Tuesday 15th December 2015

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 2:08 pm

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/201 ... tre-cities" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This fills me with dread.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 2:10 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:
yahyah wrote:Welcome back Paul x.

& RR...the thought of 'what if' Labour lose Wales next year, and us leaving Europe...arghh.
Thanks yahyah. I haven't really been away, just too busy to read and think about politics, so not in a good place to post much (though that doesn't stop people on some other sites!).

I've always thought the EU had the potential to be Dave's downfall and frankly I'm amazed he's got away with it so far. As far as I can see he's got no chance of getting his four year benefit free period (thankfully), but I worry deeply what his response to that will be.

Presumably he can use it as an excuse to say he's now supporting exit, which doesn't bear thinking about.

Or will he use it as an excuse to further "level down" benefits for Brits? Which doesn't bear thinking about.

It's going to be the latter if the stories from lobbyists are proven correct. I reckon it will be the introduction of a 'residency' criteria for claiming out of work benefits that he will pretend is a win ... this is something that the UK can do anyway - will be unpleasant for a lot of UK citizens - but he will announce with great fanfare. They reckon it will be anything from 6 months to 4 years depending how far out on a limb he wants to go ... but it isn't going to fool many people.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 2:11 pm

Combining both the EU and Wales - Carwyn Jones is apparently going to debate with Nigel Farage in the new year.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 2:19 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Combining both the EU and Wales - Carwyn Jones is apparently going to debate with Nigel Farage in the new year.

Chalk and cheese on a mega level.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 2:26 pm

yahyah wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Who is going to save Dave this time?

He simply doesn't know what to do when issues are "knife edge" because he doesn't hold a single belief. He got in this pickle in Scotland and needed Labour (in particular Brown) to save the day for him. As far as Dave is concerned, Europe is somewhere to go and posture while needing a pee, and that's about it.

Didn't one of the papers claim that he asks his aides 'what do I believe in' before he goes into an interview or conference ?

And "What would Maggie do?"

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 2:30 pm

ephemerid wrote:Tobes, you are a very norty boy.

R. Pic.2 - Is OGRPPFGTCC jealous, d'ya think?

Taking tips

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 2:47 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
AndrewSparrow ‏@AndrewSparrow 18m18 minutes ago
AndrewSparrow Retweeted Owen Jones
This is very good - Goes a long way to explaining why Corbyn coverage generating such extreme reaction

Owen JonesVerified account
‏@OwenJones84
The onslaught of our unfree media at Jeremy Corbyn makes a rational debate impossible. Me: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ia-attacks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
I'm still trying to understand what Sparrow means ....

AS probably sees it as confirmation that he's in the mainstream, I assume that's where he wants to be.

If Owen Jones wants to constructively criticise Corbyn and McDonnell, can't he do it privately?
I like this comment btl

davidabsalom

Such is the unrelenting nature of the media attack, any balanced discussion of the Corbyn leadership risks getting shut down.

And so it should be, for the next couple of years at least. Unite and turn your fire on the Tories. If a couple of years of a disciplined defence of the rights of working people doesn't work, then you can consider the future of the leadership. Until then, Corbyn's the leader and don't allow the media to goad you all into pointless infighting.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 3:09 pm

Good morfternoon.

BBC News is devoting much of its coverage to Tim Peake the astronaut (I got confused because, at first, I thought they were talking about Twin Peaks).

Anyway - the lengths some people will go to not to have to spend Christmas with their family, eh?

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 3:20 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:I went to one of the showings of that ^^^ when it first came out. One of the very few films I've been to where the audience did a round of applause when it finished.

Good article on the utterly crazy ideological thought that comes out of the DfE.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... ouse-lords

Colin Harris is known as a maverick. He is also the head of one of the few schools in the country to be judged outstanding in every category twice in succession.

Ofsted praised his “superb leadership”, his drive and enthusiasm and his vision for the pupils of Warren Park primary in one of the less advantaged parts of Havant, Hampshire.

Not surprisingly, other heads wanted to learn from him, and he was asked to help a struggling primary in neighbouring Portsmouth. But it never happened because the Department for Education (DfE) told him his school would have to become an academy before he could take an advisory role.
There you go - unless you're with an academy then you can't be of any possible use.

