Free Schools & Academies

What should the Labour party do about the strange objects littering the educational scene.  They are clearly getting out of hand and giving far too much power to the Minister, who does not seem to be answerable to Parliament for his actions. Recently a junior minister in the department changed some rules but was anyone consulted?

Local education authorities are still legally responsible for the education of the children who live in their authority. Given that the Tories are very keen on local action the answer seem to be give power back to local education authorities.

The next Labour government should promise that it would give the money to the local authorities to distribute and decision about academies and free schools would be local decisions, not ones made ny Minsters sitting in London with no apparent democratic control.

If we want to get good people involved in local government we need to give local councillors responsibilty. This would be good for both local and central government.

Adoration of the Maggie

   As I have posted before Maggie Thatcher did enormous damage to Britain, Whilst the BBC has to report her death giving her acolytes the right to make political speeches on behalf of the Tory party is a bit silly and very careless.

  One of her major errors has just been reported on but no one links her government to the financial disaster that  became HBOS. It was her right wing ideology which encouraged the short term attitude to money which allowed the old Building Societies to demutualise. So HBOS which was formed out of the Halifax, which itself had taken over the Leeds which then wanted to play with the big boys.

A similar thing befell Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. Note that Barclays swallowed the Woolwich and Lloyds Cheltenham and Gloucester.

Some financial whizz-kid should look at what has happened to those who took their pennies to give up mutual status and ask whether they would now be better off. One group who looked after themselves very nicely were the directors, of course once the companies were no longer mutual societies their pay went shooting up! Those who can pay themselves will stick their hands in the joney pot and come away looking happy.

The same thing went on at Norwich Union, which was one a mutual, are we happier now it is Aviva but I bet the bosses are. Again the privatisation of water, Mr Henderson who was the Chair when it was a publicly owned body lined his own pocket when it was privatised.