London Calling

[Riesstiu IV]

Gaddafi should have recognized the rioters as the legitimate governing body of the UK.

[SlowwHand]

You ask the question, look it up, BlackCat. Pick something random, but severe. Watts riots in L.A. would be good. How many? I'm curious, too.

[Uncle Sparky]

Just curious, but it seems like there have been 5 dead in these riots - none by guns. Anyone that knows how many there have been killed by guns in the same period in US ?

3 of the five were killed by a car. If cars were only registered... and if people needed to have owners licences and were forced to take government approved tests to use them, we wouldn't have this type of problem.Wait. I'm pro gun control. Crap!

[Kitschum]

Gaddafi should have recognized the rioters as the legitimate governing body of the UK.

You're right about this, you know? Start a blog. I'd read it.

[BlackCat]

Strange, noone has yet posted this :

[MOBIUS]

New Labour's policies are in many cases just continuations of older Conservative policies anyway

That's so not true. You only have to look at Labour's ****ed up left-wing bull**** education policies to realise that. These riots are just the chickens starting to come home to roost.

[MikeH]

They both have the same bull**** "choice" promoting competition to improve schools agenda for education though. And healthcare.

[MOBIUS]

Also as a product of ILEA schooling in the 80s, I utterly dispute the fact that my education during a Conservative government was the product of Conservative policies, because it was the lefty lunatics of ILEA that made those choices until they finally got disbanded (good riddance!) in 1990 - which was too late to save my education...

[MikeH]

I'm not sure what your point is. Do you think your education was good or bad? Would it have been better or worse if it was under the tories?

And are you saying that wasn't down to them but the education of kids under labour government is the responsibility of the labour govt?

[MOBIUS]

My point is that my education was awfully bad: A failing comprehensive in a failing borough in a failing education authority, all during two years of teacher's strikes. All of those were Labour controlled things during the time of the Militant tendency.

And yes, certainly in London, when the ILEA was abolished, education came under the realm of the local authorities and therefore central govt. So yes and yes. The last decade has witnessed an explosion of appalling literacy rates in this country and a nose diving of genuine academic achievement. Sure the pass rates of exams are continually improving, but then that's not surprising when the actual exams have been so massively dumbed down...

[C0ckney]

i think the current government's policies on education are actually very good. it's one of the things i like best about the coalition.

it's true to say that all parties have things in common on education. i liked labour's academy policy, which has been strengthened by the coalition (and of course, was essentially a re-introduction of the 1994 education act).

[OneFootInTheGrave]

You're right about this, you know? Start a blog. I'd read it.

+1 - you have two readers already, better than 99% of blogs out there

[MikeH]

Labours obsession with targets for everything, which then became the main focus of all effort into hitting those targets, was universally awful.

I like the idea of schools having more autonomy, and being able to choose how their money is spent, but think that the idea of choice in an area where you are limited in which schools are realistically available to you, causes more problems than it solves. You need to have people go to their local school, and be able to have confidence that that school will be good. Same with your local hospital.

[MOBIUS]

The choice thing has been around since I've ever known, at least as far as catchment areas are concerned.

[MikeH]

I didn't have a choice. I was in one catchment area and that was that.