He'll have to watch that the DfE don't leak some bollocks to Toady Young about him being too "dogmatic" to help local schools.

Rebecca · Post by **Rebecca** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 3:26 pm

Afternoon all.
I have returned from the market with a large bunch of holly(this was very cheap),two small bunches of mistletoe (extortionate),large bones for the dogs and their best friends.
My new snow boots arrived today.
Now I'm waiting for the white stuff.Ha!
Mrs Ohso,how is Mr Ohso adjusting to the nouvelle cuisine?

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 3:28 pm

Martyn Rowson on form:

Martin Rowson ‏@MartinRowson · 20m20 minutes ago
Right. Back from Noo Yawk & I feel like I'm about a foot & a half to the right of me. Worse, if I tried to write the massively overdue...

...article I promised an editor I'd address on my return, I suspect my head would turn inside out. Worse, think I'm hallucinating. Can it...

...be true that Dan Hodged has quit Labour? I thought he resigned when Ed "Hitler in a Yasmak" Miliband refused to bomb Syria in '13, or...

...did Dan rejoin to quit again in protest at Jeremy "Hitler as an ISIS Dalek" Corbyn breathing & shit? And doesn't this seriously...

...jeopardise his only USP at the Torygraph - y'know, that he's some kind of Labour insider? Like a tapeworm? Doin' my bleedin 'ead in it is

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 4:05 pm

Rebecca wrote:Afternoon all.
I have returned from thhttp://flythenest.org/posting.php?mode=quote&f=4&p=83993#e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; market with a large bunch of holly(this was very cheap),two small bunches of mistletoe (extortionate),large bones for the dogs and their best friends.
My new snow boots arrived today.
Now I'm waiting for the white stuff.Ha!
Mrs Ohso,how is Mr Ohso adjusting to the nouvelle cuisine?

He'll eat anything that moves and a lot that doesn't in large quantities if he could. Fussy he's not!
It's me that's suffering.

Measuring, pureeing, finely chopping, blah blah, although he's had to take some medicine because the diet's awful when it comes to roughage. I'm having to keep him low sugar, low fat as well as the present low fibre, because he needs to lose at least another two stone and we've kept the dreaded type 2 at bay so far. It wouldn't help if he developed that.

I realised I had a struggle on my hands the day after he came home from hospital. I asked him what he'd like for lunch and he said ice cream.

From today, I can start to introduce more veggies and pulses back into his diet, but have to do it very gradually. He loves raw fruit and veg so getting him to eat his greens has never been a problem. It was what he ate on top that has been the snag.
Today he got one slice of beetroot and half a grated carrot extra.

Waiting to do my Christmas shop until the last moment to see how he progresses. Don't have the heart to get something that his adjusted stomach won't accept. That would be cruel. Although at times it's tempting

TR'sGhost · Post by **TR'sGhost** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 4:13 pm

ephemerid wrote: OGRPPFGTCC has gambled the future of this country because he wanted to shut up a few Eurosceptic rebels in his own party and get a few votes back from UKIP.

And all promises made at a time when both the public and private (Ashcroft) polls indicated the most likely result of the election was either Miliband scraping into No. 10 or, at best for the Tories, Cameron back in coalition with Clegg. Who would, of course, then be "blamed" for Cameron dropping the whole idea of a referendum because "Nick won't let me, so if you want a referendum vote Tory next time."

The same quite possibly applies to the Tory policies about a whole range of things, from social insecurity to the economy to bombing foreign parts.

And if the UK doesn't vote to leave the EU, or does vote to leave but isn't out by 5pm the day after the referendum is counted the kippers will probably be instantly back on full rant anyway.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 4:57 pm

TR'sGhost wrote:
ephemerid wrote: OGRPPFGTCC has gambled the future of this country because he wanted to shut up a few Eurosceptic rebels in his own party and get a few votes back from UKIP.
And all promises made at a time when both the public and private (Ashcroft) polls indicated the most likely result of the election was either Miliband scraping into No. 10 or, at best for the Tories, Cameron back in coalition with Clegg. Who would, of course, then be "blamed" for Cameron dropping the whole idea of a referendum because "Nick won't let me, so if you want a referendum vote Tory next time."

The same quite possibly applies to the Tory policies about a whole range of things, from social insecurity to the economy to bombing foreign parts.

