term
Why?
UKIP have cornered the disgruntled Golf club Tory market, but I feel there is a rich vein of working class voters (& current non voters) that Nuttall would appeal to more because of his accent and background. I think he comes across very well on television, and would also be completely different to the big three party leaders, even more so than Farage
Also I wouldn't be surprised if their was dirt on Farage somewhere that would stick. I don't think he is racist/fascist, but reading between the lines, it seems he may have responded to uber PC lefty ness by veering outlandishly to the right in his younger days... much like SeanT does here for effect, and I have myself in the past.
Farage is a largely unreconstructed city wideboy. A protest party could well benefit from someone 'ordinary' like Nuttall. However with UKIP making real gains in recent polling it's a bit perverse to question Farage's position. He might have a ceiling though when it comes to appealing to the disenfranchised.
Im not questioning Farages position, maybe I phrased it incorrectly. I think Nuttall would be a good successor to Farage. Diane James, maybe as well, but she has the air of Midsomer Murders/Daily Mail about her too!
The specifics of each school are not really pertinent, but you knew this would happen.
Of course, it's the logical outcome of 13 years of Labour government. Don't forget that the first state-funded Muslim faith schools were founded under Blair.
Now, maybe this is a justifiable. Most of us think religious freedom is a Good Thing, barmy though most of us think most religions are. As I said, you can't have it both ways: religious freedom implies allowing parents the freedom to bring up their kids in accordance with their (to me bizarre) beliefs, and that includes, if they like, setting up schools which teach in accordance with those beliefs. Why should the state fund Catholic schools and not Muslim schools? There's no answer to that question, and of course it extends to those particularly bizarre variants of Islam which are followed by many immigrants Labour encouraged to come here, and encouraged not to integrate.
If it had been left to me, I wouldn't have started from here, but we are where we are.
"I was bloody furious. Someone I had helped get his blog off the ground, and knew reasonably well, had smeared me as condoning racism. I shouldn’t have been surprised by these tactics, but I was. Scroll forward two months, to April 2009, when Guido Fawkes rang me up to tell me that Derek Draper had been acting under orders from Number 10, and Gordon Brown’s chief henchman, Damian McBride. Again, I found it difficult to believe, but Guido said he had the emails to back up the claims and would be publishing them. Wow."
At least none of the Labour lemmings on here would resort to such tactics....
"I was bloody furious. Someone I had helped get his blog off the ground, and knew reasonably well, had smeared me as condoning racism. I shouldn’t have been surprised by these tactics, but I was. Scroll forward two months, to April 2009, when Guido Fawkes rang me up to tell me that Derek Draper had been acting under orders from Number 10, and Gordon Brown’s chief henchman, Damian McBride. Again, I found it difficult to believe, but Guido said he had the emails to back up the claims and would be publishing them. Wow."
At least none of the Labour lemmings on here would resort to such tactics....
I think the time for fudging this is over. We need to make it clear that women are to be treated equally in our society and no school can operate that thinks and behaves otherwise. If that means that Islamic schools (or any other type of school), whether state, private, "free" or anything else, has to change its practices or even close down, so be it. We should not be fudging our basic principles, our laws to accommodate practices we find abhorrent.
Noisy. Had rear-facing seats when I flew on them. [They also cured me of travel-sickness. Wierd....]
I much prefer rear facing seats and always try to choose them when we are on choppers. They are also, apparently much safer in a ditching or crash. I know there was a suggestion a few decades ago that passenger aircraft should have rear facing seats but it was thought passengers wouldn't like it.
In my distant and rather fuzzy memory, I seem to recall a study by BR saying that motion sickness was greater in rear-facing seats on trains, for some reason, and even (especially?) if seated near a window. If my memory's correct, then perhaps the effect is worse on planes?
(A pure guess: perhaps our brains have evolved to react to us moving forwards, and can process us going towards things more easily than going away from them. Unless early man was taken to running backwards).
FWIW, my wife refuses to face backwards on a plane. Means I always get the window seat, but she insists that I keep the shade open, so I can't sleep anyway
This McBride stuff brings back just how appalling the whole Brown era was and how relieved I felt seeing him and the Forces From Hell turfed out of office in May 2010.
