Posted March 16, 20169 yr Surprised at the lack of talk. Guess the main talking point the media have picked up on is the sugar tax on fizzy drinks.. good/bad?
March 16, 20169 yr I've found the education aspects the most interesting so far! I was actually quite surprised by how many secondary schools ARE academies already, for some reason I thought it was more of a minority. From a student perspective, a local school was recently turned into an academy, and there hasn't really been much of a difference, however I'm interested to know the extent of change from an admin/teacher pov? Also interested to read more about the compulsory maths education up to 18 and also the longer school day. In regards to the sugar tax, I do agree that's a positive thing for health, and think it's really positive the money will go towards primary school sport (at least in England). I don't really know why some people were expecting complete controversy with this budget :unsure:
March 16, 20169 yr The main point to take from the budget is Gideon going back on his figures once again!
March 16, 20169 yr Author I've found the education aspects the most interesting so far! I was actually quite surprised by how many secondary schools ARE academies already, for some reason I thought it was more of a minority. From a student perspective, a local school was recently turned into an academy, and there hasn't really been much of a difference, however I'm interested to know the extent of change from an admin/teacher pov? Also interested to read more about the compulsory maths education up to 18 and also the longer school day. In regards to the sugar tax, I do agree that's a positive thing for health, and think it's really positive the money will go towards primary school sport (at least in England). I don't really know why some people were expecting complete controversy with this budget :unsure: Well it's always controversial, no matter who is in power, just the controversies tend to be behind the main headlines.
March 16, 20169 yr think we're all so used to cuts and more cuts we're all just numb to the politics of it now. Sugar tax good. Ciggie tax good. Spending cuts bad. Increasing insurance for everyone for flood defences of people living on floodplains bad. Insurance companies pay out, ooh several billions in claims each year, and 12billion in taxes. It's in their interest to save on future claims and they should be paying out not the customers. Or the government should impose a one-off tax for one year. If it's cheaper for the insurance companies to leave things be, fine, cheaper houses on floodplains for those who can't afford one. Or else tax the global warmers. Hitting disabled bad. giving more money to better off bad. Not announcing major tax dodger thieving-multinationals tax bad. Very very bad. Funny how the UK has so many minor small dependencies that have no income and no tax, but seem to thrive. Almost as if they are supported by the political classes as reward to storing all the tax-free cash till they can spend it quietly.
March 16, 20169 yr Sugar tax good. Ciggie tax good. Spending cuts bad. That's mostly my initial reaction, although I did see something about the sugar tax costing quite a bit to implement, and that it won't be so much a deterrent for people injecting their bodies with sugary drinks as the companies will just cut their margins a bit.
March 16, 20169 yr Suagr tax is a clever distraction. Lots of strong opinions and isn't split by traditional party lines, so it's dominated the headlines while other announcements are far more significant.
March 16, 20169 yr Ewww maths till 18. That woulda killed my uni choices. Not getting why it's just Maths and not English. That's irking me a little bit. Sugar Tax, bit like the plastic bag charge, is a good idea in theory. Not entirely certain about the secondary schools must became academies just yet.
March 16, 20169 yr Not sure how we go from over a £20bn deficit in 18/19 to a £10bn surplus in 19/20. That's a bigger jump than for any other year.
March 16, 20169 yr Of course we don't. I just can't wait to see him flop flat on his face. It'll all be Gordon Brown's fault.
March 16, 20169 yr Not sure how we go from over a £20bn deficit in 18/19 to a £10bn surplus in 19/20. That's a bigger jump than for any other year. Selling oil at pre-referendum SNP prices will juuust about do it!
March 16, 20169 yr It'll all be Gordon Brown's fault. :lol: I know love how he started today saying that the 'World Economic waters are looking choppy again' while in 2008-2012 it was the British economy destroyed by Labour! Qass - why you seem so annoyed - there's plenty of room on across the political spectrum for your views :P
March 17, 20169 yr academies will all end in tears because teachers are focused on education. that's what they teach for. When they suddenly realise that all the buildings, maintenance, grounds maintenance, and other stuff have been quietly forgotten (local authorities have built the buildings, looked after them, insured them etc etc as well as being a handy fail-safe) and they become a problem 10 or 20 years down the line some schools (the ones not supported by wealthy backers) will suddenly become a problem. I also expect schools to pick easy-A-grade subjects rather than helpful-society subjects so they can appear to be major successes and all schools can be lauded as top notch even when half the kids can't spell or string a coherent sentence together. Followed by Super Academies as they merge into bigger and bigger schools to make economies. Cynical John has spoken....
March 18, 20169 yr So it turns out that Ian Duncan Smith does indeed have an uncrossable line. He's resigned.
March 18, 20169 yr Political opportunism somewhat? Did the policy for disability benefits not come from his department??
March 18, 20169 yr It doesn't seem much of an uncrossable line given what he's done in the past. More of an interesting time to resign than anything else, but anything to further internal Tory disagreements.
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