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Why are the Tories leading in the polls? – politicalbetting.com

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  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 14,916
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    It actually amazes me that Labour - a party meant to be looking after the interests of the poorest of society - concentrates massively more on the top end of academic achievement - e.g. going to university, than at the bottom end, which really requires the attention and money.

    ISTR they did try for a brief time in the late 1990s, but after that it became "50% to uni".

    Blair’s 50% to uni was one of his most idiotic policies.
    Certainly it is only really those who go to Russell Group universities and particularly those who study STEM subjects and subjects like law and medicine who see any real increase in their earnings potential compared to what they had after A Levels.

    For most of the rest they would be better off doing an apprenticeship and for the bottom end the focus should be ensuring they left school with basis literacy and numeracy
    So you support a huge increase in directed cash to the poorest schools and direct support for the most deprived children?

    You can't say you support literacy and numeracy whilst supporting policies which directly reduce attainment.
    Sunak announced £2.2bn extra for schools in England last year, representing 2.2% increase per pupil.

    However teaching basic arithmetic and reading is not something that can be solved by spending alone but effective teachers focused on the basis
    Teachers cost money. TAs cost money. Books and computers cost money. School buildings well maintained cost money. £2.2bn is a drop in the ocean. And "effective teachers focused on the basics" is an attack on teachers who as results aren't there clearly aren't effective or focused.

    Like I said, you're a screaming hypocrite on this. But as that seems to be most issues its not a surprise.
    Ensuring primary school teachers are focused on basic literacy and numeracy rather than too much trendy educational theory would also be a help
    Ha ha you are ludicrously ill-informed on this topic. Stick to polling where you are a smart commentator.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    TOPPING said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    For all those interested in GBNews Farage's new show has appeared on my YouTube feed:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFWs8T1Jc74

    Already has 46k views which I believe is rather more than the channel gets.

    What a shock, he’s banging on about ‘migrants’ in the channel. He means refugees fleeing persecution but that’s a different story.
    The channel connects the UK to France/the EU.

    What persecution are refugees facing in France/the EU?

    Should we be bombing them to seek regime change in your eyes?
    Lol. Do you also wear a beret and go ‘ooh betty, the cats done a whoopsie”
    No.

    But speaking of beret wearers, these poor desperate souls fleeing France across the Channel - why are they fleeing France?
    Hostile climate for refugees in France.
    Non-contributory benefits in the UK.
    English language and existing social capital in the UK as second order issues.

    It's not complicated.
    Hostile climate for refugees in France is a terrible issue that pressure should be put on the French to address surely?

    Benefits are not a refugee issue. If people want access to Britain's benefits that's economic migration and they're free to apply for a visa.

    English language etc again is a reason to apply for a visa, not about being a refugee.
    All of that is irrelevant. You asked why they were leaving France. I told you. You might as well go and stand on a beach at Grande-Synthe and advise the assorted tatterdemalions to apply for visas instead of getting in an Aldi RIB.

    What is relevant is the government's completely ineffective and incompetent response. Particularly if it becomes a staple feature of This Time with Nigel Farage.
    Well indeed.

    The correct and humane solution is to immediately deport, without right to appeal, anyone who comes from France - while safely taking legitimate refugees from frontline countries.
    Deport to where? The UK has left the Dublin II Regulation so they can't be deported to the EU or other signatories. Many of the arrivals will have no ID and/or come from countries to which the UK doesn't deport anyway.

    You voted for this situation. Own it.
    Do similar to what the Australians did.

    Essentially write a giant cheque to a safe but poor African nation that any asylum seekers will be sent and processed there. Anyone who comes to the UK gets immediately put on a plane there instead.

    The application can then be processed properly and if its rejected (because eg they came from France and not from a country they're being persecuted from) then they don't need to be deported since they're already not in the country.

    There'll be at least one safe but poor country willing to take our money for such an arrangement, especially since the moment that's put in place and followed through upon people will cease to pay people smugglers to take them to Britain since they know they won't end up in Britain anymore.

    Instead of then having refugees via people smugglers, we can humanely then take our fair share of refugees direct in safe and organised flights from the frontline.

