Michael Gove

Malcolm Armsteen · **Posted:** Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:24 am

To be fair there's a lot of similar thinking in the Labour Party (Tony Benn, passim)

Abernathy · **Posted:** Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:13 pm

Northerly Swell wrote:

Ripped from the today's popbitch e-mail

Quote:

Big Questions <<
What people are asking this week

According to an ex-girlfriend, which
yacht and bible loving cabinet minister
kept a curious jazz mag collection under
his bed?

Possibly that VERY specialised jazz mag, "Pob Bitch" .

mattomac · **Posted:** Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:50 pm

Malcolm Armsteen wrote:

To be fair there's a lot of similar thinking in the Labour Party (Tony Benn, passim)

True and going more centrist perception has damaged Labour polling wise in the short run, what it does in the long run will be interesting.

Malcolm Armsteen · **Posted:** Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:04 pm

It didn't do it much harm in 1997.

satnav · **Posted:** Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:28 pm

I did like the bit on Question Time last night when Charles Moore said that the public would be happier about the queen getting a new luxury yacht as long as it was called a yacht. I'm not quite sure what else we could call such a vessel.

Tubby Isaacs · **Posted:** Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:02 pm

davidjay wrote:

Tubby Isaacs wrote:

Why would they have to take over before about 2020? Anyone could emerge by then. Cameron had only been in Parliament 4 years in 2005.

Hague is the obvious one before then. He's worked his passage back.

They'll never take the risk of going back to a failed leader and one who made such a twat of himself on so many occasions.

He was poorly advised- see a certain Mail columnist, and there was Portillo as leader in waiting. He got talked into standing because the alternatives were even worse (once you accepted Clarke would have split the party). I mean Redwood, Howard, Lilley.

His parliamentary performances though were often very good, and one of his liabilities (his overdone dislike of the Euro) is an asset now.

I can't at all understand the hatred of Cameron from the right. Not least because Cameron is rightwing, albeit humane towards gays.

Tubby Isaacs · **Posted:** Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:05 pm

Malcolm Armsteen wrote:

To be fair there's a lot of similar thinking in the Labour Party (Tony Benn, passim)

Yeah, he is irritating on that score. One of his others is "the bits of socialism that remain are popular". Unfortunately a lot of other bits that don't remain were not very popular.

Bones McCoy · **Joined:** Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:08 am **Posts:** 7319

Malcolm Armsteen wrote:

To be fair there's a lot of similar thinking in the Labour Party (Tony Benn, passim)

I've sat at the red end of the labour spectum in the past and struggled with this.
The stuff I wanted at conference and marched to support was electoral poison, and easily ridiculed by the tabloids.

It's odd though that 20 years later, some of the stuff I wanted at conference and marched in support of has become fairly mainstream.
(Our government talking to Irish politicians, Steps toward Gay equality, visit a sports event with black friends without coming home covered in spit).

In general I regard elections as a battle for the centre ground, with two reservations.
The contrived late convert to centreism runs the risk of appearing opportunist and holding a hidden agenda.
A centreist set of policies can often appear incredibly uncoordinated - no underlying program or principles, but a couple of tablespoons of "What's best for Britain".

Bones McCoy · **Joined:** Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:08 am **Posts:** 7319

satnav wrote:

I did like the bit on Question Time last night when Charles Moore said that the public would be happier about the queen getting a new luxury yacht as long as it was called a yacht. I'm not quite sure what else we could call such a vessel.

Floating gin palace was the old term (esp. when Mum and Younger sister were aboard)

Bones McCoy · **Joined:** Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:08 am **Posts:** 7319

Perhaps he could merge his two projects, and install a bible in every royal yacht.

lord_kobel · **Posted:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:09 pm

Or just in every royal?

DTR · **Posted:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:20 pm

A yacht for every school and a royal bible for the queen.

Tubby Isaacs · **Posted:** Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:37 am

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/201 ... lum-review

Why oh why did Estelle think she wasn't up to Gove's job?

Quote:

On what possible basis can the answers to these key questions about the curriculum be determined by the legal category of the school and not the needs of the children in them? Have children in non-academy schools less need for flexibility or are their teachers less likely to use such freedoms responsibly?

Malcolm Armsteen · **Posted:** Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:45 am

She did.
Her confidence was dented, but not broken by the Times' ad hom attacks on her, but in the end it was Andrew Adonis™ and Tony Blair who pushed her for not accepting blindly their assertion that faith schools were the dog's bollocks and the religious were the best people to indoctrinate, sorry, educate the young.

Malcolm Armsteen · **Posted:** Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:14 am

Nice piece by the highly estimable (and respected) Michael Rosen:

http://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/20 ... l?spref=tw

Michael Gove

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