NEU calls on Government to step back from the brink and stop 1 June school reopening
Four prominent members of the Government’s
own scientific advisory body have broken ranks to express worries about
the safety of wider primary school opening on Monday.
SAGE members Professor Peter Horby, who is chair of the Government's
New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG);
Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Institute; John Edmunds,
professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Calum Semple, a professor in Child
Health and Outbreak Medicine have all expressed fears about the easing
of lockdown.
On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Professor Horby agreed with
Professors Edmunds' and Farrar’s concerns, saying that SAGE has always been very clear that test, trace, isolate must be fully running BEFORE lockdown is relaxed. The system needs to be tracking most new cases, he said, following them up within 48 hours.
Professor Horby added that SAGE does not have a good handle on the role of children and schools in transmission and stated that returning to another lockdown would be much worse than delaying another two or three weeks until contact tracing is fully up and running.
Professor Edmunds said “There are still 8,000 new infections every day in England without counting those in hospitals and care homes… If you look at it internationally, it’s a very high level of incidence.
“I think many of us would prefer to see the incidence driven down to
lower levels because that then means that we have fewer cases occurring
before we relax the measures.”
Professor Farrar tweeted: “Covid-19 spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England. TTI [test, trace and isolate] has to be in place,
fully working, capable [of dealing with] any surge immediately.”
Professor Semple said: “Essentially, we’re lifting the lid on a
boiling pan and it’s just going to bubble over… We need to get it down
to simmer before we take the lid off, and it’s too early.”
He also said that levels of transmission and hospital admissions are
still too high. "I think a political decision has been made to tie in
with when school was due to start, were everything normal, but it’s not
normal."
National Education Union joint general secretaries Kevin Courtney and
Mary Bousted said: “This public break by four prominent of the
Government’s SAGE committee changes everything.
“No-one can now confidently assert that it is safe to open schools more widely from Monday.
“All four of these members of SAGE agree that there must a lower
number of cases and an efficient system of contact tracing working
before there is a relaxation of lockdown measures. Both these measures
are included in the NEU’s Five Tests.
“Opening schools more widely runs the risk of increasing the R rate and therefore the level of risk to staff and to parents.
“That risk can only be mitigated if contact tracing is running successfully.
“We have made that case strongly to Government – and we have been
supported by the BMA and by the Independent SAGE group in our concerns.
“Government replies that it is following the science. But this public
break by senior members of SAGE, including by the chair of the NERVTAG
committee, undermines that claim.
“School leaders, their staff and pupils’ families deserve better than this.
“Even at this late stage, we call on the Government to draw back from wider opening of primary schools from Monday.
“Instead we urge them to engage in talks with the
profession and the unions, including the NEU, about how to open schools
more widely once the contact tracing system is shown to be working.”
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Mondegreen
I misheard the word Mondegreen at a meeting of singing with friends which seems appropriate.
According to Wikipedia
"A mondegreen is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to clearly hear a lyric, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense. American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, writing that as a girl, when her mother read to her from Percy's Reliques she had misheard the lyric "layd him on the green" in the fourth line of the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of Murray" as "Lady Mondegreen".
Lady Mondegreen subsequently became the patron saint of misheard lyrics.
One well-known Mondegreen is from Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. "'scuse me while I kiss the sky" became "'scuse me while I kiss this guy."
Possibly the weirdest I have come across is "Sparing his life for his pork sausage tea" in Bohemian Rhapsody.
This should read "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all." One of my pupils told me she routinely pledged allegiance to an "invisible" nation when she lived in America.
Finally, I must mention the hymn "Gladly my cross-eyed bear."
http://worthingflash.blogspot.com send your flash fiction to worthingflash@gmail.com You do not have to live in Worthing. The blog has writers from all the continents....still holding out for someone from Antarctica.
According to Wikipedia
"A mondegreen is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to clearly hear a lyric, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense. American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, writing that as a girl, when her mother read to her from Percy's Reliques she had misheard the lyric "layd him on the green" in the fourth line of the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of Murray" as "Lady Mondegreen".
