We need to redefine the metrics for successful online communications from Government. Politicians and parties need to have complete creative license to try and win votes online, and take the risks. The institution of Government cannot afford to, so it shouldn’t.
Rachel Reeves’ effect has engulfed the DfE, and this isn’t something that can be kicked to the next spending review. The impact hits in 2028–29. A £6 billion black hole cannot be wished away. Pretending otherwise insults the intelligence of parents and teachers.
A record tenure as schools minister transformed outcomes for English children, yet never resulted in promotion to the top table. Why?
Parents of children taking unauthorised absences should be required to attend and learn first-hand about the profoundly harmful impact of missed school on their child’s life chances. Those who refuse would face increased fines of up to £200.
The grad visa should also not be seen as a backdoor to transition into low salary work. 20 per cent of grad visa holders switched to care work visas between 2021-23, from which they can gain permanent residency after 5 years. That switch should be banned.
All are simply symptoms of the same problem: determination to prop up a hugely expanded university sector with no idea how to make it financially sustainable.
The cultural sector should reflect our culture, embellish it, conserve it, and teach it to the next generation. The sector’s job is not to ‘challenge norms’ or ‘break taboos’. Neither is it to promote other cultures and vilify and attack our own.
The Education Bill appears to be the political opinion of a party too close to the unions, fired by the politics of envy and condensed into refighting battles of the past to offer a far from proven future, that benefits a few adults over the needs of many children.
For twenty years, politicians in both main parties have agreed on what has worked in our school system. That academies – by virtue of the freedoms they enjoy – are critical to improving standards. Now Labour’s changed its mind.
Of course, Labour claims this is about fairness – a level playing field. But fairness isn’t uniformity. Fairness is recognising that different schools in different areas have different needs.
The Education Secretary has made it very plain that unless the fundamental structures of education are reformed completely, the mediocre regime favoured by councils and trades unions will just reassert itself.
Step by step in Education, the things that saw us rise up the international league tables are being reversed, and we should expect we will fall down those tables again.
At a time when the UK faces significant recruitment challenges with the Armed Forces struggling to meet their annual intake targets, cadet programmes provide a unique pathway for young people to explore military careers.
If we are serious about addressing the root causes of educational inequality, we must look beyond traditional state-run solutions, and the reliance on policies that stoke division and envy.
The question now is whether policymakers are willing to respond. For those shaping education policy, this is not simply a challenge. It is an opportunity to rebuild a system that young people can trust again.