    Problem solved.
    I am not 100% sure we have any nearby client states that we could ask to do this. Where did you have in mind?
    I'm not sure, though Denmark are currently in talks with a few countries to come to such an arrangement themselves and there's been talk that we could join in with Denmark in making such an arrangement.

    Personally I would suggest eg that we agree with the recipient nation that eg they would get a dedicated 25% of our International Aid Budget for the next decade as compensation for agreeing to such an arrangement. In exchange they agree to take the few refugees that continue to bother trying to reach the UK post such an arrangement starting and must remain a safe country with the rule of law.

    As for any appeals etc that other posters have mentioned, if it was up to me I would pass an Act of Parliament explicitly telling the courts that no appeals can be heard, that the migrants must immediately be put on the flight without any recourse to the courts until after they've landed outside the UK. Parliament is supreme.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,545
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    It actually amazes me that Labour - a party meant to be looking after the interests of the poorest of society - concentrates massively more on the top end of academic achievement - e.g. going to university, than at the bottom end, which really requires the attention and money.

    ISTR they did try for a brief time in the late 1990s, but after that it became "50% to uni".

    Blair’s 50% to uni was one of his most idiotic policies.
    Certainly it is only really those who go to Russell Group universities and particularly those who study STEM subjects and subjects like law and medicine who see any real increase in their earnings potential compared to what they had after A Levels.

    For most of the rest they would be better off doing an apprenticeship and for the bottom end the focus should be ensuring they left school with basis literacy and numeracy
    So you support a huge increase in directed cash to the poorest schools and direct support for the most deprived children?

    You can't say you support literacy and numeracy whilst supporting policies which directly reduce attainment.
    Sunak announced £2.2bn extra for schools in England last year, representing 2.2% increase per pupil.

    However teaching basic arithmetic and reading is not something that can be solved by spending alone but effective teachers focused on the basis
    Teachers cost money. TAs cost money. Books and computers cost money. School buildings well maintained cost money. £2.2bn is a drop in the ocean. And "effective teachers focused on the basics" is an attack on teachers who as results aren't there clearly aren't effective or focused.

    Like I said, you're a screaming hypocrite on this. But as that seems to be most issues its not a surprise.
    Ensuring primary school teachers are focused on basic literacy and numeracy rather than too much trendy educational theory would also be a help
    Anecdata: I've got a kid just finishing KS1, and I really haven't seen too much evidence of 'trendy educational theory'.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,620
    edited July 2021

    Charles said:

    BBC News - Ben & Jerry's to stop sales in Palestinian territories
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57893161

    Why punish the Palestinians?
    They're not. They're "punishing" the lunatic Israeli settlers. Well, "punished" is a strong word...
    I must admit I hold Ben and Jerry's in the same level of contempt as Starbucks and Apple. Overpriced tat, sold more on image than any genuine advantage to the consumer.

    (Awaits incoming from TSE...)
    There is a weird group of non-Apple users who are bizarrely utterly obsessed with Apple products and feel it necessary to endlessly slag them off. It is a very odd condition: if you don’t like Apple products, then don’t buy them. Equally, if you like them, go ahead.

    Simple really.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,349

    algarkirk said:

    Foxy said:

    algarkirk said:



    To take a little test case: What is Labour's policy on the NI/GB/EU border/single market dilemma? I don't know. Does anyone?

    I believe the Labour Party supports aligning to SM standards, which largely resolves the Irish border issue, and helps at Dover too.
    Yes, that's right. We favour pragmatic cooperation over standards on which Britain largely agrees with the EU anyway, in order to solve these issues, over the theoretical sovreignty of being able to reduce standards on something, which nobody admits to wanting to do. What (just as a matter of interest) is your view of that, algarkirk?

    The downside, to be frank, is that it makes it harder to waive standards in order to get a US trade deal - for example, if we decided we wanted to let in chlorinated chicken after all. But a US deal appears to have receded into the distance as Biden's fast-track authority has expired.

    The fact that you didn't know illustrates the problems of opposition. "Shadow Trade Minister explains what Labour would do about standard alignment if elected in 2023" has zero chance of media coverage, and it's not very sexy for a local leaflet either. On the other handm we can't reeasonably expect you to write to Starmer to find out. So how (failing PB as the Source of All Wisdom) do we make a clear and sensible policy on a fairly technical subject actually known?
    Thanks for the question and for the policy. I would favour pragmatic cooperation over standards. I wonder whether everyone would agree with that, only have different views over whose red lines are pragmatically flexible.

