Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Lydia taking the leap--I'm a Tory now!
Hello Harringay,
A few weeks ago a good friend in the Conservatives asked me to run under their banner in the local elections and I didn't laugh right in his face.
My original excursion into politics was in 2001, when I joined the Conservatives because I was so angry about the Victoria Climbie thing but then I left them in 2005 because:
a) I got fed up of politics and
b) I got fed up of the Conservatives (mind you I was just as fed up of the other lot).
When, a few weeks ago, I was invited back to the treadmill, I wasn't any better disposed to the political life but there is so much sh*t going on in this borough that I decided I couldn't ignore it any more. I don't fit that well into a Party mold but seeing as the Conservatives are the only group really serious about opposition in this borough and seeing as I am an Angry Old Woman, I decided that *someone* has to do something. Don't talk to me about the LibDems. The place for nodding dogs is in the back of the car, not in the Council chamber.
*If you want to follow me on Twitter, the address is <@LoveHarringay>
*If you want to get in touch with me by phone, leave a message with Tottenham Conservatives on 020 8374 6305. I'll get back to you. Or email loveharringay@gmail.com.
*If you want to discuss political theory, ring the LSE.
And from now on, you can be as suspicious as you want about anything I say.
btw:
I and my two running-mates, Sean Rivers and Massimo Rossini (NB--Rivers, Rivlin & Rossini make The Three Rs, which all good Conservatives support) will be putting out a leaflet soon.
The local party have agreed to let us write up our own stuff, so we are actually going to be working hard on it, ourselves. At least take a look when it lands on your doormat.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on
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The good job, John, is that I am running. That's Democracy. Perhaps when I have more time I'll have a try at explaining it to you.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Democracy I understand, the way adults constantly fiddle with education is just weird to me and I don't get it. If this were pharmaceuticals there would be something like NICE setup to see what actually works rather than "asking the audience".
There is another point outside of education to the Academy/LEA debate and that is that a school needs assets, the chief one being a lot of land. Imagine being able to run a "business" in London where you don't have to take into account the cost of your plant (salaries, pah!)? It beggars belief that we are giving what are essentially community assets to entrepreneurs that *think* they can do a better job because they like to make money and they give NOTHING back to us.
Something that worries me about the increasing commercial rents in London is that firms are beginning to ask managers to account for plant in their staff costs. So if an intern was previously £50 a day but is now £450 a day because of plant they don't look so attractive anymore, you might as well hire an experienced employee for £250/£650 a day and actually get some work done. Sorry kids.
Do you see what I'm saying there? They got to take the most important and expensive part of a business (yes, the staff are important too) and use it for FREE. This means that hiring inexperienced and unqualified staff is economic to them. That's great but, not in our schools!
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Permalink Reply by Justin Hinchcliffe on
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I'm afraid you have got the wrong end of the stick, John. Academies don't have to be run by a company (can't think of a better word), like the Harris Foundation. Did you know results are on the up at the old Downhills School? Perhaps, if you didn't live in a wealthy (by Tottenham standards) middle-class area and lived in Northumberland Park then maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't accept failing schools? Anyway, how's S. Ann's? Are you running as an independent there?
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I haven't got the wrong end of the stick at all Justin. No academies don't need to be run by a company, neither do railways or power stations.
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btw. I just got back from the Gielgud where I saw Angela Lansbury in Blythe Spirit--I consider myself very fortunate to have had that opportunity but am very tired. My excuse for this exhaustion is that last week I had a slight difference of opinion with my horse about who was boss. He finally came round to my way of thinking but the consequential bruises are taking their time to heal. I am not kidding, at present my shoulder looks like a map of a country I don't particularly want to visit.
However, I wasn't too tired to look through my email at 12 am, and in a flash of insight, perceived another dimension in Mr. McMullan's post. He thinks I'm cool and for that I thank him. On the other hand, cool or red hot, he isn't going to vote for me. And this is the little problem, isn't it? Mr. M has every right (and indeed, even an obligation) not to vote for me if he disagrees with my opinions. I must, though, point out that the habit of voting for people of any calibre (or none) who belong to a particular party, rather than voting for people who are genuinely engaged and prepared to actually DO something, is causing all the administrative difficulties in this borough. If this behaviour resulted in a few broken paving stones, it might be excusable, but it also results in broken lives. Whoever reads this (obviously I am excluding Mr. M). please remember that your vote is precious. It is far too precious to squander on football club style allegiances. This isn't a game here, folks. How you vote has long term and horribly elemental consequences.
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Ahhhh.
Well then, I am exceedingly flattered that he is bothering with me.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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"85% of all the money going into a school is spent on wages. What is left over is used for education" Where on earth does the education come from, if not from those getting wages?
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Nowadays, children don't sit at 100 year old desks writing Latin declensions on slates all day. Modern schools have all sorts of interesting stuff, like books, maps, computers, sports equipment, chemistry apparatus, art equipment, art materials, stationery and furniture. They also go out on trips, put on dramatical performances and get involved in various social programmes.
That's a list I came up with just off the cuff. I'll bet there's plenty more. I'm a bit grumpy about that question because it seemed to me to be a total timewaster. Do you really not know what goes into schools, or were you being mischevious?
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If I thought that the equipment in my classrooms did more educating than I did, I'd feel obliged to hand back my pension.
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I am using the expression that one of my interviewees used--and he had been a school principal.
As for your pension, I wouldn't bother about giving it back. The way this Council is behaving, they'll have frittered it away on job duplications in the Civic Centre faster than you could get to the bank.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Job duplications? Any evidence?
No, I suppose you don't need it.
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