Ni matter how bad things sometimes appear with the Coalition they can/will never sink to the depths of Gordon Brown disastrous administration.
the rights to the serialisation were mine to sell as the publisher. I am bloody proud I got the biggest political serialisation since Mandelson’s memoirs. Seven newspapers were in the bidding and the Mail won.... Royalties from sales of the book will be split between Damian McBride’s current employers, CAFOD (the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development), and the appeal by his former employers, Finchley Catholic High School, to build a new sixth form centre.
That suggests the serialisation fee is not going to CAFOD and the High School appeal.
religious freedom implies allowing parents the freedom to bring up their kids in accordance with their (to me bizarre) beliefs, and that includes, if they like, setting up schools which teach in accordance with those beliefs.
I'm not sure it does - I'd say (talking for myself now, not a hypothetical Labour person) that the adult parents are free to practice whatever religion they like, but their rights to foist it on their kids are limited.
Why should the state fund Catholic schools and not Muslim schools? There's no answer to that question
I don't think it should fund either, but if it does then it needs to properly regulate the extent to which children are subjected to the school's invisible-superhero-believing bonkers. That seems to be what's gone wrong here, if the report is true, which is admittedly no small if.
I think the time for fudging this is over. We need to make it clear that women are to be treated equally in our society and no school can operate that thinks and behaves otherwise. If that means that Islamic schools (or any other type of school), whether state, private, "free" or anything else, has to change its practices or even close down, so be it. We should not be fudging our basic principles, our laws to accommodate practices we find abhorrent.
Right, so back on the political strategy, I reckon Ed Miliband could stick that in a speech, while working from examples of bad things and being a little bit vague about what the basic principles that we shouldn't be fudging are, and it would go down well with the UKIP-curious and cause very little upset on the left.
RichardN: "Why should the state fund Catholic schools and not Muslim schools? There's no answer to that question"
Yes there is. You can fund such schools provided they both comply with minimum standards set by the state. One of those standards is that girls are treated equally and given full access to all educational opportunities and that pupils and teachers not of the school's faith ethos are not forced to abide by that faith's strictures. If both schools comply, both get funded. If neither do, neither get funded and - in my opinion - are not allowed to be opened. If one complies but the other doesn't only the one which complies gets opened and funded.
The reason we have (apparently) an issue with some Islamic schools is that it would appear that it is only in these schools that - to me - abhorrent practices such as telling girls they must sit at the back or cannot do sport or must wear the veil etc happen. But if similarly unacceptable practices happened in other schools then I would close those down as well. So, for instance, I find it unacceptable that we have schools allowed to teach creationism as part of the science curriculum (or any other part of it, for that matter).
In short Islamic communities here need to adapt to Western standards and values and not the other way around. It is simply wrong that British girls - who happen to be Muslim - are denied the same rights and opportunities as other British girls purely because of their faith and because we are too pusillanimous to say that certain "cultural/religious" practices are not acceptable here.
Our fear of discriminating has led us into a cul de sac where we turn a blind eye to appalling behaviour and get into contortions trying to stop it. Discriminating against barbaric / unacceptable practices is ok.
@Cyclefree - In other words, some religions (or, more accurately, some sets of religious/ethnic customs) are acceptable to us and some aren't.
I agree.
However, it was Labour who led us down the cul-de-sac you identify, which was my original point: Labour can hardly use an example of their own policy of multi-culturalism in action to criticise the government, at least not without the grossest hypocrisy. Not that that will worry them, of course.
I reckon Ed Miliband could stick that in a speech.
Labour wailing about medieval foreign religious practices is a bit like a serial burglar complaining that the fencing of stolen goods is on the increase...
This McBride stuff brings back just how appalling the whole Brown era was and how relieved I felt seeing him and the Forces From Hell turfed out of office in May 2010.
Ni matter how bad things sometimes appear with the Coalition they can/will never sink to the depths of Gordon Brown disastrous administration.
Ditto - And McBride sounds like a lovely chap. exactly the sort of man that is all too often attracted to the cesspit that is Labour party politics.
Brownites (notably but not exclusively Ed Balls) who sit on the front bench do not inspire much confidence that they would not return to type, if they got back into power.
