Archive for November, 2004
Should David Blunkett be Given an ASBO?
Posted by David Green in Crime on 30/11/2004
It looks as if David Blunkett has used the trappings of power to impress a female he was attracted to. He admits giving her two first class rail tickets at the taxpayer’s expense and there is little doubt that his official chauffeur-driven car (along with official papers) has been used to give Mrs Quinn lifts to Derbyshire.
Is all the publicity just prurience? Would it be better to treat the scandal as a personal matter best kept private? Or is there a legitimate public interest at stake? It is revealing that Mr Blunkett’s press office has tried to put a spin on the breaches of the ministerial code of conduct by claiming that the couple were in ‘a deep and close relationship’. Was this a unique intervention by the press office, or is it revealing of it’s general mentality?
Unfortunately the Home Office has a habit of putting a one-sided spin on events. Here are some examples of the misleading way it reports on progress towards its own policy targets. The initial report on its flagship alternative to prison for serious young offenders, the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme, was also presented as if a failure had been a success.
Under Mr Blunkett, the provision of public information by the Home Office has been politicised more than ever before and deception has become a habit of mind to such a degree they don’t know when they’re doing it.
Patriotism and History
Posted by David Green in Civil Liberty on 29/11/2004
It’s well worth reading a piece by Amanda Craig in the Sunday Times in which she criticises the disjointed teaching of history that is now typical of our schools, public and private. Children are taught a bit about the life of the medieval peasant, before skipping to a module on Hitler’s Germany or life in the trenches in World War One, but not presented with the continuous story of the emergence of their country from the earliest times.
History should be taught as an effort to encourage patriotism – not turning a blind eye to our faults as a people or past events that were seen as mistakes at the time or look like mistakes now – but offering a complete narrative of how the struggle for liberty took place in this land. It is an inspiring tale that will encourage love of country and a greater willingness to serve the common good and provide mutual support for one another when it is needed.
Onward Christian Soldiers…
Posted by David Conway in European Union on 26/11/2004
Many among Europe’s intellectual and political elite are atheists and would welcome Europe becoming entirely secular.
Their attitude towards religion was recently well illustrated by the recent decision of the European Parliament to reject the entire team of Commissioners proposed by the incumbent President of the Commission than accept as one someone who had had the temerity publicly to espouse a religious doctrine he must share with literally millions of fellow-Europeans, be they Roman Catholic like him, or non-Catholic.
Another illustration of the same mind-set was the recent decision of Islington Education Authority to remove the word ‘Saint’ from the title of one of its previously Anglican schools, ostensibly to avoid offending adherents of any other faiths whose children might attend it, and despite opposition to its removal from local Jews and Muslims who would prefer the English to affirm their traditional faith, even if different from theirs, than lapse into unbelief.
A third illustration of this same mind-set was the decision by those responsible for drafting the new European Constitution to remove from it all reference to God or to Europe’s Christian heritage.
Lammy’s Lament — a Case of Misplaced Dissatisfaction
Posted by David Conway in Race and Equality on 25/11/2004
According to reports in yesterday’s newspapers, David Lammy is not a happy bunny. In that respect, he is probably no different from the vast majority of his compatriots who daily make their way wearily to and from work, doubtless concerned about where to find the readies this year to cover the costs of celebrating Christmas.
Why should Mr Lammy’s unhappiness be deemed more worthy an item of news than theirs?
Religious Discrimination
Posted by David Green in Race and Equality on 23/11/2004
There has been recent press speculation that the Government intends to introduce a law against religious hatred, possibly under the guise of setting up a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights. If it does, it will encourage religious extremism by shielding religious leaders from legitimate criticism. It will reverse the triumph of liberalism and free enquiry over entrenched authority and permit religious dogma to go unchallenged. And it will encourage religious fanatics to ‘play the religion card’.
Trevor Philips, the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, recently found himself under attack for Islamophobia because he had the temerity to appeal to Muslim leaders to reiterate their opposition to terrorism. And for her audacity in criticising the inferior status of women under Islam, Guardian columnist, Polly Toynbee, has been declared the ‘Most Islamophobic media personality’ by the Islamic Human Rights Commission. It led, she says, to a bombardment of emails ‘each one more luridly threatening than the last’. Read on.
Know Your Place
Posted by David Green in Education on 22/11/2004
Prince Charles stands accused of wanting people to ‘know their place’. According to the current Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, the Prince is hostile to the ambitions of ordinary folk, whose interests are championed by the present Government. Does this accusation fit the facts?
If Mr Clark were really in favour of allowing everyone the chance to make the most of their talents he would, at the very least, expect schools to aim for the highest possible standard of attainment. But, in truth, the present government has done quite the opposite. At every level where measures are available, there is evidence, not only of falling standards, but also of the decline being deliberately concealed by moving the benchmarks. The Government is more interested in social engineering than in real achievement.
Here is some of the evidence. First, employers and universities, have been pointing out the consequences of school failure for some years now. In August 2004, a CBI survey of over 500 firms found that 37% were not satisfied with the basic literacy and numeracy of school leavers, up from 34% in the 2003 survey. During the previous 12 months, 33% of firms had to give school leavers basic training in literacy and numeracy.
The latest issue of the Times Higher Education Supplement reports a survey of about 400 university academics. It found that 71% agreed that their ‘institution had admitted students who are not capable of benefiting from higher level study’. And 48% said they had ‘felt obliged to pass a student whose performance did not really merit a pass’. Nearly 20% admitted turning ‘a blind eye’ to student plagiarism.