Missed Opportunity?

Are the personal details of those Members of Parliament who have children, such as Diane Abbot, Ruth Kelly, David Cameron and Gordon Brown, included in the Inland Revenue files that have gone missing!?!

Darling Bets Of November!

Will the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, bet his taxpayer funded and index linked pension that Northern Rock repays £24bn of government backed loans plus interest!?!

What are the "quality assets" that Northern Rock mortgages are secured against if house prices are falling!?!

Bugger!

"All my savings were in Railtrack and Northern Rock"

Uncovered Mosque?

If Ofcom has rejected Police claims that Channel 4's Dispatches programme "Undercover Mosque" was distorted, will West Midlands Police now consider prosecuting people featured in the programme!?!

"On the evidence (including untransmitted footage and scripts), Ofcom found the broadcaster had accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context."

Number Crunching

20,000 - Peter Hain's target for reducting incapacity benefit claimants thanks to "tougher work tests".

2,400,000 - Incapacity benefit claimants in the UK.

Hollow Britain?

Why are record numbers of people leaving the UK?

Is it the threat of terrorism?

Is it the record number of immigrants?

Is it the quality of NHS care?

Is it the crime rate?

Is it the traffic congestion?

Is it the quality of schools?

Or the tax increases to pay for all of them!?!

"Labour's largesse on its priorities - health, education and overseas aid - has seen spending rise from 35% of gross domestic product to 42%."

Border Controls

What's the point of having tighter border controls if the UK's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, wants residents from Russia, the Middle East and North African countries to join the European Union!?!

Deportation Rights and Wrongs

If complaints from immigrants being deported could mean delays in deportation to hear the case, how many will complain!?!

"HUNDREDS of failed asylum seekers have been allowed to stay in Britain because they were so rowdy that airlines refused to take them back to their own countries." - Scotland On Sunday.

Benefits of migration?

Are increased security costs at railway stations, airports and ports deducted from the economic benefits of immigration or an additional benefit as it creates new jobs!?!

"The security budget, currently £2.5bn this year, will rise to £3.5bn in 2011"

Protecting the Public?

"Tobin was sentenced to life for sexually assaulting [two fourteen year old] girls, but was released after ten years in 2004."

"Tobin was found guilty of murdering Angelika Kluk in September last year. He hid the bound and gagged body of the 23-year-old Polish student beneath the floor of the Glasgow church where he worked. He was jailed in May for a minimum of 21 years."

If only the people who released Tobin were directly impacted by his actions rather than an innocent woman...

What do Angelika's parents think about British justice and protecting the public?

Alcoholic benefits?

Should welfare benefits be cut by 10% to reduce alcohol consumption?

If a 10% increase in alcohol tax really "could cut all alcohol-related deaths by between 10% and 30%", why not raise it by 20% instead!?!

Aspiring

Should the 'Aspire' programme focus on why state education fails so many black (and white!) pupils rather than why so few apply to Oxford University?

"The biggest challenge has been the academic leap and I have felt short-changed by the state system, but there has been so much support from the college and when I have struggled and needed extra help, my tutors have been available." - Michael Isola

Laban Tall has the answer though, send them to Africa!

Sticks and stones?

"The air is thick with suspicion and unease. It is not good for the Muslim community, it is not good for society." - Muhammad Abdul Bari, Muslim Council of Britain.

Is that a threat?

Conviction Politics!

Will David Cameron call for rape suspects to remain anonymous until conviction and also call for increased sentences for women who cry rape or is he just trying to woo the female vote!?!

Going, going, gone for martyrdom?

How is the general public being protected when someone found guilty of terrorist activities with an ever-increasing desire "to go for martyrdom" is released on bail until December 6th!?!

If words never give an indication of intent, were Finnish authorities right when they didn't arrest Pekka-Eric Auvinen after he posted "death and killing is not a tragedy... Not all human lives are important or worth saving" but waited until he had murdered eight people a couple of weeks later?

Should we be more concerned that the "Lyrical Terrorist" worked at Heathrow Airport or that she was a woman!?!

Going down to University!

Will the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge continue to improve in a league table of the world's top universities if they are forced to admit more "disadvantaged" pupils!?!

Stannard and Deliver!

Will John Stannard, the new "Champion for gifted and talented children", condemn proposals to close the most successful school in Stoke-on-Trent that just happens to be a Grammar School!?!

