Toby Young, Latin and the nature of elitism

The charge of "elitism" is often thrown about by people on the left when someone disagrees with their views on education. It's usually hard to know what they mean by it, but if the concept has a clear meaning it must be the idea that certain sorts of education should be confined to children from the upper or middle classes.

So it was very puzzling to read in the Guardian this morning that Toby Young's West London Free School

has faced accusations of elitism, partly for making Latin compulsory up to age 14.

It seems to be that requiring all children to study Latin is precisely the reverse of elitism. It is the left-wing demand for "relevance" that often means that an academic curriculum, and everything it opens the doors to, is denied to children from poorer families.

It happens that I went to a comprehensive in Hertfordshire where everyone did Latin in the second year (or Year 8, as I think the young people say these days). It had recently ceased being a grammar school - and a very traditional grammar school at that, because we were still wearing school caps in the early 1970s - but it was a comprehensive and one that was to produce no lesser figure than Dr Richard Grayson a few years after me.

And I am grateful that I did study Latin there, because when I got the chance to take Latin O level up here in Leicestershire a few I jumped at it. And studying it taught me the grammar I was not learning in English and awakened an interest in the Classical world, two factors that led to my studying Philosophy at university.

So I am very keen on requiring all children to study Latin.

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Pointing it at Sandy

A second day at Bonkers Hall

As loyal readers will be aware, I have long been at the forefront of new technology. Was I not the first person in Rutland to have a telephone? (I have to admit that it proved something of a disappointment as it never rang. When I enquired about this failure, I was told it was because no one else in Rutland had a telephone).

Similarly, I was something of a pioneer of television, as I could often be seen casting a fly or gralloching a stag on the popular Bonkers Country programme broadcast from Alexandra Palace before the last war. By popular demand, or at least by my own demand, this show was resurrected when I won the independent television franchise for Rutland in 1955.

Ever one to move with the times, as I flatter myself I have established, I have long been enjoying the test cricket on Sky. I did not pay for a satellite dish, but rather set up a receiver of my own using a wire coat-hanger (Nanny is always throwing them out, saying that only wood will do) and a wok that Cook had taken against (“Nasty foreign thing.”) However, this digital television is another matter entirely, so I decided to call in an expert “aerial erector” (as his business card describes him).

When he arrives at the Hall this morning, he turns out to be an engaging young man. He exclaims over the size of the old place (“I couldn’t be doing with all that dusting”), but does admire my dado in the Breakfast Room. He is also adamant that his is a skilled trade: “It’s not just a matter of pointing it at Sandy and hoping for the best.”

Earlier this week

• How we should conduct ourselves in coalition

Bash Street Theatre Company opens Arts Fresco

I am just back from the (hem, hem) VIP Reception that opened Arts Fresco.

After the wine and nibbles there was a performance of Cliffhanger! by the Bash Street Theatre Company. It was a live performance done in the style of a silent movie, complete with piano accompaniment. It was all great fun and is well worth seeing if you get the chance.

The clip above comes from a outdoor performance of this play. The one tonight took place in the big top in Welland Park, where this year's Arts Fresco is taking place.

Lord Bonkers' Diary: How we should conduct ourselves in coalition

This year the Conference issue of Liberator has been mailed out to subscribers before the event itself. My own copy has arrived in the post, which means that it is time to spend some more time with Rutland's most popular fictional peer.

In a few short days, we shall meet in Birmingham – home of municipal Liberalism, metal bashing and the Clement Davies Group. Moreover, we meet as partners in a coalition government. Moreover (if one is allowed to say ‘moreover’ twice), we meet as partners in a coalition government with the Conservatives.

Every day, letters arrive from worried young activists, asking me how we should conduct ourselves in our unwonted situation. I generally reply that we should maintain our nerve – or "Keep Calm and Carry On", in the words of the poster campaign I devised during the dark days of the last war.

In other words, we should maintain our principles while accepting the inevitable compromises of office – and give the Tories one up the snoot when they are not expecting it.

Arts Fresco, Market Harborough, 9-11 September

The East Midlands' largest street theatre festival takes place in Welland Park, Market Harborough, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, with a big top show, an enchanted evening promenade, talking statues and much else. See the Arts Fresco website for full details.

Hazel Cook, the festival's director, wrote a guest post looking forward to the event a few weeks ago.

Congratulations to Penny Red

I do not share her politics - and a former leading light of the Oxford University Light Entertainment Society turned socialist journalist still sounds to me like the sort of girl Bertie Wooster spent his time trying not to get engaged to - but I am glad to see Laurie Penny's Penny Red at the top of the Wikio UK political blog rankings.

For some time now we have been living in the age of the group blog, so it is good to see an individual blog back in first place. Penny Red is better written than some that have occupied that spot in the past.

Talking of the Wikio rankings, Mark Pack has the latest standings for Liberal Democrat blogs.

Leicester's statue of liberty

You can see this statue on a roundabout close to the old Great Central wagon works in Leicester.

From 1920 until 2003 it stood on top of the Liberty shoe factory, a Grade II listed building. This being Leicester, the factory was demolished to make way for accommodation for students at De Montfort University.

