To feel so upset about the government censorship?

[Utterlydisillusioned]

This has just appeared in my news feed and I feel so upset and disillusioned. I was a labour voter, thinking we voted the bad guys out but I'm now really scared about what we've let in...what on earth have we done...? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/17/education-secretary-bridget-phillipson-private-school-tax-r/

Yes, I detest human rights. Nasty things.

What schools serve pizza and burgers for breakfast?

Pretty disingenuous article - whilst still above average, Finland has dropped dramatically over the past few years.

PISA 2022 Results (Volume I and II) - Country Notes: Finland | OECD.

The rise and fall of Finland mania, part two: Why did scores plummet? (fordhaminstitute.org).

The steepest decline was around 2008, so correlating with when children affected by the this policies mentioned in your article would've taken effect (although of course correlation is not causation).

Standards in the UK have been going up since the Tories' reforms a decade or so ago (England’s school reforms are earning fans abroad (economist.com)) and the UK now scores higher than Finland on all measures other than science. They are now 13th in the world with an overall score of 495, the UK are 14th with 494.

(Data from 2022: PISA Scores By Country 2024 (datapandas.org))

@User8646382 Nice bit of backtracking there!
"Do the majority of schools serve a ‘good breakfast’ then? The food’s mostly junk from what I can tell.

The ones in @User8646382's head.

O come on, pointy, you can't take all their weapons away from them. Although, given the 70s mindset, they do call to mind The Black Knight 'Come here, what about Michael Foot?'

It isn't going to happen. There are falling rolls in state schools.

Are you prepared to acknowledge that the global financial crisis caused by the US sub prime mortgage market issues was not in fact caused by the Labour party's economic policies then?

Exactly, demographics will sort most of it out.

"Are you prepared to acknowledge that the global financial crisis caused by the US sub prime mortgage market issues was not in fact caused by the Labour party's economic policies then?"
Don't be silly- it was Jeremy Corbyn!!

Right, of course, how silly of me.

I just get a teensy bit irritated by hardcore Tory supporters who ignore everything that has happened in the last 14 years, Brexit included, and always hark back to the 1970s for 'evidence' on Labour's economic competence. As if that wasn't 50 years ago...

FGS.

You suggested that Tory supporters blame
the financial crisis on Labour. It’s a strawman argument. The causes of 2008 do not have their origins in UK politics.

Whats your point exactly?

@pointythings I know. So annoying!

And the normal processes - which aren't always pleasant

When I had to move unexpectedly for my job my DC had no school places and were out of school on a waiting list until places were found - the school they were allotted wasn't nearby and I had to appeal to get them into the local school which all in all took nearly 8 months.

Two local schools are now in danger of closing due to falling rolls

Unless you're commiting hate crime or inciting disorder why would you get a knock on the door? 🙄

You mean people getting into trouble for posting racist stuff?

Rubbish.

pizza and burgers are preferable over going hungry though.

The private schools that will close will be the small ones that are already struggling. The closure of a relatively small business in one area makes very little difference to the local "ecosystem" (do you mean economy?). Small private schools have been regularly closing practically since they were first established; all that happens is that the vast majority of their pupils and some of their staff disperse into other small private schools (which thereby become more secure), the premises get converted into housing, offices, hotels etc providing as much if not more business for other local enterprises and employment opportunities, and the local area carries on functioning quite happily.

If she had one...

How are they being silenced? Each and every one of them is completely free to post their messages on their own FB pages and in a myriad of other public sources. You know that. Why perpetuate this myth?

It's annoying when comments from one side are censored. Debate is healthy. A reasoned person should be able to listen to both sides. Should be able to tolerate opinions they disagree with.

There was a poster on the Brexit board on MN a couple of weeks ago who was trying to get someone banned because they did not agree with their views.

Trying to silence their opponent. MN refused to ban and quite rightly so. The poster then threatened a flounce because they did not want to hear this person's views (which were not rude or disrespectful - just they were a Brexiteer and the complainer was a Remainer).

My point is that your contention that the current Labour party will lead the UK into ruin in 2 years and that the evidence for this is what happened in the 1970s is complete nonsense. I was just preempting you using the sub-prime crisis as evidence in case you were thinking of using that instead - Tories do so like to deflect from their own party's economic failings.

Hence also the small size of my proposed wager - your point really isn't worth more than a fiver.

Apparently not, because the kids who go to the school in User's head don't like them. This results in 70, 80% wastage.🥸