Labour's five deadly sins

This morning's newspapers are full of stories that cover almost every aspect of the fall and fall of this Labour government:

Disunity: "The New Statesman magazine will today question how long Mr Blair can last at No 10, with police planning to present a report to the Crown Prosecution Service on the eve of the Labour conference.  "Party officials talk openly about a second conspiracy: a plot to oust Blair before the end of the year led by the Parliamentary Labour Party, or even elements within the cabinet," the magazine claims." (Telegraph)

Ineffectiveness: "A rise in young people carrying mobile phones and MP3 players is being blamed for street robberies and muggings jumping by 8% last year.  The latest crime figures include a 10% rise in gunpoint robberies." (BBC) and "Ministers have expressed "disappointment" at statistics showing fewer young people from poor backgrounds are going to university... The data for 2004/05 showed that while the total number of students from all groups rose, the proportion from poorer backgrounds fell from 28.6 to 28.2 per cent." (ePolitix.com)

Sleaze: "Lord Levy was last night facing fresh pressure over the peerages row after it emerged that he personally nominated his former secretary for an MBE.  MPs from across the political spectrum called for a probe into whether Jean Cobb deserved to receive the prestigious honour in 2002 for her 'services' to charity." (Daily Mail) and "John Prescott is facing a mild rebuke from the Parliamentary standards watchdog for failing to register his stay at the Colorado ranch of an American gambling tycoon and the gift of an elaborate cowboy outfit." (The Telegraph) 

Flip-floppery: A leader in The Telegraph lists some recent Government U-turns... on immigration, prison-building, automatic sentence reduction for guilty pleas, home information packs, marching yobs to cashpoints, no referendum on the EU Constitution, scrapping GP fundholding... we could all think of plenty more!

Weakness: "Why the shock over Tony Blair supporting Sinn Fein while at Oxford?  Surely making heroes of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness while prime minister is more serious." - Daily Mail.

Comments

[Oberon Houston]

Interesting to note that as the news against Labour gets worse, our Shadow Minister pressure gets better. In the early days of this Government, when little seemed obviously wrong, our attacks came across very poorly, foaming at the mouth and ill constructed and unmeasured. By contrast the Labour party could do little wrong in the eyes of the electorate and were slick and precise in counter-attacking us. Now I here David Davis on the today program and my wife says to me (uninterested in politics, Labour voter by instinct, dislikes us by instinct), anyway, she says “he had some sensible points, is he a Labour of Lib-Dem?”

Needless to say, I’m extremely encouraged that voters like my wife are listening to us, and we are giving them something interesting to listen to. Well done to David Davis, lots more please from everyone.

[malcolm]

My wifes the same.She's even started asking some questions about Tory policy.It's not great when I have to tell her we really don't have any!

[John Hustings]

It's rather depressing for me that just as Labour have *finally* fallen to pieces, the Conservative Party look so unattractive an alternative.

[MH]

A bit rich to accuse Labour of flip-flopping when the lad Dave has turned it into an art form.

The current political landscape is fascinating, even when like me you are on the wrong side of it. I decided not to renew my Conservative membership as I loathe so much of what Dave is daving in aping his idol, Tony Blair. However, it's clear that the Conservative Party is attracting new voters. Question is do the new ones offset the old ones like me who are going to stay at home.

Sad anecdote: my safe Conservative seat has seen Association membership fall this year from 1250 to 900. Wonder why.

[malcolm]

To you perhaps John,but to Oberons wife and mine they do and their votes count as much as yours!

[John Hustings]

"To you perhaps John,but to Oberons wife and mine they do and their votes count as much as yours!"

Their votes aren't in the bag yet, are they? ;)

[John Hustings]

Getting people to hate you less is very different from getting people to want to vote for you.

[william]

Everybody's pitching for the other guy's place. Cameron wants to steal Lib Dems. Ming wants to head left. Labour are the new Emperors, and want to line their pockets and out-sleaze the corruption of all their predecessors. BNP are going after Old Labour.