And if the UK doesn't vote to leave the EU, or does vote to leave but isn't out by 5pm the day after the referendum is counted the kippers will probably be instantly back on full rant anyway.

Many thanks to you for your posts - I read last night's thread here earlier - your funny one about exiling the Tory MP with poor social media skills along with Danczuk made me laugh.

Good evening, everyone.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 4:59 pm

NHS Hospitals Forced To Take Out Emergency Loans To Pay Doctors And Nurses, HuffPost UK Reveals
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... 1450196823" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
...Some NHS hospitals are so cash-strapped that they are having to take out emergency loans to pay doctors, nurses and other staff salaries every month, HuffPost UK can reveal.

A string of NHS trusts are taking out multi-million pound loans – and having to pay interest on them to the Government – simply to ensure wages are met at the end of each month.

Consultants at the world-renowned Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge have been told that they would not have been paid this month but for a loan from the Department of Health, while staff at Medway NHS Trust were also dependent on a similar finance package.

And the chief executive of one NHS foundation trust in London has even resorted to emailing all staff to reassure them that they will be paid in time for Christmas...

Flippin eck. How bad does it have to get before 'unt gets embarrassed or better still called to answer for the parlous state he's allowed the NHS to reach ...?

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:11 pm

Just in case we were wondering, McTernan demands a bit of attention too.

: ScreenShot01285.jpg (37.73 KiB) Viewed 8238 times

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:12 pm

: ScreenShot01286.jpg (26.27 KiB) Viewed 8237 times

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:18 pm

Another good piece from Ray Jones.

Society GuardianVerified account
‏@SocietyGuardian
Child protection cases have rocketed - Cameron's only answer is privatisation http://gu.com/p/4f3n9/stw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; via @GdnSocialCare

... Following changes made in 2014, the government is lining up what Cameron has called market place “insurgents”, and the Department for Education calls “newcos” (new companies), to take over council services. Companies such as G4S, Serco, Mouchel and Amey are joining in the discussions with the DfE and positioning themselves to take up these new “market opportunities”. This is not just, as Cameron has suggested, about charities taking on these services. Indeed many children’s charities are wary of the government’s actions and intentions...

Terrifying.

Very good account of the cumulative rise in the number of cases and assessments that child protection services have had to cope with since 2010.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:24 pm

George Eaton ‏@georgeeaton 2h2 hours ago
New Survation EU poll (10,000 sample): Leave 51% (+3), Remain 49% (-3).

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:28 pm

Breaking news on BBC re a Russian cruise missile going astray and hitting a block of flats in north west (not sure north west of where) ....

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:37 pm

Electoral Reform Soc ‏@electoralreform 1h1 hour ago
We've got new polling on proportional representation coming out tomorrow in time for @jreynoldsMP's PR Bill. Watch this space! #FairVotesNow

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:38 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:Breaking news on BBC re a Russian cruise missile going astray and hitting a block of flats in north west (not sure north west of where) ....

Part of a Russian cruise missile hit a block of flats in the Russian Arctic, during a test that went wrong, but nobody was hurt, media report.

A fire broke out in the three-storey block in the village of Nyenoksa, but residents were evacuated in time.

The village is near a Russian naval base at Severodvinsk, in the far north-west. The missile was fired from a defence ministry test range.

Russia has fired cruise missiles at targets in Syria from the Caspian Sea. (BBC News website)

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:39 pm

House Price Index
Released: 15 December 2015

-- UK house prices increased by 7.0% in the year to October 2015, up from 6.1% in the year to September 2015.
-- House price annual inflation was 7.4% in England, 1.0% in Wales, 0.9% in Scotland and 10.3% in Northern Ireland.
-- Annual house price increases in England were driven by an annual increase in the East (10.4%) and the South East (9.5%).
-- Excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 5.6% in the 12 months to October 2015.
-- On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.8% between September and October 2015.
-- In October 2015, prices paid by first-time buyers were 5.9% higher on average than in October 2014.]
-- For owner-occupiers (existing owners), prices increased by 7.4% for the same period.[/b][/i

--Average mix-adjusted house prices in October 2015 reached
£300,000 in England...
...£174,000 in Wales...
...£196,000 in Scotland...
...£158,000 in Northern Ireland.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/hpi/house ... n-findings" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This isn't a good thing at all. People are made to shoulder debt leveraged
onto them by an economic system they've not created but have to live with
regardless.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 5:47 pm

: CWSG-KrWoAAGHr3.jpg (18.73 KiB) Viewed 8201 times

barney farmer ‏@barneyfarmer 22m22 minutes ago
Labour MP texts me. "I'm in tears in my office. Don't go Dan. Pleeease. We can change. We'll stab the fucker."

