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Why Amanda Spielman should not be elevated to the peerage – politicalbetting.com
Why Amanda Spielman should not be elevated to the peerage – politicalbetting.com
"Obscene". "An insult to every teacher in the country". School leaders fury at my revelation that Amanda Spielman, Ofsted's chief when headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life after a bruising inspection, has been nominated for a peerage by the Tories. https://t.co/tCFIC1v3ci
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It illustrates why people like me are relaxed about the current Government's unpopularity. It is still all too easy to remember what the previous one was like.
In my defence, there is a *lot* to say...
It's a disgrace.
That would have done.
*assuming they weren't all sacked by DOGE.
But - I'm not terribly optimistic about any replacement. There are the opposite dangers of something that's even more punitive and directly under DFE control (particularly with that fool Acland-Hood shoving her oar in all the time) or something that's too craven and won't actually stand up to be counted where needed.
In Brexit we went from having complete free movement of goods with no checks on intra-EU shipments, to requiring the full range of customs procedures, even though imports themselves are tariff-free. That was a huge administrative undertaking: red tape where none existed before.
For the US, with one exception*, they’re applying exactly the same procedures as before, just charging a higher rate. Relatively simple.
*the removal of the $800 de minimis on drop shipments is a bigger deal and already caused chaos at airports when they attempted it first time around.
Loving the fact that Liam Lawson has finished ahead of Tsunoda.
It shows just how good a driver Max Verstappen really is though.
He only began his dominance when Michael Masi screwed up and handed him the title, fruit from the poisonous tree.
Private schools have the best results, it helps produce people like myself, who is the grandson of humble immigrants to this country.
I see no reason to think Amanda Spielman did a good job, although I suppose there must be some people who think she did. In fairness, I think education generally has improved in quality over the last 20 years - a rare policy success in a sea of failure.
But I get a bit uncomfortable with the implication, repeated in this piece but common across many, that a headteachers tragic suicide is the fault of the head of ofsted.
1) It's got to be done with some thought and a replacement system ready to go, not just because the boss* is coked out of his mind and decided to do something weird;
2) It's not on any sort of principle, just because it seems to me that if things are still wrong in education, and there are many things wrong, that's the one constant nobody has ever tried to change.
*I've had a nice pot noodle, but I've never had a poodle, and I've never met a nice South African.
And it isn't just that she was to blame through flawed processes which led to falsified reports. It's the way she reacted as well, painting herself as the victim, that makes her unfit for further preferment.
Here's a piece about a UK cycle manufacturer who is offering a 5% discount to "meet their customers halfway". They have a direct debit with USA customs, import their frames from Taiwan, and export to the USA.
The USA apparently treats the "frame" as the original for the cycle, rather than eg getting a UK tariff on parts manufactured in the UK.
What could possible go wrong?
https://road.cc/content/news/trump-tariffs-see-uk-bike-brand-offer-5-discount-313399
Here, of course, Nonny-Nonny-Nigel would be demanding that everyone wants to live in brick built houses, with single glazing, space to grow cabbages, a free bulldog, and a coal fire.
None of this woke wood and insulation stuff
One other thing, though. Heads of Ofsted and Ofqual really shouldn't be partisan creatures. There's an extent to which they will be, but they shouldn't be. Giving any former Chief Inspector a party ticket into the Lords shouldn't be on. Admittedly, there are very few potential great and good willing to take the Conservative whip right now...
One report states that the average list price for a vial of insulin in Canada was $12, while in the US it was $98.70.
A vial is 100ml usually of normal concentration insulin. I use a vial every 10-12 days.
I checked and at present the numbers from the USA seeking asylum in Canada is around 10x those in the other direction - which as a rate is somewhat higher but not very much. Both number are (currently) low.
Here's an account of a woman who uses half as much as I do, and flew 1000 miles to Canada and back to save $2000 on 10 months supply ($2500 vs $500). My photo quota is her wrist tattoo to warn First Responders. She also has a therapy dog that warns her when her blood glucose is low.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/04/photo-essay-journey-to-canada-for-insulin/
This makes me very happy.
Although Amanda Spielman from her interview with WATO, where she tacitly opined that Phillipson is a Soviet agent and she ( Amanda Spielman) is the real victim here and not Ruth Perry would wholly disagree with your analysis. You do realise that when Cummings becomes Fuhrer you are in big trouble!
Of course like Spielman we are all experts in the field of education because we all went to school didn't we? (That being a statement of truth, rather than flippery.)
A vial is normally 10ml not 100ml (type - sorry).
One costs the NHS £14.08 (says the British National Formulary *).That is about $20 at current rates.
* https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/insulin-aspart/medicinal-forms/
This is the stuff of HIGNFY.
Are we to take the rest of it seriously?
Now LAs are f***** so they are not the answer, but can't we do something about these academy group confidence tricksters?
The conclusion stands.
I’m going to run. Why not.
In particular in question is the point of view. Is the discussion on education about what is best for: a given individual, any individual, the local community and its cohesion, the nation as a whole or what is best for the least able, least articulate, most feckless, worst parented and so on.