Lady Mondegreen subsequently became the patron saint of misheard lyrics.
One well-known Mondegreen is from Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. "'scuse me while I kiss the sky" became "'scuse me while I kiss this guy."
Possibly the weirdest I have come across is "Sparing his life for his pork sausage tea" in Bohemian Rhapsody.
Finally, I must mention the hymn "Gladly my cross-eyed bear."
http://worthingflash.blogspot.com send your flash fiction to worthingflash@gmail.com You do not have to live in Worthing. The blog has writers from all the continents....still holding out for someone from Antarctica.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Hypocrisy
People are shouting 'Hypocrite' at Dominic Cummings in the street. This is unfair. There are hundreds of Tory MPs who voted to cut the NHS and now applaud it. Surely they should not be left out. It must upset them.
--
TUC get off your knees
The surge in union membership should impel the TUC to get off its knees and sort out this Eton mess of a government.
I have already mentioned 10,000 people joining the NEU in a week. The abject failure of the government to provide PPE even for front line NHS staff means the Tories have blood on their hands (not for the first or last time). They cheerfully threw 100 NHS staff under the bus. The TUC should be burning with rage and taking this government warmly by the throat.
If there is power in unions (and there is) it needs to be used. It needs to be demonstrated. No more pussyfooting around.
PS The discrepancy in the figures is explained by a decline in male union membership being offset by more female members - in fact, more than offset.
Derek McMillan
If there is power in unions (and there is) it needs to be used. It needs to be demonstrated. No more pussyfooting around.
PS The discrepancy in the figures is explained by a decline in male union membership being offset by more female members - in fact, more than offset.
Monday, May 25, 2020
Truth Twisters
The Daily Mail is hilarious. They have so far given Boris the support they lavished on Mosley but this was too much even for them.
This was not the action of a father doing the best for his children. This was the action of someone who ordered everybody else to stay at home and then bent the rules when it didn't suit him. He is unapologetic and arrogant.
The anger has even got some Tory commentators turning on Cummings. The main fear of Tim Loughton MP was that his constituents in Worthing would be encouraged to flout the rules and "do a Dom". He was not alone in pointing out the sacrifices other people have made, not attending the funerals of loved ones for example.
However, there are many other issues about the government's flawed handling of the C-virus pandemic. Dom's disaster should not obscure the dire situation in care homes and the continued shortage of PPE in the NHS.
When this lousy pandemic is over, the Conservatives ought to face a reckoning. They have made generous handouts to the rich but left many families with precisely no money coming in.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Dominic Cummings
I appreciate this makes him a hypocrite but isn't that a qualification for a politician? Surely the rules are just for the plebs and not for the cognoscenti.
Dominic Cummings has been an eminence grise for the prime minister while being a bete noir for everybody else. The reduction of every issue to a pithy little slogan is his stock in trade. Who can forget "Take Back Control" or "Get Brexit Done"
And if he did resign, wouldn't that leave Boris Johnson a bit like Sooty without a hand up his back?
Friday, May 22, 2020
"Show not Tell" a totalising grand narrative.
Every publisher will tell writers that their work must "show not tell". This is based on an early years' phrase "show and tell". It is a grand narrative but is it actually true or does it limit writers to producing work which is the same as the model writer and not something of their own?
That demon Dickens used a lot of adjectives in his work. He didn't "ruthlessly excise" adjectives as some publishers have demanded of writers.
And as for that awful Austen. What can we say about her? Do her novels "show" or do they "tell" in a witty and amusing way?
I think a publisher who tells writers to "be yourself" is much closer to the truth than one who has a set formula which they want writers to follow.
What do you think?
Derek McMillan
That demon Dickens used a lot of adjectives in his work. He didn't "ruthlessly excise" adjectives as some publishers have demanded of writers.
And as for that awful Austen. What can we say about her? Do her novels "show" or do they "tell" in a witty and amusing way?
I think a publisher who tells writers to "be yourself" is much closer to the truth than one who has a set formula which they want writers to follow.