And the disbelievers don't think it's gone beyond nasty and is now into ridiculous?

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 6:15 pm

Damien Willey
‏@DamienWilley

Lucy Allan MP is now blaming Labour for her posting a death threat & smearing a constituent #SackLucyAllan

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 6:24 pm

Evening.

Just completing an Opinium poll, they are usually for the Observer.

Lots of questions about Corbyn, who would make the best PM - him, May, Osborne, Johnson etc.
Also Sturgeon included in leadership approval and other questions.

I wonder whether I got lots of Corbyn questions because I identified as a Labour voter ?
If people say they voted Tory, maybe they get more Tory based questions.
Or maybe the poll is one of those 'get Corbyn' efforts.

A question about which of the party leaders were treated fairly or unfairly by the media, or treated fairly or unfairly by their own MPs seems a new one in these sort of polls.
You can guess what my response was !

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 6:31 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Combining both the EU and Wales - Carwyn Jones is apparently going to debate with Nigel Farage in the new year.

Carwyn is a barrister, so hopefully used to thinking on his feet and sharpening his arguments.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 6:42 pm

Is the McTernan tweet about Atlee real or a fake account.

Anyway, for every Hodges we may get back some sensible peeps.
We've just had a boozy pre-Christmas afternoon with friends, and our 'I can never vote Labour again' pal is very happy with the way Corbyn's going and says she is very, very close to 'crossing the line' that she thought uncrossable back to Labour again. I'd rather have her than Hodges any day.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 6:45 pm

yahyah wrote:Is the McTernan tweet about Atlee real or a fake account.

Anyway, for every Hodges we may get back some sensible peeps.
We've just had a boozy pre-Christmas afternoon with friends, and our 'I can never vote Labour again' pal is very happy with the way Corbyn's going and says she is very, very close to 'crossing the line' that she thought uncrossable back to Labour again. I'd rather have her than Hodges any day.

I'll have a snoop around to see if it is

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 6:47 pm

I wouldn't put it past him to think that Toby !

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 6:57 pm

Looks real enough from his other tweets, and from the ppl who follow him https://twitter.com/johnmcternan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

danesclose · Post by **danesclose** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 7:03 pm

Looks like Theresa May's Snooper's Charter won't be as simple to implement as she thought.
IT complexity - who'd have thunk it

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/d ... rs-charter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 7:14 pm

Tom Pride ‏@ThomasPride 3 hrs3 hours ago
No @DPJHodges! Don't go! Stay stay, pleeeease stay. Please I beg you, don't go. Don't leave like this. Please!
Oh alright. F*ck off then.

James Doleman ‏@jamesdoleman 2 hrs2 hours ago
Panic at Tory and Lib Dem HQ's as fears grow Dan Hodges might join their party.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 7:16 pm

That time of day when you realise it's 364 more sleeps until the next Dan Hodges Leaving Labour Day. @DPJHodges

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 7:17 pm

Outsourcing is the future for children’s services
Cameron’s narrative on ‘failing’ children’s services departments has paved the way for an academy model...

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... s-services" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Patrick Butler's article in today's Guardian.

"We are failing the most vulnerable children in society, the prime minister,
David Cameron, admitted on Monday. He promised that this would change;
he would not stand by, he promised, with the casual bluster beloved of
politicians on this topic, while children are let down by “inadequate social
services”.

It begs the question as to what exactly he has been doing for vulnerable
children over the past five years. He inevitably ignored why increasing
numbers of children were in such desperate circumstances that they
were ending up in local authority care. His huge cuts to social security,
and police and council budgets strangely didn’t get a mention.

Instead this was a speech for the next five years, outlining what he billed
as “one of the big landmark reforms of this parliament”. At the heart of
this supposedly radical set of reforms is the belief that failing children’s
social services can only be rescued if they are detached from their local
authority parent and their functions put out to market."

