Archive for May, 2008
IPPR’s school prescription: more management
Posted by Nick Cowen in Education on 07/05/2008
IPPR’s latest report, ‘Those Who Can’, accurately highlights many of the new pressures that are now impacting on teachers, including a greater demand for skilled school leavers in the economy, changes in family structure and even artificial pressures generated by political agendas. The funny thing is their solution for dealing with these pressures is not the common sense approach: to set teachers free from these bureaucratic and political demands so that they can deal with the genuine needs of children. Quite the opposite!
“It wasn’t me sir… It was him!”
Posted by Pete Quentin in European Union on 06/05/2008
Launching the buck on biofuel targets across the Atlantic, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s article in the Guardian last week stated “European biofuel production is having only a minimal effect on global prices”. (Roughly translated as: “It wasn’t me sir!”) But he warned “large-scale biofuel production, especially in the US, may be one of the factors pushing up global food prices as it diverts resources from food production.” (Roughly translated as: “It was him!”)
Another Season, Another Reason For Making Whoopie … Or Is It Quite Yet?
Posted by David Conway in Social Cohesion on 06/05/2008
Another May, another Mayor mercifully less prone than some to praising preachers of hate, and now, to add further icing to the cake of all who long for this country to return to the days when it was a tolerant, peaceful and civilised place in which to live, another moderate Muslim organisation to join the recently launched Quilliam Foundation in tackling the pockets of extremism and intolerance that remain among Britain’s Muslim community.
continued on the Centre for Social Cohesion blog.
All’s fair in love and war… and Italian politics
Posted by Pete Quentin in European Union on 01/05/2008
As Silvio Berlusconi prepares for strike three as Italy’s Prime Minister, the country’s recently defeated centre-left government has published details of all Italians’ taxable income on the internet, writes Claire Daley. People visiting the Italian tax authority website could snoop through their neighbours’ financial affairs for up-to 24-hours until a formal complaint was lodged.