    To be precise, pragmatism in this case means that we continue to maintain the same standards that we have now (and, the difficult bit, agree to upgrade standards if the EU later decides to do so - e.g. to require all new cars to have a fire extinguisher, to take a random example of national difference that I came across in a translation - it might be an EU standard one day). To object, one has to either (a) identify an EU standard that we should like to fall below (e.g. in order to get a trade deal) or (b) object in principle to maintaining high standards even if we will want them in practice.

    The prize, if one does accept the idea, is that the Northern Irish problem simply vanishes. The privince is in the single market, and it has goods to the same standard, so all talk of border posts and suchlike becomes irrelevant. I do understand that the idea of accepting any future improvement in standards is a bit uncomfortable from rhe Brexit viewpoint, but fighting in the last ditch for the right to lower standards seems perverse.

    It is, at least, a genuine difference, about which there is absolutely no knowledge of debate in the wider public.
    Pragmatism could mean instead that all sides are committed to very high but non identical standards, with the single market accommodating the anomaly of NI and free traffic of high quality but non aligned sausages across the border. The pragmatism Labour (you suggest) supports means an enforceable complete alignment with the single market for the UK as of course a Unionist principle is that treatment should be the same in NI as GB.

  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,545

    Charles said:

    BBC News - Ben & Jerry's to stop sales in Palestinian territories
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57893161

    Why punish the Palestinians?
    They're not. They're "punishing" the lunatic Israeli settlers. Well, "punished" is a strong word...
    I must admit I hold Ben and Jerry's in the same level of contempt as Starbucks and Apple. Overpriced tat, sold more on image than any genuine advantage to the consumer.

    (Awaits incoming from TSE...)
    There is a weird group of non-Apple users who are bizarrely utterly obsessed with Apple products and feel it necessary to endlessly slag them off. It is a very odd condition: if you don’t like Apple products, simply don’t buy them. Equally, if you like them, go ahead.

    Simple really.
    Ah, there are those of us who have worked with Apple, and know tech well, who have an insiders' view. They are an evil company, and I just want to stop the hippy trendies who mistakenly use their products from going to Hell. ;)
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,620
    edited July 2021

    DougSeal said:

    Dunno about the British electorate, but the Express obviously thinks their readers are moronic.


    And why not? As apparently people aren't paying attention to Clown stupidity, why not feed that stupidity? The National up here and the Express down there are the dumbest newspapers possible.
    If you look at comments on the weather in the Express, they are in Fahrenheit. Every one else (outside the US) uses Centigrade
    Fahrenheit is the only pre-metric unit of measurement I can’t do despite my American spouse. I think in miles, metres (with the below exception) ounces, and degrees Celsius. I measure people’s height in feet and inches. The confusion of being born in the seventies.
    Ironically, Celsius is not the SI unit of temperature. I’m not sure any country actually uses Kelvin in its forecasts…
    Degrees Rankine is the purists’ choice.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,718

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    It actually amazes me that Labour - a party meant to be looking after the interests of the poorest of society - concentrates massively more on the top end of academic achievement - e.g. going to university, than at the bottom end, which really requires the attention and money.

    ISTR they did try for a brief time in the late 1990s, but after that it became "50% to uni".

    Blair’s 50% to uni was one of his most idiotic policies.
    Certainly it is only really those who go to Russell Group universities and particularly those who study STEM subjects and subjects like law and medicine who see any real increase in their earnings potential compared to what they had after A Levels.

    For most of the rest they would be better off doing an apprenticeship and for the bottom end the focus should be ensuring they left school with basis literacy and numeracy
    So you support a huge increase in directed cash to the poorest schools and direct support for the most deprived children?

    You can't say you support literacy and numeracy whilst supporting policies which directly reduce attainment.
    Sunak announced £2.2bn extra for schools in England last year, representing 2.2% increase per pupil.

