The contradictions in the teaching unions' thinking

Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, will tell the ATL conference in Liverpool that the Conservative reforms are "undermining and harming our pupils' education,"

the Guardian tells us.

But that isn't news. It is what the teachers' unions have always said, whoever is in power. It be news if she had said anything different.

Which suggests there are two thumping contradictions in the unions' thinking.

The first is that they hold these two beliefs:

• All schools should be run by the democratically elected government.
• It is an outrage if that democratically elected government seeks to make changes in the way school are run.

The second is that they hold these two beliefs:

• Every change made in education for as long as anyone can remember has been disastrous (that is why we campaigned against them).
• Standards in our schools are higher than they have ever been.

Discuss. Do not attempt to write on both sides of the paper at once.