New Tory Leader

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

So she didn't die in vain.

 

We must start a campaign

Just Stop Andrea

[MooreMarriot 313]

Boris and Carrie Johnson have announced the birth of a son, their third child together and first since he stood down as prime minister.

Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson was born on 5 July.

Was to be Charlotte if it was a girl.

 

[Herman 9,842]

21 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

So she didn't die in vain.

 

2015 was a busy year.

 

[nevermind, neoliberalism has had it 159]

Nothing a tsunami on a wed. high noon couldn't solve, rats need drowning.

[Herman 9,842]

Oliver Dowden is still the most slapable tory MP. Which takes some going. 

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

Sue Gray, she could make a few quid in the defamation courts. 

 

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

The best part of this story is that there is something called the 'Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/12/nadine-dorries-may-face-inquiry-over-forceful-emails-about-denied-peerage-boris-johnson

Nadine Dorries has been reported to the chief whip and Commons speaker after allegedly sending “forceful” emails to the government about not being given a peerage.

In a highly unusual move, the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, revealed he had “flagged” the issue to the parliamentary authorities, and also asked for advice about any potential breach of the law.

[Herman 9,842]

Enough of the distraction, has Boris Johnson handed his phone into the covid inquiry? 

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

24 minutes ago, Herman said:

Enough of the distraction, has Boris Johnson handed his phone into the covid inquiry? 

He needs to delete all the messages he got from Huw Edwards and move the £35k he received into his Swiss account before he can hand it over.

Edited July 13, 2023 by A Load of Squit

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

Bl00dy King Charles, he's just another fifth columnist trying to destroy the country.

 

[Yellow Fever 3,844]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

Bl00dy King Charles, he's just another fifth columnist trying to destroy the country.

 

Don't our Royalist friends claim that the Monarchy and all this pomp an ceremony is a net positive - all those extra tourists! Perhaps not. 

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

 

 

[BroadstairsR 2,218]

It was unfortunate that it was left to one of the thickest of politicians ever to grace the Houses of Parliament  ever in Liz Truss to promulgate the theory of growth and self-sufficiency as being the direction for our debt-ridden country should take. 

Reducing the higher rate of taxation was a massive mistake in timing if not in reasoning. It was pin-pointed to the extent it brought about the downfall of the whole ideal. Ridiculous move.

Now Sunak is obsessed with bringing the debt repayments down. Necessary of course, but not at the expense of destroying the outlook for millions of people suffering on NHS waiting lists. 

That it is now come to '6% take it or leave it' is callous. Unreasonable for junior doctors and the death knell for many.

This truly obnoxious Tory government, headed by a well-healed automaton without compassion, will go.

Labour will give way, but debt will rise.

We need Trussism without Truss.

May be socialism without the unconvincing and seemingly idealistic free Starmer, who knows?

Even old Kinnock would have given this current shower of self-embracing sh-ite a harder time.

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by BroadstairsR

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

Mad Nads is writing a book about Boris Johnson? 

No spoilers but I predicting a happy ending.

 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

2 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

Mad Nads is writing a book about Boris Johnson? 

No spoilers but I predicting a happy ending.

 

So she has been writing a book, appearing on her on TV show. Does she actually do anything for her constituents? Its fraud to take the money.

[Yellow Fever 3,844]

Well the next 'new' Tory leader isn't going to be Wallace.

Anybody and everybody rational has or is bailing out. The never ending gifts of Johnsonism.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Yellow Fever

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

Could the reason no-one in the government wants to name these terrible university degrees that they want to get rid of is that they don't want to upset James Cleverly (BA Hons Hospitality Management Studies)?

 

 

[dylanisabaddog 5,031]

22 hours ago, Yellow Fever said:

Well the next 'new' Tory leader isn't going to be Wallace.

Anybody and everybody rational has or is bailing out. The never ending gifts of Johnsonism.

I'm unlikely to ever vote Tory but nevertheless I'm glad to hear he's staying on until the election. He's the best of a very poor bunch at the moment. His interview in the Sunday Times yesterday was terrifying and unfortunately probably accurate. His view of the world in 10 years time is disturbing and there's little or nothing we can do about it. 

One part of the interview about Ukraine was funny. Wallace and the Ukrainian defence secretary developed their own code for weapons, each of which was given the name of a whisky. When Wallace went to meet his Russian counterpart he gave him a bottle of Glenfiddich, much to the amusement of the Ukrainians. 

Edited July 17, 2023 by dylanisabaddog

[Barbe bleu 834]

2 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

Could the reason no-one in the government wants to name these terrible university degrees that they want to get rid of is that they don't want to upset James Cleverly (BA Hons Hospitality Management Studies)?