It's a merrygoround. No wonder your wives are confused, and are starting to ask questions about politics.

[Oberon Houston]

We haven't hit voter critical mass yet, but Cameron understands what he is doing, as the views of people like my wife et. al percotale and build we could see a major swing to us - just as the 'New' Labour project did for them we need to do the same. British Governments are made by winning over the 'middle ground' of voters. To ignore them to instead appeal to a section of our own supporters who do not wish to appeal to them is confusing logic. Members must understant that th eConservative party is finally hungry for Power, not opposition anymore - and that means winning popular - not partisan - support in the Country. Peversly, policy can be largely unaffected by this process, I won't then spell out for you why it is some Tories object to popular support.

[Ted]

John

Agree with your last comment but getting people to like you is first step to getting people to vote for you.

My concern is that Cameron & co had a sensible strategy laid out in December which was a year or so of re-positioning, then first glimmers of revised policies, then Policy Group reports. However they have not reacted sufficiently quickly to the Government falling apart. Davis has been an exception but the Shadow Cabinet as a whole needs to be on the front foot and start attacking.

[Michael]

You also forgot the latest U turn in education, over compulsory worship. About to weeks ago, the education sec told the TES that they had no plans to relax the laws on compulsory collective worship. Now after our rebellion at St Lukes, and a possible human rights challenge, they have caved in and given above 16's the right to an opt-out. We organised a boycott, and only had the right to withdraw on parental consent, so I think this is a welcome move!

[Cllr Iain Lindley]

They should just scrap the compulsory worship law anyway. Most schools ignore it, it is profoundly irritating to pupils of different faith or none, and the time would be much better spent teaching Maths or English in any case.

[Mark]

We have to be very careful with our attacks. We can show empathy with people’s issues (something Cameron does very well), but to promise that we’re going to do something better we have to know exactly how. If we fail to deliver we simply add to the view that all politicians are deceitful.

Cameron has been pretty good at resisting making promises, but his blunder over the EPP has made me nervous. He was either naïve, thinking that the promise would be easy to deliver (when all his predecessors recognised otherwise), or cynical. Neither is good. I hope he sees it as a lesson learned and not a reason to pat himself on the back.

[michael]

Oh I know destroyed my education at times, lessons cut short, we had to watch this awful video on abortion, which disturbed many people and we were all forced to see it, we had no choice. We only had one way of being withdrawn from it, and that was by parental consent which was given to us in the 1996 education act, but the conservatives should have scraped the whole thing then!!!!

[Editor]

We are in danger of getting off subject but I must defend the idea of shared worship and religious education. It is important that children get a deep idea of the importance of the Christian witness to their country and to its history, its laws etc.

I agree with opt-outs, though. Opt-outs not only from worship but from sex education classes and other contentious issues.

This is probably a subject for a whole other thread...

[Andrew Woodman]

Worst June on record for UK finances

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5197958.stm

Wonder how he'll break his golden rule this time.

[Graeme Archer]

Opt-outs from PE would have got my vote.

Our sex education class was part of the chemistry course, which is almost willfully bizarre. The video we were shown was a cartoon (I remember being both disappointed and relieved) and was narrated by MICHAEL RODD of television's Tomorrow's World and Screen Test. This quite ruined my enjoyment of Tomorrow's World for ever.

[Andrew Woodman]

I could never look at a large test tube in the same way again after mine Graeme.

[Mark]

My wife is responsible for teaching sex-education lessons. I think she'd quite like an opt-out too! Having said that, she does enjoy giving the yobbish lads an insecurity complex as she passes around the twice life-size model of male genitalia.

[Michael]

Sorry editor I do apologies, just have to say however, we didn’t really have a sex education, ours was as follows:

Abortion, sex before marriage and homosexuality all means your going to hell.