Parental responsibility?

How many parents keep to the speed limit in the UK?

It's likely that many parents want speed limits cut, but only for other people.

Alan Balls!

"And the days where many people could leave school at 16 without qualifications and work their way up into a fulfilling and rewarding career are behind us." - Schools Secretary, Ed Balls.

"Alan [Johnson, Education Secretary] is a product of the Labour and trade union movement, born into a working class family, he left school at 15 with no qualifications. He became a postman at 18." - www.labour.org.uk.

The Conservatives haven't changed!

They still sack anyone who expresses the view of the general public!

In unrelated news..

'Thousands' pose UK terror threat.
"In Iraq, Algeria and parts of East Africa, especially Somalia, he said, the "al-Qaeda brand" had expanded and now posed a threat to the UK."

Number Crunching

5% - The most 'Gifted and talented pupils' to receive special help in England.

25% - The most gifted and talented pupils awarded 'A' grades at A-level in 2007.

Migration Row Tories?

"Many insist: 'Enoch Powell was right'. Enoch, once MP for Wolverhampton South-West, was sacked from the Conservative front bench and marginalised politically for his 1968 'rivers of blood' speech, warning that uncontrolled immigration would change our country irrevocably. [ ] He was right. It has changed dramatically." - Nigel Hastilow, Current (!) Conservative hopeful for Halesowen and Rowley Regis.

"[Trevor Phillips] said population changes and immigration were happening at unprecedented rate and there was "no going back".

Will Trevor Phillips be summoned to explain his views by the Conservative Party Chairman as well!?!

Byrning ears!

Will Liam Byrne MP be able to claim the £100 fine and £35 costs for using a mobile phone whilst driving as expenses if he was taking "an important call on a deportation matter"!?!

Trevor Phillips on sharing

How can Trevor Phillips know that people accept "shar[ing] services such as schools and hospitals with new arrivals" when his own children attend private schools so they only have to share facilities with the children of other fee-paying parents!?!

"Phillips flirted with standing for London Mayor until he decided the issue of private schooling for his children would put his family under unfair scrutiny."

Soft as a rock?

If house prices fall just 10% in the UK, what will be the taxpayers' exposure to bad debts at Northern Rock?

Union matters?

Are any public sector unions campaigning against more immigration as their members have to work harder!?!

"Some individual local authorities are experiencing more challenges than others" - Hazel Blears, Communities Secretary.

Time for a right-wing educational experiment?

Rather than close the Ridings School in Halifax, "the worst school in the Country", after ten years of failed Labour gimmicks such as "new buildings, experiments with "superheads", Ofsted "hit squads" and a stream of ministerial visits", wouldn't it be better if right-wing educationalists were given a chance to prove what works!?!

Predicatably, the National Union of Teachers would rather condemn another generation of pupils to a poor education rather than lose some of it's members!

Go and search?

If "Black people were almost seven times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by police last year", why isn't the arrest rate seven times lower if they are being unfairly targeted!?!

"Of those black people stopped, 13% were subsequently arrested. This compares to 12% of stops leading to arrest across all ethnic groups."

Recycled Rubbish?

Did Welsh and Scottish MPs vote on whether English councils should be given the power of "pay-as-you-throw" rubbish charges?

Whatever happened to the BBC 'exclusive' that such plans had been shelved just one week earlier!?!

Child Poverty Unit

Should the new Child Poverty Unit focus on why 69% of UK Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin live in poverty yet have the highest number of live births per female by age 45 at 4.0 and 3.7 !?!

Thought crunching!

Conservative proposals for an "English Grand Committee" threaten then Union.

Gordon Brown's proposals for "Commons committees for each English region" strengthen the Union!?!

PS Why is Harriet Harman doing Gordon's dirty work!?!

Sour sixteen?

Should sixteen year olds be allowed to vote when they cannot be trusted to have a credit card or drive a car!?!

The violence of not smacking?

If "three and four-year-olds are more physically aggressive than most adults", is the children's commissioner right when he calls for a total ban on smacking!?!

"Those [children] who do not [learn to regulate their use of violence] are more likely to become aggressive adults."

At least we will know who to blame in a decade when the violent crime rate soars!

School tax?

