Who's sorry now, Mr Clegg?

Yesterday's 'apology' by Nick Clegg put me in a bit of a parodying mood:

TO BE SUNG TO NICK CLEGG @ BRIGHTON CONFERENCE

Who's sorry now, who's sorry now
Whose heart is achin' for breakin' each vow
Who's sad and YELLOW, who's a cryin' FELLOW
Just like we cried over you

Right upto BRIGHTON, just like a WRONG 'UN
WE tried to warn you somehow
You had your way, now you must pay
WE'RE glad that you're sorry now

Right upto BRIGHTON, just like a WRONG'UN
WE tried to warn you somehow
You had your way, now you must pay
WE'RE glad that you're sorry now **

Personally, I think that it was just as easy for Nick Clegg to say sorry for breaking his promise as it was for him to promise all sorts of things pre-election. After all in 2010n he probably thought it was near to impossible that he would have any power post election. He would have realised that the only chance that he could have a stab at power sharing would be through forming a coalition with one of the two other parties - which of course happened - and then he would have the 'excuse' that he would be over ruled in 'big decisions' like this one.

The fact that yesterday's 'apology' is probably a preamble for a conference seeking apologia is all too evident and makes him look like the true hypocrite he really is. The Autotune Remix to which I have put a link below has now been 'accepted' by Clegg on the condition all proceeds go to charity, a children's hospital in Sheffield [his constituency] As Other Half commented, they wouldn't get any funding any other way..... Yet another of this government's achievements of which surely Nick Clegg must be proud. Or is he sorry now?

[Watch Naughty Nick singing his apology here]


**With my apologies to ruining the lovely lyrics [B.Kalmar/T.Snyder/H.Ruby] sung by Connie Francis.


The photograph above has been taken from the live blog by Andrew Sparrow at the Guardian Well worth reading.

Now it is time for my apologies! I am trying to work with the new blogger.com website. Any errors and omissions are therefore my own and the photo of Nick Clegg above should be bigger and I am sure that once I understand the instructions it will be......

Mr Gove's School Report

It's not like Elizannie to pass up an opportunity to disagree with Michael Gove. He just rattles me whenever he speaks - largely because whatever he says I find usually 100% opposing my own views. I have tried to be fair and mark Gove's examination paper of the school system which has resulted in the new Education Baccalaureate qualification which will come into force in the next few years impartially. But I can't give it a pass rate and these are the reasons why:

How old do I feel now that the exam system for 16 year old has changed *three* times in my life time? CSEs were brought in whilst I was at school and run concurrently with GCE ‘O’ levels which were really divisive – I went to a [really bad] grammar school and the lower forms were not allowed to take ‘O’ levels however good they were at individual subjects. I was in a higher form but had to take ‘O’ levels even in the subjects at which I was really bad! Then the amalgam of GCEs and CSEs: the GCSEs arrived which were supposed to be fairer although with the foundation paper system they were still divisive especially with schools who wanted their rating systems to be based on the number of ‘successes’ on the A-C passes.

And now this, the ‘Gove Levels’. Michael Gove should write out one million times ‘We must not play politics with our childrens’ futures’.

To be fair, there is one thing that I really like about the new system, that one examination board across the country will result in 'a level playing field' for all students - but maybe getting rid of league tables for schools would have been a help too?

If all the money that all these changes will cost is spent in improving the current system instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water, surely this would prove a more effective investment? No scheme will ever be perfect but the current system does seem to favour both those who are good at exams *and* those who work steadily throughout the year.

Having worked for some years in education I can of course point to weaknesses of some areas that need improving whilst at the same time recognise strengths in other areas. One area that does not seem to have been addressed so far in detail in the forthcoming system is in the provision of special educational needs like dyslexia and other learning difficulties and I will be reading any announcements in the next few days with interest on these points.

Two examination questions Mr Gove failed to answer are:
1. Why are these 'reforms' not to come into force until after the next General Election?
2. Since the school leaving age is to be raised to 18 why are the 16 year old examinations the 'target' of your venom?

Mr Gove, take note of all those that are examining your results at the moment, please.


Some interesting articles and blogs on this subject:
The Telegraph
The Spectator:Isabel Hardman
The Independent:Richard Garner


Photograph courtesy of Guardian.co.uk

A Summer of Disconnect

Well, the Elizannie/Other Half entourage arrived home last night after nearly a month of cliff dwelling above the Bristol channel. It was a lovely time, being with so many family and friends but although as always we were sad to leave it is also good to be back with more family and friends, here over looking a different stretch of water: the Thames Estuary.