That should not be taught in schools of any ages in my opinion. Though I do agree however not all collective worship is wrong in fact I didn’t mind going to my RE classes as there were made enjoyable. Although there are cases as with my college where, extremely right wing individuals can hold important positions with a school, like my chair of governors and promote their own agenda, he for example did not see women as equal to men!! Maybe the RC church should take a leaf out of the conservative's book and start promoting modern compassionate Catholicism and then maybe young people would take it more seriously.

[Andrew Woodman]

Think we're getting wildly off topic here. There is one thing I would pick out of these and that's the fewer people from poorer backgrounds going to university. With social mobilty being reduced, we need to look at tuition fees and this 50% admissions target to see if there is a better way than the current system.

[michael]

yes we are getting wildly off topic, this blog is beginning to sound like a transcript of PMQ's, and we dont want to go there!

[Oberon Houston]

The most important headline today is

"Fuel costs push inflation to 2.5%"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5190326.stm

When homeowners cannot affort to pay mortgages and pay high taxes and see little benefit and see high Govt. waste, then Labour will suffer, up until now Brown has had a downhill ride, lets see him when the economic environment is less easy going...

[Oberon Houston]

No pun intended regarding Browns 'downhill ride' ... on ha ha ha...

[Chris]

Andrew, the 50% admissions target must NEVER be achieved. The A-Levels which I've worked so hard for over the last couple of months are effectively worthless as everyone has them now, I'm going to be seriously annoyed if in three years time after spending around 30,000 on a degree if my degree is also regarded as worthless due to them being far too common.

The setting of targets for people from poorer backgrounds going to university is ridiculous. We shouldn't be encouraging people to go to university based on social grouping, we need to encourage them based on ability. People seem to presume that university gurantees a good job, and prosperity... it doesn't.

Tuition fees are hated by the student population, and the greatest hatred comes from middle class students like myself (the ones who you want to vote Conservative in a few years time). The system presumes that "Daddy" is going to foot the bill for anyone whose parents are in the higher tax bracket, it doesn't for a minute think that our parents might be expecting us to become more independent. The scrapping of tuition fees would have handed us the middle class student vote, who have realised that voting Lib Dem is futile.

I'm a supporter of a graduate income tax which would mean no degree would come with a set price, after all the value of a degree differs from person to person. If your degree enabled you to become a millionaire its worth more to you, than it was to the guy who's struggling to meet his mortgage payments on his 2 bedroom semi.

[Sean Fear]

I can't see any point in more than about 20% of the population going to university.

[Andrew Woodman]

Very true Chris. I really do hope we come out with something radical on Education. David Cameron said it's the one cabinet post he would like to have done.

Get rid of artifical targets and charge the full economic cost for these useless degrees such as media studies. Might be able to train up a few plumbers then instead of having to import them.

[Michael]

But surely tuition fees would be easier to pay back rather than a loan, as you only pay it back in small installments and only if your earning over a certain amount, if your not you don’t pay? Correct? If so I don’t know what the fuss is about

[Michael]

Got to admit though education is a mess, though I resent the whole A levels are getting easier, err no they are not. I just finished a politics course in my exam I had to answer a full essay in 30 min, on 'Is there continuity between the New Right and traditional conservatism on the role of the individual' to name but one. That is hard to do in 30min!!!!!

[Andrew Woodman]

Is another cost on young people struggling to get on the property ladder though Michael.

Don't you think the ever amount of coursework and retakes distorts the A level results. Lots of coursework can be lifted off the internet and I know of many people who retook exams many times purely because their parents could afford the fee in the hope of an easier paper.

[Chris]

But surely tuition fees would be easier to pay back rather than a loan, as you only pay it back in small installments and only if your earning over a certain amount, if your not you don’t pay? Correct? If so I don’t know what the fuss is about.

Tuition Fees are going to be 3,000 a year for me, and I am given the option of paying them up front, or taking out a loan with the government. unsuprisingly as an 18 year old I don't happen to have 3,000 to hand, I mean its only more than I earn in a year! I'm also taking out a maintenance loan to cover my living expenses which will give me around 3,000 a year to live off. I will be forced to pay back these loans (Which my the end of my degree will total about 30,000 worth of debt) if I ever earn over 15,000, which is hardly a huge amount to earn in a year.