Note the Kirby & West milk trundling into the picture to prove that the statue is still in Leicester.

BNP London candidate is Falklands veteran - he fought for Argentina

The BNP has chosen Carlos Cortiglia as its candidate in next year's London Mayoral election. Cortiglia is a veteran of the war in the Falklands.

The only trouble is... he was fighting for the Argentinians.

Which rather reminds me of the late Bernard Manning:

While Manning's routine made little attempt to be topical, he could occasionally hint at subversion. 

As when, soon after the Falklands war, he told his audience that two soldiers from the conflict were present. 

As the jingoistic cheers rang out, Manning embarrassed the audience by adding: "They're Argentinians."

Isn't it time David Cameron cleaned up his backyard?

Lib Dem conference fiasco has left few members smiling

I have an article on the Guardian's Comment is Free site about the saga over the accreditation of representatives at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Birmingham.

It was written over the weekend, but has fortunately not been overtaken by events. The only article that has appeared since then that I might have linked to is this one by Gareth Epps on Lib Dem Voice. 

Richard Reeves on John Stuart Mill

In 2007 Richard Reeves published John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand, a biography and account of the great Liberal's thought. In 2010 he became special adviser to Nick Clegg.

I find it encouraging that we have such a good Liberal in this role. It is well worth listening to this lecture, given at the University of Richmond, Virginia, in September 2009 under the title "The Individual and Society: How Would Mill Define ‘The Common Good'?"

Incidentally, my 2007 Liberator article Why John Stuart Mill is the greatest Liberal owed an indecent amount to Reeves.

Tim Henman and Traffic

From the Daily Mail:

Former tennis star Tim Henman has clashed with his neighbours after gaining permission to demolish a 17th-century cottage and replace it with a gym. 

Henman, who turns 37 today, has won planning permission to knock down the building in the grounds of his £2million country house. 

He plans to build an annexe to the main house at his estate in Aston Tirrold, near Didcot in Oxfordshire, which will include accommodation and a state-of-the-art gym.

And why is that story of interest to this blog? Because Aston Tirrold is the nearest village to the cottage where Traffic famously "got it together in the country", that's why.

It also has oblique connections with John Masefield.

John Le Carre praises new film of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

 From the Daily Telegraph this morning:

“I approached the prospect of a feature film of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with the same misgivings that would have afflicted anyone else who had loved the television series of 32 years ago,” the author said. 

“George Smiley was Alec Guinness, Alec was George, period. How could another actor equal let alone surpass him? 

“My anxieties were misplaced. And if people write to me and say, ‘How could you let this happen to poor old Alec Guinness?’, I shall reply that, if ‘poor Alec’ had witnessed Oldman’s performance, he would have been the first to give it a standing ovation.” 

Le Carré said that Oldman “pays full honour to the genius of Guinness”. He added: “He evokes the same solitude, inwardness, pain and intelligence that his predecessor brought to the part - even the same elegance. 

“But Oldman’s Smiley, from the moment he appears, is a man waiting patiently to explode. 

“If I were to meet the Smiley of Alec Guinness on a dark night, my instinct would be to go to his protection. If I met Oldman’s I think I just might make a run for it.

You might say "well, he would say that", but Le Carre would be perfectly capable of condemning a film of his own novel if he did not like it.

I watched the Alec Guinness television adaptation from 1979 earlier this summer.

Leicester's Labour Mayor prevents finance staff attending scrutiny meeting

Says who? Says Labour councillor and chair of the city council's scrutiny committee Ross Wilmott.

Leicester's Labour group has always been faction ridden, but you have usually had to read between the lines to work out what is going on. But you don't have to be a redeployed kremlinologist to make sense of Wilmott's latest blog post:

we have heard from Soulsby over and over again that propriety, openness, inclusiveness and robust scrutiny are highly valued and in his view were lacking of late in Leicester. He therefore gave assurances throughout his campaign and since his election that scrutiny will be independent, transparent, robust, and fully resourced. 

Well, the last meeting raised serious questions about Soulsby’s commitment to any of these principles. It’s hardly independent if the Mayor vetoes reports and stops officers from attending. It’s hardly transparent if he does not explain that he has done this. It can never be robust if we are denied the information with which to scrutinise. And so far scrutiny is not properly resourced, although the committee did welcome the assurance from the mayor that this would be resolved as quickly as possible. 

The Committee agreed that in future finance officers as well as legal advisors will attend every meeting. Making it clear that it is not the mayor who decides who should attend.

Note too that Vijay Patel, the former leader of the council managed to appear even more ridiculous over the rehiring of its finance chief four months after he had been paid off by failing to turn up for the scrutiny meeting because he had a cold.

In May, when Labour found itself with a Labour mayor and 52 out of 54 councillors, I wrote:

There is certainly a strong case for using a proportional system for electing councils in city's with mayors. The Leicester Mercury's political correspondent has pointed out that under a proportional system Labour would have won 35 seats, the Tories 11 and the Lib Dems 8 - still a thumping majority, but a far healthier balance for politics in the city. 

Or if that is beyond the pale after another recent result, then at least for electing the mayor and the councillors in different years.