As a Scottish constituency MP, why is Gordon Brown deciding how surplus school budgets should be "taxed" at 5% and re-distributed to other schools only in England!?!

GPs see the future?

Are 87% of GPs worried about the future as 57% of them know they are being overpaid and expect it to end!?!

Why stop at obesity?

Should parents receive a letter from their child's school to warn if the school is not providing a satisfactory education!?!

Shawshank hotel?

How does anyone manage to smuggle - and hide - plasma TVs or budgies in prison cells!?!

"[ ] his call prompted a massive search of jails, uncovering a large haul of contraband including mobile phones, plasma televisions and pet budgies."

What would a massive search of jails in the UK discover!?!

Ending child poverty

What is being done to discourage the poor from having so many children!?!

Childhood obesity

Should bullying of obese children be encouraged until they are a normal weight!?!

Where are the Greens?

What will be the environmental impact of increasing Britain's population by 15m between now and 2051?

Will the Green lobby condemn "Rising immigration, increased longevity and higher birth rates among migrant families"!?!

When will Gordon Brown introduce a green tax on immigration!?!

How refreshing!

Last night's assembled pub crowd booed when Gordon Brown appeared on TV as we waited for the start of the Rugby World Cup Final!

No stopping stop-and-search!

What would Ken Livingstone's reaction be if a senior white police officer said that blacks should expect more "stop-and-search" than the white community!?!

Good news for the middle classes!

Your future's bright!

"The gap between [] independent and comprehensive schools is growing among the highest achieving pupils".

As no political party is prepared to remedy the situation by creating more grammar schools, there will be fewer candidates competing for higher paying jobs in the future!

Alan Coren

The BBC are to make 1,800 1,799 staff redundant!

Safe as gangs?

How safe are "safe houses" once more than a few 'former' gang members know where it is!?!

Who can trust them not to leak details of the location to anyone else!?!

Working for us?

MPs will have 91 days - 18 working weeks - holiday in 2008!

"MPs are reported to have written to the Senior Salaries Review Board saying the rise is needed to bring them into line with senior civil servants and GPs." - BBC News Online, December 2006.

How many senior civil servants or GPs have as much holiday!?!

Deprived Classes?

Are the deprived responsible for being deprived!?!

How many private pupils leave primary school unable to read or write?

"It cannot be right that 20% of pupils leave primary school without a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy" - Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert

The Student Pound?

If student welfare officers have noted a "growing trend for students to see themselves as customers - threatening legal action if they feel that universities are failing to deliver adequate courses", why does a new Government minister need to be appointed to make sure the market for student pounds is working?

The market is efficient and free, Government interference is expensive and prone to error!

Will the Minister allow universities to fail if they are not providing students with value for money!?!

EU knows

When will the UK follow the European Union's policy on freezing payments to regions with poor management and control systems and freeze UK contributions to the European Union?

"An English region could be fined heavily by the European Commission over its handling of £500m worth of European Union regeneration funding.

When the UK Government failed to put its house in order, Brussels decided to freeze further payments to the six English regions concerned. "

Auditors give EU accounts their 12th qualification
"The court said much EU spending in 2005 had not involved proper invoices, correctly paid bills and the selection of best-value suppliers.

Indeed, using random sampling methods, it found errors - from delayed payments and incomplete documentation to outright fraud in transactions - affecting 66% of the 115bn euro EU budget."

Migration good for votes?

As long as 58% of migrants support Labour, is the party concerned that "almost every UK region has difficulties in housing, health, education and crime because of increased migration"?

Labour is merely growing it's electoral base!

Would Labour be so keen on migration if 58% of migrants supported the Conservative Party!?!

Sir Menzies "no scandal" Campbell !

If only there had been a whiff of scandal, would Sir Menzies Campbell still be leader of the Lberal Democrats!?!

He didn't have an affair with his secretary (so far as I'm aware!) unlike Paddy "Pantsdown" Ashdown nor was he a drunkard (so far as I'm aware!) unlike his immediate predecessor Charles Kennedy!

Position vacant

Will Charles Kennedy sip from the poisoned chalice of the Liberal Democrat leadership again or is he no longer a drinker!?!

Migrant rights and wrongs!

Should the UK hope to be at the top or bottom of a European league table of migrant rights?

The UK came out fifth best for how it allows settled migrants to put down long-term roots - but then fell short on quality of life issues, such as bringing in family members.

