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By Richard Watts and Graham Copp Former senior staff members from both sides of the Europe debate believe the AV referendum is almost certain to be lost. Labour should be careful not to go down with the ship. Before working together in…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 Thirty two. That's the total number of new academies opening today under the government's so-called "school's revolution". There are around 20,000 schools in the country so a massive 0.16% of schools have…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 After the shock of the formation of the coalition it has taken a couple of months for the party to dust itself down and start a debate about how we actually win the next election. This brilliant post by…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 The government's schools revolution is beginning to look more like Paris 1968 than Russia 1917 - a lot of noise followed by a damp squib, rather than the real thing. A few weeks ago Michael Gove's…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 Local Government has borne the brunt of the Tory-Liberals early cuts to public services. Advised by a troop of investment bankers (who, after all, never get it wrong) the Tory-Liberal government thought it…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 The government's plan to introduce so-called free schools has not exactly met with a chorus of approval. Michael Gove considers free schools - a new school set up by parents (or more likely…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 When people who don't know the borough think of Islington they undoubtedly think of expensive coffee shops, multi-million pound Georgian houses and political deals brokered in expensive restaurants. In…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 For hundreds of communities across England, yesterday's announcement that their new school has been cancelled will come as a body blow. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was Labour's plan to rebuild or…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 It was kind of Michael Gove to write to all councillors in charge of children's services asking for our thoughts on how local authorities can play a "strong strategic role" in education. Indeed he goes as…
By Richard Watts / @richardwatts01 Whenever you mention to people from outside the borough that you are a councillor in Islington, very quickly the conversation turns to cappuccino shops, Arsenal and the question about how Labour wins in an…
By Richard Watts It is no exaggeration to say that our children's diets are in crisis. 92% of children currently consume too much saturated fat, 86% consume too much sugar, and 72% consume too much salt. 96% do not eat enough fruit and…