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 7:51 pm

George Osborne announces start of London NHS devolution

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35100571

Why do I get that feeling here's another potential, chaotic reform.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 8:03 pm

Matt Black
‏@NoirMJ

Dan Hodges hates Ken Livingstone's politics. Yet he voted for him in the past. what changed? Ah, yeah, Ken sacked him from £100k a year job

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 8:11 pm

Signing off for the day - off to watch Luther later and have a little swoon over Mr.Elba......

I have been thinking about LadyC and how she would have enjoyed Tim Peake's "Grand Day Out" today. I miss her.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 8:14 pm

Hodges was interviewed briefly this afternoon about his serial quitter complex on LBC, presenter Shelagh Fogarty brought up the touchy subject of his mum but he didn't bite

http://www.lbc.co.uk/were-seeing-death- ... rty-121600" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 8:31 pm

Pete Wishart ‏@PeteWishart Dec 14
Today in you super soaraway Scottish press. 'SNP bad, bridge bad, bad bad SNP bridge bad, SLab say SNP bad, inquiry SLab say SNP bad' etc...

Good reply this chap.

Jamie Hardie ‏@JHardie7 21h21 hours ago
@kevverage @PeteWishart Makes a change from 'Westminster bad, Tories bad, Westmonster bad, red Tories bad, London bad' though, right?

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 8:34 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:Piece up at the Graun about how Scotland's debt is expected to reach 50bn by 2020. The piece does have the odd dodgy assumption, but you can imagine the response BTL. Take popcorn!!!

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... bn-by-2020" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Whaddabout England?

Well, it's not about to take on ultimate responsibility for all that debt.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 8:45 pm

Guardian Education ‏@GuardianEdu 12 mins12 minutes ago

'I find it offensive to suggest that only academy schools are qualified to help others'. Headteachers speak out

http://gu.com/p/4f2tq/stw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 8:52 pm

ephemerid wrote:Signing off for the day - off to watch Luther later and have a little swoon over Mr.Elba......

I have been thinking about LadyC and how she would have enjoyed Tim Peake's "Grand Day Out" today. I miss her.

Goodnight, Ephemerid.
I miss her too.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 10:09 pm

Wow, IPSO actually did something for a change!

And about bloody time too!

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 10:36 pm

It appears that one of the chief government lobbyists/meddlers has privileged status:

Prince Charles receives copies of confidential cabinet documents, according to government papers released after a freedom of information battle.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35108362

The parliamentary equivalent of 'insider trading'?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 10:49 pm

Political Scrapbook ‏@PSbook 12m12 minutes ago
'Fake email threat' Tory MP could face legal action http://politicalscrapbook.net/2015/12/t ... dia-rants/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

The latest Facebook rant is extraordinary. Trolley off.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 11:17 pm

Bonnie Greer ‏@Bonn1eGreer 33s33 seconds ago Hammersmith, London
Like something out of "Monty Python": Brit telling a world-class US bigot: "Don't you think it would be better.."
#AnnCoulter
#newsnight

Bonnie Greer ‏@Bonn1eGreer 4m4 minutes ago City of London, London
#AnnCoulter's pushed her book 4 times in the first minute.
@BBCNewsnight, you're being well and TRULY played.
#newsnight

Evan Davis - pathetic. What were you doing?

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 11:44 pm

Exclusive: Sir David Carter to be named as next national schools commissioner

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... al-schools

The expansion in the national commissioner role will coincide with an expansion of the RSC’s job description, which is likely to grow yet further once the Education and Adoption Bill is passed in the new year.

The RSCs were hastily conceived by the DfE in 2013 in response to concerns about a missing "middle tier" after it became clear that the growing number of academies could not be monitored from a single Whitehall department.

Eight regional commissioners were appointed in 2014 to oversee all the free schools and academies in their regions.

I'd change the headline to this:

Exclusive: Sir David Carter to be named as next national cheerleader for academies

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 11:45 pm

Goodnight, everyone
love,
cJA

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 15 Dec, 2015 11:58 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Wow, IPSO actually did something for a change!

And about bloody time too!

I've just read that the complaint was made by Jonathan Portes.

Well done to him.