Researchers said that migrants living in the UK could face long delays to getting a permanent right to stay. But they added that once that wait was over, migrants did not face language tests or integration courses.

The UK lost marks because of a specific law to strip nationality from immigrants - a measure used only once so far in relation to jailed radical cleric Abu Hamza.

The UK was also criticised for not consulting specialist migrant bodies, unlike some other European nations.

Let's hope we sink down the table next year!

Schadenfreude is....

Apply for your jobs, BBC stars told.
"Corrie Corfield, Charlotte Green and Brian Perkins are among more than 80 radio staff who have signed a letter to the BBC trust opposing the job losses."

Is the media bubble about to burst!?!

From The Politician's Mouth!

Are there any parts of the country where it is easy to access an NHS dentist?

"We have got 4,000 more than we had in 1997, but I entirely accept that in some parts of the country it is still really difficult." - Ben Bradshaw, health minister.

If 58% of dentists believe the quality of care has deteriorated since the introduction of the contract, why have only 15% of patients noticed and gone private!?!

Crystal balls?

"I predict that when I come back on this programme in six months or a year's time, people will be saying 'wouldn't it be great to have that Blair back because we can't stand that Gordon Brown'" - Environment minister David Miliband, 8 February 2007.

Did Miliband mean MPs or people!?!

Ministers rally round for Brown
One opinion poll has given the Tories a seven-point lead over Labour, its biggest lead for 15 years.

Still no need for electoral reform?

2005 General Election Results:
Labour had 35.3% share of the vote, winning 356 seats with a 66 seat majority.
Conservatives had a 32.3% share of the vote and won just 198 seats.

2009(?) General Election results based on Sunday Telegraph poll!
Conservatives have 43% share of the vote, winning 327* seats with low single number majority.
Labour has 36% share of the vote and win 249 (?) seats!

*324 seats needed to win.

Labour Grammar Schools?

Will Labour be promising a grammar school in every town next week!?!

Lurching to economic growth and prosperity?

Hong Kong tax cut to boost growth:
Leader Donald Tsang said taxes would be cut by 1 percentage point, to 16.5% for firms and 15% for individuals "in a move to promote further growth and lure foreign investment".

When Conservatives call for tax cuts to "promote further growth and lure foreign investment", it's condemned as lurching to the right!

How will Alistair Darling's tax increases promote growth and foreign investment!?!

Downing Street Petition for a General Election in 2007

"He [David Cameron] talks about a clamour for an election, I looked at the Downing Street website this morning. Certainly there is a petition calling for an election. It is signed by 26 people and not one of them are the Conservative front bench." - Gordon Brown, 10th October 2007.

The petition can be found here!

Virtuous house prices?

Why should a first time buyer buy a house this month when they could wait one month, pay a lower price and have an extra month's salary too!?!

Conservative bounce?

Was the Conservative bounce in the polls caused by a promise to cut inheritance tax or "substantially lower" immigration?

Has Labour copied the wrong Conservative policy!?!

Alistair Darling on Inheritance Tax

If 96% of estates pay no inheritance tax and Conservative proposals to raise the threshold to £1m were "an example of where the Tories are making promises on tax which they can't afford to pay for", how can Alistair Darling now afford to increase the limit for married couples just one week later!?!

Another Brown vision?

Why does the BBC omit reporting that Gordon Brown was the architect of the "harsh and unfair" tax credits system?

Would the Conservative abolition of tax credits and an increase in everyones personal tax allowance be electorally popular if half of claimaints were put off making future claims?

Anti-Muslim Legislation?

Will Muslims be exempt from Government plans to outlaw inciting gay hate as Islam condemns homosexuality!?!

Disposable Income

Tightest squeeze on wallets in a decade, unless you're an MP!

"The pair [Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper, the husband-and-wife team in Gordon Brown's Cabinet], who have three children, aged eight, six and three, have a joint income of nearly £240,000 a year."

Another three years to be squeezed!

"I want the chance in the next phase of my premiership to develop and show people the policies that are going to make a huge difference " - Gordon Brown, Prime Minister

Tightest squeeze on wallets in a decade

Islam is peace, not health!

Can alcoholics or those infected with STDs ask to be treated by non-muslim GPs!?!