My biggest problem is the fact that people whose parents earn little money are effectively giI ven a free ride due to all of the grants they are entitled to. Why is everything based off your parents? At 18 I'm an independent citizen who can vote, and my personal assets are pretty similar to those of the guy who lives down the road in the council estate. He however will receive several thousand pounds worth of grants each year which he will never have to pay, whilst I rack up a stupidly huge debt. How is this being fair? Its redistribution of welath based off the presumption that my parents will bail me out when the going gets tough.

[Chris]

Got to admit though education is a mess, though I resent the whole A levels are getting easier, err no they are not. I just finished a politics course in my exam I had to answer a full essay in 30 min, on 'Is there continuity between the New Right and traditional conservatism on the role of the individual' to name but one. That is hard to do in 30min!!!!!
Which exam board were you taking Michael, and which route? I've just finished Edexcel Route A. I found myself faced with some lovely questions myself.

I agree that A-levels aren't getting easier, but the proportion of people taking them is growing. Schemes like EMA are encouraging people to stay in school, but they are encouraging them for the wrong reasons. Students should stay on to do a-levels because they want to be better educated, not because they can get cash handouts. I'm friends with several people who get EMA, its been spent in really productiove ways, in order to enhance their education. I'm sure the tax paying public appreciates giving them 30quid a week so that they can have driving lessons or get drunk at the weekend.

[Michael]

Yes, it’s exactly the same for me. I wouldn’t class my self as middle class, but I do know others that have a lot less than I do and have to work to pay for everything themselves, for things that I didn’t have to like travel costs. Grants, would probably be the only way some people would be able to go to university and I fully support those as I don’t think anybody should be denied the right to go to university on the basis of money and if that means we have to go out to work and pay a bit more in tuition fees then I think its a noble thing to do. You say yourself, that tuition fees don’t have to be paid up front and don’t you have to be earning over £15,000 a year to qualify paying them back, otherwise the debt is cancelled? I know £15,000 is nothing these days but you would only be paying tiny amounts back at a time and statistically university graduates usually get higher paid jobs. God I sound like a New Lab politician!!

[Cllr Iain Lindley]

We are in danger of getting off subject but I must defend the idea of shared worship and religious education. It is important that children get a deep idea of the importance of the Christian witness to their country and to its history, its laws etc

Codswallop. Religion is a personal choice and compulsory worship should be a pretty absurd concept regardless of your faith. In my experience even committed Christian pupils loathed reciting the Lord's Prayer in Assembly. They could do that in Church.

Daily worship in schools is an anachronism and should be scrapped.

[Michael]

I did route B edexcel, I liked it a lot I didn’t think I would at first because the questions were so hard. Another question I did was, 'is nationalism, inherently expansionist and aggressive' that was a good question. Did u do the US parliamentary route then, we were going to switch to that but we decided against it because my teacher thought it was boring. I have learned a lot however, looking back at traditional conservatism I would not class myself as a conservative at all, the way they thought about the ruling class etc. I’m more of a neo liberal I suppose, but then Thatcher was, and I can understand it when people, say the conservative party now by 'changing itself' is betraying its core values, when some of the things Thatcher advocated that are now seen as core values were betrayals of previous conservative thinking, for example it was far more paternalistic..................... so yeah I really enjoyed it was a challenge though and I would like to ask the editor of the daily mail to sit down and write one and anyone else that thinks they are easy!!!!!

[Michael]

Although i do agree with you on EMA, most of my friends use it to get drunk with i only know one person that actually spends it on the essentials!

[johnC]

'Daily worship in schools is an anachronism and should be scrapped'

Only if you think that religious worship of any kind is an anachronism. Children already have the right on parental request to absent themselves from daily worship. For the rest, I think they benefit from having the opportunity to experience and understand Christian worship, whatever their ultimate response to it may be. It's like school sport: the fact that it doesn't appeal to all, and is actively disliked by some, shouldn't prevent the opportunity of it being there.

