Liberal Democrats call on PM to sack Gavin Williamson for "slow-motion car crash" on exams Rise in depression demands urgent action Decision to scrap PHE shows Government has got its priorities "all wrong" Liberal Democrats call on PM to sack Gavin Williamson for "slow-motion car crash" on exams The Liberal Democrats have called on Boris Johnson to sack Gavin Williamson, criticising attempts to pass the buck onto Ofqual for the exams grading fiasco. In a letter to Boris Johnson, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran has called on the Prime Minister to personally apologise to students and warned that the ...
Marking Test Match Special's 50th birthday back in 2007 I said: Though Brian Johnston died a national treasure and did seem in an exceptionally happy mood in his last few summers, he could be Blimpish and sometimes made the commentary box sound like the staff room of an undistinguished private school. Today there is a keen new master on the staff. Simon Mann has no time for slackers. Everyone must show the right spirit. Those who don't must be made an example of. Back in the 1970s it was Fred Trueman who fulfilled this role and it was the number ...
Today my children's book Brian the Barrington Bear which is beautifully illustrated by Alice Jowitt goes on sale in hardback, soft cover and online – you can buy the books here:Amazon.co.uk : brian the barrington bear (though please note these people don't hold stock, they wait for you to order!) and the eBook at Kobo:Rakuten KoboRakuten KoboSearch... Continue reading Brian The Barrington Bear – on sale now!
A month or so ago, I was intrigued to see an early morning tweet from Alexander Stubb, former prime minister of Finland. My world famous #bananapancakes are back: 2-3 eggs, a mashed banana and 1/2 cup of oats. Today's toppings: Turkish yougurth, cashews, blueberries and honey. Beat that. pic.twitter.com/eK9yWtQOk0 — Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) July 2, 2020I'm a fan of breakfast in general. I've made myself egg on toast as a matter of routine every morning for about twenty years. I used to have bacon at weekends, but have been warned that it's not all that good for me, so more ...
Statues have been moved and removed, defaced and smashed since ancient times. As ruling dynasties are supplanted and once powerful states are vanquished their replacements were often keen to sweep away the physical memories of their predecessors. During the last two centuries archaeologists the world over have found in rubbish heaps or river beds the [...]
I'm happy to admit to a huge level of enjoyment at seeing the government on the rack for the past few days as they struggle to justify the "A" level results debacle. Some will argue that it is unfeeling to to take pleasure in a farce that has caused so much upset to so many young people, not to mention their teachers and university admissions tutors. But, unlike other government failures, nobody has died, the young are pretty resilient and will get over it very soon. If they'd had such things as grades, youngsters in 1348 (the Black Death) or ...
The Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan is my favourite hotel in the world. Perched on the rocks overlooking the River Nile, it offers blissful views of feluccas drifting slowly by and hints of the desert beyond. Not surprisingly, it has featured in a number of novels and films, notably Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile. Christie [...]
The Nottingham Post wins our Headline of the Day Award. Remember: If you do not keep up your payments to the exorcist your house may be repossessed.
I have a confession to make. I think that Kirsty Williams is bloody brilliant. As if it wasn't enough being the sole Welsh Liberal Democrat elected to the Welsh Parliament and the most senior non-Labour politician in Wales, then there was COVID. The pandemic demanded an incredible amount from our schools and the wider education system. More or less overnight, schools became childcare hubs for keyworkers with teachers delivering blended learning, undertaking wellbeing checks, providing packed-lunches and so much more. Oh, and in Wales they were busy preparing for the first ever made-in-Wales curriculum, the biggest piece of education legislation ...
Mon, 14:33: RT @JolyonMaugham: Northern Ireland is abandoning the algorithm for GCSEs - but maintaining it for A Levels. Not sure why, if it's unfair f... Mon, 16:05: John Hume obituary: Nationalist leader who championed 'agreed Ireland' https://t.co/6I1mKuUnMG Good summary from Fi... https://t.co/PpwdnNqLfw Mon, 17:11: RT @CRobertson_LD: Really good blog post here: https://t.co/b1vA0ckue0 Mon, 17:23: RT @10DowningStreet: A Level, AS Level and GCSE results will now be based on teacher-assessed grades. Students will receive the higher of... Mon, 17:23: RT @Keir_Starmer: The Government has had months to sort out exams and has now been forced into a screeching U-turn after ...
The last thing we need is electoral reform because we need to think and work in a sequence which results in genuine electoral reform. The word "genuine" is included because Neo-Liberals, their fellow travellers and their "useful ill-informeds" use the word to describe financial and economic changes which are to the detriment of the general public. To quote economist Michael Hudson: The IMF (International Monetary Fund) and kindred Washington consensus bodies demand labour market "reforms" that would reverse the 20th century workplace reforms. The word "reform" is now attached to any policy as an advertising slogan. A possible genuine electoral ...
I've written today to the Chief Executive of Liverpool Council asking for a full scrutiny of the proposal to have a Zipwire at Central Library before the Council enters into a contract with the Zipwire Company. This follows a major ... Continue reading →
It has been said all along that the UK Government would find scapegoats to take responsibility for their failures on tackling COVID-19, and so it has proved. As the Independent reports, plans to scrap Public Health England (PHE) in the middle of the crisis, look panic stricken and amount to buck-passing. The paper says that PHE's pandemic response work will be merged with NHS Test and Trace, and the body will be replaced by a new organisation set up specifically to deal with a pandemic. While, experts have raised concerns over timing and the potential knock-on effect that a "major ...
i) births and deaths 18 August 1925: I know this is a bit marginal, but this was the birth date of Brian Aldiss, one of the greatest ever science fiction writers, who died in 2017 the day after his 92nd birthday. At the age of 85, he had a story in the 2011 Brilliant Book of Doctor Who, which may make him the oldest ever Who writer. I was beyond thrilled to meet him in 2014. ii) Broadcast anniversaries None. iii) date specified in canon 18 August 1951: Sarah Jane Smith's parents die in a car accident after attending the ...
#Живёт Беларусь – two words that are the rallying cry for what appears to be a tipping point for the Lukashenko regime with mass strikes at factories, schools, TV anchors resigning and signs that security forces are refusing to follow orders or resigning. Despite the repeat of the Lukashenko play book of arresting or brute elimination of opposition figures, the country coalesced around an unlikely figure in the form of a quiet housewife who has fired up the imagination and bamboozled the regime. It is also a test of how the West, the EU and most notably the UK in ...
Tue 18th
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Ludlow Town Council plans to axe tree on Station Drive for CCTV - a coherent tree management plan is...
Ludlow Town Council wants to remove or heavily cut back a tree on Station Drive to allow work on a CCTV camera and to ensure that the lens has a clear view. We need CCTV in the centre of town. But we also need trees and greenery. Over the years, the Ludlow centre has a lot of a green canopy and I am not happy about another tree going. The tree is close to the top of Station Drive and is owned by Shropshire Council. It one of best trees along the west edge of the road. I think it ...
From the City Council's Director of Children and Families Service to City Councillors : "Now that schools will reopen in what would be regarded as normal school days from Monday 17th August, it would be our intention to continue the consultation process to its conclusion. With this in mind we intend to run the consultation for an additional three weeks from 17th August to 4th September. This will provide some additional time for stakeholders to respond to the proposals set out in the consultations and it will also permit the completion of any remaining discussions with schools and staff which ...