Simple solution - remove all religious elements from schools, private or state. No daft outfits, everyone has to adhere to the uniform. Every school is bound by the same rules otherwise it gets no Ofsted licence and cannot function as a school. If people want to be religious they can decide to be so independently as an adult, not be indoctrinated by their school.
Did he say that 92% of crime in London was committed by Romanians?
Aren't 10% of court cases for non-payment of the TV license?
Does this mean that the majority of crime in London is committed by Romanian non-license fee payers?
92% of ATM crime.
There were 732,533 crimes last year in London, and apparently 6,800 of those were ATM thefts carried out by Romanians.
That stat was first published in March 2012 and it's clear this "ATM theft" thing is a highly specialised business almost all relating to a single town in Romania.
Admissions - Supplementary Information Form for pupils wishing to apply to the school under the Muslim faith criteria.
...
SECTION 3 – RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
This section is to be completed by the Imam* in the presence of the parent/carer and the child/ren. Name of Imam: Name of Mosque: Name of child/ren to which this form applies:
Date: * Only official Imams employed or appointed by the Mosque as an Imam are authorised to sign this form. Signatures of Madrasah teachers and unofficial Imams will not be accepted.
Accepting the Shahadah (proclamation of faith) • Praying 5 times a day • Fasting during the month of Ramadan • Paying Charity (Zakat) • Pilgrimage (when and if obligatory)
Question 1
I confirm that the immediate family of the child/ren named in this application adheres to all of the following 5 pillars of Islam:
Yes No
Belief in the oneness of Allah (Tawhid) • Belief in the finality of the Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him) • Respect of all the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
Question 2
I confirm that the immediate family of the child/ren named in this application adheres the following principles of Islam:
Yes No
Question 3 In my opinion the immediate family of the child/ren named in this application follows the Islamic code of dress by dressing appropriately and modestly.
Yes No
Name of Imam: Signature of Imam: Date:
Declaration I confirm that the information given in this form is true and accurate:
Name of parent / carer:
Signature of parent / carer: Date:
Parental Declaration I confirm that the information given in this form is true and accurate:
I think she's done Labour a favour. It's not really going to affect Ed's conference much and it's much better than an increasingly incredule "we knew nothing".
I think the time for fudging this is over. We need to make it clear that women are to be treated equally in our society and no school can operate that thinks and behaves otherwise. If that means that Islamic schools (or any other type of school), whether state, private, "free" or anything else, has to change its practices or even close down, so be it. We should not be fudging our basic principles, our laws to accommodate practices we find abhorrent.
I'm totally with you. This is the problem with "multi-culturalism" - the development of parallel societies
Actually Avery, if you looked up entrance papers for religious schools of other faiths, would they really look that different?
Not sure what Avery drew from that, but I'm not sure his point was that it was outrageous. After all, there is almost nothing there to complain about. The part "In my opinion the immediate family of the child/ren named in this application follows the Islamic code of dress by dressing appropriately and modestly." could be applied outrageously, but clearly need not be.
I think she's done Labour a favour. It's not really going to affect Ed's conference much and it's much better than an increasingly incredule "we knew nothing".
The Question if ed knew will be put to ed and what do you think his answer will be 'I knew nothing' ? ;-)
I think she's done Labour a favour. It's not really going to affect Ed's conference much and it's much better than an increasingly incredule "we knew nothing".
The Question if ed knew will be put to ed and what do you think his answer will be 'I knew nothing' ? ;-)
My plan if I were him would be: 1) Get other people to talk about it rather than me or Ed Balls. 2) Avoiding discussing it where possible, if need be take a small hit for not answering. 3) Say that there were "few surprises" but avoid "I knew", particularly on details (who and how).
I think she's done Labour a favour. It's not really going to affect Ed's conference much and it's much better than an increasingly incredule "we knew nothing".