What do you think?
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Tory Retreat
The
Tories were hell-bent on charging foreign NHS staff to use the NHS.
They have been forced to retreat on this issue because of a wave of
public anger which even affected their own ranks.
Already the Tories are retreating from their position on widening the opening of schools. This is a recognition that many schools and local authorities will not open up schools if it is unsafe to do so.
Keep them on the run.
Already the Tories are retreating from their position on widening the opening of schools. This is a recognition that many schools and local authorities will not open up schools if it is unsafe to do so.
Keep them on the run.
Trade Union resistance to Johnson grows.
https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/30782/20-05-2020/johnsons-reckless-back-to-school-plans-threaten-everyones-safety This link is for an article in The Socialist calling for action from the unions to stop the reckless plans of the government over re-opening schools too soon.
10,000 new members joined the National Education Union in a week. This reckless government must not be allowed to get away with re-opening schools before it is safe to do so.
Already individual heads in Crawley have backed the union stance of not re-opening unsafe schools. What is the matter with the rest of them? Liverpool and other councils are refusing to open schools until it is safe to do so. I would ask the same question: what is the matter with the rest of them?
Meanwhile, the press continues to mislead. The support of the ASCL (Formerly the Secondary Heads Association) for the Conservatives is being headlined as "a trade union supporting the government". It is an association of secondary heads. It is primary schools which are being forced to re-open and the National Association of Head Teachers represents many primary heads (many are NEU members too)
And what have they said?
"It’s important to reiterate that school leaders will still need to make individual decisions about whether it is safe to open their school.
It remains the case that if a school does not have enough staff to care for pupils safely (even based on the new ‘reduced provision’ approach’) then, subject to a risk assessment and consultation with the chair of governors, a full or partial closure may be necessary. Schools will need to keep this decision under daily review and should inform their local authority if they are not able to open."
Meanwhile, the press continues to mislead. The support of the ASCL (Formerly the Secondary Heads Association) for the Conservatives is being headlined as "a trade union supporting the government". It is an association of secondary heads. It is primary schools which are being forced to re-open and the National Association of Head Teachers represents many primary heads (many are NEU members too)
And what have they said?
"It’s important to reiterate that school leaders will still need to make individual decisions about whether it is safe to open their school.
It remains the case that if a school does not have enough staff to care for pupils safely (even based on the new ‘reduced provision’ approach’) then, subject to a risk assessment and consultation with the chair of governors, a full or partial closure may be necessary. Schools will need to keep this decision under daily review and should inform their local authority if they are not able to open."
"Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Daily Telegraph misleads the public without actually lying (just bending the truth)
Disingenuous mendacity from the Daily Telegraph. The BMA supported the five tests proposed by the National Education Union. The Daily Telegraph says this means they support the re-opening of schools on 1st June.
And the little words "if it is safe to do so" belie everything the Tory newspaper is saying. If it were safe to re-open schools on 1st June, the NEU, the BMA and the local authorities would be fine with that. The lying Daily Telegraph is simply trying to mislead.
As you would expect the Daily Mail is even worse. The Daily Mail is socially distancing itself from the truth.
Monday, May 18, 2020
NEU on Re-opening Schools
The
National Education Union almost certainly just made history for holding
the biggest trade union meeting ever. Almost 20,000 people registered
for the Zoom webinar that just finished, where members of the NEU were
able to ask the General Secretaries and President questions that were
answered live.
There was an expectation that the re-opening of schools would be gradual and measured. We do not think that the government is acting in a measured way. Its approach is reckless.
Most schools are already open.
The NEU believe:
The government should publish its scientific advice.
It should survive interrogation from independent scientists.
Testing, tracking and tracing would need to be in place.
We would need "R" to be falling.
The checklist for members is endorsed by the GMB, Unite, Unison and the NEU.
The document from the unions
The UK is not mirroring Denmark. Denmark has social distancing. The DFE does not insist on social distancing.
Denmark has much smaller groups. 15 pupils in UK classrooms cannot socially distance.