"To learn about alcohol, to learn about sexually transmitted disease, to learn about abortion, it gives us more evidence to campaign against it. There is a difference between learning and practising. It is obligatory for Muslim doctors and students to learn about everything. The prophet said, ‘Learn about witchcraft, but don’t practise it’". - Dr Abdul Majid Katme, of the Islamic Medical Association.

Islam is Peace.

Gordon Bennett Brown!

Does Gordon really think he has a better chance of winning a General Election in two years when people have had a chance to see how successful his policies have been?

Halifax sees house prices slowing

Darling 'to lower 2008 forecasts'

PS When 62% of Labour voters believe Labour has done a bad job on immigration, why will Gordon only focus on "housing, health and education"!?!

Political Inheritances

Why do incoming Conservative governments always inherit a failing UK economy and then have to spend their first term in office fixing it!?!

Non-smoking taxes?

How will the Chancellor recoup the tax revenues lost following the introduction of the smoking ban in England?

Conservative Canutes?

How can the Conservative Party reduce immigration from within the European Union!?!

"unchecked immigration is not inevitable...not the irresistible result of globalisation. We can control it. We will control it" - David Davis, shadow home secretary.

"Canute is legendary for his apparent attempt to "hold back the tide". Canute deliberately placed his throne on the beach and used his evident inability to order the tide to roll back to display to his courtiers the limitations of a king's power to command the seas."

UK deportations

If asylum seekers face torture if deported back to Darfur or Sudan if they come to the UK, wouldn't it be safer if they fled to the neighbouring countries of the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya or Uganda instead!?!

School Fees

Should failing independent schools be supported by the state?

If parents vote with their wallets and consider the quality of education provided not sufficient to merit the school fees, wouldn't it be better to close the school or replace the existing staff rather than let the school become another failure in the state sector!?!

Number crunching

£3.5bn -The cost of Conservative proposals to reduce Inheritance tax - "an example of where the Tories are making promises on tax which they can't afford to pay for" - Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

£9.1bn - August's Public Sector Net Borrowing - An example of where Labour are making policies they can't afford to pay for!?!

Islam is Peace?

If stereotyping a racial group is a no no, are Muslims allowed to be stereotyped as being peaceful!?!

Conservative Tax Increases

Why do the Conservatives insist on paying for tax cuts by increasing taxes elsewhere rather than promising to cut welfare benefits and make work pay!?!

If promised cuts in stamp duty for first time buyers means increased taxes elsewhere, the Conservatives are promising to increase taxes for the vast majority of the electorate!

Reoffending

If 65% of offenders who left prison in 2004 reoffended within two years, why not merely increase the initial sentence by another two years!?!

How many of the remaining 35% reoffended but were not caught!?!

Will Ministers be apologising to taxpayers for wasting £2.6bn of our taxes on the National Offenders Management Service?

Expensive expenses?

How many travel expenses can be "over-claimed" before police officers are held accountable for "mistakes"!?!

Train fares fair?

Why should rail staff be expected to tell passengers the "best deals" on rail fares?

Do Tescos staff tell customers what are the best deals on baked beans each day or are customers expected to find out for themselves!?!

NHS rationing

When will rationing of NHS treatments be extended to foreign nationals treated on the NHS?

It is not right that foreign nationals should receive free treatments if they are not entitled to it.

Brown's appeal to Middle England?

Why does Gordon Brown expect 'middle England' to find him appealing when they will be the only group paying for their children to attend University when it's free in Scotland and a lot cheaper in Wales!?!

"And so for 16 year olds from low-income families, who are staying on at school, we'll make a new five year offer. We will finance you through college or university right through to the age of 21." - Gordon Brown.

Smarter about Commuting

A survey has found that 100% of people use the most appropriate form of transport to get to work based upon cost and time taken.

'We cannot ignore this and hope that everyone will take the train.' - Edmund King.

PS If "Men commute on average 20% longer than women", do men sacrifice a shorter commute for higher pay!?!

Good news for the race industry?

Britain remains a place of "inequality, exclusion and isolation".

If the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has failed to reduce inequalities in Britain, does this mean there are no solutions and the CRE's successor, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), should be disbanded or that it's funding should be increased!?!

Perhaps the level of immigration should be reduced!

Trust the Chancellor, but keep your money under the mattress?

