Tuesday 25th April 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[frog222]

Morning refit

EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
‘We’ve got no plan ... Holy crap’: What Boris said after Brexit vote
Westminster insiders reveal what really happened after Vote Leave claimed victory in the referendum

https://archive.ph/7dduZ#selection-757.0-767.99

A taste --

" Just after 8am that Friday, Cameron with his gin-reinforced wife Samantha by his side announced on the steps of Downing Street: “I do not think it would be right for me to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination,” finishing, “I love this country.”

Johnson was finding it hard to think straight. He had been up all night watching the television at his Islington home. Only towards dawn did he realise that Vote Leave would actually win. He disappeared to bed for 20 minutes but came back and paced around in a Brazilian football shirt and misfitting shorts looking ashen-faced and distraught. “What the hell is happening?” he kept saying. Then a pang of guilt struck him when he saw pictures of Samantha on the television looking utterly distraught. “Oh my God. Look at Sam. God. Poor Sam.” Soon after, stopping in his tracks, a new thought struck him: “Oh shit, we’ve got no plan. We haven’t thought about it. I didn’t think it would happen. Holy crap, what will we do?” Still muttering, he went off to write the speech he knew he would in no time have to deliver.

Those who knew Johnson intimately say they had never seen him more frightened and dismayed than at this moment of triumph. Crowds were shouting angrily outside his house: “People who had patted him on the back when he had been mayor were now screaming at him.” He made it out to the car and his driver shot off down the road but had to stop at a red traffic light at the end. Aides by his side screamed for the driver to shoot straight through the lights, but he refused. “The crowds began banging angrily on the windows and roof. Boris looked terrified. He stared dead ahead, sensing that from this moment on, everything had changed.”

It was to change still more. Within just hours of the result being declared, cracks began to appear between the two frontrunners to succeed Cameron, Johnson and Gove."

[frog222]

oldbutfit 2 hours ago
I was a VP at a large sixth form college. Went for Ofsted training. Left after a day as some of the trainees were so poor.

ESKing01 2 hours ago
I am a teacher. The numbers of times that I have been told "OFSTED want to see this in a lesson" with no actual evidence that it would work is riduculous. The teaching profession dances to the OFSTED tune otherwise it fails.

The Guardian view on Ofsted inspections: not fulfilling their purpose
Editorial
There is little evidence that the current regime helps schools to improve – and plenty of evidence that a better system is needed

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ir-purpose

Excellent editorial and comments from victim teachers .... A completely dysfunctional institution which would not be missed if it was put down today !

[frog222]

[gilsey]

Morning refit

EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
‘We’ve got no plan ... Holy crap’: What Boris said after Brexit vote
Westminster insiders reveal what really happened after Vote Leave claimed victory in the referendum

https://archive.ph/7dduZ#selection-757.0-767.99

Not sure about this book.

Many who knew Johnson best believe he would have been a much better prime minister three years earlier. Gove’s decision to take him out is thus one of the most momentous in the political history of the century so far.

Then goes on to explain why it wouldn't have been different at all.

Most likely, however, Johnson would have been even more exposed than he was in 2019. His tendencies towards chaos, grandstanding and inability to govern consistently day-to-day may have been containable when mayor of London — not so when prime minister. His difficulty in either grasping the levers of government or entrusting power to those who could would have been no less evident. Factionalisation within No 10 would have erupted still, Cummings’s coarseness and centralisation of power making infighting an inevitability. There is little to suggest Johnson’s fatal flaws could have been mitigated if only the timing were different.

[AnatolyKasparov]

None of the above will be surprising to those who actually saw what Johnson (and Gove) looked like the morning after the referendum.

[gilsey]

"You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" ...

[frog222]

@ gilsey -- that's a horrible sight !

[tinyclanger2]

At first glance I thought Italy's Due Vite was going to bring us a 21st century rerun of this little gem


But sadly it was not to be.

Marco Mengoni may be dressed like a modern day Ryan Paris, but his attire turns out to be a complete red herring. This is much more ballad than side stepping on the Champ de Mars - although it doesn't quite qualify as ducks flying off to Russia. It's somehow got more of a ducks-sitting-in-the-twee-zwaantjes-in-Amsterdam-swaying-to-the-strains-of-Johnny-Jordaan sort of vibe.

Was it fun: If it were the 1970s there'd be people throwing their pants at Marco, whose eyes could, quite frankly, give Bambi a run for his money. But it's not the 1970s and people no doubt frown at pants-throwing these days. (Brief nostalgic pause).
Was it dancey: see above qua swaying
What would Terry have said about it: Tezza would definitely have been coveting Marco's outfit.

[gilsey]

Indeed.

Responding to frog.


@tc dull music but he is quite goodlooking

[tinyclanger2]

Project Prosperity!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

etc

[gilsey]

Huw Pill, the Bank of England’s chief economist, has declared that citizens and businesses “need to accept” they are poorer, and stop pushing prices higher and seeking pay increases.

Tell you what, you stop businesses pushing prices higher and you might get a hearing.

So far, citizens just get told what they have to accept, and t***s like you moan about them striking.

[frog222]

SNAFU

Yesterdays Times Leader

" Why couldn’t Britain evacuate at least some civilians with its diplomats? Why didn’t troops remain to protect the stay-behinds, organise safe assembly areas? Why is there no up-to-date list of British expatriates? Only now are British citizens being told to ring Whitehall to register — tricky with lines down. Why did the ambassador not leave his deputy in situ? Why was the defence attaché not replaced after his tour, opening a knowledge gap about plans by the Rapid Support Forces?

Cuts and underinvestment could be responsible. That certainly seems to be hampering Britain’s airlift capability: in a matter of weeks the air force is set to retire the last of its C-130J Hercules and will disband the special force squadron that flies out of RAF Brize Norton. About a quarter of the evacuation flights out of Kabul were on the Hercules and there is no replacement in sight.

Foreign Office mandarins argue that they have a duty of care towards Britain’s diplomats, an obligation to get them out of harm’s way. But there is a broader responsibility to Britain’s citizens abroad and it is clearly being neglected."

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the- ... -nqt5c2kwz

Today's Guardian, SNAFU , total chaos from the FCO, by someone who escaped without govt help --
" In reality we knew nothing, and were getting automated text messages asking us to fill out the same form that we’d already filled out. "

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... evacuation

Strange business at the German-controlled airport, but the Brits are setting up a 'processing centre' because unlike the French Germans Spanish et al they don't want to evacuate any forrins !

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... from-sudan

[frog222]

Meanwhile it's business as usual at OFSTED --

The National Education Union, school leaders' union NAHT and the Association of School and College Leaders called for inspections to be halted, and a petition calling for an enquiry into the inspection received more than 230,000 signatures.[53] HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills (the head of Ofsted), Amanda Spielman, rejected the calls to halt Ofsted inspections.[54] As a reaction to the news of Ruth Perry's death, school heads have worn black armbands during inspections at some schools or removed references to Ofsted from their websites. [54]

On 25 March 2023, research carried out by the Hazards Campaign and the University of Leeds as reported in The Observer, stated that "Stress caused by Ofsted inspections was cited in coroners' reports on the deaths of 10 teachers over the past 25 years".[55] In 2015, award-winning headteacher, Carol Woodward took her own life following an Ofsed Inspection that downgraded her school to inadequate.[56] In 2013, headteacher Helen Mann was found hanged when Ofsted advised that her plans to transform the curriculum were not happening quickly enough and would lose its top level rating.[57]

[AnatolyKasparov]

I said it yesterday, nothing about our approach to Sudan should surprise given what happened in Afghanistan the summer before last.

[frog222]