Denmark has provided money for the cleaning of schools and has clear guidelines.
In Denmark, a local official has to sign off on re-opening..
Countries with similar levels of infection are not re-opening schools.
You have an absolute legal right not to work in an unsafe environment. This cannot be overruled by the Government.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-McMillan/e/B009FUXHWY
There was an expectation that the re-opening of schools would be gradual and measured. We do not think that the government is acting in a measured way. Its approach is reckless.
Most schools are already open.
The NEU believe:
The government should publish its scientific advice.
It should survive interrogation from independent scientists.
Testing, tracking and tracing would need to be in place.
We would need "R" to be falling.
The checklist for members is endorsed by the GMB, Unite, Unison and the NEU.
The document from the unions
The UK is not mirroring Denmark. Denmark has social distancing. The DFE does not insist on social distancing.
Denmark has much smaller groups. 15 pupils in UK classrooms cannot socially distance.
Denmark has provided money for the cleaning of schools and has clear guidelines.
In Denmark, a local official has to sign off on re-opening..
Countries with similar levels of infection are not re-opening schools.
You have an absolute legal right not to work in an unsafe environment. This cannot be overruled by the Government.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-McMillan/e/B009FUXHWY
Oh Mr Gove!
The i newspaper this morning revealed in an exclusive story that the Health and Safety checks are a figment of Boris Badenough's imagination.
Meanwhile this morning's Mirror castigates Gove for a similar piece of disingenuous mendacity:
Well done to Liverpool, Hartlepool and Wales for not buying Boris's lies and for refusing to be rushed into re-opening schools until it is safe to do so.
A pity other Labour councils have bowed the knee to the Prime Minister on this issue.
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer - as the old song has it!
Well done to Liverpool, Hartlepool and Wales for not buying Boris's lies and for refusing to be rushed into re-opening schools until it is safe to do so.
A pity other Labour councils have bowed the knee to the Prime Minister on this issue.
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer - as the old song has it!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-McMillan/e/B009FUXHWY
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Pity the Billionaires
OMG. Those poor billionaires. My heart bleeds for them. I was on the verge of organising a whip-round for Branson when I noticed that the government has already done so by letting him off the tedious business of paying tax.
Friday, May 15, 2020
Write to your MP and Councillors
I have written to my MP, County Councillor and local councillors. The basic message has been:
I am concerned about the proposal to open schools next month. The BMA has supported the five tests proposed by the National Education Union. I believe that it is not yet safe to reopen schools.
Reception Class children are notoriously bad at social distancing.
Yours sincerely,
Derek McMillan
It is easy to write to these representatives. Getting an answer you like is different. The website https://www.writetothem.com makes it automatic. A brief message is all you need.
The five tests are quite clear. The text of the BMA letter supporting the five tests is below. You might need to enlarge it with CTRL and +
I am concerned about the proposal to open schools next month. The BMA has supported the five tests proposed by the National Education Union. I believe that it is not yet safe to reopen schools.
Reception Class children are notoriously bad at social distancing.
Yours sincerely,
Derek McMillan
It is easy to write to these representatives. Getting an answer you like is different. The website https://www.writetothem.com makes it automatic. A brief message is all you need.
The five tests are quite clear. The text of the BMA letter supporting the five tests is below. You might need to enlarge it with CTRL and +
Hated by the Daily Mail
"Hated by the Daily Mail" is a badge of honour. If they were saying "Hurrah for the NEU" that would be the time to worry!
Two Daily Mail headlines:
Two Daily Mail headlines:
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Profiteering
Thatcher's children are alive and well. For them there is no such thing as society, So when things like Dettol wipes are not available in the shops, they will kindly deliver them to your door.
The only thing is, when they were in the shops they sold for £2 which seemed steep.
On Amazon, they are available for an eye-watering £18.
On eBay, £18 plus £4 postage and packing.
The Prime Minister keeps invoking the war as an analogy with the C-virus. During the war profiteers could look forward to several months in prison with hard labour. Just a thought.
