Archive for November, 2006
Stop the Games! Why Londoners Shouldn’t be Afraid of being Called Spoil-Sports
Posted by David Conway in Uncategorized on 16/11/2006
Were it not bad enough that those responsible for London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games unknowingly chose to stage them during Ramadan, when Muslim competitors would be seriously disadvantaged, today’s Times reports their estimated costs have spiralled by so much as to have caused the early resignation of the man appointed to oversee the massive construction programme of work that staging them there will make necessary. Whereas the initial bid put the estimated cost at £2.3 billion, current estimates now run at a staggering £6 billion.
Apparently at issue is how large a contingency fund needs to be built in to cover possible over-run. Ken Livingstone, among the most fervent and enthusiastic supporters of London hosting the Games, denies the need for any. The Treasury, on the other hand, he has said believes a contingency fund of 60% is needed.
Ever the astute politician, the Mayor warned Londoners that, should the Treasury’s estimate be accepted, they might have to face a further increase in Council Tax above the extra 38p per week that it has already been decided they will have to pay to help finance the Games.
Partly behind the staggering upwards revision in the estimated costs is rhe need for much tighter security in wake of the London tube bombings of July 2005.
Personally, I would not have waited a second after the appalling events of that day to announce a moratorium on all preparatory building work, pending the outcome of a special referendum of all Londoners asking whether they want the Games staged in their city. If ever an issue cried out for decision by local referendum, this is one.
While not relishing the idea of being accused of being a spoil-sport, in the event of such a referendum, I for one would be prepared to work untiringly of behalf of a no- vote. Wouldn’t you?
When Simply To Do Nothing Is Not Good Enough
Posted by David Conway in Politics on 10/11/2006
I am struck by two adjacent news-in-brief reports in today’s Times. One is entitled ‘Islamophobic bullying fears’ and reports a rise in anecdotal evidence of bullying of Muslim schoolchildren in British schools. The other which is immediately below is entitled ‘Terrorism books’. It reports that a 22-year old woman from Southall named Samina Malik has just been charged with hoarding terrorist handbooks on her computer.
However unjustified the bullying of Muslim schoolchildren undoubtedly is, its reported increase can surely not be unconnected with the reported rise in passive and active support among British Muslims for terrorism which forms the lead-story in today’s Times.
Bristol University Gives New Meaning to Having to Read for a Degree
Posted by David Conway in Education on 09/11/2006
‘I thought I was paying to be educated by leading academics, not for a library membership and a reading list’.
So complained one final-year history undergraduate at Bristol University, according to a story in today’s Times, upon learning that all he would receive by way of formal tuition this year for the £1,200 he had just been charged in tuition fees would be 2 hours a week of lectures.
When his cohort of history undergraduates first arrived at Bristol, they had reportedly been informed they would receive a minimum of six hours a week tuition in their final year.
The head of the history department invoked ‘incredible pressures on resources’ to justify that reduction.
The nineteenth century theology don the Reverend Charles Spooner used to complain of his students having hissed all his mystery lectures. Today’s undergraduates are complaining of missing all their history lectures in a quite different sense from that which dear old Spooner had had in mind.
On what are their tuition fees being spent is the question one cannot help asking on reading the story. One would like to hope on bulk purchases for the University library of
Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall’s Our Island Story . From today’s story, a read of it sounds likely to give far more instruction to Bristol’s history undergraduates than they shall be receiving from their lecturers.
EU FACTS: The importance of balanced education on the EU
Posted by James Gubb in European Union on 07/11/2006
Education, and the educational materials used to teach, should be balanced. The 1996 Education Act states this, and most people would advocate this. At present the curriculum, concerning the EU, is fairly balanced – requiring, for example, that the structure of the EU be taught in citizenship lessons. Fine. Like it or lump it, the EU is very much a part of the political landscape and probably will be for some time to come. Given this, young people should know about it.
In this regard, Geoff Hoon’s idea that ‘lessons on the EU should be part of the school curriculum’ is fine. As is the idea behind the own-initiative report by Christopher Beazley (EPP-ED), adopted as a resolution by the European Parliament on 26 September. This wants all education systems in the EU to ensure that ‘by the end of their secondary education, students are properly prepared for their role as future EU citizens’. A part of this is ensuring students are taught about ‘the EU, its institutions, methods and practices’. One might take issue with the idea of an ‘EU citizen’, but again: fine, the EU has a huge impact on politics in this country and young people should know about it. It is extraordinary that many speakers who have spoken in schools as part of the Civitas programme testify to the fact so many students do not even knowing what the EU is.
But here is the crunch. Teaching of the EU should be balanced. Whatever the achievements of the EU, the picture is certainly not all rosy – far from it. This is where initiatives such as Hoon’s and Beazley’s come a-cropper. Hoon is of the opinion that, perhaps rightly, “there is a kind of grudging acceptance that we are members [of the EU] but without anyone understanding what it does or what it means”. But this does not lead to his conclusion that “children should be required to learn about its benefits”, without a single mention of its costs or pitfalls. Hoon mentions an FCO booklet on the EU is a guide; Beazley mentions a number of EU education portals in his report. But the majority of resources readily available to students and teachers are not balanced, but pro-EU, probably from the EU Commission, European Parliament or the government. They do not mention such things as, for example, Gunter Verheugen’s recent assertion that EU regulation is costing the EU c.E600bn p.a. Students are more than capable of drawing their own conclusions, but need balanced resources from which to do it – not pro-EU or, for that matter, EU-sceptic.
This is where EU Facts comes in: compiled by Civitas researchers in conjunction with an expert panel of teachers, and refereed by those on both sides of the EU debate, EU Facts is (as much as is possible) balanced. It is also comprehensive and easy to use: a series of over seventy single-page factsheets on different EU topics, which are in turn electronically cross-linked for easy navigation. The factsheets are also regularly updated to ensure that the information is current and is accompanied by supplementary resources and statistics for reference. It is available online at http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/index.php, and on CD.
This much needed resource is up-and-running; the aim must now be to promote it the best way possible. Any thoughts you have would be gratefully received.
What Did You Believe About the War in Iraq, Daddy?
Posted by David Conway in Foreign Affairs on 03/11/2006
However well or ill things in Iraq might currently be going for the US and UK, the question remains as to whether or not Bush and Blair were justified in going to war against Saddam in 2003.
They claimed Saddam posed a threat to the west and its allies because of his WMD programmes. It had to be neutralised pre-emptively. To wait until Saddam acquired them would be a disaster because of the risks of retaliation. And to allow him to acquire them would be a disaster because of his links with organised terror groups would roisk nuclear blackmail or worse.
The rest we know as history. Troops went in, but little by way of any WMD showed up. Sceptics have since never ceased to claim the invasion to have been a disaster. All it has done is destabilise Iraq, strengthen Iran as a regional power, and radicalise Muslims at home and abroad. All in all, they claim, it was a right mess that GWB had gotten the west into.
Well, it increasingly looks like Bush and Blair were absolutely right to have gone in.
How Does It Feel To be Without a Home?… Like a Railing Steyn
Posted by David Conway in Immigration on 02/11/2006
No one today writes better than Mark Steyn about the challenge facing Europe from its declining birth-rate combind with the high fertility rates of its various Muslim minorities.
An extract from his recent book America Alone is available on-line at the web-journal Macleans. Entitled ‘The future belongs to Islam’, it well worth reading. Those of a nervous disposition are advised to pour a stiff drink and keep it ready to hand before opening the link.