"People can use their accounts in the usual way, they can carry on making their mortgage payments in the usual way. Northern Rock will be able to carry on its business." - Chancellor Alistair Darling

Who'd have thought that people wouldn't trust politicians as far as they can queue!?!

Green mould?

How important are 'green' issues to the UK electorate?

A report by nine leading environmental groups ["The Green Standard"] - looks at each party's commitments and actions. The Lib Dems were rated highest, getting three "green lights" indicating approval of their policies. Labour got one and the Tories none.

The Liberal Democrats trail in third place on approximately 15%. So why are the BBC still enthralled by Green issues!?!

Teaching apartheid?

How will community cohesion improve by teaching thousands of Muslim children in new state funded schools separated from the kaffir!?!

Cost in Translation (2)

Will Ruth Kelly be pleased to hear that Southall's bilingual railway station nameplate will be removed following complaints from ethnic minorities - they had wanted the sign to appear in other languages too!?!

Fat white bastard

How can Sir Trevor McDonald be cleared of making a racist remark having described Bernard Manning as a "Fat white Bastard"!?!

Brown's benefits?

If Gordon Brown wants to incentivise lone parents and the long term unemployed back into work, unemployment benefits should be reduced after six months!

Will he also reduce incapacity benefit to the level of unemployment benefit to discourage "trading up" benefits!?!

Child poverty

Would child poverty (and crime!) be reduced by discouraging feckless teenagers from becoming pregnant rather than rewarding them with more dollops of taxpayers' cash!?!

Baby cash

Is cash a "key determinant" when it comes to good health and healthy eating in expectant mothers or does it merely signify the difference between mothers who are responsible, work hard and plan for the future and those who live for today and don't care about tomorrow!?!

PS If it's such a good idea to give pregnant mums-to-be £200, why not make it £300 instead!?!

Schooling

If poor children are to succeed at good schools, do they need to study !?! Mere 'attendance' will never provide a good quality education! It should not require exhaustive research to come to this conclusion!

"Children from disadvantaged backgrounds need to do more than just attend a good school to boost their educational achievement" - Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Reporting the news?

Muslim converts target Germany - The Times, 6th September 2007.
White Muslim converts have brought the Islamic holy war into the heart of Europe with a narrowly thwarted plot to blow up hundreds of people in German airports, discotheques and restaurants.

German shock at bomb plot arrests - BBC News online, 5th September 2007.
For months, the German authorities have said that the country faces a heightened threat of terrorist attack, and now it appears those warnings were based on fact.

Hat tip: Pimpmydaughter!

When All Sedley And Done

Does Lord Justice Sedley believe 500,000 false, misspelt or incorrect names on the existing DNA database of just 4m entries should be corrected before the entire UK population are added to it!?!

"It can be said with confidence that the law recognises and will appropriately protect a right of personal privacy." - Lord Justice Sedley.

Two heads are worse than one!

What will prevent good schools from being dragged down when they merge with failing schools!?!

How many poor quality teachers were sacked across England & Wales last year!?!

Unrelated behaviour?

Grooming of white girls for sex is exposed as two Asian men jailed - The Times, August 11th 2007.
Police and groups campaigning to protect women insisted that the grooming of youngsters is not segregated along race lines, though there is concern at the attitudes of some young Asian men towards white girls.

Six years for rapist who invited friends to prey on lost 12-year-old girl - The Times, September 4th 2007.
A 12-year-old girl was raped up to 15 times by four men after she was abducted as she asked for directions to her home, a court was told. The child was lured into a car by Shakil Chowdhury, 39, who drove her to his house. There she was plied with alcohol and attacked by Chowdhury and three others.

British Executive?

When will HM Government rebrand itself HM Executive as it's powers are increasingly usurped by the European Union!?!

School economics

If schools are enjoying a "golden age" where the quality and quantity of candidates applying for vacant posts means schools can select from a talented field, do teachers need more pay rises!?!

The new golden era of teacher recruitment may be good news for schools, who can pick and choose the cream of the crop, but in some cases newly qualified teachers, especially from the north, are having to compete with more than 100 others for the same post.

Red Conservatives?

"No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." - George Orwell, Animal Farm.

Tories 'to match Labour spending'
So why vote Conservative when you can look forward to Labour levels of spending and taxes for three out of a probable four year Government following the next election!?!