Browse content similar to 13/11/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to the Baltic shore in the South West. | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
Few issues in education divide people as sharply as drum -- | :32:13. | :32:19. | |
grammar schools. -- welcome to the Politics Show. Some people say they | :32:19. | :32:25. | |
brutally brand most children as failures by the age of 11. The | :32:25. | :32:32. | |
Conservative's party's previous pledge to build more grammar | :32:32. | :32:37. | |
schools has been replaced by a ban on building any at all. Mr Cameron | :32:37. | :32:43. | |
said it was an outdated mantra that poor no reality to real life. One | :32:43. | :32:49. | |
Conservative MP was calling for more of them. | :32:49. | :32:53. | |
Some politicians cannot resist boasting about him. | :32:53. | :32:57. | |
This grammar-school boy is not going to take any lessons from that | :32:57. | :33:02. | |
public school boy... Others loathe them. | :33:02. | :33:05. | |
The they are effectively private schools without the fees. | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
They still have fans in high places... | :33:08. | :33:12. | |
These are excellent schools. Though others would much rather | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
move on. It to a pointless debate, and I am not in politics to waste | :33:17. | :33:19. | |
time and. Was debates. | :33:19. | :33:28. | |
But it -- if there is one -- I am not in politics to waste time on | :33:28. | :33:36. | |
pointless debate. In the 1960s, the comprehensive | :33:36. | :33:39. | |
system arrived, and over the next few years there was great pressure | :33:39. | :33:45. | |
to scrap grammar schools. And they went in Cornwall, Somerset and West | :33:45. | :33:49. | |
Dorset, but there were pockets of resistance in parts of Devon that | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
succeeded. There are grammar-school sin | :33:54. | :34:02. | |
Plymouth, Torbay and East Devon. Seven in the county, 164 and the | :34:02. | :34:08. | |
country. -- there are grammar- school staff in Plymouth. | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
Education secretaries like David Banque -- David Blunkett had | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
aspirations to abolish them which came to nothing. David Cameron said | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
this. The policy idea that has been | :34:20. | :34:28. | |
knocking around for a long time is completely delusional. It is not | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
something the Conservatives did for 18 years in power. It is not | :34:32. | :34:37. | |
something we would do if elected. Yet, only this week there was a | :34:37. | :34:41. | |
debate on grammar schools in Parliament. Conservative MPs lined | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
up to sing their praises. provide a social mobility and | :34:45. | :34:49. | |
opportunity for thousands of children each year and are a hugely | :34:49. | :34:55. | |
popular with pupils and parents alike. | :34:55. | :35:01. | |
I hope the department can consider allowing academies that it did not | :35:01. | :35:05. | |
previously select on academic ability to do so. | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
There are no plans for more grammar schools, but the Government has | :35:08. | :35:13. | |
said existing grammar schools can expand because it has changed | :35:13. | :35:18. | |
admission chords to boost numbers are good schools. But what does | :35:18. | :35:23. | |
that mean in practice? Paul Evans is the head teacher at the scrum a | :35:23. | :35:27. | |
school in east Devon. It is one of the most successful schools in the | :35:27. | :35:34. | |
country, with 800 pupils drawn from the surrounding region Mike. -- | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
head teacher at this grammar school in east Devon. | :35:39. | :35:43. | |
The intake is unlikely to rise despite changes to the admissions | :35:43. | :35:48. | |
policy. We would inevitably compromised | :35:48. | :35:56. | |
what we were doing. Occasionally we may ask independent panels to take | :35:56. | :36:00. | |
individual pupils on, but the consequences are that they are | :36:00. | :36:04. | |
sitting two to a desk or sharing a computer, that does not want in the | :36:04. | :36:08. | |
long term. The principle remains - grammar | :36:08. | :36:12. | |
schools could expand, and that is something that upholds those who | :36:12. | :36:17. | |
think they distort and disrupt the education system. -- that horrifies | :36:17. | :36:22. | |
those. This former teacher is strongly opposed to the idea and | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
dead set against anything that would allow grammar schools to get | :36:26. | :36:30. | |
bigger. I want to see children go to their | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
local school and mix with local strata so they learn to get on with | :36:34. | :36:39. | |
everybody, not just an elite from wealthy backgrounds who are highly | :36:39. | :36:42. | |
intelligent. But it is those academic success | :36:42. | :36:47. | |
levels which, for some, makes the idea of expanding grammars schools | :36:47. | :36:53. | |
an appealing prospect. A around 1050 grammar school pupils | :36:53. | :36:59. | |
were studying at Cambridge and Oxford in 2009. 98 % of pupils | :37:00. | :37:04. | |
achieved five or more GCSEs, including cheap -- English and | :37:04. | :37:10. | |
maths, compared to 57 % nationally. Most grammar schools are | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
