unclebuck

I really don't know why he bothers. Surely nobody believes a single word that Blair says anymore. What a to$$er

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4255791.stm

UB

SiDHEaD

Same as any other politician !

Leslie

Yes I was going to say, why should we believe all that guff after the progress (not), on all the other pledges in the last two elections.

They mostly pinch the Tory pledges anyway.

Les

ajm

Why is no one holding the liar to his last set of "pledges" he failed to deliver on?

I think Mr Blair is unaware that "pledge" is more than just furniture polish!

unclebuck

Who else has made worthless pledges?

Suresh

Fact : all politicians make election pledges to get votes

Thatcher did, Major did the current Tory leader does and not surprisingly so does Blair.

Grow up and get over it FFS.

unclebuck

All the above made some effort to deliver on their pledges. Blair has no intention to do that whatsoever.

It's the blind and stupid New Labour sheep like you that need to 'grow up'

Flatcapdriver

Rubbish. Labour have followed through on their intention to reform education and have attempted to sort out the railways but whether they have succeeded or not is open to debate. To suggest that Blair has no intention to deliver on his pledges is a fallacy.

unclebuck

ROTFLMAO

ajm

Yeah, they have SO reformed education, in particular truancy, to the tune of one BILLION pounds worth of our money!

Abdabz

pointless pathetic pledges (PPP) - Labours new campaign slogan... No-one should fall for it again...
P

Flatcapdriver

Basic comprehension skills should be a pre-requisite before joining NSR. If you READ what I said I stated that Labour have followed through with their election pledge to reform education - whether or not they have succeeded is a debatable point. Unclebuck in his stupidity asserted that Blair/Labour had made no effort to deliver on their pledges which is clearly not the case.

The problem with so many people who contribute to this forum is that they are so blinded by their political bias, that they are incapable of reasoning and seemingly want to crucify their own political hate figure whether it be a Labour or Tory and pin all the ills of the world on him/them. If you dare to offer a balance view, then you are labelled a libertarian or are then accused of being a liberal which strikes me as a label offered by those with a limited perspective on life.

ajm

Keep yer cap on driver, it's only the internet!

unclebuck

So here's where we were at the start of the second term:

"Labour's second-term education plans

NEW LABOUR's plans for schools in a second term of government have been set out in a dubiously named Green Paper, Schools - Building on Success. It paints a picture of New Labour 'success' that few teachers, parents or pupils would recognise.

Labour will point to improved results in primary literacy and numeracy tests and secondary GCSE exams. However, these improvements have not been achieved by proper investment but by putting intolerable burdens on teachers who, by official figures, now work well over 50 hours a week.

This deadening workload is one of the main reasons why teachers are walking away from the classroom, leaving behind a growing crisis of teacher shortages. Another is deteriorating pay but instead of a proper pay rise for all, Labour offers more divisive Performance Related Pay. Schools will also be allowed 'greater freedoms over teachers' pay and conditions', signalling a further attack on the trade unions.

Teachers are also disillusioned by a government that increasingly wants to dictate not just what is taught but how teachers should teach. Their methods may increase test scores in the short-term but there is also evidence of a steep rise in pupil disaffection with a curriculum geared to testing and as the self-esteem of those that don't succeed is stripped away.

Despite Labour's claims, schools are suffering from the cumulative effects of years of underfunding. If elected, Treasury forecasts indicate that Labour will still spend an average of only 4.9% of national income on education in their two terms of government - less than the 5% spent in the last term of the last Tory government.


Labour boasts that it will soon meet its target of reducing all infant class sizes to 30. They fail to point out that class sizes in secondary schools are increasing. For example, the National Union of Teachers estimate that, on top of an estimated 3,000 vacant posts currently in London, 6,185 more teachers would need to be recruited in the capital alone to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio back down to the 1987 figure.

The reality is that Britain's education system is crumbling. Guardian journalist, Nick Davies, whose damning descriptions of the real state of our schools have earned him a personal denunciation from Blunkett and Blair, concluded that 'the entire strategy of Mr.Blunkett's department is based on an analysis of school failure which has the intellectual weight of a joke in a Christmas cracker'.

Instead of blaming teachers and the supposed failings of 'trendy teaching methods' like New Labour , Davies rightly points to the impact of rising child poverty on schools and the growing polarisation between those at the top and the bottom of the school performance 'league tables'. That gap could become a chasm under the Green Paper's plans for 'increased diversity'. In their claims to be building a 'post-comprehensive' era, Labour propose nothing less than the abandonment of comprehensive secondary schooling."

What exactly has improved since then? I would suggest - not a lot.

Suresh

What a stupid comment.
How can you possibly know what somebody else's intention actually is, unless you are privy to their private thoughts??