    However teaching basic arithmetic and reading is not something that can be solved by spending alone but effective teachers focused on the basis
    Teachers cost money. TAs cost money. Books and computers cost money. School buildings well maintained cost money. £2.2bn is a drop in the ocean. And "effective teachers focused on the basics" is an attack on teachers who as results aren't there clearly aren't effective or focused.

    Like I said, you're a screaming hypocrite on this. But as that seems to be most issues its not a surprise.
    Ensuring primary school teachers are focused on basic literacy and numeracy rather than too much trendy educational theory would also be a help
    Ha ha you are ludicrously ill-informed on this topic. Stick to polling where you are a smart commentator.
    If your main focus is increased spending you will be voting Labour anyway, I am a conservative
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,165
    NEW THREAD.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 3,853
    edited July 2021

    Dunno about the British electorate, but the Express obviously thinks their readers are moronic.


    And why not? As apparently people aren't paying attention to Clown stupidity, why not feed that stupidity? The National up here and the Express down there are the dumbest newspapers possible.
    If you look at comments on the weather in the Express, they are in Fahrenheit. Every one else (outside the US) uses Centigrade
    PB Pedantry:
    Both Fahrenheit and (degrees) Centigrade are wrong. The correct unit is Celsius, which is derived from the Kelvin scale and thus the definition of the Boltzmann constant. In practice it is the same value as Centigrade but unlike Centigrade it is not derived from the freezing point of water (at atmospheric pressure).
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    Charles said:

    Big Dom had popped up again dropping his truth....

    I think he’s actually reaching the point where he’s damaging the process of government

    The line “I don’t buy this overwhelming the NHS argument” or a trade off between the economic and health costs of a lock down are *exactly* the debates a government should be having without someone leaking the sausage making process
    The Tory Party needs to give Cummings a £150k job, working from home venting his spleen at the party HQ rather than in public.

    He does have a lot of good ideas, but also a lot of terrible ones, and he’s now unemployed and trying to raise his profile.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 27,016
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    It actually amazes me that Labour - a party meant to be looking after the interests of the poorest of society - concentrates massively more on the top end of academic achievement - e.g. going to university, than at the bottom end, which really requires the attention and money.

    ISTR they did try for a brief time in the late 1990s, but after that it became "50% to uni".

    Blair’s 50% to uni was one of his most idiotic policies.
    Certainly it is only really those who go to Russell Group universities and particularly those who study STEM subjects and subjects like law and medicine who see any real increase in their earnings potential compared to what they had after A Levels.

    For most of the rest they would be better off doing an apprenticeship and for the bottom end the focus should be ensuring they left school with basis literacy and numeracy
    So you support a huge increase in directed cash to the poorest schools and direct support for the most deprived children?

    You can't say you support literacy and numeracy whilst supporting policies which directly reduce attainment.
    Sunak announced £2.2bn extra for schools in England last year, representing 2.2% increase per pupil.

    However teaching basic arithmetic and reading is not something that can be solved by spending alone but effective teachers focused on the basis
    Teachers cost money. TAs cost money. Books and computers cost money. School buildings well maintained cost money. £2.2bn is a drop in the ocean. And "effective teachers focused on the basics" is an attack on teachers who as results aren't there clearly aren't effective or focused.

    Like I said, you're a screaming hypocrite on this. But as that seems to be most issues its not a surprise.
    Ensuring primary school teachers are focused on basic literacy and numeracy rather than too much trendy educational theory would also be a help
    So you are blaming the teachers. Instead of having professional educators with their training and experience lets have HYUFD tell them how to do it.

    Of course when the parents who don't have much education themselves read that teachers are crap, they don't bother pushing their little ones to bother either.

    Which is exactly what you want. A poorly educated underclass to be exploited.
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 4,748

    TOPPING said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    For all those interested in GBNews Farage's new show has appeared on my YouTube feed:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFWs8T1Jc74

    Already has 46k views which I believe is rather more than the channel gets.

    What a shock, he’s banging on about ‘migrants’ in the channel. He means refugees fleeing persecution but that’s a different story.
    The channel connects the UK to France/the EU.

    What persecution are refugees facing in France/the EU?

    Should we be bombing them to seek regime change in your eyes?
    Lol. Do you also wear a beret and go ‘ooh betty, the cats done a whoopsie”
    No.