oversubscribed, with the 11-plus exam used to select pupils, | :37:14. | :37:20. | |
something that can be too much for those who don't make it. | :37:20. | :37:24. | |
And think it is devastating. Imagine telling a child of 11 they | :37:24. | :37:26. | |
are a complete failure. It is socially divisive. | :37:26. | :37:31. | |
If but for those who get in, rewards can be extraordinary. Last | :37:31. | :37:37. | |
year, 20 of the school's student made it to Oxford or Cambridge. | :37:37. | :37:43. | |
Easy to see why some want more grammar schools. | :37:43. | :37:49. | |
I enjoyed by the Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton. | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
You have grammar schools in your constituency and you're supportive, | :37:52. | :37:54. | |
and you would like to see more of them. | :37:54. | :38:00. | |
Yes, that is an excellent school, I supported 100%. I want to see | :38:00. | :38:05. | |
choice, and we have academy status now, and if some of those academies | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
would like to have a selective programme -- selective process I | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
think we should. Grammar schools can be complementary. I don't | :38:14. | :38:18. | |
believe they are divisive and I think they bring people up socially. | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
Many grammar-school boys have come from very poor backgrounds to go on | :38:23. | :38:29. | |
and do extremely well. It is a case of giving schools choice and making | :38:29. | :38:32. | |
sure we have technical schools that can link in with apprenticeship | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
schemes. The problem with the grammar school system was we did | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
not spend enough money on those he did not get to grammar school. I | :38:40. | :38:44. | |
did not get to grammar school, I went to an agricultural technical | :38:44. | :38:49. | |
school, but I do not consider myself a failure. I do not want to | :38:49. | :38:52. | |
force anyone, I would local academies to be able to make those | :38:52. | :38:57. | |
decisions. We talk about grammar schools, but | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
selection is the distinguishing factor, and you would like to see | :39:00. | :39:06. | |
the option of schools selecting. I think so, because if you can | :39:06. | :39:10. | |
concentrate those who are extremely academic together, it is not about | :39:10. | :39:15. | |
privilege, it is about intelligence and lifting people up. Then you can | :39:15. | :39:20. | |
also look at schools where people are more technically aware going | :39:20. | :39:25. | |
into practical type subjects, let's have some help for them, as well. | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
Let's not only considered one grammar schools, but I think where | :39:29. | :39:32. | |
there are academies who think they can be complementary to the | :39:32. | :39:36. | |
education system, let's give them the choice to be able to go and | :39:36. | :39:40. | |
select if they want to. Have you any idea how many | :39:40. | :39:42. | |
selective academies you would like to see? | :39:42. | :39:48. | |
No, I do not put down numbers, because what I don't want is to | :39:49. | :39:52. | |
force schools into grammar school status. But I do not want them to | :39:52. | :39:57. | |
not be able to go down that route if they choose to. For generations, | :39:57. | :40:01. | |
governments have been far too prescriptive about education, and I | :40:01. | :40:08. | |
thought the whole idea of a our education policy was to give local | :40:08. | :40:12. | |
governors more freedom in education. The reality at the moment, under | :40:12. | :40:18. | |
the law, parents can decide to close down a grammar school through | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
a ballot, but they cannot decide to create one. How do you feel about | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
the shift in Conservative policy since David Cameron took over? | :40:27. | :40:32. | |
that is what I believe is wrong. You cannot have a one way thought. | :40:32. | :40:34. | |
You cannot have a one way thought. I think you should be allowed, | :40:34. | :40:40. | |
parents and governors, they should be allowed to vote on whether they | :40:40. | :40:44. | |
would like to create a selective grammar school, as well. Then there | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
is equal status. Altogether, it is about local people having the | :40:49. | :40:53. | |
choice and looking at how a grammar school may fit into a given area. | :40:53. | :40:58. | |
The last thing I would want to do is forsworn on anyone, but why | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
should you only be able to force grammar schools to close down, but | :41:02. | :41:05. | |
in the areas where they would like to see another grammar school you | :41:05. | :41:13. | |
are not allowed that thought. David Cameron had some pretty | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
damning things to say about people, like you, who want grammar schools. | :41:18. | :41:22. | |
What do you think about that? What do you think about that? | :41:22. | :41:24. | |
What do you think about that? Myself, as a self-made man who led | :41:24. | :41:25. | |
Myself, as a self-made man who led to a secondary school to finish my | :41:25. | :41:29. | |
education, I think I am well placed to be able to say, if we want war | :41:29. | :41:35. | |
grammars schools, it is not a good privilege, it is about giving local | :41:35. | :41:41. | |