Flatcapdriver

Can you admit that Blair has made some effort, whether successful or not (which is a separate argument) to fulfil his previous election promises and on that basis is likely to attempt to deliver on these new pledges given that he has a track record of doing so -again, subject to whether he has/will be successful?

You can suggest away but I suspect that you wouldn't be able to admit that Blair/Labour have made any positive impact on our lives even if the rest of the population agreed that he had.

Geezer

It is always the same, no matter who is in power. The electorate get disillusioned with whoever is in power, especially with the last 2 governments who have had power for so long. If Labour last the 18 years that the Tories did, we will have 'New Tories' who will sweep to power easily, then gradually watch them sink back to where they are now.

It's more to do with perception by the public than failings of a political party, they are much of a muchness.

Geezer

the moose

Good cut and paste UB, but rather than trotting out Conservative doggerel (hey, maybe I should say TORY SPIN, but that lowers the tone of the debate rather), why not state your own beliefs?

For instance, which government sold off a large proportion of school playing fields? Under which government did truancy rise at a massive rate? Who was it who so cheapened the public's view of teachers in their relentless attacks on the NUS that they're seen as total underachievers, thus pushing talented people away from the profession.

Sure, Labour have made mistakes, and a lot of what they've done I disagree with. But to blindly quote Tory hype as being unquestioned fact is just daft - they were the architects of much of the current misfortune.

Gordo

Let's face it, we don't really live in a democracy. Our government employs spin doctors to indoctrinate us/ shade the truth to get voted in, and then do whatever they want for another term, bleating that they can as they were voted in and therefore given a carte blanche mandate.

Hands up who believes that they get good value for the (ever increasing) taxes they are paying.....

Gordo

the moose

Me. The education service is better, the NHS has improved, the overall health of the nation is increasing .... basically, I think the tax levels are OK, other than for stamp duty, which I just disagree with.

unclebuck

Source: http://www.socialismtoday.org/55/education_plans.html

PMSL - who's daft?? You should check your own facts before you spout off. Proof that every right thinking person across the political spectrum knows they're failing on education.

LOL

UB

the moose

OK, I didn't read Socialism Today, - but despite my (inaccurate) assumption, it's clearly someone with an axe to grind and a very one-sided view. Spin, in other words. Usually comes from the Right, but in this case comes from the Left.


And I repeat, what are YOUR views - I presume you have some, rather than cutting and pasting those of others.

Flatcapdriver

Actually, Moose I don't think you're correct here as I believe that spin is equally prevalent in both parties and over the last seven years or so, Labour have certainly been more adept at it.

the moose

You misunderstand, I think. I meant that attacks on the government are usually from the opposing party, and much as Labour are held to be kings of spin, they're far from the only proponents. In this case, the anti-Labour 'spin' is from Socialism Today, but it's every bit as partisan as the Conservatives.

As I've said before, I certainly don't agree with everything this government is doing, but overall, they're doing a better job, in my opinion, than the previous administration. I see visible evidence of this, but I'm quite prepared to accept that others see different things and have equally strongly-held views.

Leslie

In all honesty, very little of good as far as the electorate is concerned has been achieved by this lot.

Yes we had the pledges and the promises but they have never really come to fruition, instead every particular part of the administration of this country seems to have deteriorated. Even the economy is balanced on a knife edge, it looks good on the surface but when the chickens come home to roost eventually, it will be a different story.

There has been so much fiddling and fudging of the figures that we cannot trust them as far as we can see them. I really find it difficult to decide whether it is all down to sheer imcompetence or just no political will to get it right.

I am totally apolitical and have never supported any one party, only the bunch that I believed would do the best job for the country at the time. I have seen nothing so far to recommend this lot for certain.

My biggest fear is the loss of this country and our ability to influence our own lives if this country is handed over to Europe.

Les

555wrx

Where was his pledge to ' make weapons experts commit suicide ' ?

Gordo

fek me -

education - evidence again in the news last week that education is getting worse under labour. the independent educational review showed that there is now a higher percentage of really **** (they had a more erudite term but I'm paraphrasing ) schools than there were 4 years ago. Higher levels of children leaving schools who can't read. Universities having to do remedial classes to kids with apparent good grades in GCSEs....the list goes on

health - waiting times for operations have fallen - because Labour have manipulated the figures. There are weekly announcement from doctors and hospitals about closing wards, lack of local healthcare, inefficiency, wondering where the money is going that Labour is hosing away.

crime - the police don't bother turning up any more, statistics on recorded crime show serious crimes are soaring (petty crimes aren't because people don't bother reporting them any more)

We are in the top 10% of tax payers (£ per capita, taking into account indirect taxes) and yet we have some of the worst public transport, healthcare, pensions, policing and education around. Bliar isn't getting my vote

unclebuck

I did - in the title of the Thread.

SJ_Skyline