Friday, 13th February 2015

[AngryAsWell]

Anyone following #NickRobinsonFacts page?
https://twitter.com/hashtag/nickrobinso ... e&src=hash" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HindleA]

I am now,thanks.

[Tubby Isaacs]

That ole Gove magic.

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/cuckoo-hall-ac ... stigation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cuckoo Hall Academy Trust- shambles.

[rebeccariots2]

Mira Bar-Hillel @mirabarhillel · 6h 6 hours ago
.@pollytoynbee @AndyCavster Nick Robinson owes us all a huge apology. He should do what @cathynewman did over a much lesser offence.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 3 hrs3 hours ago
Comres/ITV - 40th most marginal seats (31st Jan - 10th Feb):
CON - 31% (-)
LAB - 40% (+1)
UKIP - 15% (-3)
LDEM - 8% (+1)
GRN - 5% (+1)

And mostly before the tax controversies...

[rebeccariots2]

Progressive politics, SNP style, there must be a reason why Labour declined to vote though, but I am too knackered to see it.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/ ... e-1.838278" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Labour don't come out of that well. Can't see any explanation given for their abstention.

[HindleA]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-he ... r-31463879" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alexandra Hospital in Redditch sees all A&E consultants quit

[citizenJA]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-he ... r-31463879

Alexandra Hospital in Redditch sees all A&E consultants quit

Is that precedented?

[Tubby Isaacs]

From Cuckoo Hall-

25 teachers started before they got their safeguarding clearing.

Nepotism and conflicts of interest. With this fabulous excuse:

the context of significant pressure to fill leadership posts particularly with the Trust taking over Enfield Heights – which opened in September 2012.

So took over another school and not being able to get senior staff. Pathetic.

Anyone but the LA.

[RogerOThornhill]

From Cuckoo Hall-

25 teachers started before they got their safeguarding clearing.

Nepotism and conflicts of interest. With this fabulous excuse:

the context of significant pressure to fill leadership posts particularly with the Trust taking over Enfield Heights – which opened in September 2012.

So took over another school and not being able to get senior staff. Pathetic.

Anyone but the LA.

Take a look at this twitter account timeline...

https://twitter.com/miconm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not impressed. Falsifying records? Sackable offence surely?

[RogerOThornhill]

And another one...

'You have failed Braintree': Parents' fury as Lilac Sky decides to pull out of running Tabor Academy

http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.u ... r_Academy/

Parents are pulling their children out of a Braintree school after an academy trust withdrew from running it a fortnight after it was placed in special measures.

Lilac Sky Schools has announced it would stop running Tabor Academy from Easter, just two years after taking over the secondary school with a pledge to make it “outstanding”.

Headteacher Matthew Slater, who was only appointed last September, has left with immediate effect. Vice-principal Mark Bowman is now acting headteacher.

The announcement was made in a letter to staff and parents last Wednesday, which pledged a new academies trust would take over soon.

Hunt's got his work cut out getting this lot sorted.

[adam]

Here's Anatoly's round up:

Shropshire - Tory hold of a ward which split 1Tory/1Independent in 2013 (the latter coming out on top) with Labour narrowly missing out; they held it easily this time with a double figure swing. This is partly explainable by their being no Indy candidate this time and the sitting member throwing their weight behind the Tory, but also due to the fact both the Greens and - rather unusually - the LibDems stood on this occasion having not bothered to do so in either last time or in 2009 (when the Tories took both seats here) Not just that but they took over a third of the poll between them, the Green candidate narrowly coming out on top (and, indeed, not finishing far behind Labour) One of the more quixotic results that we have seen recently, all told.

Just one (Welsh) contest next week.

The tory candidate in Oswestry also was, and made a big point of the fact that he was, the local bus driver - I think he campaigned as 'John The Bus'. He was a perfect local candidate who knew the area inside out and backwards and knew everyone, and everyone knew him. This might also help explain the swing to the tories.

[Tubby Isaacs]

And another one...

'You have failed Braintree': Parents' fury as Lilac Sky decides to pull out of running Tabor Academy

http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.u ... r_Academy/

Parents are pulling their children out of a Braintree school after an academy trust withdrew from running it a fortnight after it was placed in special measures.

Lilac Sky Schools has announced it would stop running Tabor Academy from Easter, just two years after taking over the secondary school with a pledge to make it “outstanding”.

Headteacher Matthew Slater, who was only appointed last September, has left with immediate effect. Vice-principal Mark Bowman is now acting headteacher.

The announcement was made in a letter to staff and parents last Wednesday, which pledged a new academies trust would take over soon.

Hunt's got his work cut out getting this lot sorted.

I was thinking Braintree had had a free school controversy too, but I can't find it anywhere. Work cut out indeed.

Marklu and I have been having some fun with Tom Burkard on the DT- not that he replies. He's proudly telling everyone how Gove "acted on most of his ideas". As Marklu said, given the number of mistakes, that's quite an admission.

[RogerOThornhill]

Oh wow!