people a choice. -- if we want more grammar schools. Let's not be | :41:41. | :41:45. | |
dogmatic about it and make it for perhaps politically correct reasons. | :41:45. | :41:49. | |
Let's bring people up through a system which will pull them up | :41:49. | :41:58. | |
through their bootstraps from all You wear a Euro-rebel couple of | :41:59. | :42:05. | |
weeks ago, that is an issue for the Conservatives. How much is this | :42:05. | :42:08. | |
issue of grammar schools are running sore in the at Conservative | :42:08. | :42:13. | |
Party? It is not a running sore, I think | :42:13. | :42:18. | |
it is right we should have discussion, like a referendum on | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
Europe. The Conservative Party is quite an independent bunch, and I | :42:22. | :42:26. | |
think that is what our Prime Minister needs to realise. | :42:26. | :42:35. | |
Earlier this year, a Somerset was dubbed a philistine County Council | :42:35. | :42:41. | |
when the authority became the first to cut its programme for arts. It | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
says it is having to implement the cuts as the Government is reducing | :42:44. | :42:50. | |
funding. Six months after the cuts, have the curtains closed on the | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
Somerset arts? He hello, Mr council leader, give | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
me my money! I have not got any money, goalie! | :42:58. | :43:05. | |
For people involved in the arts, it is no punch and Judy joke. This | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
time last year they were fighting for funding. | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
Armed with a cake showing the money for arts as a slice of the | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
council's budget, dozens of protesters marched on a council | :43:17. | :43:22. | |
meeting to decide their fate. Famous faces were concerned for | :43:22. | :43:26. | |
their country's future. Somerset County Council is the | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
first council in the UK to do this. It is lunacy. | :43:30. | :43:36. | |
This is not a boat as as preposterous account -- actors | :43:36. | :43:42. | |
making pleas, it is about art for everyone. | :43:42. | :43:47. | |
Somerset's cuts meant all 10 arts organisations lost their grants | :43:47. | :43:52. | |
from April. Six months on, have they won their fight to survive? | :43:52. | :43:55. | |
At this theatre, they were worried about having all Grant taking no | :43:55. | :44:04. | |
way -- taken away? You is that funding and you have to | :44:04. | :44:08. | |
try and find a different future, and if they can't they want, and | :44:08. | :44:13. | |
you will see places closing next year, I am sure of it. If they can | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
adapt and find different uses for their buildings, then they will | :44:16. | :44:20. | |
survive. Adapting is the key for these | :44:20. | :44:25. | |
artists meeting in Taunton. They are all having to work for less | :44:25. | :44:28. | |
money -- with less money, but none have folded. | :44:28. | :44:34. | |
At some stage we need to arrive at the position of clarity on what the | :44:34. | :44:39. | |
direction for the future will be, and we will have to make decisions | :44:40. | :44:46. | |
on whether the programme develops in a more commercial sense. He for | :44:46. | :44:49. | |
some theatres, technology is the future. | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
This theatre has fewer actors on its stage and is beaming in | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
productions, instead. As we reduce the number of | :44:58. | :45:03. | |
companies to perform live on our stage, we may well increase the | :45:03. | :45:10. | |
number of companies we see on our cinema screen. | :45:10. | :45:13. | |
People in Somerset have been fantastic, the way they have | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
responded. I have heard of stories of fund-raising events, there is a | :45:17. | :45:26. | |
real spirit. There is a concern that spurred me flag at some point. | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
What does the poster boy of the anti- cuts campaign made of things | :45:30. | :45:36. | |
six months on? I am seeing-to month -- two things, | :45:36. | :45:40. | |
firstly a remarkable trench spirit is developing. Companies are | :45:40. | :45:50. | |
determined not to bore down and are exploring ways to save a leaky ship. | :45:50. | :45:52. | |
Artists will continue to produce great work, however much they | :45:52. | :45:59. | |
suffer, and perhaps it is a good idea to suffer, they will perhaps | :45:59. | :46:03. | |
produce greater work - again not buy that. There is a determination | :46:03. | :46:08. | |
to survive, come what may, but it cannot be on these terms, when all | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
people are doing is surviving. Gathering friends is the key to | :46:13. | :46:17. | |
survival for many of these groups. As long as that lasts, the curtains | :46:17. | :46:23. | |
will not come down on them for good. In a statement, Somerset County | :46:23. | :46:27. | |
Council told us it was committed to supporting organisations within the | :46:27. | :46:36. | |
creative industries sector. They have set up the Creative Industry | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
Development Fund which helped set up new opportunities in the arts | :46:40. | :46:43. | |
sector. The eyes of the world are focused | :46:43. | :46:47. | |
