Thursday, May 31, 2007

Watch Willets Wriggle

A U-turn on Grammar Schools! You had better believe it although 'two dead brains' can't accept the facts.

Channel 4 News lead story tonight may be viewed from here. Click on ' watch the report'.
Tories go deeper into the gutter

Now its the gutter press where the Conservative Party has fished for its next public relations supremo.

The former editor of the totally disreputable and unprincipled News of the World will be the party's new PR chief, even though that dreadful paper saw fit to give him the boot after the bugging of the royal family. The Times report is here. AND look before debasing the almost non-existing standards of the old 'News of the Screws' he was wait for it ..... a showbiz reporter with The Sun. One wonders why Vapid didn't go the whole hog in imitating Blair and just hire Alistair Campbell?

Even this blogger is left breathless at the extent of the Cameroon's descent to absurdity. I thought I had heard and seen it all after the fresh faced Osborne struggled to claim the Blair crown in debate on Channel 4 News last evening with the loathsome Environment Minister .....then today comes this!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Shadow Europe Minister reigns!

The bad news is that it is over the Tory Grammar School policy.

An indication of the importance placed by the Party on EU matters, with our remaining sovereignty about to be sold out in Berlin in three weeks time, is the seniority and renown of his named successor as detailed below.

Why not use the contact details below to elicit his views on the Berlin summit?


Mark Francois MP
Member of Parliament for Rayleigh
Shadow Minister for the Treasury
ABOUT MARK

Mark was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2001. Previously, he served for four years on Basildon Council in the early 1990s, and faced Ken Livingstone in Brent East during the 1997 general election.

In July 2002, Mark was appointed an Opposition Whip. Since September 2004, he has been a Shadow Minister for the Treasury.

CONTACT MARK

Email: chairman@rayleighconservatives.org.uk

Telephone: 01268 742044

Fax: 01268 741833

Website: www.rayleighconservatives.org.uk

Postal Address: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Conservatism, Class and Grammar Schools

Cameron could have been heard on Radio 4 at 0810 (Listen Again here), or his views may be read in this item from today's The Times, linked here.

There seems no doubt that the Cameroon Team advisers, described by Janet Daley in yesterday's Daily Telegraph as "juvenile idiots" linked here, have deliberately picked this as another attempt at a Clause IV moment for the Tories, but it seems to be deservedly about to seriously backfire.

Cameron's education (or lack thereof) should be the last area of their past that he and his fellow Shadow Cabinet Old Etonians and ex-Public School pupils should seek to expose to popular scrutiny.

I have ceased regular postings on this blog as the deep character flaws of the present leader of the main opposition party must by now be clear to all but the most stupid and unthinking Tory follower. Because of my own experience of both Grammar and Public Schools I have decided to record a few views on the present dispute.

At age eleven after leaving primary school where at one stage I had been in a class of 46 in an age group of two years with seating for only forty, I went to the A stream of our local Grammar School where with ten others we were fast-tracked in a range of subjects with first-rate individual teachers in subjects as diverse as Latin and Physics. We were exhorted to work as a team where failure of one would be considered as a failure by all.

After two years my family had to move from the West Country to the South East and my sister who was also at the Grammar School was forced to then attend the dreadful local Comprehensive. I was almost equally unfortunate being sent off to board at a West Country public school typical of its type. The contrast in quality of instruction was enormous. In fact it would be true to say that in almost every subject taught I had already reached the 'O' Level standard at thirteen when leaving the Grammar School which at the private expensive institution we struggled to attain at the time of the exam at age sixteen.

The main contrast was the attitude of the teaching staff. At the Grammar School the teachers were imbued with enthusiasm bringing vast and exciting knowledge to pupils they knew had the capability to absorb and subsequently utilize what they were taught. The teachers at the public school however were of far inferior abilities, appeared merely to be at the school for the higher salaries than those attainable in the state sector, and approached their pupils as the spoiled undeserving but privileged brats many of us were who would have no need or benefit of the education they were there to reluctantly receive.

Cameron with his clearly blighted character, possibly a direct result of his time at Eton, was indeed foolish to pick this topic, essentially one of unearned privilege, but still his Shadow Cabinet remains intact and none resign. That speaks volumes on the ex-Grammar School pupils that useless group reportedly contains.