When Douglas Carswell returned to Parliament as a UKIP MP, he seemed to protest too much when he denied a rift with Nigel Farage and vehemently played down any suggestions of new ambitions on his part. Should Douglas now find himself with a number of new UKIP , especially if they have taken constituencies from Labour or Lib-Dems, might …
Might Douglas Carswell return, with new UKIP MPs in tow? Read More »
“This is public money and so it must be publicly accounted for.” The words of Catherine Bearder, a Lib-Dem member of the European Parliament in a letter published in Monday’s Times in which she explained why she accounts for her expenses. How much more so does this principle apply to the vast sums of public …
Drunken women put themselves in danger – judge’s wrist slapped “I find it incredible that young people get so drunk that they don’t know who they’re with.” The judge concerned was sentencing a woman who had punched another woman in a drunken affray and linked his remarks to the killing of a young woman after a …
Drunken women put themselves in danger – judge’s wrist slapped Read More »
What does he expect? Absentee father attempts to coerce his daughters A father abandons his wife and two young daughters. One of the daughters is subsequently treated roughly by his new wife. Five years later the father asks the courts to insist that the girls, now aged fourteen and sixteen, renew their contact with him. …
What does he expect? Absentee father attempts to coerce his daughters. Read More »
Last week The Times reported that two young girls are to be locked in their bedroom at night with intruder alarms so that their mother can sleep with a man who has served a prison sentence for a sexual offence against a girl who was under 13. Part of the report justifying the arrangements explained that the man slept on the side …
Mother’s love life – more important than daughters’ safety Read More »
Local friends were refused permission recently to take their children out of school for a few days in order to enjoy a family holiday; they took them, nonetheless but are concerned that they will now face a fine. Last week there were reports of two killings by teenagers, one thirteen, the other fourteen. The Times did not so much as mention their parents, let alone suggest that they …
I am giving a presentation of “What, How and Why – a manual of better English” on Tuesday, March 24th at 8.0.pm in Mersea Island’s MICA centre 10 miles south of Colchester in Essex – CO5 8QA Last November, in The Times, Tim Oates, Group Director of Cambridge Assessment condemned many school textbooks as “sloppy” …
Presentation – What, How and Why: a manual of better English Read More »
Examinations – deadly pressure on students Whose purposes are now served by school examinations? Last Friday’s Times (March 6th 2015) reported two teenage deaths in one comprehensive school, deaths believed to be connected to anxiety about examinations. One of the students had been told that she would not be entered for higher level papers in …
Furore this week following further revelations about Jimmy Savile. Decades ago senior staff ignored and failed to pass on complaints about his behaviour and warnings were issued that he was a celebrity and not to be upset or challenged. Only four years ago I contacted a BBC producer responsible for a programme in which a …
Celebrities – we are still incapable of learning the lessons Read More »
Following an interview in the Times last November in which he spoke of “sloppy text books” and of a concern to teach to the test, Tim Oates of Cambridge Assessments agreed to look at What, How and Why and responded thus: I am very interested in both the development of your IGCSE textbook and the …