 

 

I get the joke, James cleverly must be thick as he did a Mickey mouse degree.Putting aside the question about how offensive this sort of statement is to a lot of people and universities, isn't there a wider question about what universities should offer?

Seems to me that it is not really the vocational degrees that are likely at threat but the arts and the humanities.  I would imagine that vocational degrees have a higher degree of rigour than is popularly supposed and  offer a pathway to future employment.  Degrees in the arts and humanities will be seen by many of of equal importance but  because they have less measurable economic effect they might be the ones that get cut.  Do we want this?

[Yellow Fever 3,844]

17 minutes ago, Barbe bleu said:

I get the joke, James cleverly must be thick as he did a Mickey mouse degree.Putting aside the question about how offensive this sort of statement is to a lot of people and universities, isn't there a wider question about what universities should offer?

Seems to me that it is not really the vocational degrees that are likely at threat but the arts and the humanities.  I would imagine that vocational degrees have a higher degree of rigour than is popularly supposed and  offer a pathway to future employment.  Degrees in the arts and humanities will be seen by many of of equal importance but  because they have less measurable economic effect they might be the ones that get cut.  Do we want this?

I would be very keen to cut the number of arts and humanities degrees - especially with politicians. 

How many have STEM subject degrees?

Too many seem to be able to wax lyrical on the plays of Shakespeare or our 'Glorious Past' but couldn't as stated grasp an exponential function when Covid came along!

We need to stop analyzing or luxuriating in our past unless we just want to be a quaint tourist destination and actually get a grip on the hard stuff - as we used to do in the day of the industrial and scientific revolutions through to the Victorian age. That's what made Britain  'Great' not endless navel gazing.

[A Load of Squit 5,224]

1 hour ago, Barbe bleu said:

I get the joke, James cleverly must be thick as he did a Mickey mouse degree.Putting aside the question about how offensive this sort of statement is to a lot of people and universities, isn't there a wider question about what universities should offer?

 

Nope, you've completely missed the point to be passive aggressive, you failed.

 

[Barbe bleu 834]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

Nope, you've completely missed the point to be passive aggressive, you failed.

 

Not really passive, more aggressive.  Pot and kettle though matey.  You come on here to snipe. I quite like to respond to that in the same way.

I would have ignored the post but I think you inadvertently did aise an issue of interest that I thought I might explore a bit

Edited July 17, 2023 by Barbe bleu

[Barbe bleu 834]

1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

I would be very keen to cut the number of arts and humanities degrees - especially with politicians. 

How many have STEM subject degrees?

Too many seem to be able to wax lyrical on the plays of Shakespeare or our 'Glorious Past' but couldn't as stated grasp an exponential function when Covid came along!

We need to stop analyzing or luxuriating in our past unless we just want to be a quaint tourist destination and actually get a grip on the hard stuff - as we used to do in the day of the industrial and scientific revolutions through to the Victorian age. That's what made Britain  'Great' not endless navel gazing.

Exactly the sort of conversation I think we need.

There is a strong school of thought that further and higher education should be centred on  employment opportunities and that university should be primarily about skill building and matching supply if that with demand.   But there is another that emphasises the role the arts and humanities have in life and the belief that not everything can or should be measured in GDP.

If only there was a university lecturer here to give their view...

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

39 minutes ago, Barbe bleu said:

Exactly the sort of conversation I think we need.

There is a strong school of thought that further and higher education should be centred on  employment opportunities and that university should be primarily about skill building and matching supply if that with demand.   But there is another that emphasises the role the arts and humanities have in life and the belief that not everything can or should be measured in GDP.

If only there was a university lecturer here to give their view...

How far do we widen the education debate? Much of what YF says is true and popular I believe.

So I will say that further education should be free at source but the entry should be tougher. Clearly sponsorship is a must for some subjects. 

Varsity has become to easy and unecessary I believe. Much of the subjects clearly are not degree worthy and could be easily served by Polytechs.

And I believe there is an elitism among educational establishments such as Eton that clearly afford the attendee the ability to flunk but be rewarded.

[Barbe bleu 834]

20 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

How far do we widen the education debate? Much of what YF says is true and popular I believe.

So I will say that further education should be free at source but the entry should be tougher. Clearly sponsorship is a must for some subjects. 

Varsity has become to easy and unecessary I believe. Much of the subjects clearly are not degree worthy and could be easily served by Polytechs.

And I believe there is an elitism among educational establishments such as Eton that clearly afford the attendee the ability to flunk but be rewarded.

I cant agree on vocational degrees I'm afraid.

There's always been a lot of snobbery around 'new degrees' like hotel management or wine studies or whatever, but it always comes from people that haven't actually taken the course and can't really speak about the rigour of study.  Those same people will then happily accept that law, medicine and engineering are elite degrees,  ignoring that they are vocational too.

