How easy is it for a Minister to sell off his ministry?

This is the incredible story of how the UK was allowing
an idiot minister to ruin one of the most important
functions of society, the education of children.

It's amazing that this discovery was left to a children's
author, but Michael Rosen kicks butt. He went after
the government to get the Minister to reveal what
he did. Still, Rosen cannot get anybody interested
in reversing this bullshit.

Public assets given away, with no titles. Gove stealing
schools under any pretense , from councils and  giving
them to his buddies.
 
I read this story and thought "this is willful class warfare."

checkit: Michael rosen

Gove nicked our schools and handed them to his mates

Further to the question of 'hey Gove, where have the title deeds of our state schools gone?' there is a post on the Guardian comment is free site, in response to the story about Gove's criticism of Etonians in the cabinet.

I offer it with no comment. People better informed than me can judge whether it's on the button or not...

Start: "Since Gove took over - schools all over England failing, free schools being shut down, academy companies being stripped of control of schools

Absolute CHAOS - so why did Gove deliberately create such chaos

Each time a school becomes an academy the council must hand over the title deeds for the school if it has them (avg value £5m per school)

As over 2,000 schools have been forced to become academies that is £10 billion (min) state assets Michael Gove has demanded the title deeds be handed to him

I wrote an FOI request to Michael Gove's department and asked him where are the title deeds to England's schools

After 3 months he still refused to answer - I had to involve the information commissioner who wrote and demanded they answer within 10 days

And now we find out why Michael Gove did not want to answer the reply I got

The department of Education has absolutely no record of any of the title deeds for the school - not in paper format or electronic format

Now as councils held title deeds for state assets safely for decades - and Michael Gove used the Academies Bill to force councils to hand them to him - the Secretary of State For Education -

Where are all the title deeds for the schools Mr Gove

At the end they told me to write to a company the Tory Party Treasurer is on the board of - and ask the private company if they know what Michael Gove has done with the title deeds for state assets

Any good magician will tell you - create a distraction - to get away with the trick

And the trick here is - Michael Gove transferring £10 billion of state assets to private companies - where no payment was received for the state assets - and taxpayers forced to pay over £50,000,000 in legal fees alone to fund the trick

Thatcher sold state assets - Michael Gove gives them away - and some of the companies he gave them away to - just happen to have very prominent Tory party members on the boards - with us even paying all legal fees

Now I live in Scotland - but if it was my school that became an academy I would be writing to Michael Gove right now - and speaking to my councillors right now and demanding to know where are the title deeds for my school - because these schools are state assets (or they were until Michael Gove disposed of the title deeds with absolutely not a thing on record in the Dof E)

that's what you call magic

Now the reality is Michael Gove has set up Southern Cross For Education - where

Academy companies have the title deeds for schools - they can sell them - and then sign extortionate leases to rent them (and the money goes offshore to the Cayman Islands as "excess funds")

Now Gove changed the law to say Academy's don't have to publish their accounts publicly - unlike every other charity in the country

And Gove changed the law to say No Academy trustee can be held liable for any losses

And Gove is currently trying to change the Academies bill to say instead of the title deeds going to " the proprietor of the school" - to "someone associated with the school"

Now does that mean the Tory Party Treasurer, instead of putting your school's title deeds in Ark Schools name - he can instead put your school's title deeds in the Tory Party Treasurer's name

Now if that is not "cronyism" of the most absolutely shocking sort - I don't know what is

Serious investigations need to be asked as to how Michael Gove can have "lost" the title deeds for £10 billion of state assets without a trace - after councils kept them safe for decades!"

 

Proof that Gove messes with curriculum

Those of you in UK know that this country is very
London-centric, and when it comes to politics,
very cabinet-centric.
The UK cabinet gets its fingers stuck into the most
minute details of daily life. So, when we say
"the minister is ruining the ministry", we know
what we're talking about.
One of the best guys for following the Education
minister, Michael Gove, is Michael Rosen,
my "stable-mate" at

michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com

This is what has happened to History, English
and Science, which has stood up to Gove.

checkit: michaelrosenblog

Gove had to listen to the science educators
Today, at a conference of primary science specialists, I got an interesting insight into the uneven way in which education policy is being arrived at. As many people reading this will know, when it comes to the English and History curricula in schools, Gove's fingerprints are all over the curriculum and - more importantly - the tests which de facto determine the curriculum. This has caused advisers to resign, send letters of protest and professional associations have sent written submissions which have been almost entirely overlooked. Decades of experience have been overlooked.
 But what has happened with science.
It does seem as if Gove and gang have been forced to listen to what experienced teachers of science have told them. The draft curricula were rewritten. The science teachers and advisers seem to think that a truly awful document (the draft) has been thrown out and something much better has replaced it, though reservations were expressed about the fact that the notion of 'science' in primary schools was being weighted - perhaps too heavily - towards biology. A bit of a return to 'nature study' some felt....