on the euro, with many questioning the wisdom of the currency in the | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
first place. In Cornwall, there are moves to create a much smaller | :46:52. | :46:57. | |
currency that we are accustomed to. Advocates say it would help keep | :46:57. | :47:01. | |
spending in Cornwall and help the local economy. | :47:01. | :47:07. | |
It may seem a long way from home, but global -- the global financial | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
crisis is prompting calls for radical thinking to protect | :47:11. | :47:15. | |
Cornwall's economy. Business seems brisk on a wet | :47:15. | :47:18. | |
November day in Truro, and some believe the money changing hands | :47:18. | :47:24. | |
here should be kept in the county by creating a Cornish currency. | :47:24. | :47:29. | |
We are at the beck and call of the smashed -- financial markets, and | :47:29. | :47:36. | |
we need a debate on how to make our communities more resilient. It is | :47:36. | :47:43. | |
about how to have a currency which can be linked to sterling which can | :47:43. | :47:50. | |
then keep wealth in Cornwall. But how would it work practically? | :47:50. | :47:54. | |
Ian James says the logistics needs some thought, but points to the | :47:54. | :47:59. | |
success of other complementary currency schemes abroad and at home, | :47:59. | :48:03. | |
including one in Devon. The Totnes pound has been in circulation since | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
2007, and concurrently be used in around 70 shops and businesses | :48:07. | :48:11. | |
around the town. This is one of the issuing points | :48:11. | :48:17. | |
when I can exchange sterling for Totnes pounds. Now I have one, I | :48:17. | :48:21. | |
can assure you how it works. I have come across the road for a | :48:21. | :48:28. | |
cup of tea, because my pound cannot believe Totnes. Like having a gift | :48:28. | :48:35. | |
voucher, you literally get like for like. The sterling behind the | :48:35. | :48:39. | |
Totnes pounds is used to offer short-term interest -- low-interest | :48:39. | :48:47. | |
loans to local businesses. Those involved say the �6,500 | :48:47. | :48:50. | |
currently in circulation make up a small amount of the town's economy. | :48:51. | :48:55. | |
We wanted it to be the first step on an exploration of the | :48:55. | :49:02. | |
infrastructure we need to support our robust local economy, to try | :49:02. | :49:06. | |
and avoid the leaky bucket syndrome where money leaks out of the time. | :49:06. | :49:13. | |
Saw, could this small scheme like the one in Totnes be a success | :49:13. | :49:18. | |
across the county? I think it would be successful if | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
the local authorities agreed to take it as taxation payment. | :49:23. | :49:27. | |
But there is caution over the river. The man in charge of the economy | :49:27. | :49:33. | |
and regeneration in Cornwall council says the power is already | :49:33. | :49:37. | |
with the local communities. The plumber, electrician and | :49:37. | :49:42. | |
carpenter I employ all love local to me. The money I spend on them | :49:42. | :49:44. | |
they keep in Cornwall spending on services. | :49:44. | :49:48. | |
Is it not the nature of an economy that you have to look Edwards, | :49:48. | :49:53. | |
rather than inwards? Yes, and to do that you have to | :49:53. | :49:57. | |
encourage businesses to Cornwall and for existing businesses to grow | :49:57. | :50:01. | |
and trade outside Cornwall. It is not about a separate currency, it | :50:01. | :50:05. | |
is about bringing work into Cornwall. | :50:05. | :50:08. | |
It is claimed local complementary currencies Fife in times of | :50:08. | :50:12. | |
economic hardship, but when a leading economist thinks, beyond | :50:12. | :50:16. | |
the symbolism of a bank note, it is a non-starter. | :50:16. | :50:21. | |
He is no reason Cornwall could not have its own bank notes, like | :50:21. | :50:26. | |
Scotland has, but it is not viable for it to have its own central bank. | :50:26. | :50:31. | |
It will not have its own monetary policy, just like I presume it will | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
not have its own army. It has been tried before in | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
Cornwall - in the 1970s notes were issued by a pressure group, but | :50:40. | :50:44. | |
that did not work out and people intrude all seem divided on whether | :50:44. | :50:50. | |
it would work now. Cornwall could stand on its own, we | :50:50. | :51:00. | |
:51:00. | :51:00. | ||
have mining, tourism, farming and fisheries. He bit in Cornwall and | :51:00. | :51:03. | |
get some proper border controls in place. | :51:03. | :51:07. | |
It is confusing enough now, it would confuse us even more, I think | :51:07. | :51:14. | |
it might give it at try, why not? E Ian Jones says she is trying to | :51:14. | :51:18. | |
raise the debate about the importance of supporting local | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
economy in the face of huge global challenges. His first challenge may | :51:22. | :51:27. | |
be getting the idea of a Cornish currency of the ground at all. | :51:27. | :51:31. | |
That is almost dead from the South West this week, but there is just | :51:31. | :51:34. | |
time to bring you an update on a story we covered a couple of weeks | :51:34. | :51:39. | |
ago. Cornwall councillors were due to make a decision on a plan to | :51:39. | :51:45. | |
close half the 20's toilets. The county has shelved the plans to | :51:45. | :51:50. | |
spend more time assessing the impact of potential changes. | :51:50. | :51:54. |