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Let me start this article with a question. What is this building in the picture above’s age? The answer depends on your perspective. The building is called The House of the Blackheads and is in Riga, Latvia. It was originally built in 1334 as a warehouse, while Riga was part of the Hanseatic League. During WW2, Latvia was first invaded by the Soviets after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, then by the Germans and finally by the Soviets again. This led to…

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Many years ago the late Charles Stallard, father of the current Bishop of Llandaff and much the wisest man I have ever known, said to me that while a loyal Liberal Democrat he would probably vote for any party that agreed to do nothing in education or health for ten years. His logic was that every time you meddle, you create work, waste time and lose money. It would be better to have a prolonged period of calm to allow…

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In my previous header, I referred to teacher shortages, and noted they are about to get much worse. This is an explanation of that remark and why I think it’s Phillipson’s fault. At this moment, the National Curriculum is an optional thing for academy schools and trusts. This is actually good news. The reason I say that is because the last review of the curriculum was so content-heavy that it was literally impossible to deliver it properly, as I noted…

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So we move into the New Year with a blazing row about some fool of a Cabinet Minister shooting her mouth off over an educational policy they don’t understand and are dogmatically devoted to. I can’t help but feel I could have written that at any time over the last 80 years and I wouldn’t have been wrong except for sometimes having to change the pronoun. This year it is the turn of Bridget Phillipson and Rachel Reeves, who have…

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…so said Niels Bohr.  Or Karl Kristian Steincke, or a Danish proverb – take your pick.  In any event, PB posters found it rather tough to make accurate predictions this year.  In January 2024 we launched a PB Prediction Competition with 10 questions and a scoring scheme that generally allocated 20 points for a correct answer and 10 points for a near-miss.  We had 82 entrants.  Here are the questions with their answers and some commentary where appropriate:    1….

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Political Crossword Clues 2024 Across 1.) Former mayor in Germany’s capital rejected by minister (6) 5.   President or Prime Minister represented in slow motion (6) 9.   Tory has upset stomach and the runs (9) 10. Brown reflected over political alliance (4)  11.  Political thinker bonds with opponents around a table (6)  12.  Imperialist suspicious over America being taken in (3,5)  14. Pardon minister’s assistant spinning over a message (8)  16. Red or nearly Blue (4)  18. Dictator for a…

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Simple problem, difficult answer We haven’t been building enough. Although it’s not the only culprit behind outrageous house prices, it’s the most conspicuous one. Sort out house prices, and a lot of other things go some way to sorting themselves out.We also have an issue with failing infrastructure and apparent inability to build more without astonishing cost and time and incredible piles of paperwork. These are related in one single problem: planning is a broken process. It’s a simple problem…

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After much political drama these past years, now elections are out the way, isn’t it time for a dose of honesty, not just between us, but even to ourselves? And as much as it is fun seeing cocky Labour find every week is long and hard in government, and I’ve enjoyed rubbing it in alongside a great many other PB posters, I have decided that to be taken seriously, the best thing is to be more honest about it now….

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