    But speaking of beret wearers, these poor desperate souls fleeing France across the Channel - why are they fleeing France?
    Hostile climate for refugees in France.
    Non-contributory benefits in the UK.
    English language and existing social capital in the UK as second order issues.

    It's not complicated.
    Hostile climate for refugees in France is a terrible issue that pressure should be put on the French to address surely?

    Benefits are not a refugee issue. If people want access to Britain's benefits that's economic migration and they're free to apply for a visa.

    English language etc again is a reason to apply for a visa, not about being a refugee.
    All of that is irrelevant. You asked why they were leaving France. I told you. You might as well go and stand on a beach at Grande-Synthe and advise the assorted tatterdemalions to apply for visas instead of getting in an Aldi RIB.

    What is relevant is the government's completely ineffective and incompetent response. Particularly if it becomes a staple feature of This Time with Nigel Farage.
    Well indeed.

    The correct and humane solution is to immediately deport, without right to appeal, anyone who comes from France - while safely taking legitimate refugees from frontline countries.
    Deport to where? The UK has left the Dublin II Regulation so they can't be deported to the EU or other signatories. Many of the arrivals will have no ID and/or come from countries to which the UK doesn't deport anyway.

    You voted for this situation. Own it.
    Do similar to what the Australians did.

    Essentially write a giant cheque to a safe but poor African nation that any asylum seekers will be sent and processed there. Anyone who comes to the UK gets immediately put on a plane there instead.

    The application can then be processed properly and if its rejected (because eg they came from France and not from a country they're being persecuted from) then they don't need to be deported since they're already not in the country.

    There'll be at least one safe but poor country willing to take our money for such an arrangement, especially since the moment that's put in place and followed through upon people will cease to pay people smugglers to take them to Britain since they know they won't end up in Britain anymore.

    Instead of then having refugees via people smugglers, we can humanely then take our fair share of refugees direct in safe and organised flights from the frontline.

    Problem solved.
    I am not 100% sure we have any nearby client states that we could ask to do this. Where did you have in mind?
    I'm not sure, though Denmark are currently in talks with a few countries to come to such an arrangement themselves and there's been talk that we could join in with Denmark in making such an arrangement.

    Personally I would suggest eg that we agree with the recipient nation that eg they would get a dedicated 25% of our International Aid Budget for the next decade as compensation for agreeing to such an arrangement. In exchange they agree to take the few refugees that continue to bother trying to reach the UK post such an arrangement starting and must remain a safe country with the rule of law.

    As for any appeals etc that other posters have mentioned, if it was up to me I would pass an Act of Parliament explicitly telling the courts that no appeals can be heard, that the migrants must immediately be put on the flight without any recourse to the courts until after they've landed outside the UK. Parliament is supreme.
    25% of our aid budget would be somewhere between 0.1-0.2% of our total GDP
  • CiceroCicero Posts: 2,182
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    It actually amazes me that Labour - a party meant to be looking after the interests of the poorest of society - concentrates massively more on the top end of academic achievement - e.g. going to university, than at the bottom end, which really requires the attention and money.

    ISTR they did try for a brief time in the late 1990s, but after that it became "50% to uni".

    Blair’s 50% to uni was one of his most idiotic policies.
    Certainly it is only really those who go to Russell Group universities and particularly those who study STEM subjects and subjects like law and medicine who see any real increase in their earnings potential compared to what they had after A Levels.

    For most of the rest they would be better off doing an apprenticeship and for the bottom end the focus should be ensuring they left school with basis literacy and numeracy
    So you support a huge increase in directed cash to the poorest schools and direct support for the most deprived children?

    You can't say you support literacy and numeracy whilst supporting policies which directly reduce attainment.
    Sunak announced £2.2bn extra for schools in England last year, representing 2.2% increase per pupil.

    However teaching basic arithmetic and reading is not something that can be solved by spending alone but effective teachers focused on the basis
    Teachers cost money. TAs cost money. Books and computers cost money. School buildings well maintained cost money. £2.2bn is a drop in the ocean. And "effective teachers focused on the basics" is an attack on teachers who as results aren't there clearly aren't effective or focused.