Engineering-free zone: the UK

why should the UK let a bit of technology
get in the way of their dumbing-down of
the plebs' kids in state schools?

Now, Google give the UK a friendly kick
in the head. I wonder why all the big
software companies are all American.
hhhmmm

checkit: Press Association

..Google boss attacks UK education

Dr Eric Schmidt said Britain must drastically change its education system to avoid …

....The head of internet giant Google has attacked the British education system, warning the country risks falling behind in the digital age unless it makes drastic changes.

Dr Eric Schmidt called for a return to a "Victorian" approach bringing "art and science back together".

Addressing the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, he is expected to say something has to be done to "reignite" children's passion for science and technology.

He praised British television as a success story but warned "everything" could still go wrong.

He said: "If I may be so impolite, your track record isn't great.

"The UK is home of so many media-related inventions. You invented photography. You invented TV. You invented computers in both concept and practice. It's not widely known, but the world's first office computer was built in 1951 by Lyon's chain of tea shops. Yet today, none of the world's leading exponents in these fields are from the UK."

Giving the keynote MacTaggart Lecture, he added: "Think back to the glory days of the Victorian era. It was a time when the same people wrote poetry and built bridges."

The IT boss said the UK has seen "a drift to the humanities" and people were divided into boffins and luvvies.

He said he was "flabbergasted" that computer science was not taught as standard in UK schools, adding: "Your IT curriculum focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight into how it's made. That is just throwing away your great computing heritage."

Dr Schmidt is the first non-broadcaster to give the landmark lecture, which is dedicated to the memory of actor and producer James MacTaggart.

Cameron's patricide, or how immoral is Jimmy Carr?

When it comes to criticising a comic about his tax avoidance,
which until loosey-goosey UK law is not illegal, it's not far
for one to assume that David Cameron is criticising his
dead father and the offshore millions which that father hid
in the Caymans.

IshitUnot: 2 texts
Telegraph

Jimmy Carr: 'I've made a terrible error of judgement'

By Hannah Furness | Telegraph

Jimmy Carr has pulled out of a tax avoidance scheme after it was described as "morally wrong", saying he had made a "terrible error of judgement".

The comedian had been exposed as the biggest beneficiary of the K2 scheme, which protects money from tax in Jersey.

In a statement released via his Twitter page, Mr Carr apologised and promised to conduct his financial affairs "much more responsibly".

He told his 2.3 million followers: "I appreciate as a comedian, people will expect me to ‘make light’ of this situation, but I’m not going to in this statement as this is obviously a serious matter.

"I met with a financial advisor and he said to me 'Do you want to pay less tax? It’s totally legal.' I said 'Yes.'

"I now realise I’ve made a terrible error of judgement.

"Although I’ve been advised the K2 Tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), I’m no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly. Apologies to everyone."

[Related link: Earn interest tax free - the top-paying cash ISAs]

His mea culpa came after David Cameron said it was "morally wrong" to avoid tax using such a scheme.

In response, Labour leader Ed Miliband said politicians should not lecture people about morality.

Mr Miliband said: "I'm not in favour of tax avoidance obviously, but I don't think it is for politicians to lecture people about morality.

"I think what the politicians need to do is - if the wrong thing is happening - change the law to prevent that tax avoidance happening and I think that is the right course the Government should take.

... The tax scheme is understood to protect £168m a year from the taxman in Jersey, with Jimmy Carr as its largest beneficiary.

Speaking at the G20 summit the Prime Minister told ITV News : "I think some of these schemes - and I think particularly of the Jimmy Carr scheme - I have had time to read about and I just think this is completely wrong.

... Today it was claimed that members of pop group Take That had also invested at least £26m in a scheme believed by HMRC to be a method of avoiding tax.

... Chancellor George Osborne has claimed he was left “shocked” after finding the extent to which multi-millionaires were exploiting tax loopholes and vowed to take “action”. [nice bit of acting, George- ]

 2  

guardian.co.uk

Cameron family fortune made in tax havens

Revealed: David Cameron's father built up legal offshore funds in Panama and Geneva

Ed Howker and Shiv Malik

Friday 20 April 2012 22.01 BST Article history 

David Cameron's father ran a network of offshore investment funds to help build the family fortune that paid for the prime minister's inheritance, the Guardian can reveal.

Though entirely legal, the funds were set up in tax havens such as Panama City and Geneva, and explicitly boasted of their ability to remain outside UK tax jurisdiction.

At the time of his death in late 2010, Ian Cameron left a fortune of £2.74m in his will, from which David Cameron received the sum of £300,000.

Cameron and other cabinet members have recently suggested that they would be willing to disclose their personal tax filings amid growing scrutiny following the budget, but this would only shed light on annual sources of income rather than accumulated wealth or inheritance.

how one picture can scare a nation

Does this man look like he's in control of his mind or his sphincter, let alone
the economy of one of the world's biggest countries?




