The Future of Britain

growstuff

MaizieD

That was actually written by Neal Lawson of "Compass", not a Guardian journalist.

I think that Lawson makes a number of sweeping statements which perhaps don't stand up to scrutiny.

It would be interesting to explore just why people voted the way they did in the 2010 GE. Which wasn't exactly a conclusive victory for the tories IIRC... If the LDs had gone into coalition with Labour the UK could be a different place now...

I agree with you. It's important to consider who the writer is. Lawson was an adviser to Gordon Brown and a strategist for Blair during the 1997 election. In my opinion he has shrewd political insight as a commentator and I usually read what he writes in the Guardian or New Statesman. He pushes a number of ideas, including Universal Basic Income and it doesn't surprise me that he thinks Blair wouldn't be the right person for today. Nevertheless, "Compass" brings together a number of commentators from the "left" and I think Blair does still have a contribution worth making. It doesn't mean he's right about everything.

Do we need someone who is "right about everything" or do we need those who look to the future and spark new ideas?

DaisyAnne

Peter Hyman is co-Director of Big Education talking about education now. I do wish you would watch it LizzieDrip. It's both a fascinating and so much more positive look at the future. You may not agree but it will spark more ideas, I think.

Now, there's a 'funny' one for you. Hyman was a tory advisor (I forget who too, possibly Gove when he was Education minister). He left the post and went to work as a teaching assistant. I don't think he ever trained as a teacher, though I may be wrong. I think he now considers himself to be a big shot in education on the strength of it.

(I'm not dissing TAs; I was one myself, but it's a strange career trajectory)

Will this be available to listen to later, DaisyAnne?. I'm supposed to be doing other things ATM...

MaizieD

^That was actually written by Neal Lawson of "Compass", not a Guardian journalist.^

I think that Lawson makes a number of sweeping statements which perhaps don't stand up to scrutiny.

It would be interesting to explore just why people voted the way they did in the 2010 GE. Which wasn't exactly a conclusive victory for the tories IIRC... If the LDs had gone into coalition with Labour the UK could be a different place now...

If you were to ask my children (born in the 1990s) what they remember about Blair, they'd tell you he was somebody who had mad eyes and always looked haunted on TV. He had to go. Gordon Brown did an amazing job in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, but he didn't have much media appeal. I think people wanted a change. Cameron was the "new face" of the Conservative Party and seemed like a safe pair of hands. I don't think that, at that stage, many people realised how much damage he would do to the NHS and other public services, nor how much Osborne would destroy the seeds of recovery. Public debt had increased with QE and people believed the narrative that the debt needed to be repaid - hence they accepted austerity. Genuine austerity would have affected everybody, but it didn't. It was used as a cover for cutting benefits and public services, but Conservative voters weren't too bothered about that.

DaisyAnne in the true spirit of an open-minded socialist, I’m going to watch the conference. It’s always good to listen to a range of views. Don’t know what made me so narrow-minded this morning - not usually my style. Off to the conference now!

MaizieD

DaisyAnne

Peter Hyman is co-Director of Big Education talking about education now. I do wish you would watch it LizzieDrip. It's both a fascinating and so much more positive look at the future. You may not agree but it will spark more ideas, I think.

Now, there's a 'funny' one for you. Hyman was a tory advisor (I forget who too, possibly Gove when he was Education minister). He left the post and went to work as a teaching assistant. I don't think he ever trained as a teacher, though I may be wrong. I think he now considers himself to be a big shot in education on the strength of it.

(I'm not dissing TAs; I was one myself, but it's a strange career trajectory)

Will this be available to listen to later, DaisyAnne?. I'm supposed to be doing other things ATM...

It was Blair.

www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/10/headteacher-blair-peter-hyman-school

LizzieDrip

DaisyAnne in the true spirit of an open-minded socialist, I’m going to watch the conference. It’s always good to listen to a range of views. Don’t know what made me so narrow-minded this morning - not usually my style. Off to the conference now!

Thank you so much LizzieDrip. It's a long watch but it's facinating to see the people already driving the future discussing how we, our children and grandchildren can be part of it.

I got the impression he is running a company now Maisie. Maybe the TA job was to get insight? I don't know. He may be wrong but then, perhaps we could have a positive other person come along and say "I see what you say but what if we did this a bit differently by using/doing/including x or y?

We need to be positive again. Anger and spitefulness are getting us nowhere.

Maisie

Chap from SnapChat on now. The "doctor" was Professor the Lord Ari Darzi.

Anger and spitefulness are getting us nowhere

Anger and spitefulness from politicians and their henchpeople are getting us nowhere

Blair is yesterdays man he should keep his mouth shut, his policy of deregulation caused many problems in 2008, not to mention getting involved in Iraq.

Britain is going to have a tough time in the next few years if Ukraine crisis continues, getting through next winter is the first challenge. If Russia is to be “confronted” a lot more is going to need spending on defence, Liz Truss was quite hawkish about defence and the threat from Russia, China was mentioned too.

Galaxy

He largely failed? There have been two labour PMS in the last 70 years. One was Blair. Thank God my definition of failure for the labour party is slightly different.

There have been four Labour Prime Ministers in the most recent 70 years as of June 2022.

Mr Wilson, Mr Callaghan, Mr Blair, Mr Brown.

Only two of them, Mr Wilson and Mr Blair, won a General Election while Party Leader.

It was Blair.

www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/10/headteacher-blair-peter-hyman-school

OMG, growstuff. Was it that long ago? It seems like yesterday...

Yes sorry Stardreamer you are completely correct. Winning elections is my priority as you can see

No need to be sorry! Mr Wilson won four General Elections as Party Leader, two of which as Prime Minister, and Mr Blair won three General Elections as Party Leader, two of which as Prime Minister.
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