Possibly – However, having pull the carpet out from under those that would claim deniability – the obvious questions will remain – ‘So, what DID you know’
@SouthamObserver "Not much to say really except for anyone on the centre left this is a very depressing day. Labour is unfit to govern while people like Ed Balls hold positions of "
Stop being such a drama queen! A story by Damien McBride serialised in the Mail is about as interesting as a SeanT post on the Burqa. If that's how trivial your vote is then put your cross against the Tories and have done with it
@SouthamObserver "Not much to say really except for anyone on the centre left this is a very depressing day. Labour is unfit to govern while people like Ed Balls hold positions of "
Stop being such a drama queen! A story by Damien McBride serialised in the Mail is about as interesting as a SeanT post on the Burqa. If that's how trivial your vote is then put your cross against the Tories and have done with it
My dear old roger,The drama queen bit,your post from a few days ago ;-)
If this becomes a trend as it might (these things have a habit of feeding on themselves) it would give Labour the chance to ditch their leader. I can't think of an acceptable excuse for him having gone AWOL for the entire summer allowing his opponents to be the only show in town. It's unforgivable
As anyone seen the godfrey bloom calling crick a racist and hitting him with the ukip brochure yet,IT'S BRILLIANT WATCH - it's on the Stephen tall site,watch it ;-)
Simple solution - remove all religious elements from schools, private or state. No daft outfits, everyone has to adhere to the uniform. Every school is bound by the same rules otherwise it gets no Ofsted licence and cannot function as a school. If people want to be religious they can decide to be so independently as an adult, not be indoctrinated by their school.
The religion is laid on lightly, just the odd Nativity play, maybe a few commandments - Love One Another, Help Each Other, Be Nice To People - you know, all that horrible stuff.
Stop being such a drama queen! A story by Damien McBride serialised in the Mail is about as interesting as a SeanT post on the Burqa. If that's how trivial your vote is then put your cross against the Tories and have done with it
I disagree, Roger. SO was right, they are not fit to govern. I think much of the blame resides with Blair, Big bad Al and Peter M. They legitimised the dark arts of politics far more than anyone before them. The Brownites were applying the forces of physics, every reaction has one equal and opposite - except they were stronger, more ruthless and more numerous.
The Labour party have a history of intense nastiness and bullying over the last 20 years, if I were a member I would want a purge of the whole lot of them who have proved to be without morals, courage or honesty. The blame for the antics in the Labour party should be shared by all Labour MPs from 1997 to 2010. The are culpable for allowing this to happen in their name, and I think there is therefore a fair argument to say our own Nick Palmer (along with the other Labour MPs) is no better than the main protagonists, as he (they) lacked the morality and strength to stand up and be counted. I think the whole parliamentary party needs to do some soul searching and ask to be forgiven for the deplorable behaviour over those years. Where we as a nation have a right to expect leadership we were given a master class in the destruction of our enemies.
The Blair and Brown years will be remembered as a lost opportunity, internal fighting and economic disaster, peppered with illegal war and dishonest presentation of facts (or fiction) to take us to war.
If there is any good to come from this period of history I hope it will hasten the the dilution and reduction of influence of Political Parties.
The concept of a manifesto covering all areas that parties are then beholden to implement is crass and produces massive negative effects. A manifesto should cover the areas of National Interest. The candidates should then develop an individual and local agenda to cover the remaining detail. Far more engaging for the electorate, the candidate and reduces the influence of central party oily slickers. It would give MPs the chance to actually stand for something and do it in parliament.
Until we weaken political parties we will not overcome all the sleaze and slime that infests politics.
Comments
Revenge of the blairites????
I would imagine the MacBride poison spillage could keep you in blog ideas for months to come!
Not only did Ed know, he also appears to have been on the receiving end.
How is "Dave: Next to be out. 150-1" coming along? OGH is a good puntah but a broken-clock can be right twice in a day (as my betting performance amply illustrates)....
:change-the-record:
Wee-Timmy, as usual:
No context; no clarity; just the usual McBrideism. No wonder your troll following are so woeful....
Isn't Ed Balls the main obstacle to such a cleansing?
He was at the heart of the BB wars. Hard to see him disappearing overnite, one way or another.
Perhaps the good voters of Morley and Outwood could do us all a favour....but it's a big ask.
"Total welfare spending – including state pensions – will stand at about £220bn next year. For that sum of money, you could shove £10,000 in used banknotes through the letterbox of every front door in the country. Yet we still apparently have not solved the poverty."