The only thing is, when they were in the shops they sold for £2 which seemed steep.
On Amazon, they are available for an eye-watering £18.
On eBay, £18 plus £4 postage and packing.
The Prime Minister keeps invoking the war as an analogy with the C-virus. During the war profiteers could look forward to several months in prison with hard labour. Just a thought.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-McMillan/e/B009FUXHWY
Monday, May 11, 2020
Prime Minister sends millions back to work
Boris Badenough is like a WW1 General sending millions over the top while remaining safely in the rear.
In place of serious precautions against the C-virus the government is offering the spy on the phone app. The Guardian has summarised what the civil rights group Liberty have said about this.
"Liberty is worried that signing up to the app could become a compulsory condition for returning to work and being allowed out of lockdown when conditions are eased. Such a condition would amount to coercion."
"Contact-tracing technology may require us to sacrifice deeply sensitive personal information and there can be no question of state bodies or private companies sharing our personal data other than what is absolutely necessary."
And would you be prepared to bet that the government, the police and any advertising groups they choose to sell the data to will not misuse it?
The cross-party human rights committee has warned
"Reassurances over the security and human rights implications of NHSX’s approach to developing its Covid-19 contact-tracing app are insufficient."
The app will fall foul of existing privacy laws.
The government has boasted about the take-up of this dubious app in the Isle of Wight. On the Today programme the boasted that one-third of residents had taken the opportunity to download the app which spies on their contacts. I don't know if they teach Maths at Eton but doesn't that mean two-thirds of residents rejected it?
One spot of interesting news. In case you were worried about staff and residents in care homes not having testing or protective equipment, worry no more. Millionaire footballers will only go back to work if they are tested twice a week and have the proper equipment. So we can all rest easy in our beds.
In case you found the PM's broadcast confusing (he clearly did) Matt Lucas has summarised it for you.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-McMillan/e/B009FUXHWY
In place of serious precautions against the C-virus the government is offering the spy on the phone app. The Guardian has summarised what the civil rights group Liberty have said about this.
"Liberty is worried that signing up to the app could become a compulsory condition for returning to work and being allowed out of lockdown when conditions are eased. Such a condition would amount to coercion."
"Contact-tracing technology may require us to sacrifice deeply sensitive personal information and there can be no question of state bodies or private companies sharing our personal data other than what is absolutely necessary."
And would you be prepared to bet that the government, the police and any advertising groups they choose to sell the data to will not misuse it?
The cross-party human rights committee has warned
"Reassurances over the security and human rights implications of NHSX’s approach to developing its Covid-19 contact-tracing app are insufficient."
The app will fall foul of existing privacy laws.
The government has boasted about the take-up of this dubious app in the Isle of Wight. On the Today programme the boasted that one-third of residents had taken the opportunity to download the app which spies on their contacts. I don't know if they teach Maths at Eton but doesn't that mean two-thirds of residents rejected it?
One spot of interesting news. In case you were worried about staff and residents in care homes not having testing or protective equipment, worry no more. Millionaire footballers will only go back to work if they are tested twice a week and have the proper equipment. So we can all rest easy in our beds.
In case you found the PM's broadcast confusing (he clearly did) Matt Lucas has summarised it for you.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-McMillan/e/B009FUXHWY
Saturday, May 09, 2020
#worthingflash video
It is also a Mirror of Eternity video including a short story and an invitation to #worthingflash
Friday, May 08, 2020
Tuesday, May 05, 2020
No return to work until it is safe
There must be a reckoning with the Tories when this lousy pandemic is over. The cuts to the NHS made the death toll higher. Boris Badenough voted for austerity time and time again. He claps for the NHS these days. It's not just "too little too late". It is pathetic.
I am proud of the way the Socialist Party and the Scottish Socialist Party have responded to the C virus. It stands in stark contrast to the record of Sir Keir Starmer to date. The Tories should be facing tough questions "round the clock". Sir Keir Starmer should be "ramping up" the pressure and not accepting any of the miserable excuses from this Eton mess of a government.