As always I like a good pun so the blog title refers to quite a few things which happened during the August weeks whilst we were in the West Country. The first and most annoying disconnect refers to the fact that the broadband and telephone signals in our bit of the West Country were even worse than usual. One day I 'phoned Eldest Daughter just to tell her about my pure joy that I had managed to get a telephone signal! However it did mean that I had to desist from angry rants on twitter and facebook about various government and politicians' pronouncements which ultimately meant that I could have been a more placid person with whom to live!

There also seemed to be a complete disconnect at times with several politicians/government bodies and the general public. Just a quick list [leaving out some, obviously....]

[a]ATOS sponsoring the Paralympics [even Jonathan Swift could not have written this, surely? However Mark Steel writes a really good piece on this.]
[b]Examination boards changing the criteria for marking GCSEs but without telling teachers or pupils until the results were published. Head teachers not being sure who to sue? Pupils who had worked really hard - and teachers ditto - devastated.
[c]Virgin trains NOT being awarded the West Coast Main Line rail franchise renewal despite having built the service up over their previous franchise which has run since 1997. Virgin now taking legal action.
[d]Tim Yeo asking if David Cameron is a man or a mouse made me choke on my holiday weetabix. Suggesting that rats are leaving the sinking ship seems to be mixing metaphors when the ship in question is a runway for Heathrow airport. Sending Justine Greening to answer that she strongly opposes this seemed to offer her up as a sacrificial lamb and http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-urged-to-ditch-justine-greening-and-expand-heathrow-8084806.html suggests she may indeed be offered up for Sunday dinner very shortly.
[e] Nick Clegg and George Osbourne seem VERY disconnected over Clegg's idea of an 'emergency tax' on the rich!

The very last disconnect which had me really very cross within minutes of walking through my front door last night was the fact that the bank which I am leaving because they have made such a hash up of my bank account this year [Santander] have done it again and not passed on one of my direct debits to my new bank [The Co-op] Since this was to my union [Unite] I am even more annoyed!

The photograph above was taken in the West Country by Eldest Grandson, aged nearly seven. Any resemblance to any politicians is purely coincidental.

On Holiday

Elizannie and Other Half are currently on holiday with friends and family, camping on their usual cliff over-looking the Bristol Channel.

Despite trying to ignore the rest of the world subjects currently exercising us include the news that the government are suggesting that NHS hospital trusts invited to expand abroad and the developments around Julian Assange's asylum at the Ecuador Embassy. And what to wear in the next fancy dress competiton, obviously. And playing with the grandchildren and being generally silly.

Love to you all! xx



Nuaghty postcard taken from the article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1300822/Sexy-seaside-postcards-banned-50-years-ago.html

My Weekend Celebrating a very British Sport

Well I had a thoroughly lovely weekend celebrating British sport. Surprised at that statement? Read on....

I have hoped since 2005 for a lovely British Olympic Games in London 2012 - and have watched in dismay as the Olympic ideals seem to have taken such a hammering by the [alleged] underhand ways and incompetence of companies like G4S; the shenanigans of infrastructure schemes that are still to come to fruition like our own local road building scheme and the waste of money by many councils on unnecessary decorations etc.

But we were lucky to join with the happy side of the Games this weekend - when communities get together to celebrate and the true Olympic spirit really does shine through. We spent the weekend in East London with some of our Grandchildren and were in Waltham Forest when the torch was carried into the evening celebration and lit the cauldron. We had no idea who was carrying the torch on its last stage to the cauldron - so it was great to hear the announcement that Fabrice Muamba would be the torch bearer.

Having arrived in England with his parents - political exiles from Zaire - Muamba had attended school in Walthamstow and those who follow football will know all about him even before his dramtic collapse in March this year during the Bolton/Spurs game. His heart stopped for over an hour and probably his life was only saved because not only did the football club have excellent medical facilities but a consultant cardiologist who was at the game gave immediate medical aid.

The reception Muamba got from the crowd was brilliant! He looked frail but very,very happy and in his speech after he had lit the cauldron he again thanked all who had saved his life and described it as a miracle. I don't think I was the only one crying!

The photograph above is not that good, but it is mine! And shows a glimpse of the lovely police lady who stopped the very pushy lady who was trying to elbow my grandchildren away from the front of the barrier. How very dare she!


Onto Dagenham Town Show on Sunday and a chance to have one's picture taken with the real Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch.


Did Elizannie shrink from this challenge? No she did not!

A friend pointed out that I do look as it I am going to swipe one of my political opponents with it. Not a bad idea except [a] I am a pacifist and [b] After the town show the torch was taken off in an armoured type car.

And then to fill the boots of the Elizannie/Other Half household we had the brilliant results of the British Cyclists in the Tour de France! As massive cycling fans it has been an exciting three weeks and although it was obvious on Saturday that barring accidents Bradley Wiggins
would be the overall winner to quote someone 'It's not won until it's won'!! And with our Chris Froome second and Mark Cavendish as stage winner it was quite a day!