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/20/ukip-conference-and-reaction-to-the-damian-mcbride-revelations-politics-live-blog#block-523c20dde4b07c4cb668e083
One for Sean T perhaps.....?
*lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance*
They can't have it both ways. Either you accept the mass immigration of people with (by traditional UK standards) bizarre cultural and religious customs which you then encourage, indeed mandate, the rest of the country to accept in the name of 'diversity', or you don't. You can't complain about it only because one particular manifestation of multiculturalism has got Michael Gove's name tangentially attached to it.
As Southam points out, this being a free school, don't expect to hear too much about what goes on. They may get a lot of public money but they have a strong right to privacy. I would acknowledge that we started down this path with New Labour's initial academies programme.
In a muzzie-school the hajib must be seen as a consequence of employment for women: No ifs; no buts. As seanT points-out it is the exclusion of girls to the rear of the classroom that should offend: But that is how we allow Islam (and other obscure practices) to break the law (if only in spirit)....
Also I wouldn't be surprised if their was dirt on Farage somewhere that would stick. I don't think he is racist/fascist, but reading between the lines, it seems he may have responded to uber PC lefty ness by veering outlandishly to the right in his younger days... much like SeanT does here for effect, and I have myself in the past.
Michael Heaver @Michael_Heaver 27m
Nigel Farage tries to relax at the Westminster Arms with a pint amongst members but has to leave cause @MichaelLCrick shoves camera in face
You can't have it both ways tim - what is good for your hero McBride is good for Gove..
But even then, this is a bit weird from the point of view of normal left-liberal multi-culturalism. (The word "multi-culturalism" means so many different things to different people that there's hardly any point in using it at all.) If you're on the liberal-left you'd tend to want people expressing their delightful rainbow-coloured range of equally-valid religions in the school, but you wouldn't want the school to have a dominant religion that was forced on everybody.
New Labour also had a kind of traditionalist authoritarian strain (Blair, Blunkett?) that liked strong traditional institutions, so I guess you could see them supporting religiously dogmatic Islamic schools, which you have to do if you also want to support religiously dogmatic Christian schools, but aren't prepared to have the state discriminate. I guess this is basically the position Gove is in right now. But I don't think there's much of that left now, and if there is they'll want to keep it under wraps until after the election.
Anyhow from a cynical political point of view the move would be to pick out aspect of this that will be unpopular and say, "This isn't what should be happening in a our society", say it in a way that doesn't contradict the idea of welcoming different cultures (see above) and hope the people who think there are too many foreigners around pick up on the fact that you're criticizing the Islamic school.
Funny that.
http://order-order.com/2013/09/20/watch-former-minister-says-miliband-knew-about-mcbride/
Now, maybe this is a justifiable. Most of us think religious freedom is a Good Thing, barmy though most of us think most religions are. As I said, you can't have it both ways: religious freedom implies allowing parents the freedom to bring up their kids in accordance with their (to me bizarre) beliefs, and that includes, if they like, setting up schools which teach in accordance with those beliefs. Why should the state fund Catholic schools and not Muslim schools? There's no answer to that question, and of course it extends to those particularly bizarre variants of Islam which are followed by many immigrants Labour encouraged to come here, and encouraged not to integrate.
If it had been left to me, I wouldn't have started from here, but we are where we are.
http://www.iaindale.com/posts/2013/09/20/damian-mcbride-me-and-his-brilliant-book
"I was bloody furious. Someone I had helped get his blog off the ground, and knew reasonably well, had smeared me as condoning racism. I shouldn’t have been surprised by these tactics, but I was. Scroll forward two months, to April 2009, when Guido Fawkes rang me up to tell me that Derek Draper had been acting under orders from Number 10, and Gordon Brown’s chief henchman, Damian McBride. Again, I found it difficult to believe, but Guido said he had the emails to back up the claims and would be publishing them. Wow."
At least none of the Labour lemmings on here would resort to such tactics....
Oh
I think the time for fudging this is over. We need to make it clear that women are to be treated equally in our society and no school can operate that thinks and behaves otherwise. If that means that Islamic schools (or any other type of school), whether state, private, "free" or anything else, has to change its practices or even close down, so be it. We should not be fudging our basic principles, our laws to accommodate practices we find abhorrent.
