FlyTheNest

Morning all.

Good morefternoon all, in this first weekend of 2021.

Morning all.

Of course, we all knew that the Brexiter head bangers didn't actually know what they would do with Brexit once they achieved it but Mark Francois has just admitted it.

https://twitter.com/JenniferMerode/stat ... 6374709248

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If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

Oh look...

DfE to establish new ‘Institute of Teaching’ to train up to 1,000 teachers a year

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-to-establ ... rs-a-year/



Apparently they're right in the middle of a review of ITT and then suddenly launches this. Don't look over here, lookover there!

I guess they must have someone they want to give a cushy little number to...

Oh, and a "school-led system" anyone?

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If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

And this is hilarious.

The final tweet by him is comedy gold.

https://twitter.com/oldnorthroad/status ... 7411516418

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If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

"BAN THIS SICK FILTH" indeed

https://twitter.com/labourlewis/status/ ... 15265?s=21

Clive Lewis full support for teachers unions in not turning to school on Monday

Richard Burgon too

https://twitter.com/richardburgon/statu ... 08325?s=21

Open letter to Labour leadership on the schools issue

https://twitter.com/laurapidcock/status ... 98273?s=21

I note Lewis hasn’t signed the letter, not wanting to be a full on lefty

Government is going to have to agree to this, surely?

I would have thought so.

Maybe he’s right, but does Starmer just want to avoid taking any positions on anything?

Dear oh dear

https://twitter.com/esthermcvey1/status ... 16033?s=21

“The challenge that faces us is to decide - are we going to try to pursue the elimination of Covid-19 regardless of the costs or decide on a tolerable level of deaths (like we do with the flu) in order to return to a normal life?”

Esther McVey

How many times do these people need to be told - it's not flu!

Quite apart from anything else, people either die from flu or they swiftly get better. This is not always the case with viral infections. My daughter missed two years of school after developing CFS/ME as the result of a viral infection and so far it looks like the percentage of people going on to develop long covid is far, far higher than anything we've seen before with glandular fever etc. Fortunately my daughter is back in school and doing much better and children in general often fully recover but there is no real treatment or cure and the vast majority of adults who develop CFS/ME never get better. It's a horrible illness and if long covid is anything like it many people are going to be suffering some pretty awful repercussions from the pandemic becoming out of control in this country for a very long time to come.

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"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... rump-biden
Disinformation and democracy - UK as much as US

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LET'S FACE IT I'M JUST 'KIN' SEETHIN'

https://twitter.com/xtophercook/status/ ... 0106303498



Quite.

There's an awful lot of people talking about "teaching unions" as if they are all one but they're really not.

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If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

I did enjoy well-respected teacher Tom Sherrington's response to Iain Martin's tweet. No more than it deserved...

_________________
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

Good morning.


I don't normally watch Marr, or indeed Johnson, but thought it was my public duty in today's circumstances.
Apparently schools are safe and tighter restrictions may be needed but not now.
Also he doesn't have a clue what the score is with vaccinations.
Plus ca change.

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One world, like it or not - John Martyn

More from Johnson, on benefits of Brexit for people in Leeds.
Freeports, tampon tax, something about fishing. Does he know where Leeds is?
Marr waves 159 pages of guidance for businesses exporting to the EU and Johnson repeats the line about how great it is that the same guidance now applies to the whole world.

If someone had told you Marr's questions yesterday you could have written the answers yourself.

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One world, like it or not - John Martyn

Johnson is not a leader, but a follower. Realise that and his response to this pandemic in particular becomes totally explicable.

@gilsey

I think it was Leigh not Leeds. Your comment was still (even more?) relevant though.

Happy New year to all FTNers.

Chooses to follow the wrong people.

Also what Behr said - he prevaricates until all options but one have fallen by the wayside.

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One world, like it or not - John Martyn

Happy NY notnowsonny

'Schools in Cumbria, one of England’s most northern counties, have been told not to re-open tomorrow for the new term.

Colin Cox, the director of public health for Cumbria, said he had written to the Department for Education formally requesting that Cumbrian primary schools are added to the Contingency Framework of schools not expected to open tomorrow.'

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One world, like it or not - John Martyn

Starmer is going to "say something" about schools later today, I'm sure you will all try to contain your excitement.

Funny how you don't seem to hear much from UK-based Trump supporters these days. Wonder why?

https://twitter.com/PaulSteveSamuel/sta ... 4884192256



Ah.

Democracy eh?

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If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

The percentage of teachers asked who trust Williamson / DfE to make decisions about whether it's safe to work in school?

1

1%

https://twitter.com/JamesTheo/status/13 ... 5134399488

_________________
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

Apparently Starmer wants to close zoos

That’s not a cryptic clue btw

What's sad about that Teacher Tapp poll Roger has posted above is the 26% confidence rate in the unions.

Despite the usual anti union bollocks from the Tory party and its press there's actually a lot of frustration amongst teachers that their unions haven't gone far enough in their objections and threats of action. My brother's a member of the NASUWT and speaking to him over Christmas it was clear he was enormously frustrated by what he saw as their timidity in taking on the government when it comes to teacher safety. He's taken part in a few video conference union meetings and told me he's never seen members so angry.

Although it does seem the unions are beginning belatedly to get their arse into gear.

Incredible

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/po ... video.html

So could it ultimately be tapes that bring down Trump, just as with Nixon?

Interesting comparison AK

Sigh.

Zoos are fine as long as people don't eat the animals.

Joking aside only 5 zoos in the UK have so far been able to access the Covid fund the government set up because the stipulations are so ridiculous, they have to be down to their last 12 weeks of cash reserves to qualify and any self respecting zoo would already be looking to move its animals elsewhere if it found itself in such a parlous state. Denying them a trickle of visitors that help keep them ticking over would be disastrous. Especially given there's no evidence whatsoever that zoos are a vector of this virus.

Schools however...

It's a bit late to impeach him again but surely once he's out of office this is incontrovertible proof that he violated electoral law. I'm not familiar enough with the U.S legal system to know if that's a federal crime or if it would be up to the state prosecutor of Georgia to file charges. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

There's going to be fun and games in a couple of weeks.

Decent, competent, cautious, but Starmer still has to prove he can inspire victory.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/03/decent-competent-cautious-but-starmer-still-has-to-prove-he-can-inspire-victory



I don't know about you but I've never watched an eagle soaring over a mountainside and thought 'look how remote and calculating that eagle is, the bastard'. Also eagles can't hover.

If I were to compare Starmer to an animal it would have to be a moderately successful ambush predator, something that misses really easy prey about half the time. Perhaps some kind of frog.

Seeing that poll showing the Tories losing 80 seats and Johnson being out on his arse was obviously heartening but let's not get carried away, Labour are running neck and neck with a farce of a government who've egregiously mishandled the worst public health crisis in living memory. Let's not beat about the bush here, Starmer should be doing better but for a former prosecutor he seems peculiarly reticent in going for the jugular. It's pretty clear what their strategy is, appear calm, reasonable, the grown up in the room in contrast to Johnson's flailing buffoonery, but the problem is for better or for worse a lot of people like a bit of theatre in their politics, and Starmer is singularly incapable of delivering it.

And it wouldn't take much to tip the balance in his favour, a few jokes during PMQ's, Johnson really hates being laughed at, but I fear his delivery would be akin to the speaking clock reading the script to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Maybe spiking his herbal tea with vodka might help.

I'll provide my own Portishead. Last night's offering was snatched away from me.

Night night.