Over the years I have been chair of governors of four schools, ranging in pupil numbers from 8 to 1300. I doubt if any of that makes me wiser rather than better informed on the matters.
The polemic is backed by facts.
Trump’s team did actually spend weeks calculating the true reciprocal tariff rates for each country, and then he just decided not to do that anymore and based it on trade deficits.
Absolutely absurd.
https://x.com/Geiger_Capital/status/1908318822349647872
Quality header btw.
Besides- the bigger risk at the moment is Academy chains posting the keys to unviable schools through the DfE's letterbox when nobody is watching.
In a gesture of solidarity and as they’re both Star Alliance I shall be making my way to the Air Canada maple leaf lounge.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-aid-workers-deaths-video.html
An uncompromising article to start the weekend from @ydoethur for which many thanks. I don't pretend to have the in-depth knowledge of education of many on here but that's an excoriating judgement if I ever saw one.
With others, I fail to grasp why the Conservatives think this woman should be in my way rewarded or honoured for what is clearly a litany of at best failure.
That's not to tar all public servants with the same brush as may be the temptation though it might also be argued even in these more meritocratic days too many who make a real difference to people's lives go largely unrecognised.
I'd also note that the proposals that came forward in 2012 weren't Lib Dem proposals - they were Coalition proposals that had gone through a joint committee. They were shot down by a group of Tory backbenchers, in blatant breach of the Coalition Agreement, with the complicity of Labour (who at the time promised to come up with a better alternative which, despite their mega-majority now, they appear not to be interested in doing at all).
You will be surprised to hear that it is, in fact, an awesome and mischievous pun.
There are all sorts of ways it could be done, and all sorts of ways it could go wrong.
I think my main concern would be governance and oversight. That could be done through a properly constituted board of inspectors answering to the relevant Secretary of State.
But there would also be issues around exclusions, SEND, training, safeguarding to hammer out too.
It is worth noting that many smaller private schools are currently merging into larger chains that in many ways resemble academy chains to try and deal with these issues.
Listening to the proponents of Trump's tariffs, it seems it's almost gangsternomics - there's an unsubtle hint if you play nice you'll get the tariffs reduced or eliminated but I'm not sure what for the likes of Vietnam "playing nice" means.
Using economic leverage as a weapon for domestic and foreign policy is as old as the hills but it's overt use in more recent times has been a shade more subtle. As I said yesterday, this is the war against globalisation - if you want to save American jobs in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, your main weapons are a) stopping the flow of cheap foreign labour and b) reducing the price advantage of cheap foreign imports.
As Vance himself once admitted, the real solution isn't protectionism, it's education and automaton - improving the skills of your own workers and reducing production costs by automating transactional activities but that requires time, money and thought.
I see Jeremy Hunt has brought out the Singapore-on-Thames model as the Conservative "response" to all this but while it's long on superficial policy ideas, it's desperately short on how we can afford them - in essence, it's the rehashed "European social model on Asian taxes" solution (with the usual jibe at Net Zero). As a putative economic policy, it's as illiterate in its way as Trump's tariffs but the latter at least has a clear political objective. I presume Hunt is trying to reach those ex-Conservative voters who voted LD last year (and, I'm told, enjoy the attractions of Gail's).
Suppose your US company imports $1M of high quality parts, and adds in its own components to produce finished goods sold for $1.2M per batch. Your gross profit is $200k per batch.
But wait! Suddenly a new 30% tariff is imposed on that $1M of parts. You now have to fork over $300k to customs before you sell anything. That’s cash you probably don’t have. Oh, and even if you do sell everything, you’re now losing $100k per batch.
With a sinking feeling, you realize your profitable business which you somehow managed to keep in America all these years has suddenly become unprofitable.
You post online about how bad this is but get shouted down by an angry mob, convinced that capitalists like you should die. You can’t tell nowadays if they’re on left or right.
Moreover, you don’t have the time, money, skills, or tools in house to build that $1M of parts yourself. You are being asked to do the equivalent of growing a maple tree when all you needed was a little maple syrup. So now you are faced with several tough choices.
(1) First, you may need to go into debt or fire people to quickly come up with the $300k in cash to pay for these surprise tariffs at customs. Even if the tariff might go away, it might not, so you have to get the cash somehow or risk having your shipment impounded.
(2) Next, you might need to reduce quality to stop losing $100k on each batch. You could order the lower quality $750k parts, grimace and pay 30% tariff at customs, and hope you can build and sell for the same price of $1.2M per batch despite the lower quality.
(3) Alternatively, you could keep the quality parts at $1M and instead raise prices to $1.5M per batch to get back your original margins of $200k per batch, which you need to pay employees after all. But that’s a big hike that your customer will probably not welcome, given that he’s likely dealing with his own tariff shock.
So: these tariffs don’t really give an incentive to build in the US. Because it’s far more expensive to build a screw factory than to pay even high tariffs on a foreign screw...
https://x.com/balajis/status/1908236239268175927
Today is Day One of humanity’s Idiolithic Era.
https://x.com/Aiannucci/status/1908410582069293359
We can debate the exact start date, but future historians will be able to see the Trusk era in the economic data. A layer of toxic stupidity covering the globe and smothering prosperity
It didn't work.
