BREXIT,
BREXIT, BREXIT.
The
Conservatives were exercised with Brexit and this dominated the event in the
press. Dancing Queen, Theresa May
(Independent School and Oxford Graduate) did her best to rally everyone around
the camp fire whilst a full blown bush fire raged around her [1]. The incongruous
sight of her dancing on stage took a while to sink in as the cringing subsided.
She used the words of Robert Binyon
from ‘For the Fallen’ written in 1914, when the horrors of war in Europe were first
sinking in back then. “At the going down
of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them”. The irony of
this inappropriate reference in the midst of escalating political conflict with
the EU over Brexit seemed to elude her. The UK stood by and defended democracy
in Europe more than once and at terrible cost. We cannot and should not just
walk away. She failed to add, “They went with songs to the battle, they were young….. They shall grow
not old, as we that are left grow old.”
Paraphrasing the Labour slogan she called on “A
party not for the few, not even for the many, but for everyone who is willing to
work hard and do their best”. Not a party for all then. A qualified
statement that must alienate those crushed by the terrible austerity and are still
trying in vain.
Boris
Johnson (Eton and Oxford Graduate) was the main comic turn at a fringe meeting
[2]. After a ‘Benny Hill’ style run in a field, he rolled into Birmingham to a
packed hall at the same time that the unfortunate Sajid Javid (Comprehensive
School and Exeter Economics
and Politics graduate), dubbed #uselessKhan by the incorrigible Johnson, was addressing a half
empty main hall. To senior Conservative
figures in the front row Boris challenged, “If
we cheat the electorate — and Chequers is a cheat — we will escalate the sense
of mistrust”. Can it be escalated further? It seems he is, making a
fine effort himself.
Education in the wings.
Education
Secretary, Damian Hinds (Grammar School and Oxford PPE graduate) followed his opposite number in Labour with his speech
on Education [3]. Like her, he shied
away from universities and fees. It seems that there is no real forward plan as
they wait for the now delayed Augar review to emerge. Also the ONS review of
loans, timed for later this year that will no doubt upset the apple cart. His
choice of reference to the past was not Abba or stirring poetry but Disraeli “It was the first One Nation Conservative,
the original, Benjamin Disraeli who said "Upon the education of the
people of this country, the fate of this country depends". He
also boasted that, “And the gap has been
narrowed. The gap between the rich and the poor in attainment has narrowed at
every stage and every phase from nursery school to university entry.” This seemed hard to grasp as a representation
of reality.
Higher Educations on the fringes.
The Minister
for Universities, Science, Research and
Innovation, Sam Gyimah (Academy School and Oxford PPE graduate) popped
up at several fringe meetings but on funding he remained reticent. ‘Waiting
for Augar’ seems to be the only plan. To quote ‘Waiting for Godot’, “There’s man all over for you, blaming on his
boots the faults of his feet.” Then there is the smoke from battleship HMS ‘ONS
Review’ now visible on the horizon.
The
Education Policy Institute hosted a meeting on ‘What do we need from
universities?’ chaired by Natalie Perera (Education
Policy Institute Director of a Multi-Academy Trust). The balanced views were
provided in the blue corner by David Willetts (Independent School and Oxford PPE graduate) Professor Sir Chris Husbands (Former
Grammar School, Sixth form College and Cambridge graduate) and Rachel Wolf (Former
education adviser to the Prime Minister and Cambridge graduate). In the red
corner was the redoubtable NUS president Shakira Martin (Lewisham
and Southwark College) who deliberately did not bring her towel to throw in.
The Higher
Education Policy Institute, with that partner University Partnerships Programme
(a private provider of on-campus residential and academic accommodation
infrastructure), hosted a roundtable. HEPI Director Nick Hillman (Cambridge
graduate and former advisor to David Willetts) was joined by Neil Carmichael,
former Chair of the Education Select Committee and Professor Robert Allison (Kings
College London graduate and Vice-Chancellor at Loughborough University).
Representative
of everyone
who is willing to work hard?
The
conference could hardly claim to offer much that was representative of ordinary people. Although
the Labour Party conference (see TEFS September 28, 2018 last week [4]) showed
that its perspective was skewed in some places, it made genuine efforts to address
the pressing needs of a society that is slipping fast. The Conservative party perspective
is almost skewed to total social blindness. The two cultures divide seems to be
well embedded with the Conservative leadership and its blinkered monoculture perspective
is approaching a critical stage as technology advances. It is hard to see how
solutions to economic challenges in a technical world, social problems and
social mobility could emerge from its ranks.
Owen Jones
of the Guardian has produced a quirky video [5] of the conference that seems to
catch the mood overall.
Mike Larkin, retired from Queen's University Belfast after 37 years teaching Microbiology, Biochemistry and Genetics.
References.
[2] 'Daggers drawn': what the papers say about Boris Johnson's speech. Guardian Wed 3 Oct 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/oct/03/daggers-drawn-what-the-papers-say-about-boris-johnsons-speech
Video at: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=boris+johnston+speech+confenence+2018&qpvt=boris+johnston+speech+confenence+2018&view=detail&mid=4A3B6228BCCD073721414A3B6228BCCD07372141&&FORM=VRDGAR.
[3]
Times Education Supplement. Damian Hinds' Conservative conference speech in full
https://www.tes.com/news/damian-hinds-conservative-conference-speech-full
[4] TEFS
September 28th 2018 Labour
Party Conference 2018: National Education Service and a tale of Two Cultures
https://studentequality.tefs.info/2018/09/labour-party-conference-2018-national.html
[5] Owen
Jones Owen Jones: my search for life at the Tory conference – video
Comments
Post a Comment
Constructive comments please.
Did you have a free Higher Education?