A photograph to sum up the excitement. Please note the seat upon which Youngest Granddaughter is viewing the finish to the Tour de France:

Today it has been announced that Sir Chris Hoy, the British Olympic Gold medallist will lead the British Olympians at the Opening Ceremony of the Games

So all in all, a very proud time for a what could be considered a sport which could be considered very British and originally a proletarian one. [Some say that it was a Scot who invented the bicycle]

Ironically, when cycling first 'got going' bikes were a luxury only the well-off could afford. However as soon as mass production meant that the working classes could afford their own bicycles, the rich mostly dropped their interest [apart from the profits that could be made from investing in cycle factories and shops...]

Cycles quickly entered into mainstream literature [H.G.Wells: 'The Wheels of Chance'; Jerome K. Jerome: 'Three Men on the Bummel' for example] and opened up the countryside for the working person. On their days off, the working population could reach areas that were out of walking range/public transport costs. Cycles could also be hired quite cheaply, within the working man's price range.

So bicycles became a leveller in a lot of ways - introducing the masses to areas which previously only their 'betters' had been able to visit.

Of course the sorts of bicycles used in road races now like the Tour de France cost thousands of pounds but in the early days of cycling and racing the differentials were not so large and anyone handy with a spanner could do their own repairs and adjustments!

We watched the Tour de France 'in the flesh when it came to Portsmouth & Brighton in 1994 and there was a big following here in the UK. Hopefully now that we have had three British successes this year we might get another look-in at the tour very soon!!

Onwards to cycling Gold medals in the Olympics!!

Olympic dreams and reality

Honestly, I really was trying to be optimistic about the Olympics. I was excited when our bid succeeded, imagining jobs and contracts for workers in this country - which sadly did not pan out as expected. Please believe I really am not an Olympic Scrooge. Ah well.

I hoped that the Corporate Sponsorship would mean that the tax payer [income, council - both local and county council levels] would not have to dig into his/her pocket - or if money was required it would be as an investment for 'legacy' projects and 'trickle down' and improve local economies.

I loved the idea that the spirit of the games would enthuse our citizens, that young people would perhaps get the idea that sports were something that could be enjoyed in reality and not just played on Xpensive electronic gadgets - at the local park, say. Too many school playing fields have been sold off over the past few years to help pay for necessities within those same schools. And the idea that there would be some 'free' spectacles such as road races that might be passing near to our homes was exciting.

The promises of the 'Cultural Olympics' seemed good to those like me who would rather participate in a pen and paper game that one holding some sort of stick or ball.

It is a shame so far that the weather is being a bit British, but hey ho that's life and we can still all have a good time!

BUT

I really don't want to do this, however there is a big but. Or a lot of small buts, medium size buts, all adding up to a rather massive but. Read on...

We won't talk about G4S, although seeing the tents ready for the army to camp out on the downs near here preparatory for the Mountain Biking events is a bit reminiscent of WW11 [no cheeky, I wasn't born then, but I have seen postcards!]

And at the awful traffic chaos which is Sadler's Farm Roundabout Improvements which had 'nothing to do with the Olympics' last year and should have been finished in March, is still not completed and it has been announced today that they will not be completed now before the Olympics which is causing some concern to the OAC. Of course the Essex County Council rate payer foots this bill. [And massive commiserations to all the commuters for the hours lost in all the traffic jams, night and day, since the works started. And all the local businesses which have lost money due to prospective clients being unable to reach them]

I was looking at an 1801 map of the area at the weekend, and it looked oh so peaceful then!


Another aspect to the Sadlers Farm debacle is that the junction leads directly to the nearest of the Park & Ride Carparks to the Hadleigh Mountain biking site. Allegedly due to water logging, this site has now been declared unusable, meanwhile most of the other three sites parking space tickets have been sold. Sadly more council-tax payers' money sailing up Benfleet Creek.


[And in case you all think I am being a bit of a NIMBY, we were in Cornwall recently and saw an area around a community which was in dire need of a road improvement scheme which had been passed and was all set to go until a nearby Olympic event venue popped up and the allocated money switched to building a road for that instead. I am sure there are similar tales around the country]

Luckily the torch relay around the country has been funded by corporate sponsorship and whether or not one is in favour of fast food and drinks sponsoring 'healthy games' it must be acknowledged that without this sponsorship not only the torch relay but the whole games would not be possible. However all the Official flags, bunting etc has to be bought by the local authorities themselves - at a cost - guess what - to the local tax payer. [I believe each flag costs in the region of £200+] And in our own are a club for disabled people has been closed due to lack of funding. Surely this would have been a better investment and Olympic legacy than the flags and bunting?