You are being asked to do the equivalent of growing a maple tree when all you needed was a little maple syrup.
But then I’m a hypocrite. I’m trying to make wine in England.
@Northern_Al said when this came up a few days ago that one of the key jobs of the Chief is to tell the DfE to do one when necessary. Although he and I don't see eye to eye on many matters in education (and he may have many criticisms of this header, I shall be interested to see) he's clearly right on that point. But that was not happening under Spielman.
It is not entirely clear whether schools including Caversham were deliberately failed as an instrument of policy to further DfE goals with the connivance of the Chief. However, there are allegations to that effect and there is evidence that may be circumstantial but is nevertheless compelling to support those allegations (see links).
If they are correct, she is very much to blame. If they are not correct, she bears a portion of the blame. If it was all a tragic misunderstanding, she should have faced up to her responsibilities, apologised and possibly resigned. As it was, she refused to acknowledge any weakness or wrongdoing which only makes me more suspicious.
Hope that clarifies my position for you. You do not have to agree with it.
I have little knowledge of education but great respect for @ydoethur contributions to PB and absolutely agree that Spielman should not go to the Lords
We can find terrible nominations to the Lords across the political divide and IMHO the Lords including Bishops should be scrapped and replaced with an elected second chamber with revising powers
Did the UK invent the stocks?
https://x.com/faisalislam/status/1908434870180667574
At least 18 people were killed, including 9 kids.
Geolocations show that the missile arrived & exploded immediately next to kids' playground, causing numerous casualties
https://x.com/Dmojavensis/status/1908394690061492607
Elected officials (especially Republicans) should read the declaration of Independence
https://x.com/TheOmniLiberal/status/1908270028073341379
There is a great deal of sanewashing in a nation.
Trumpsplaining is becoming a disease. Radio 4 were at it this morning. A feature on the new hostility between the US and Canada, so off they go to Maine to record some cross lobster fishermen who don’t like the Canadians. The US equivalent of those barometer of British public opinion pieces that seem to focus entirely on Lancashire town centres at lunchtime on a working day.
Grand National. Hewick for me. We know the horse has quality, weather and going should help all the quality horses make a “modern National” race of it. So it’s the manner of the 3m4f Sandown win that swings it for me. https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/results/2022-04-23/sandown/677006/bet365-gold-cup-handicap-chase-grade-3-gbb-race
What makes the national such a pin sticker race is 30 fences add lots of jeopardy. But we know stats are that younger horses tend to fall, more than experienced ones - Hewick 3yr older than 7yr old Iroko for example. When looking at form, remember some courses are less challenging, whilst others - Cheltenham, Sandown - hold meetings with fields stronger in experience and quality, meaning it’s not quantity of wins and placings, but where and how. Also, if a horse is targeted at a particular race, their whole season is built around this, results in other races don’t matter much, like in football, pre season results. Further Grand jeopardy is the stamina test of the Nationals distance, especially as it’s a handicap, which should count against Hewick. Which makes me look to the linked Sandown race to counteract this.
Good Luck everyone.
Opens a lid on a world I know little about.
On reading it I am minded to support her application to be in the Lords under the condition that whatever she recommends for the education system during her time there, we do the opposite.
I'd only add one comment, which is that even if Ruth Perry had not committed suicide, Spielman would still, in my view, by the worst Chief Inspector Ofsted has ever had.
But read the whole thread if you want.
A further point he makes is that tariffs are effectively a presales tax, targeted at the very US companies the policy is supposed to be encouraging.
There is a respectable argument for targeted tariffs as an instrument of policy. I've yet to see any credible rationale for global, blanket tariffs.
Likely because there isn't one.
Not for sportsmen. Nor luvvies. Not for ex-MPs. And certainly not for civil servants. Time-servers in paid employment reluctant to take a decision because it might impact on their getting letters after their name is one of the curses that goes down the ages. End it now.
Anecdotally, I have also had a former social services worker in my classroom as an inspector. (She was very good, by the way. Made several intelligent comments informally that were both constructive and helpful. And she still fed back nice things to my head.)
I think they leave the fucking around to the centre...
War and politics are in principle, very simple things to get right. It's the execution that's extremely difficult. That requires basic competence, good planning, and attention to detail.
Putin will now assume he has a free hand to ignore any "ceasefire" without consequence.
An added and increasingly obvious benefit of the position the House of Commons holds is that it is very much harder for a charismatic psychopath to take the sort of control that is occurring in the USA. The powers of a single president are of course reinforced by having a mandate. The UK mandate belongs to 650 MPs, the PM has no less and no more than being one of those. The Lords has wisdom but no mandate. Keep it that way.
The way they lied, hid and dissembled the seriousness of the Covid outbreak in early 2020, when openness was key, shows that well.
As an example, there is an ongoing military purgre:
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/chinese-army-top-officials-arrested-xi-jinping-military-purge-2695008-2025-03-18