(last minute of the interview linked to below.)
http://youtu.be/h5tOLsSYglk
Ni matter how bad things sometimes appear with the Coalition they can/will never sink to the depths of Gordon Brown disastrous administration.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ukipofficial/videos
the rights to the serialisation were mine to sell as the publisher. I am bloody proud I got the biggest political serialisation since Mandelson’s memoirs. Seven newspapers were in the bidding and the Mail won.... Royalties from sales of the book will be split between Damian McBride’s current employers, CAFOD (the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development), and the appeal by his former employers, Finchley Catholic High School, to build a new sixth form centre.
That suggests the serialisation fee is not going to CAFOD and the High School appeal.
http://www.iaindale.com/posts/2013/09/20/damian-mcbride-me-and-his-brilliant-book
Aren't all schools, whatever their colour, inspected by ofsted? even private, grammar, free and academy?
Surely these disturbing revelations would have been flagged up in any inspection.
Yes there is. You can fund such schools provided they both comply with minimum standards set by the state. One of those standards is that girls are treated equally and given full access to all educational opportunities and that pupils and teachers not of the school's faith ethos are not forced to abide by that faith's strictures. If both schools comply, both get funded. If neither do, neither get funded and - in my opinion - are not allowed to be opened. If one complies but the other doesn't only the one which complies gets opened and funded.
The reason we have (apparently) an issue with some Islamic schools is that it would appear that it is only in these schools that - to me - abhorrent practices such as telling girls they must sit at the back or cannot do sport or must wear the veil etc happen. But if similarly unacceptable practices happened in other schools then I would close those down as well. So, for instance, I find it unacceptable that we have schools allowed to teach creationism as part of the science curriculum (or any other part of it, for that matter).
In short Islamic communities here need to adapt to Western standards and values and not the other way around. It is simply wrong that British girls - who happen to be Muslim - are denied the same rights and opportunities as other British girls purely because of their faith and because we are too pusillanimous to say that certain "cultural/religious" practices are not acceptable here.
Our fear of discriminating has led us into a cul de sac where we turn a blind eye to appalling behaviour and get into contortions trying to stop it. Discriminating against barbaric / unacceptable practices is ok.
Labour Party Finding Fault With Its Leader
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/leadership-questions-plague-britains-labour-party.html?hp&_r=1&
I agree.
However, it was Labour who led us down the cul-de-sac you identify, which was my original point: Labour can hardly use an example of their own policy of multi-culturalism in action to criticise the government, at least not without the grossest hypocrisy. Not that that will worry them, of course.
Labour wailing about medieval foreign religious practices is a bit like a serial burglar complaining that the fencing of stolen goods is on the increase...
Brownites (notably but not exclusively Ed Balls) who sit on the front bench do not inspire much confidence that they would not return to type, if they got back into power.
Simple solution - remove all religious elements from schools, private or state. No daft outfits, everyone has to adhere to the uniform. Every school is bound by the same rules otherwise it gets no Ofsted licence and cannot function as a school. If people want to be religious they can decide to be so independently as an adult, not be indoctrinated by their school.
That stat was first published in March 2012 and it's clear this "ATM theft" thing is a highly specialised business almost all relating to a single town in Romania.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120049/Romanian-gangs-cashpoint-robberies-rake-30m-year.html
Interesting, though, that no political party wants to reap the potential electoral dividend (even UKIP won't ban the veil).
Ed Miliband knew of Damian McBride’s plots, claims Tessa Jowell
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10323130/Ed-Miliband-knew-of-Damian-McBrides-plots-claims-Tessa-Jowell.html
Ed Miliband KNEW about smear campaigns by Gordon Brown's spin doctor, Labour MPs admits as party in-fighting begins
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2426678/Ed-Miliband-KNEW-smear-campaigns-Gordon-Browns-spin-doctor-Labour-MPs-admits-party-fighting-begins.html
Admissions - Supplementary Information Form for pupils wishing
to apply to the school under the Muslim faith criteria.
...
SECTION 3 – RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
This section is to be completed by the Imam* in the presence of the parent/carer and the child/ren.