    Like I said, you're a screaming hypocrite on this. But as that seems to be most issues its not a surprise.
    Ensuring primary school teachers are focused on basic literacy and numeracy rather than too much trendy educational theory would also be a help
    Ha ha you are ludicrously ill-informed on this topic. Stick to polling where you are a smart commentator.
    If your main focus is increased spending you will be voting Labour anyway, I am a conservative
    The idea that the Tories have any credibility on restraint of public spending is laughable. In 2010 the Debt to GDP ration was 69% (this was post the 2008 financial crisis, in 2007 it was only 40.7%) it is now 104.5% and continuing to rise unsustainably fast.

    The insane bondoogles, like track and trace have cost billions for no recognisable return. The costs of Crossrail or HS2 are well over 20 x the costs of equivalent projects (RER/TGV) in France. In practice, the Tories are a high spend, high waste party and are leaving a legacy that will take decades to resolve.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 27,016

    Charles said:

    BBC News - Ben & Jerry's to stop sales in Palestinian territories
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57893161

    Why punish the Palestinians?
    They're not. They're "punishing" the lunatic Israeli settlers. Well, "punished" is a strong word...
    I must admit I hold Ben and Jerry's in the same level of contempt as Starbucks and Apple. Overpriced tat, sold more on image than any genuine advantage to the consumer.

    (Awaits incoming from TSE...)
    There is a weird group of non-Apple users who are bizarrely utterly obsessed with Apple products and feel it necessary to endlessly slag them off. It is a very odd condition: if you don’t like Apple products, then don’t buy them. Equally, if you like them, go ahead.

    Simple really.
    What people find annoying about Apple is the fanboism. Like when they invented video calling or invented copy n paste or invented music players. Fanbois won't be told that none of these Apple claims are true, it winds up the supporters of rival products and it gets silly. Same thing with people who object to Tesla for the same reasons.

    Apple make a whole load of products, many of which have been breakthroughs. If people like the Apple ecosystem and are willing to pay for it then great! I like the Google / Chrome ecosystem, others Windows. All have their pros and cons.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,718
    Cicero said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    It actually amazes me that Labour - a party meant to be looking after the interests of the poorest of society - concentrates massively more on the top end of academic achievement - e.g. going to university, than at the bottom end, which really requires the attention and money.

    ISTR they did try for a brief time in the late 1990s, but after that it became "50% to uni".

    Blair’s 50% to uni was one of his most idiotic policies.
    Certainly it is only really those who go to Russell Group universities and particularly those who study STEM subjects and subjects like law and medicine who see any real increase in their earnings potential compared to what they had after A Levels.

    For most of the rest they would be better off doing an apprenticeship and for the bottom end the focus should be ensuring they left school with basis literacy and numeracy
    So you support a huge increase in directed cash to the poorest schools and direct support for the most deprived children?

    You can't say you support literacy and numeracy whilst supporting policies which directly reduce attainment.
    Sunak announced £2.2bn extra for schools in England last year, representing 2.2% increase per pupil.

    However teaching basic arithmetic and reading is not something that can be solved by spending alone but effective teachers focused on the basis
    Teachers cost money. TAs cost money. Books and computers cost money. School buildings well maintained cost money. £2.2bn is a drop in the ocean. And "effective teachers focused on the basics" is an attack on teachers who as results aren't there clearly aren't effective or focused.

    Like I said, you're a screaming hypocrite on this. But as that seems to be most issues its not a surprise.
    Ensuring primary school teachers are focused on basic literacy and numeracy rather than too much trendy educational theory would also be a help
    Ha ha you are ludicrously ill-informed on this topic. Stick to polling where you are a smart commentator.
    If your main focus is increased spending you will be voting Labour anyway, I am a conservative
    The idea that the Tories have any credibility on restraint of public spending is laughable. In 2010 the Debt to GDP ration was 69% (this was post the 2008 financial crisis, in 2007 it was only 40.7%) it is now 104.5% and continuing to rise unsustainably fast.

