Throughout the ages, there has been a long history of segregation of the people we share a planet with. In most instances there is an accompanying ”plausible” explanation, where we are told that certain people, of differing cultures, sex, ethnicity, race or religion need to be kept apart. We are all aware of the effects...
As is traditional at this time of year, many commentators are decrying the improved exam results achieved by our nation’s children, and accusing the exam bodies of “dumbing down”. Can this really be true? Are they coddling teenagers ever more each year, so that the poor dears don’t feel bad about themselves? Maybe they are...
I’m a little torn this week by evolutionary changes to an institution that has been a cornerstone/foundation of my adult life. The Scout movement has now seen six continuous years of growth in membership to 507,867 members in the UK alone. Worldwide membership exceeds 28 million young people in 216 countries. I say people because,...
I’ve brought my three sons up to be grasses; tell-tales, clipes, snitches, there are many names for it, and I’m happy with them all. Needless to say, this is not a popular or common view. Society has contrived to agree with those that demand silence; that you should never tell on someone else. Excepting of...
I read a blog post tonight, entitled “ConDemd” which detailed the real life experience of a university graduate, and the ongoing effects of student loans. Despite that blog title, the fee regime Betty, and most further education students since 2002 have experienced was introduced by the Labour Government of Tony Blair, supported mostly by the...
So Nick Clegg, the Lib-Dem leader, and Deputy Prime Minister, is being given a hard time by the red-top press for his apparent hypocrisy in considering sending his Catholic kids to a Catholic school. “Where’s the hypocrisy in that?” I hear you ask. Well, Nick himself is an atheist. He doesn’t believe in any god,...
This week there has been the re-awakening of the old class-war arguments, that have raged for over a century, and have often come to define the struggle of the Labour party. The catalyst for this has been the educational backgrounds of Messrs Cameron, Osborne, Boris Johnston, and many more senior Conservatives. The arguments against private...