Well, at his alma mater, Eton, there is a statue of Heracles/Hercules
holding one of the heads of the hydra. Herc kept cutting off heads
and they kept growing back.
It sounds like the banks. You just can't kill them. This world needs a Herc.
NOW!

stamped 'FAIL'

a couple of report cards just came in for the Ruling Classes, and the marks
are similar to Greece's Fitch rating. Caa with a 'K', for knockout. caak. sh*t

George Osbourne is lambasted for not rearranging the bank thing. The bonehead
writing in the Guardian (see below) actually thinks that Ozzie or anybody else would
do the right thing. I wonder how stunned he is, but he is correct.
The great thing is that the rest of the media is still selling the

"all is well" message
to keep the protests to a minimum
and to make sure that the poorest will lose the most
when it all comes crashing down.
They probably know the date and time.

Trashing #2 the Universities minister,

One boot to the head from that guy's university
(see below)

checkitout: 2 texts
The UK could be leading with a new economic approach, instead we follow
A consensus in favour of stimulus has disappeared – and Britain is leading the way in the wrong direction
o Will Hutton
o guardian.co.uk, Saturday 4 June 2011 21.36 BST
Two years ago the world was agreed that the aftermath of the banking crisis required the most delicate handling. World leaders were alert to the example of the United States in the 1930s and Japan in the 1990s after its financial crash. In both cases a too-early return to the principles of good housekeeping and premature public belt-tightening caused a terrible wobble in the recovery.

This time it would be different. Governments would spend and borrow to keep the recovery going, recognising their special responsibilities while both consumers and businesses were carrying enormous levels of private debt – and banks were crippled. They would spend to compensate.

Today that consensus has vanished. The varying stimulus packages in 2009, along with a worldwide bank bailout that cost some $14 trillion, worked almost too well. Everybody believes recovery is established and that they can focus on restoring their national balance sheets to order.

European governments, quailing before the markets' assault on Greece, Portugal and Ireland – with Spain and even Italy facing the tremors – are united in a belief that the defence of the euro requires budgetary stringency.
2
David Willetts's former tutor says: 'I have no confidence in him'

Universities minister faces votes of no confidence from Oxford and Cambridge dons calling for his removal from office
* Daniel Boffey, Policy editor
* guardian.co.uk, Saturday 4 June 2011 21.55 BST

Oxford and Cambridge dons attempting to force the resignation of the universities minister, David Willetts, have been given a boost by a declaration from the politician's former economics tutor that he had "no confidence in him".

The controlling bodies of the universities are due to stage a vote calling for the minister's removal from office amid growing unrest over the government's trebling of the limit on tuition fees and recent announcements on higher education policy.

Now, speaking to the Observer, Peter Oppenheimer, an emeritus professor at Christ Church, Oxford, and a tutor to the beleaguered minister in the mid-1970s, has admitted: "I have no confidence in him, absolutely. He was a highly intelligent and thoughtful person, very able – but no politician. He has got the kind of open-mindedness which enables him to see the value of a whole range of points of view, especially that of the person he last talked to."

Senior academics at Cambridge and Oxford are calling on Willetts, nicknamed "Two Brains" for his reputed intelligence, to reconsider the hike in undergraduate tuition fees, cuts to higher education and what they say are "incoherent" messages on university admissions. Almost 150 academics at Cambridge, including the renowned poet Jeremy Halvard Prynne, have signed a motion of no confidence in the minister. It will be sent to the university's council, which is expected to endorse it and the university will then need to tell the government that it has passed a vote of no confidence in Willetts by the end of this month.

this is the caring guy we need to help our children

@sarc Education Minister David Willetts, and in the painting, just Dave

a glowering technocrat, with a painting of his vainglorious boss.
Really approachable and down-to-earth bunch... for Oxford, anyway.

What is he really saying? Here's an American translation:

"One way or the other, you're kids are screwed."

From the interviews I've seen of Willetts, he does not really care to engage in debate. He shuts down any kind of real discussion of his policies, and notice how he's not even invited to the BBC anymore. That's democracy at work.

What he should be doing is smoothing the progress of students into university, especially into the courses that the UK needs, like engineering, visual arts (e.g. video game technology), sciences. You never know what advanced education will bring to the UK. As it stands, because kids are not well-educated and have few role-models for the above subjects, and ZERO encouragement, this has created a problem. It seems kids here need encouragement.
However, Oxbridge graduates don't really care, as long as they get to rule the roost in Westminster. They've never really worked in their lives before. So, there's your education ministry. Ministering to sycophants and the rich only.

Prime directive:
Arrangements for their buddies kids to work at Finnish banks,
like the one Clegg-er worked for.

Finnishing school! AHAAHAhahAhAhAHAhAh
xD

-Cosine67 ~~