I must stop waking up to Radio 4. Quite apart from the fact that my eldest daughter tells me it isn’t “cool”, too often it raises my blood pressure before I’ve had a chance to gulp a first restorative cuppa.
So it was when waking to the Opposition education spokesman giving it some on the back of a study done in 2012, purporting to show how much our children had slipped behind other countries in reading, maths and science.
What the study actually showed was the consequences of 13 years of misrule by the last lot, since kids tested would, of course, have been educated before the education reforms of the coalition Government.
The solution offered by the Opposition is just as bizarre. Instead of giving headteachers more autonomy, which most save the teaching unions appear to think is a good thing, they’d reverse the process set in train by, eh, the last Government.
My friend Boris John-son, below, gets away, endearingly, with the odd faux pas because of his humour and the sense people rightly have that he is well intentioned.
However, reflecting on the inherited nature of intelligence and where that may lead you, he was skating on thin ice. Some things are best left unsaid by politicians, since they will almost certainly be misconstrued.
Lots of things, genetic and environmental, influence human abilities and attributes, strengths and weaknesses. It may sound prim to say so, but if you’re blessed with great gifts you should be prepared to shoulder significant responsibility to improve life for those who have been dealt a less favourable hand.
That’s a belief I think can be shared across the political spectrum.
Well done David Cameron, for leading such a successful trade mission to China.
The value of business that the PM’s attracted to Britain is impressive and will percolate throughout the UK economy, boosting jobs and helping to power us out of Brownian gloom. As I write, George Osborne is putting the finishing touches to his autumn statement.
May the budget be forever in your favour.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here