Education & politics

Over the last few days the subject of debate on the television between the parties. In particular the discussion has revolved around what will happen to the Year 6 SATS. For those of you not up on the discussion the Tories are planning to abolish them and replace them with Year 7 testing. Now it is well established practice that almost all secondary schools test their new intake as they do not entirely trust the SATS results. After last year who can blame them. So there is some sense to the proposal. I will state here and now that I am not and never have been a Tory supporter.

Ed Balls, who many parents think is part of the problem with education and not part of the solution, accused the Tories of effectively attacking the parent's right to know how their school is performing and of attacking teachers. What utter patronising nonsense. League Tables are a construct which actually does not answer many fundamental questions relating to choice. They are a blunt instrument which shows which schools can teach to the test. Teachers were, in my day, trusted individuals who were able to give parents a clear picture of how their child(ren) were doing at school. What parents really want is to know that their offspring can read, write, add up and communicate effectively as a basic minimum. Having seen some of the results that turn up at universities across the country the comprehensive system and the education policy of all governments have failed utterly. The nonsensical idea that 50% of the population are actually capable of the academic rigour required to undertake a degree should be put to bed. As an ideal it is good but it has never been the case that this proportion of the populace have been academically able to take a degree. The degree has been devalued to the extent that only those with postgraduate qualifications can demonstrate that they are academically able.

Teachers should be allowed to teach. Yes there have to be tests and assessments but at primary level they must not be the pinnacle and most important thing.

The glorious leader, not Lord Mandelson of Sith but the Prime Minister, told his fellow Labour MPs that he would change and be open and transparent. Diane Abbott didn't believe him and a mere one week later she has been proved right. The Iraq Inquiry will be held behind closed doors it is unclear who can be called and what evidence can be seen. What is more important is that no blame will be apportioned. Blame is exactly what this inquiry should be apportioning. People in government either actively or recklessly misled Parliament and the country at large as to the reasons for going to war. Some of that negligence may well be of a criminal standard. People have died as a result of the lies told by the government. Members of the Cabinet may actually be liable for prosecution for war crimes. The opposition parties and any Labour MPs with a conscience should not rest until a full public inquiry is delivered. If anybody has committed a crime then they must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But that being said the prosecuting authorities seem reluctant to prosecute politicians who are in government.

But we watch with interest for developments.

Avoiding the football

Hi everybody,

If you are not one of those people who is bothered about whether England can beat Andorra this evening then I have a few film recommendations. At 9pm on E4 we have Tim Burton's Batman. This original vision of the Dark Knight story was excellent. The show was stolen by Jack Nicholson as The Joker but overall it is just great entertainment. At the same time on Film 4 there is Dodgeball. Those who know me would testify to the fact that I think Ben Stiller films are very hit and miss and in my opinion most of them are miss. Dodgeball is one of those rare films that is actually quite good. From 10pm onwards you have a choice of 3 offerings. Mad Max is a film I never really got in to. In fact I once spent a Sunday afternoon at the ABC cinema in Mansfield watching all 3 films back to back and still came out no wiser. On FiverUSA there is Terminator 3 which is possibly the weakest of the films in the Terminator series thus far. I have yet to see Terminator Salvation and will probably wait for it to come out on DVD. Lastly on BBC1 there is Insomnia. It is a good watch although it is probably not a film you will watch again. The performances from Robin Williams & Al Pacino are excellent.

Go Ireland by the way and hope that you beat India in the cricket today.

Tomorrow film wise there are two films to look out for. At 9pm on Virgin1 there is Dark Angel. Nothing to do with the Jessica Alba series but a Dolph Lundgren film in which an alien comes to Earth and wreaks havoc because he likes collecting endorphines. At 10.35 on ITV1 is Total Recall. This is one of those rare films of a Philip K Dick novel that is actually a good film. I have never been a fan of Blade Runner or Minority Report but absolutely love this film. It is rip roaring entertainment that doesn't take itself too seriously. Arnie is, well, Arnie. Ably supported by Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox. These two gentlemen are both actors who you will watch probably not knowing who they are but going "I remember him in...". They both play fabulous villains.

Enjoy

Media update

Hi everybody,

Since my last set of reviews I have had the chance to see a number of films and read a number of books and added some new music to my burgeoning collection. If you have any sense then avoid The Da Vinci Code. There are better ways to waste two hours - watching paint dry springs to mind. If you want to see a remake of Day of the Dead then just visit any supermarket on a Saturday morning and watch people move around aimlessly as if they have joined the undead.

16 Blocks was a film that I was expecting to be disappointed with largely because of the presence of Mos Def. However, it is an excellent film and well worth the watch. The plot and acting are absorbing and enthralling.

Star Trek was an odd numbered film and so hope was not high but fears were misplaced and it was an excellent film. The only drawback was that I always kept expecting Zachary Quinto who plays Spock to start trying to cut peoples heads open with his finger.

Bookswise I was pleasantly surprised by Runes of the Earth by Stephen Donaldson. I had not particularly liked the second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

On TV tomorrow you can look forward to Blues Brothers 2000 ITV4). It is not as good as the original but follows essentially the same plot and is still entertaining. On ITV 2 there are Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and The Mummy Returns.

Musically recommmendations are Queensryche American Soldier and Heaven & Hell's first studio album.

In sporting news I am now a week into my enhanced fitness regime. I am going to the gym every other day, playing badminton once a week and swimming as well. Tai chi classes are on hold for a couple of months.

Grumble of the week is the Passport Office who required me to fill out an entirely new form because in one section I had forgotten to put my title.

Politics - a very strange business

Well this week has been a tumultuous one in politics in the UK. But in all the gloom surrounding the Labour party I have managed to find a silver lining. The loss of Caroline Flint is no loss at all to the country. I am perfectly happy to let her fester on the backbenches. She is without doubt one of the most condescending and objectionable of MPs I have ever come across. She talks down to people, interrupts and sneers at people who do not agree with her. So to see her resignation in a fit of pique yesterday was a particular treat.

I suspect that after tomorrow's European election results it would take a miracle of biblical proportions to save the Labour party. Purely on figures in the local elections the Lib Dems finished second to the Tories. Consevative Central Office must be hoping, praying and keeping everything crossed that their glorious leader Dave has no skeletons in his closet or doesn't do anything stupid before the election.

One criticism of Labour is that they have lost touch with real people. From my perspective they were never in touch in the first place. On arrival after their much trumpeted no more sleaze we had Ecclestonegate, Hindujagate to name but two. Our current glorious leader raided the pension funds creating many of the black holes that now engulf them. He sold off the gold reserves. He abolished MIRAS thus attacking middle England and many hard working families. He got the NHS to increase staffing and gave them money to do so. He then increased National Insurance thus taking money back. Then there was the war in Iraq which was illegal, there was the dodgy dossier and the hole cut and paste of an unsourced American student's PhD thesis. No WMD. The way in which they managed to avoid ANY criticism following the Hutton and Butler inquiries.

The complete misjudgement on the Gurkhas.

Then we have the expenses scandal. In this our local MP insisted that she was entirely justified in taking taxpayers money to furnish her London flat. MPs should only be allowed to rent furnished properties and the sooner she is gone along with other MPs the better.

It seems that now 24 hours is a long time on politics. I urge you all to use your vote wisely but in any case at least use it. We need a change of system which allows independently minded MPs of whatever persuasion to buck the control of the whips and to actually give us a parliament of which we can be truly proud.