Name of Imam:
Name of Mosque:
Name of child/ren to
which this form applies:
Date:
* Only official Imams employed or appointed by the Mosque as an Imam are
authorised to sign this form. Signatures of Madrasah teachers and unofficial
Imams will not be accepted.
Accepting the Shahadah (proclamation of faith)
• Praying 5 times a day
• Fasting during the month of Ramadan
• Paying Charity (Zakat)
• Pilgrimage (when and if obligatory)
Question 1
I confirm that the immediate family of the child/ren named in this
application adheres to all of the following 5 pillars of Islam:
Yes No
Belief in the oneness of Allah (Tawhid)
• Belief in the finality of the Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him)
• Respect of all the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
Question 2
I confirm that the immediate family of the child/ren named in this
application adheres the following principles of Islam:
Yes No
Question 3
In my opinion the immediate family of the child/ren named in this
application follows the Islamic code of dress by dressing appropriately and modestly.
Yes No
Name of Imam:
Signature of Imam:
Date:
Declaration
I confirm that the information given in this form is true and accurate:
Name of parent / carer:
Signature of parent / carer:
Date:
Parental Declaration
I confirm that the information given in this form is true and accurate:
Al-Beeb Scotland have called Bill "Wife-Beater" Walker an "independent MSP". Politically neutral aren't they....
Then called Michael Crick "a racist"..
Actually Avery, if you looked up entrance papers for religious schools of other faiths, would they really look that different?
nothing yet.....
An airline pilot has admitted being more than four times over the legal alcohol limit just before being due to fly from Leeds Bradford Airport.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-24175643
I thought alcohol was frowned upon by muslims
I just quoted the relevant paragraphs relating to Religious Faith and Admissions policy.
1) Get other people to talk about it rather than me or Ed Balls.
2) Avoiding discussing it where possible, if need be take a small hit for not answering.
3) Say that there were "few surprises" but avoid "I knew", particularly on details (who and how).
Tim Shipman (Mail) @ShippersUnbound
Godfrey Bloom seems determined to knock Damian McBride off the front pages...
P.S. Awaits a sad fecker....
"Not much to say really except for anyone on the centre left this is a very depressing day. Labour is unfit to govern while people like Ed Balls hold positions of "
Stop being such a drama queen! A story by Damien McBride serialised in the Mail is about as interesting as a SeanT post on the Burqa. If that's how trivial your vote is then put your cross against the Tories and have done with it
If this becomes a trend as it might (these things have a habit of feeding on themselves) it would give Labour the chance to ditch their leader. I can't think of an acceptable excuse for him having gone AWOL for the entire summer allowing his opponents to be the only show in town. It's unforgivable
http://stephentall.org/2013/09/20/ukips-godfrey-bloom-brands-michael-crick-a-racist-and-hits-him-with-partys-no-black-faces-conference-brochure/
The Labour party have a history of intense nastiness and bullying over the last 20 years, if I were a member I would want a purge of the whole lot of them who have proved to be without morals, courage or honesty. The blame for the antics in the Labour party should be shared by all Labour MPs from 1997 to 2010. The are culpable for allowing this to happen in their name, and I think there is therefore a fair argument to say our own Nick Palmer (along with the other Labour MPs) is no better than the main protagonists, as he (they) lacked the morality and strength to stand up and be counted. I think the whole parliamentary party needs to do some soul searching and ask to be forgiven for the deplorable behaviour over those years. Where we as a nation have a right to expect leadership we were given a master class in the destruction of our enemies.
The Blair and Brown years will be remembered as a lost opportunity, internal fighting and economic disaster, peppered with illegal war and dishonest presentation of facts (or fiction) to take us to war.
If there is any good to come from this period of history I hope it will hasten the the dilution and reduction of influence of Political Parties.
The concept of a manifesto covering all areas that parties are then beholden to implement is crass and produces massive negative effects. A manifesto should cover the areas of National Interest. The candidates should then develop an individual and local agenda to cover the remaining detail. Far more engaging for the electorate, the candidate and reduces the influence of central party oily slickers. It would give MPs the chance to actually stand for something and do it in parliament.
Until we weaken political parties we will not overcome all the sleaze and slime that infests politics.