[Michael]

yeah but at 18, i can drink drive vote etc but i can decide for myself not to attend collective worship, that im afraid is a disgrace.

[deborah]

Well said Chris (12.56)

The whole loans/top-up fees system is a complete mess.
I don't understand how we could afford to educate our brightest and best without them 20 years ago, but now we can't. Isn't it simply a matter of priorities and focus?

Get rid of the 50% nonsense for starters.

Michael,
I wholeheartedly agree that A levels are not getting easier to do, but the exams themselves are easier - they have less content and are broken down into bite sized-chunks. The real problem is that students are being tested constantly on narrow areas of study.
On top of this, they are encouraged to do re-takes to maximise scores. All focus is on achieving marks in narrowly-based exams with highly-specified marking schemes, rather than learning how to apply their thinking across the subject.

I feel for today's A level students. They have to work their butt off to get every last mark, meeting tick-box requirements with little recognition of individual flair.

I did exams happily until I was 24 but I'd hate to be going through today's sytem: the stress of exam after exam with coursework thrown in for good measure is diabolical.

[Michael]

Sorry disagree with you there, In politics I had to study in depth, all the major ideologies such as Socialism, Liberalism, conservatism, Marxism (WHICH I HATED) fascism, anarchism green politics, feminism, nationalism and they could ask you absolutely anything to do with those ideologies. I cant see the exams have become narrower in subject material at all, maybe with exception to the scientific based subjects. History was similar, Not only do we have 4 exams we have coursework and an individual assignment to do where you can study anything you like and they were wide ranging subjects too, but the whole system needs a overhaul to suit the needs of individuals, some of my fellow students, were put on to courses they couldn't manage and ended up failing which is not good for the individual or the school.

[William Norton]

'Daily worship in schools is an anachronism and should be scrapped'

What if it's a church school?

[Mark]

Only if you think that religious worship of any kind is an anachronism.

In an academic environment, any religious instruction (including worship) without an equal counterpoise is anachronistic. For each half-hour of prayer and hymns there should be a half-hour of Darwinism. Religion should be taught as opinion not fact.

[william]

Get rid of the national curriculum. Give the resposnibility to teachers to decide what they are teaching, and how their pupils are marked. There would be a huge increase in respect for teachers, and the pupils would listen to them again.

Educational standards would rise. Respect for authority would improve, and schools would have greater pride in themselves.

And about 100,000 civil servants could make a living elsewhere. Some could open schools maybe, and class numbers could fall.

[Andrew Woodman]

I agree with getting rid of the national curriculum. I remember at school when it came to choosing GCSE subjects, I wanted to do business studies and economics but the national curriculum stated I had to do a design subject so I ended up doing a subject I hated instead of one I wanted. Government interference at its worse (our party I'm afraid).

[Sean Fear]

I rather enjoyed the Daily Worship at my Primary School, but it was a Church school so it was appropriate.

I agree over 16s shouldn't have to participate if they don't want to. Other than that, I'd leave it up the parents to decide if they want it.

[deborah]

A national curriculum which specifies the basics (reading, writing, arithmetic stuff) is useful to make sure schools do the ground work - but it shouldn't go beyond that or dictate how a teacher teaches.
With PHSE and citizenship, far too much of todays national curriculum is open (and used for) political indoctrination.

[Mark]

William and I have found an area where we can agree... EDUCATION!

Homogenisation of state education via the National Curriculum and centrally dictated policies has the effect that mistakes affect the whole system and gives parents no way to escape them (except to go private).

[Chris]

Grants, would probably be the only way some people would be able to go to university and I fully support those as I don’t think anybody should be denied the right to go to university on the basis of money and if that means we have to go out to work and pay a bit more in tuition fees then I think its a noble thing to do.
I fully agree with the grants, I just have strong objections as to the way they are assigned. Aof university if wes Deborah said, we managed 20 years ago to send students to university for free. The state could easily fund higher education, if fewer students were going to study "Beach Management" and "Australian Studies". This is the reason I support the idea of a graduate tax, where the cost of a degree is proportionate to the earnings of the person who has the degree. Universities would stop offering the mickey mouse courses as soon as they discovered people taking them were not providing a good enough investment. Education should be seen as an investment in this countries future, not something which we should be penalised for engaging in.

