Eamon Dyas I came upon this as a post from someone called Robert Stewart on Facebook. His profile says that he "is a property entrepreneur, former RAF fighter pilot and housing commentator specialising in unlocking housing supply through commercial conversion, brownfield development and planning reform". Apparently he also ran a scaffolding company. Although he’s not … Continue reading Building and Apprenticeships—Views from the front line
Education and Training
Labour’s Policy on Apprenticeships.
Smoke and Mirrors. Dave Gardner Labour is trumpeting its vocational education policy: “More skilled brickies, carpenters and healthcare support workers will soon be trained up as we continue our drive to get Britain working, with landmark reforms announced today (27 May 2025) that refocus the skills landscape towards young, domestic talent. The measures, backed by … Continue reading Labour’s Policy on Apprenticeships.
Workers’ Party of Britain Education & Youth Manifesto
The WPB recognises that a new young party of the Left needs to mobilise voters and activists from the new generation. The Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn seemed to recognise this and published a Youth Manifesto in 2019. There does not seem to have been any significant policy thinking in this area since the fall of … Continue reading Workers’ Party of Britain Education & Youth Manifesto
Apprenticeships—by a Former Apprentice
John Clayden Government Training Centres were I think set up during the war or just after and were nationwide and were set up with trade union cooperation but were later destroyed by Thatcher. The one in Perivale West London I attended covered the various building trades and engineering trades, sheet metal work as well … Continue reading Apprenticeships—by a Former Apprentice
The Apprenticeship Fiasco
Dave Gardner Half the young people in Britain do not intend to go to university. Many of those who do, feel that they have no choice, even if they don’t particularly wish to. But what other choices do they have? This is where choices for young people become problematic. The main educational destination is a … Continue reading The Apprenticeship Fiasco
School Meals in the Lords
Children’s school meals Debate in the House of Lords 27/03/23 https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2023-03-27/debates/EAB74562-AB3E-4799-95CE-49E7A40FAD65/Children’s SchoolMeals Question Asked by Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review and revise the children’s school meal regulations to reduce the levels of processed sugar and to provide incentives to encourage the use of alternatives such as stevia. … Continue reading School Meals in the Lords
Labour’s Vocational Education Policy
A New Beginning? Dave Gardner This journal has for some time bemoaned the Labour Party’s lack of interest in a matter of the first concern to working people, vocational education and training (VET). In Robert Halfon MP on the other hand, the Tories have a Minister of State responsible for VET who is exceptionally knowledgeable … Continue reading Labour’s Vocational Education Policy
Insulation Rebellion — Editorial
Why making good policy requires careful thinking and plenty of time. Britain has just begun to face what will prove to be a long drawn-out cost of living crisis. In part this is caused by labour and supply chain shortages resulting from the Covid pandemic, but a more fundamental issue is the cost of energy, … Continue reading Insulation Rebellion — Editorial
Skills v Knowledge
Skills v Knowledge, or the balance between university education and vocational education. The Tory head of the Education Committee has the right ideas, as seen in his exchanges with Nadhim Zahawi, the Secretary of State for education, during the debate on the Schools White Paper, Monday 28th March 2022 — Commons Chamber Robert Halfon: The White Paper … Continue reading Skills v Knowledge
What Shall I Do Next?
What Am I Going to do Next? Part 12 Where will the money come from? Dave Gardner Funding for universities through student loans: why this is a nonsense In a previous article I noted the inequality in funding between universities and vocational education. Universities get roughly five times as much money per student as do … Continue reading What Shall I Do Next?
University or bust Part 2
What am I going to do next? Part 11 Dave Gardner In part 8 of this series I looked at mass university education in Britain and concluded that it had some significant harmful side effects. This was not a whinge along the lines of ‘more means worse’, a snobbish slogan attributed to the novelist Kingsley … Continue reading University or bust Part 2
Labour Affairs 