Meanwhile, not far from here an Essex town had 'organised a series of bunting making workshops across the borough to help local community groups make flags to line the route' [please read all about it in the link] It's a shame that more towns and villages didn't take a more do-it-yourself route to decorations. Those who know me know I love a bit of home made decorations [although sometimes it is to the embarrassment of others] And Other Half has been known on many occasions to paint the garage door with a message when something special has happened: football team winning at Wembley; birth of a baby; degree results et al!

Those who live reasonably near some of the road races have been told to stay at home and watch the events on TV which seems a bit of a reversal of the ideals. Road closures in a wide circumference from around 3am in the morning of such events means that if one is not within walking distance it will be impossible to get near the events, which is an awful shame. As I type yet another advert on the radio is pumping out this message.


I am very glad that there has been the Cultural Olympiad idea but - and here I sound really grumbly - the fact that so much of it has been concentrated around the capital is a bit of a drawback, and here I go into real Grinch/Scrooge mode [depending on your popular culture tastes] and suggest that not enough is being made of the events all around the country and a little more media advertising might help. So here's a link: http://www.london2012.com/about-us/cultural-olympiad/


I am not all grumbles, honestly. Lots of schools and organisations have had Olympic celebrations, we had a lovely afternoon last week at some of our grandchildren's school where all children got awards for taking part in an Olympic week. Lots of community fun where the torch has travelled. There is still time to pull together and make the games a really happy time. And look at the positives. And we can outface the weather - we are Brits!!


The picture above is of of a 1948 3d stamp celebrating the Olympic games. Just because I like it!

How the Olympics can make a garden grow

The seeds:





















The plants in flower:
I love the internet. The way that from small seeds something bigger can grow. Well sort of. Yesterday in my blog here I put a picture of the latest badges that Other Half and I are wearing and then thought I would show it to all my facebook friends [the seeds]. This engendered a bit of a discussion of the Olympics in general and below is one of my replies [the plants shoot] I then thought a bit more about what I had written and decided to write a bit more on my facebook 'status' [the plants bud] In turn I thought I ought to let my Olympic dream/extended metaphor grow a little and become a blog [The plants in flower]

The plants bud:
'Having a bit of a discussion about the joys [or not] of the London 2012 Olympics and some of you may have seen my reply which unintentionally turned into a bit of a rant! So I am putting it up as my status and hoping that some of you will be able to change my mind and making me feel that it is 'all good' [to quote 'Twenty Twelve']

The plants shoot:
"I must sound a real curmudgeon and even non-sporty me enjoyed the cycling and a few other events in the past. I was thrilled when we were awarded the 2012 games back in 2005. However the misery [and I mean that] engendered by those like us who live near to the games locales by the road building schemes, dreadful cock-ups in planning road closures, the lack of availability of tickets, the 'suggestions' that even if the 'free' events like cycling are coming through your area you stay in and watch them on TV, the 'advice' to those travelling and working in London that they get up earlier and leave later as half the road lanes are to become 'Olympic Lanes' from Monday..... [Many of my neighbours already leave home at 6.30 am and arrive back more than 12 hours later] The money wasted by some local councils on Olympic flags at £300 a flutter per flag [allegedly] when 'they' are cutting back on welfare services to the disabled and the like [and if my local council wish to defend this please do]"

Now of course we have had the news break in the past couple of days about the sterling job that G4S security are doing - NOT. I don't know if any of you heard their 'Chief of Staff' [I am being ironical there btw] interviewed on 'Today', radio 4, this morning? The only pity was that he wasn't being grilled by John Humphries. Worth a 'listen again' imo.

This rant may become supersized [get the McDonalds reference, clever huh?] and become a blog. On the other hand I might just go for a calming down walk in the countryside in the rain.'

The Garden in Bloom:
Well, rain helps the plants grow. But also makes Elizannie a wet and unhappy lady. So I will end the metaphor with some of the good things about the games, hopefully. The corporate sponsors will probably have a lot of merchandise left after the closing ceremony which may mean reductions in prices and cheap Christmas present shopping for all of us [as long as we don't mind giving/receiving things with the awful logo plastered all over. I will just say that I am not proud] Those uncompleted road contracts, security contracts et al may mean huge penalty clause payments by contractors to local and county councils and governments so a reduction in our local and income taxes [sorry, you didn't just say there are no penalty clauses, did you?]

I really am not attacking the corporate sponsorships because without them the cost of the Olympic Games here in the UK in 2012 would have been impossible. Which would have been an awful shame*. So that's all good.


*Can't say this out loud as I have my tongue stuck firmly in my cheek.