Archive for category British History
His island story
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in British History, Education, Politics on 07/10/2010
What makes history? Is it war, necessity of change or great individuals? According to the Conservatives, it is the latter and one particular individual will ‘make’ history for the nation’s schoolchildren: Simon Schama. The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has announced that he wants Schama to rewrite the history syllabus to teach more British history. Gove’s aim may be laudable, but choosing just one man to steer this overhaul of the curriculum is a concession to celebrity culture too far. Read the rest of this entry »
The sky’s the limit
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in British History, Economics, Education on 03/09/2010
The Avro Vulcan, an iconic plane, is a masterpiece of British engineering and a symbol of the manufacturing proficiency we once had. While the industry that produced it is no more, the last Vulcan can inspire a new generation to continue where we left off.
1066 and All That
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in British History, Education, Multiculturalism on 19/08/2010
The BBC series The Normans, presented by Professor Robert Bartlett, concluded last night and has shown the licence payer just how well History programmes can be made. Not only was it well-rounded on facts, interesting asides and minimal judgements; it also displayed great insight into themes such as multiculturalism and colonialism, both still hot topics to this day and fascinating to explore as a result. Read the rest of this entry »
Quality: questionable guides
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in British History, Education on 13/11/2009
The issue of quality assessment in relation to education has come up twice this week in two quite different arenas. Firstly, Ofsted, the schools’ inspectorate, has been accused (again) of over-reliance on exam and test results in its judgements. Secondly, the teaching union NUT has orchestrated a revolt against the introduction of Ed Balls’ ‘licences to teach.’
Red Tories
Posted by David Green in British History, Politics on 23/02/2009
In the latest issue of Prospect Phillip Blond makes a case for localism, but he seems to think his proposals require a rejection of liberalism, whereas in fact they are simply the natural outgrowth of liberal ideas. In particular he is grossly mistaken about some of the characteristics he attributes to liberalism. His article has provoked considerable criticism, including my defence of liberalism.
National Trust goes green
Posted by Nick Cowen in British History on 25/07/2007
The National Trust is to celebrate reaching a 3.5 million-membership landmark by changing its focus. No longer will it just look after the buildings and artefacts that constitute our national heritage. Now it will “advise people how to adapt their lifestyles to climate change and challenge government to be more ecologically aware.” How is it beginning? By throwing its weight behind opposition against the expansion of Stansted airport.
As it so happens, there are a number of simple things that the National Trust could initiate in order to reduce its own ‘carbon footprint’, if indeed that is to be considered a genuine priority. The most obvious would be to eliminate the farming of animals on all its land. Since, according to the currently popular theory of anthropogenic climate change, world meat consumption is a large contributor to global warming, this would mean the National Trust would reduce its own contribution to climate change and be taking a principled stand for other landowners to follow. Indeed, they could set aside their land not for carbon inefficient British agriculture but to grow more forests to act as carbon sinks. Whether the National Trust will commit do doing this remains to be seen.