Route A was on Europe, and consequently was pretty easy. Had a beatiful question on paper 3 on how the EU has proven divisive within political parties. Managed to write reams just about Maastricht! Route C was the one on the US, which I had originally been intending to do, however the distance learning course I was enrolled on (My school doesn't provide politics as a subject) swithc ed to doing Route A :( Route B looked quite interesting, but focussed a bit too much on ideologies to catch my attention.

I feel for today's A level students. They have to work their butt off to get every last mark, meeting tick-box requirements with little recognition of individual flair.
This sadly is true, and its something that a Conservative government should work to change. I personally would favour continual assesment of students, which would mean that their attention would have to be focussed on their studeies constantly. In the big bad world of business you don't get to laze around all year and then do work for 2 or 3 months and still get paid! I know I've been relatively lazy throughout the whole of this year, and I can't help but think I'd have tried harder if I knew all of the work I did hal;f heartedly had been counting towards my end grade.

Your point on individual flair is also well made. For my computing coursewor, I and two other students decided we'd do a group project, which soon ended up being well outside the realms of what is expected from an A2 project for computing. What extra recognition did we receive? None! In fact I lost marks, because I spent too much time on implementing an amazing system and not enough time showing how I designed it!

[Patsy Sergeant]

We should get rid of targets in other areas of government too - the NHS, and the Police service. Its a pernicious habit, and uses too many trees. And what are targets for? The EU, or much more likely so that Blair can use them to boast at the Despatch Box in PMQ's, provided the figures have been suitably 'arranged'. Besides targets etc: are so very communist, and they didn't work there.

[David Belchamber]

Ted @ 10.26: "My concern is that Cameron & co had a sensible strategy laid out in December which was a year or so of re-positioning, then first glimmers of revised policies, then Policy Group reports".
It is a pity that the tory high command does not remind the electorate of this from time to time (or, if they do, emphasise it more). It would surely be sensible, given the present state of the government, to promise interim reports at the autumn conference.
What must be very encouraging is the number of young people posting on this thread. It bis refreshing to hear them articulate their views on the present education system and also their problems and I believe we should pursue these in greater detail.

[michael]

Yeah i Managed to stick europe into the nationalism section and how it destroyed the conservative party, so much stuff to write about. Its easy when you know it!!

[Chris]

What must be very encouraging is the number of young people posting on this thread. It bis refreshing to hear them articulate their views on the present education system and also their problems and I believe we should pursue these in greater detail.
David, this indeed should be the case, however seeing as the majority of students are under 18, and can thus be easily trodden on without fear of repurcussions. With topup fees looming over me when I start university in October I can't help but think "No taxation without representation". I never got to vote before the introduction of them, and I probably won't get the opportunity to until 2010, at which point I'll have finished my degree. In short an entire generation of university students will have been screwed over without ever voting for the government which introduced the fees (And that government had even pledged not to introduce them!).

[David Belchamber]

Chris, keep on making your voice heard and help us to get the tories to promise the sort of educational policies that will help the next generation of young people.
I always understood that the purpose of a school was to identify the potential of each child and then to develop it to the maximum. I have always believed that universities were academic institutions and that entry to them should be solely on merit; also that financial considerations should not debar able students from entry.
The country desperately needs technically qualified people (and much better middle managers)who I think need high quality vocational training instead.
In schools I believe the government has a right to lay down certain requirements to ensure that core subjects are taught to certain standards but beyond that it should back off and let the schools run themselves.
We need grant maintained schools back, we need more not fewer grammar schools and a much closer interaction between the state and private sectors to restore some of the means of social mobility that have been reduced by this government.
Finally, there should be a proper - reasoned - debate about the part selection should play in education.