Where I suspect we would agree is that more learning should be on the job but given the recognition it deserves.

 

 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,605]

11 hours ago, Barbe bleu said:

I cant agree on vocational degrees I'm afraid.

There's always been a lot of snobbery around 'new degrees' like hotel management or wine studies or whatever, but it always comes from people that haven't actually taken the course and can't really speak about the rigour of study.  Those same people will then happily accept that law, medicine and engineering are elite degrees,  ignoring that they are vocational too.

Where I suspect we would agree is that more learning should be on the job but given the recognition it deserves.

 

 

To me, largely classroom based approaches to vocational subjects makes no sense at all. Degrees used to be foundations for going into academic study; practical subjects should involve much more practical experience in the learning process.

Things like nursing, being a mechanic, civil engineering, and so on, have academic elements, but it makes more sense to me to learn much of it hands on, while complementing it with the academic studies at appropriate timing.

Maybe you could give this sort of thing a snazzy new name to push it? I thought 'apprenticeship' had a good ring to it.

[Herman 9,842]

 

[Yellow Fever 3,844]

2 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

To me, largely classroom based approaches to vocational subjects makes no sense at all. Degrees used to be foundations for going into academic study; practical subjects should involve much more practical experience in the learning process.

Things like nursing, being a mechanic, civil engineering, and so on, have academic elements, but it makes more sense to me to learn much of it hands on, while complementing it with the academic studies at appropriate timing.

Maybe you could give this sort of thing a snazzy new name to push it? I thought 'apprenticeship' had a good ring to it.

I think you are confusing what I would call a 'technician' from an 'engineer' (which should be a protected title in the UK as per most of the ROW i.e. France), doctor and so on. There is a lot of academic study in being a doctor, designing an aircraft, your PC, an engine or a TV. These are skill sets well beyond any normal apprenticeship - engineering in particular has a lot of heavy maths (at a level of a full maths, or in some aspects, even higher degree level). How's your Quantum mechanics - that's the basis of semiconductors and band gaps etc?

The 'technician' can fix your car, fix your gas boiler or indeed your TV and a nurse or the nurse practitioner can in limited situations fix you!

It is sadly one of the acknowledged issues in the UK that we confuse 'engineer' and 'technician' (cf. motor, gas, water 'engineer' and so on all of which are very much ideally suited apprenticeships but don't need degrees).

The same I would suggest goes for many 'vocational' degrees even some that as BB note may appear strange (hotel management).

My beef with the current system is that we produce far too many people with non-vocational degrees such as English, History, Classics etc which are actually cheap to teach but lead where for this country? - Civil Service, Politics (Gove) or PM (Johnson). Sad truth is that these are the kind of people we've had in charge for far too long and they feel entitled. No wonder we are in the mess we are. There should be far fewer of these types of non-vocational degree course available.

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Yellow Fever

[TheGunnShow 6,029]

1 hour ago, Herman said:

 

Ah, Miriam Cates, the latest imbecile du jour. She's basically the "pick-me" woman for the spastically atavistic.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,605]

 

 

1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

I think you are confusing what I would call a 'technician' from an 'engineer' (which should be a protected title in the UK as per most of the ROW i.e. France), doctor and so on. There is a lot of academic study in being a doctor, designing an aircraft, your PC, an engine or a TV. These are skill sets well beyond any normal apprenticeship - engineering in particular has a lot of heavy maths (at a level of a full maths, or in some aspects, even higher degree level). How's your Quantum mechanics - that's the basis of semiconductors and band gaps etc?

The 'technician' can fix your car, fix your gas boiler or indeed your TV and a nurse or the nurse practitioner can in limited situations fix you!

It is sadly one of the acknowledged issues in the UK that we confuse 'engineer' and 'technician' (cf. motor, gas, water 'engineer' and so on all of which are very much ideally suited apprenticeships but don't need degrees).

The same I would suggest goes for many 'vocational' degrees even some that as BB note may appear strange (hotel management).

My beef with the current system is that we produce far too many people with non-vocational degrees such as English, History, Classics etc which are actually cheap to teach but lead where for this country? - Civil Service, Politics (Gove) or PM (Johnson). Sad truth is that these are the kind of people we've had in charge for far too long and they feel entitled. No wonder we are in the mess we are. There should be far fewer of these types of non-vocational degree course available.

 

You're right: Civil engineering shouldn't have been bracketed in there.

Also agree that it's a tragic cultural attribute that technical disciplines tend to be looked down on.

The primary skill needed to be a successful politician is to get votes, which means your most important skill will be good communication style. That inevitably means there's going to be a bias towards more essay-based subjects compared to more mathematically-based subjects. Sad, but true.

Edited July 18, 2023 by littleyellowbirdie