But it seems that Labour may be able to provide some proper scrutiny after all. As David Maclean, the Leicester Mercury's political correspondent, wrote on his own blog:

The tough tone Ross uses, however, is surprising. It’s also encouraging. I have doubts about the effectiveness of some scrutiny members. Some councillors by nature do not wish to rock the boat. Many want a cabinet position. It happens at all councils, not just Leicester. It’s the trouble with scrutiny.

It seems that for many councillors it’s difficult to separate party responsibilities from their duties to the people of the city.

Last year on scrutiny Ross showed some promising signs when it came to putting aside party loyalty for the good of city. Now, it appears, he’s relishing his chairmanship and quite rightly setting aside party loyalties when scrutinising.

And good for him, though you may also see Wilmott's independence as a sign of his disaffection from the ruling faction in Leicester Labour. He lost to Sir Peter Soulsby in the contest to be the Labour candidate in the city's first mayoral election and was then kept off the short list for the Leicester South by-election so that the seat could be used to parachute in Ed Miliband's PR man.

Six of the Best 185

Representatives at the Birmingham Lib Dem Conference should get up early on the Wednesday to vote on proposals to relax the rules on campaigning in internal party contests. Mark Pack explains why

675 railway stations are to be left without ticket office, reports Neil Monnery.

We find Kirk Elder, Senior Citizen from Peebles unimpressed by plans to give the Scottish Conservatives a new name. "Shouldn't a true Conservative be resigned to the principle of referring to a Snickers bar as a Marathon, whatever it says on the wrapper?"

The View East marks the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall.

"Clarrie 'E. Coli' Grundy deserves our sympathy, in a great storyline. But the marketing genius that is Brenda Tucker does not. How can the word 're-branding' have failed to cross her lips yet?" Hoping for More than Slogans catches up with several months of The Archers. I like the idea of Freddie and Lily as Miles and Flora too.

Ben's Blog - In Search of Nature visited Rutland Water back in July to photograph the ospreys.

Free schools: The profit motive is a side-issue

Most of the discussion of Nick Clegg's speech this morning has concentrated on his insistence that the new free schools will not be run for profit.

I shall return to that in a moment, but I want to say how much I welcome Nick's emphasis on the need to make sure that children from poorer families and in poorer areas benefit from these schools. As he said:

"I want them to be available to the whole community – open to all children and not just the privileged few. I want them to be part of a school system that releases opportunity, rather than entrenching it. "They must not be the preserve of the privileged few, creaming off the best pupils while leaving the rest to fend for themselves, causing problems for and draining resources from other nearby schools. So let me give you my assurance: I would never tolerate that."

I believe that Liberal Democrats should welcome diversity in educational provision. And that we should welcome it particularly in areas where the schools currently provided to those who cannot buy their way out of the system are not very good.

Perhaps there are ways of providing this within the sate system, but we don't talk about those much. Instead, despite having been out of power for 90 years, many of us seem determined to die in the ditch defending the status quo.

 As to the profit motive... A common view on the left, and amongst Liberal Democrats, is that anyone who works in state education - even superheads on six-figure salaries - is selfless and motivated solely by a wish to the best for children. By contrast, anyone who works in business is motivated purely by money.

But the truth is that we are all moved by a wide variety of motives, both noble and base. I suspect that allowing free schools to make a profit would not make much of a difference to the way those schools are run.

Which is why the making of profits is a far less important issue than ensuring that free schools are open to all.

Headline of the Day visits Whitstable

The award goes to This is Kent for its:

Whitstable mum in custard shortage

Tin Drum Books, Narborough Road, Leicester

This is Tin Drum Books on the Narborough Road in Leicester - the land of exploding kebab shops.

In the words of its Facebook page:

Proprietors Ian and Valerie Smalley. Lots of sci-fi, horror and tatty books for book-art projects. Also a few text books - lots of copies of Norton and lots of politics. Permanent sale of 10p books outside (weather permitting).Student discounts.

But do Liberal Democrats believe the NHS should be run from Whitehall?

Liberal Burblings quotes with approval the words of 38 Degrees, or at least their lawyers:

The bill will remove the duty of the Secretary of State to provide or secure the provision of health services which has been a common and critical feature of all previous NHS legislation since 1946. This is the means by which Parliament ensures the NHS delivers what the public want and expect. 

I can see a strong case for giving the Secretary of State this duty as a means of giving people some prospect legal redress if their are gaps in the service provided.

But I certainly do not agree with the argument that it is the way to give the public what it wants and expects. If that is our aim then we need to make the control of the NHS more local and more democratic.

That should be an analysis all Liberal Democrats share. Certainly, we should have ambitions that go beyond defending the status quo. I would like to have seen more of these ambitions in the emergency motion to the Birmingham conference that is currently being promoted, but maybe that is the nature of emergency motions.

I also commend the call from Free Radical for more nuanced debate on the NHS amongst Liberal Democrats.

The Bonzos: Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?

For the lover of British rhythm and blues from the 1960s there remains a nagging question. Isn't there something slightly ridiculous about urban middle-class white boys singing the music of poor blacks from the rural South?

Or as the Bonzos put it: "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?"