The minute's silence for NHS staff should now be followed with outrage at the deaths which could have been prevented with proper precautions.
Now the government is blatantly saying that a return to work will be accompanied by safety measures "which employers deem appropriate" according to the Today Programme on Radio 4 this morning.
The RMT has shone out against the grey background of the TUC. The RMT stands up for its members. The TUC is too interested in cosying up to the government. That is what we used to call "class collaboration".
No return to work, no return to school until it is safe. Until those who face the risks consider it to be safe. The TUC needs to get off its knees.
Sunday, May 03, 2020
Stop baseline testing. Spend the money on PPE instead
I want my grandson to look forward to going to school and find out how much fun learning can be. I would prefer it if he wasn't confronted with testing and more testing. The cost of testing could go for better causes. A government which could not organise PPE for those who need it is not a government with money to burn.
I signed a petition on Action Network telling Nick Gibb, Schools Minister to Four-year-olds don't need exams. The Department for Education plans to spend £10 million rolling out exams for every four-year-old entering school. Overwhelmingly the evidence, and consensus from experts around the world, says these kinds of tests on young children are both pointless and damaging.
If so-called Baseline Assessment goes ahead in 2020, every four-year-old will be tested in their first six weeks in school, using a 20-minute one-to-one test. The results will inevitably be unreliable, as two previous expensive and abandoned trials proved. At four years old children are just too young for this kind of high-stakes testing. Can you join me and take action?
Click here:
I signed a petition on Action Network telling Nick Gibb, Schools Minister to Four-year-olds don't need exams. The Department for Education plans to spend £10 million rolling out exams for every four-year-old entering school. Overwhelmingly the evidence, and consensus from experts around the world, says these kinds of tests on young children are both pointless and damaging.
If so-called Baseline Assessment goes ahead in 2020, every four-year-old will be tested in their first six weeks in school, using a 20-minute one-to-one test. The results will inevitably be unreliable, as two previous expensive and abandoned trials proved. At four years old children are just too young for this kind of high-stakes testing. Can you join me and take action?
Click here:
Friday, May 01, 2020
Happy Mayday
Socialist Party CWI rally online this evening. Hosted by Scottish Socialist Party.
Jim McFarlane - there is no social partnership between the bosses and the working class.
The only difference between the Scottish government and the Westminster government is one of presentation. It would be a mistake to dismiss trade unions at a time when thousands of workers are looking to the unions for a lead.
The ruling class - “They don’t care how we live but now we know they don’t care how we die."
Donal O'Cofaigh Unionists promote "herd immunity" whereas the Nationalist Parties have supported the attitude of the government in Eire which is more pro-active. There has been a great delay in the rollout of guidance and of PPE. Many have died in care homes and they were not even tested to find out if they have died from C-virus.
There have been strikes among health service employees because their wages and conditions lagged behind the rest of the UK.
Claire Bayler. The for-profit health system in the US has worsened the health crisis. There have been small handouts to working people and billions for the billionaires. We need to draw together the trade unions, socialists and the community to create a workers' party. Biden is no alternative to Trump.
Jim McFarlane - there is no social partnership between the bosses and the working class.
The only difference between the Scottish government and the Westminster government is one of presentation. It would be a mistake to dismiss trade unions at a time when thousands of workers are looking to the unions for a lead.
The ruling class - “They don’t care how we live but now we know they don’t care how we die."
Donal O'Cofaigh Unionists promote "herd immunity" whereas the Nationalist Parties have supported the attitude of the government in Eire which is more pro-active. There has been a great delay in the rollout of guidance and of PPE. Many have died in care homes and they were not even tested to find out if they have died from C-virus.
There have been strikes among health service employees because their wages and conditions lagged behind the rest of the UK.
Claire Bayler. The for-profit health system in the US has worsened the health crisis. There have been small handouts to working people and billions for the billionaires. We need to draw together the trade unions, socialists and the community to create a workers' party. Biden is no alternative to Trump.
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