Labour has shown, through blocking an Eton-sponsored sixth form in the North-East, and its vindictive VAT levy on independent schools, that it continues to put ideology before progress.
A Jewish MP barred from a school because he might “inflame” teachers is not an aberration. It is a warning about how far intimidation has crept into public life. And we are too late to it.
We should elevate education to its higher purpose of cultivating wisdom, conscience and virtue – yet they are at best sidelined, or wholly absent from modern schooling.
People are being broken, and the authorities, including some school leaders, are doing nothing about it.
The central failure of modern British politics is this: we now trade in emotional narrative instead of empirical truth and, increasingly, we have lost the consensus of shared prosperity that once underpinned liberal democracy itself.
Rachel Reeves’ effect has engulfed the DfE, and this isn’t something that can be kicked to the next spending review. The impact hits in 2028–29. A £6 billion black hole cannot be wished away. Pretending otherwise insults the intelligence of parents and teachers.
Violent pupils are largely allowed to abuse and attack their peers and teachers with impunity. And they are allowed to attack them with impunity because they are seen as blameless victims rather than violent thugs.
It’s the residents I think about most, The children whose lives have been transformed with the opening of new schools, those who have seen their old style faceless estates transformed into communities and who were able to enjoy their lives much more.
This debate isn’t just about Eton. It’s about parents in towns across Britain who go without so their children don’t get left behind.
We have reason to be grateful to them, and for this detailed first-hand account of how it was achieved.
A record tenure as schools minister transformed outcomes for English children, yet never resulted in promotion to the top table. Why?
Parents of children taking unauthorised absences should be required to attend and learn first-hand about the profoundly harmful impact of missed school on their child’s life chances. Those who refuse would face increased fines of up to £200.
Reading it, you might think that the job is done. It most certainly is not. Reforming our schools needs to continue. I wish we had been able to do so. But the blueprint for reform is there for all to see.
Cummings and Gove have the satisfaction of knowing that Labour has accepted their main policy objective – academy trusts; is not ditching phonics; and seems unlikely to bring back the AS examination.
The impact of social media in schools is visible in friendship groups destabilised overnight by the fallout from group chats; in the heightened anxiety that stems from constant comparison; in the quiet but persistent erosion of self-regulation.