Thread 25 Starmer - Cheers for a falling out among thieves

[DuncinToffee]

Previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5338688-thread-24-starmer-casting-the-net-wider?

I'll see you by the swings. I've got some of those giant ice pops.

Meanwhile how can Reform be struggling for money ? And if they are, why would you trust them to run the country.

For context, Reform is a company run by Nigel Farage

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/kemi-badenoch-farage-tory-reform-donation-b2767096.html

Why on earth would he expect to raise the same as Tories? Has he bought the hype about them being the opposition now?

I can see your point, having grown up in the era of ‘Young Enterprise’. At least it was local businesses profiting from that.
I’ll admit to a perhaps unreasonable loathing of all things Taskmaster. Especially Taskmaster itself. Two thirds of this household love it, but even the occasional appearance of contestants I actually like isn’t enough to sell it to me.

The lurking truth is that big money isn't buying the Reform hype.

There is a gentle amusing irony in the fact that predicating your bold "party of the future" with a clarion call for going back in time may not land in a country renowned for it's distrust of things new.

A few months ago there was an interesting YouGov that when dissected (they often leave readers to do the work so they can avoid accusations of bias) showed that the main limiting factor in the expansion of Reform was .... Nigel Farage. The TL;DR being that moving forwards Reform have all the Farage fans that exist and they now need to have something other (and ideally instead of) Nigel Farage in order to grow.

Also, I suspect that Elon Musks threatened money may not be forthcoming anymore. If Elon is upset with the relatively genteel political discourse in the US, he's probably less equipped for the more robust exchanges that pass for debate in the UK.

If you like the idea of the body politic as a roller coaster, then I hope we are in the phase of approaching a peak . We rushed up, there will be a brief hiatus, but then gravity will either pull us back down again, or the momentum will just push us over the top and then we descend quickly to the starting point again.

My ringer is on (as always 😀)

Bad news for Reform because the Tories are on their uppers now.

Deal agreed. May be worth catching the totally and utterly positive and sane comments on the BBC before the bots pick it up.

I found a gem :

Funny how having a government full of bland but sensible and collaborative politicians results in deals like this being worked out with a minimum of controversy. We can never undo the damage Brexit did to us, but deals like this show Labour's at least trying to minimise the economic damage. Now watch as this deal is derided by our tabloids as "selling out Britain" or some other nonsense.

Lib Dems matched Reform's total.

You see I wasn't really referring to the specifics. (I have to say I do slightly judge people who seem to focus on specifics rather than accept the premise - as another thread running is demonstrating 😀)

I just thought that sounded "fun" and would certainly have picked up on it when I was at school. Anything to relieve the tedium of it being 1980, and waiting for 2001. Have you seen the hair we had to put up with ?

We used to do a lot of 'fun' stuff and have activities days and all sorts. Three reasons they have gone

Gove
Gove
Gove

To be fair , two more reasons

1)League tables (not Gove)
2)Assessment culture (mainly Gove)
Fourth -Ofsted (probably not fair to blame Gove) focusing almost entirely on academic stuff
d)Money

I can't count.

Hope someone appreciates the Home Alone reference.

I would have rolled my eyes at being made to do it but it's the sort of thing that dragged DS1 out of his grumpy and disengaged corner and helped him to interact with other people.

My hair wishes it still was the 80s.

Your 2001 comment made me ponder what was actually the Golden Age of my teaching career. Britpop era perhaps. 100% coursework in English was my halcyon days.

You're still thinking in specifics 😀. Try and think of something that would have been totally not on the syllabus or timetable, but something your school was offered a shot at.

Apologies if that sounds patronising ... written word, tone and nuance and all that.

Even if you are of the "something must be done" and this is "something" mindset, surely this is good news ?

Yes well give me boring competence thanks, with a strong dash of promotion

Have you seen the hair we had to put up with ?
I lived it <shudder> It was 1984 before I achieved my dream of dead-raven black backcombed glory. The day my Grandad tutted and shook his head slowly was a proud day for me. Even prouder when my other Granny said “Eeeh, why did you have to make yourself look so miserable!”
Happy to be judged for not liking the Horneification of secondary school.

I've read it again and am still confused what it has to do with Intellectual Property?

If we could just have fun and there didn't have to be some kind of teachable outcome , I might be more invested. I'm a bit Bah, Humbug these days.

One person's fun is another person's Hell...

I give you - Sports Day.

I just picked 2001 because back in 1980 it would have been considered the natural end point of "the future" in a personal sense. What with the film, book and pop song.

I mean in those days 1990 seemed (and indeed was) a lifetime away.

I am trying to think of something out of the ordinary we were offered at school……
Music provision was excellent, right from primary.
Drama was inspiring and we had teachers employed to teach us it without it being an exam subject.
Visiting speakers from all walks of life.
The rot set in with us ‘trialing’ a brand new fancypants assessment system called SATS. It was for assessment of the school, you see, not us. Apparently. Pages and pages of multiple choice, like the best General Studies exam eva.

@Piggywaspushed is going to judge me now, because I hated English coursework. And History. We trialed new exams called GCSEs too. Little goth Guinea pig, I was. Half O Level, half GCSEs.

I'll see you too with my hoola hoops, upside down cups with string attached and hand held bean bags. The others can watch from the bench. Fancy some pink bubble gum?

The exams are almost finished and I've been invigilating. I do love it but this year 11 intake have been hard work - lovely students (boy's school until sixth form) but a lot of them are very immature and seem much younger. I hope they do well.

I hated part coursework and the ridiculousness of controlled assessments.

I was the first year of Scottish standard grades, numbered 1 to 7 iirc and, crucial this, in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION to English numbered grades ( Gove again!). Mine make me look an abject failure to sassenach eyes.

I think this every time I hear 1999.

Which is now IN THE PAST. Fie!

Memories of the TV series ....

We went on lots of fun trips at school ( no H and S back then so went in teachers' cars..)

One of our finest excursions was to a nuclear submarine base. I kid you not.