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... are_btn_tw

Labour says it can boost spending on schools by £230m per year, through a clampdown on the nearly £2.5bn of surpluses held by academies, and by recycling cash saved from cuts in the Conservative’s free school and academy conversion programmes.

The cuts would include ending payments to “academy brokers” who find sponsors for local authority-maintained schools targeted for conversion to academy status, and by ending funding for the New Schools Network, a Department for Education-funded charity that helps groups bidding to open new free schools.

Yes!

[Tubby Isaacs]

Wahey!!!!

Now for the academy chancers on the DfE Board.

[RogerOThornhill]

Wahey!!!!

Now for the academy chancers on the DfE Board.

I'd reckon all of the non-execs would disappear straight away upon a change of government.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Did you see Gove lying last week?

http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.u ... e_credit_/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The idea of guaranteeing universal free school meals for primary children came out of the Conservative-commissioned school food plan and was first suggested to Liberal Democrat ministers by Conservatives," he said.

There aren't universal free school meals for primary school children anyhow. And not a single year were getting it till they had to provide it for Clegg to balance Cameron's marriage tax break.

He highlighted Lib Dem opposition to Tory proposals for private schools to do more to help poorer students, ensuring the poorest received the most in school funding, and prioritising money for participation in sport and music.

School sports partnerships?

And the poorest got more money before the coalition.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I think lots of non-academies have big cash reserves too, don't they?

[RogerOThornhill]

I think lots of non-academies have big cash reserves too, don't they?

They're not allowed to carry more than 8% of income forward - and every penny has to be justified on an end of year form which I have to sign off. The only exception is if you've been allocated some money for capital works.

[pk1]

Anybody see that Tory MP Richard Bacon on NewsNight claim that anybody with a private pension is a tax avoider ?

What a fucking idiot !

[TechnicalEphemera]

You have to hand it to Miliband, when he goes for it he really goes for it.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... -avoidance

(Note to OGRFPG - Check out the picture fat boy)

The thing is, if you have any Labour MP with creative tax accounting their front bench career is over. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is going to bite. Suddenly some of those Blairites look a little dubious, and nationally the rich are going to absolutely scream.

The Tory party are going to be the richest party in history to lose an election.

Has Cameron got anywhere to go - don't think so. The BBC is a bit stuffed as well, any Labour candidate being given a hard time will throw the BBC trust thing in their face. Are those presenters clean with their large salaries and crucially appearance money (which isn't PAYE)?

But this needs to be done, for too long the rich have avoided tax. An immediate first step will be to change the law to give tax evasion powers real teeth and to mandate they are pursued over international boundaries.

[pk1]

You have to hand it to Miliband, when he goes for it he really goes for it.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... -avoidance

(Note to OGRFPG - Check out the picture fat boy)

The thing is, if you have any Labour MP with creative tax accounting their front bench career is over. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is going to bite. Suddenly some of those Blairites look a little dubious, and nationally the rich are going to absolutely scream.

The Tory party are going to be the richest party in history to lose an election.

Has Cameron got anywhere to go - don't think so. The BBC is a bit stuffed as well, any Labour candidate being given a hard time will throw the BBC trust thing in their face. Are those presenters clean with their large salaries and crucially appearance money (which isn't PAYE)?

But this needs to be done, for too long the rich have avoided tax. An immediate first step will be to change the law to give tax evasion powers real teeth and to mandate they are pursued over international boundaries.

I like this comment by somebody calling themselves You Kip:

Anyone who thinks the Labour party under Miliband are the same as the gang of shallow spineless Etonian pissweasels in Downing street are just plain nuts!

I agree with You Kip - it is very unlikely those words will ever pass my lips again !

[TechnicalEphemera]

You have to hand it to Miliband, when he goes for it he really goes for it.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... -avoidance

(Note to OGRFPG - Check out the picture fat boy)

The thing is, if you have any Labour MP with creative tax accounting their front bench career is over. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is going to bite. Suddenly some of those Blairites look a little dubious, and nationally the rich are going to absolutely scream.

The Tory party are going to be the richest party in history to lose an election.

Has Cameron got anywhere to go - don't think so. The BBC is a bit stuffed as well, any Labour candidate being given a hard time will throw the BBC trust thing in their face. Are those presenters clean with their large salaries and crucially appearance money (which isn't PAYE)?

But this needs to be done, for too long the rich have avoided tax. An immediate first step will be to change the law to give tax evasion powers real teeth and to mandate they are pursued over international boundaries.

I like this comment by somebody calling themselves You Kip:

Anyone who thinks the Labour party under Miliband are the same as the gang of shallow spineless Etonian pissweasels in Downing street are just plain nuts!

I agree with You Kip - it is very unlikely those words will ever pass my lips again !

You Kip if you want to - I have beer to drink.

[HindleA]

Found Dave.

What a guy.Threating the sick/disabled deemed not trying hard enough.Breaks the law and all ethics,but hey ho

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... g-benefits" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[thatchersorphan]

http://labourlist.org/2015/02/why-we-ne ... imum-wage/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Iain McKenzie calls for a maximum wage