    The insane bondoogles, like track and trace have cost billions for no recognisable return. The costs of Crossrail or HS2 are well over 20 x the costs of equivalent projects (RER/TGV) in France. In practice, the Tories are a high spend, high waste party and are leaving a legacy that will take decades to resolve.
    Spending as a percentage of gdp was 41% in 2009/10, it was 35% in 2019/20.
    https://www.statista.com/statistics/298478/public-sector-expenditure-as-share-of-gdp-united-kingdom-uk/

    You cannot start to paydown the debt until you reduce spending
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 21,725
    Corbyn new how to run a financially successful Labour Party

    SKS knows how to ruin Labour Party finances

    We see the grotesque sight of the leadership, the leadership, delivering redundancy notices to its own staff 900 of them at Labour Headquarters.
  • CiceroCicero Posts: 2,182
    HYUFD said:

    Cicero said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    It actually amazes me that Labour - a party meant to be looking after the interests of the poorest of society - concentrates massively more on the top end of academic achievement - e.g. going to university, than at the bottom end, which really requires the attention and money.

    ISTR they did try for a brief time in the late 1990s, but after that it became "50% to uni".

    Blair’s 50% to uni was one of his most idiotic policies.
    Certainly it is only really those who go to Russell Group universities and particularly those who study STEM subjects and subjects like law and medicine who see any real increase in their earnings potential compared to what they had after A Levels.

    For most of the rest they would be better off doing an apprenticeship and for the bottom end the focus should be ensuring they left school with basis literacy and numeracy
    So you support a huge increase in directed cash to the poorest schools and direct support for the most deprived children?

    You can't say you support literacy and numeracy whilst supporting policies which directly reduce attainment.
    Sunak announced £2.2bn extra for schools in England last year, representing 2.2% increase per pupil.

    However teaching basic arithmetic and reading is not something that can be solved by spending alone but effective teachers focused on the basis
    Teachers cost money. TAs cost money. Books and computers cost money. School buildings well maintained cost money. £2.2bn is a drop in the ocean. And "effective teachers focused on the basics" is an attack on teachers who as results aren't there clearly aren't effective or focused.

    Like I said, you're a screaming hypocrite on this. But as that seems to be most issues its not a surprise.
    Ensuring primary school teachers are focused on basic literacy and numeracy rather than too much trendy educational theory would also be a help
    Ha ha you are ludicrously ill-informed on this topic. Stick to polling where you are a smart commentator.
    If your main focus is increased spending you will be voting Labour anyway, I am a conservative
    The idea that the Tories have any credibility on restraint of public spending is laughable. In 2010 the Debt to GDP ration was 69% (this was post the 2008 financial crisis, in 2007 it was only 40.7%) it is now 104.5% and continuing to rise unsustainably fast.

    The insane bondoogles, like track and trace have cost billions for no recognisable return. The costs of Crossrail or HS2 are well over 20 x the costs of equivalent projects (RER/TGV) in France. In practice, the Tories are a high spend, high waste party and are leaving a legacy that will take decades to resolve.
    Spending as a percentage of gdp was 41% in 2009/10, it was 35% in 2019/20.
    https://www.statista.com/statistics/298478/public-sector-expenditure-as-share-of-gdp-united-kingdom-uk/

    You cannot start to paydown the debt until you reduce spending
    Getting rid of a government that has wasted close to a trillion quid and maxed out on the government credit card would be a very good start, I am sure you agree.
  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,060

    DougSeal said:

    Dunno about the British electorate, but the Express obviously thinks their readers are moronic.


    And why not? As apparently people aren't paying attention to Clown stupidity, why not feed that stupidity? The National up here and the Express down there are the dumbest newspapers possible.
    If you look at comments on the weather in the Express, they are in Fahrenheit. Every one else (outside the US) uses Centigrade
    Fahrenheit is the only pre-metric unit of measurement I can’t do despite my American spouse. I think in miles, metres (with the below exception) ounces, and degrees Celsius. I measure people’s height in feet and inches. The confusion of being born in the seventies.
    Ironically, Celsius is not the SI unit of temperature. I’m not sure any country actually uses Kelvin in its forecasts…
    Degrees Rankine is the purists’ choice.
    Telling people the current temperature is over 500 would certainly help convince them that global warning was a thing...
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,842
    Wonder if any parliamentarians would be excluded from the commons if proof of vaccination was needed for entry :p ?
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