The Glass Box for Tuesday.
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Eddie gets better and better.
We need up to the minute Strapline to reflect his trajectory.
What about
PM, Radio 4, like Radio 5 Live 'till 6?
Go on what?
Mrs Barnfather (2),
Are you related to that cop on Homicide Life on the Street?
I've been.
George OSbourne:
The Tories haven't learn't a single thing.
When Thatcher's economists were in power we were told government spending crowds out private sector spending.
In fact its the other way tound as Galbraith has been steadily telling us for half a century.
Private Affluence generates Public Squalor. ('The Affluent Society')
Everyone tells us an conomy built on debt is problematic so we are told.
But in Osbourne's mind private debt needs a little regulation whilst PUBLIC DEBT is the problem.
But George, if you won't accept higher taxes how else can government finance schools, hospitals etc?
On your argument less government debt will result in more private debt.
And government debt IS to be spent on public sector house building and training more dentists.
Too much private debt is for the second and third car, the yatch, the second or third home.
Public = Equitable, Private = Inequitable.
PUPILS CHOOSING THE TEACHERS!
What a great idea. Lets get some teachers in who "engage" pupils better. 'Teacher Idol' or a system where you can text to vote off one of your teachers every week until the guy who wears jeans, listens to 'The Strokes' and says 'Call me Roger' is the only one left...
Re: Students observing teachers and sitting on interview panels
I heard this on my way home from a teaching day plus staff meeting where we discussed at length the new professional standards for teachers; performance management and book monitoring in addition to the usual stuff(student target setting and how best to prepare our students for exams).
I nearly crashed my car.
Luckily I managed to keep control of the vehicle and heard the last bit of the interview where the lady (paid spokesperson?) from the school council association suggested that the process would somehow be the answer to engaging the 20% of students who leave without qualifications rather than the hard work and expertise of teachers. This made me realise that the whole thing was a spoof.
Thankyou pm team you really know how to pull our legs!
Eddy, you could have asked (for perspective) what is the situation in other countries, how do they do it for I rarely see police chasing at the speeds ours go in cars, when in Europe - E.g. it seems to be every few minutes in Camden High street. It would have been good if you had commented that it is not just the 'chasing' that is lethal, for I recently read in our local paper that there is apparently a 'scam' re targets which involves putting on the 'blues and twos' whilst speeding to going other than life and death situations. This should be investigated. Plus the police have closed local stations so cars are lethaly speeding through our high streets from one area to another, where before cars were localy based. Local Police crashes involving death and injury seem to be a regular event in our local camden paper, most are not 'chases' per se. (this is easy to check in the Camden New Journal). I find it really distressing that they often cross over to the wrong side of the road at speed to get around traffic which has caused me close shaves on occasions as it is so confusing and so fast when one is looking the other direction. Children the elderly and cyclists are particularly vulnerable . thanks
Thank you so much for bringing back the Lifesaver Bottle item - what a wonderful man.
Announcer: "Welcome to the highly esteemed Go On Show!"
As to the programme, a good piece by Hugh as always, but did I miss something or did that whole item about Blackwater pass without a single mention of the word "mercenary"? If any action deserved that appelation rather than the sick euphamism of "Security Firm", that was it.
Did someone say that Eddie might be giving up twittering?
What a good idea.
Police chases?
From another perspective, why does the driving test/lessons lack anything to do with what to do when an emergency vehicle apporaoches?
From the sound of it, Mr.Pritchard's bottle is brilliant. Mind you, this is 2007 and the bottled-water lobby will do all they can to prevent such a thing from being widely used. We seem to no longer "cut off our nose to spite out face". Rather we cut out our tongues (or typing fingers) to spite our brains.
Good bit about the teachers v pupils. My own opinion is if you want to find out your effect, ask the customers. In this case, it is the young people - and their entire future is at stake, so we'd better get it right.
Of course they should be interviewing. If the prospective teacher has no child-friendly skills then they are in the wrong job. And if they are out-flanked in a short 30 minute interview by a (probably nice) small bunch of pupils, then that's them out too!
Excellent to have mr bottle back. I think he's on the right track too, what with bringing the price down later.
Hugh of course always gives 100%
the only waffle today was from George Osborne, but even then, I think it was good to have him on, even if he couldnt actually say much cos it all seems to have blown over for a while.
And I guess thats 'balance' for Brighton!!!
Good show!!
nick
Lib Dems and their resolution re illegal immigrants
Just how is an illegal immigrant going to prove they have been here for ten years or more? Do they get someone going to sign a statement they've employed this illegal immigant since 1997? Will that not open them up for prosecution?
So the Lib-Dems play 鈥渢he race card鈥 yet again.
Their support of illegality (in the form of legitimising illegal immigrants) is therefore further evidence that they are unfit to govern.
Clearly, although like the rest of us they cannot believe the number of legal ethnic voters can win them seats, they know electoral fraud in the ghettos will make this number significant.
Similarly they believe that sixteen-year-olds are silly enough (weren鈥檛 we all at that age) to support their silly ideas.
What more need be said about this VERY SILLY PARTY ? Except - their policies are dangerous.
I was responsible for last night's programme.
I'm glad the item about school pupils being given a say in their teachers' progress was well received.
We have a meeting each morning at 1100 to discuss that day's programme, and when I explained this item, other members of the production team went "BLIMEY!", which indicated the kind of response I hoped it would get from the audience! And it did.
We also did something on the programme we rarely do - get the same guest back to hear from them again about the same item. But I think it was justified with the WaterBottle man.
One lesson I learned last night - although it seems not to have been commented on yet! - was the pitfall of new(ish) technology. Eddie spoke to the guest about the selling of Belgium on Ebay via Skype - a computer programme which allows users to make telephone calls from their computer to other Skype users free of charge. When it works, the sound quality is great, sometimes the equivalent of getting someone into a studio. When it doesn't work well, it sounds like you're interviewing a martian down a well. The lesson I learned was not to use Skype with someone who doesn't have English as their first language, as there were bits with M Six which were more than a little hard to understand.
It's me again in charge next Wednesday...
Marc
One feature about the Glass Box that I am particularly fond of is that it gives me an idea as to whether I should listen again! As early evenings are a bit of a minefield at the mo am missing PM more than I'm managing to hear it. The comments give me a fair idea if the programme was a particularly fine one and definitely worth checking out, or, to put it bluntly, not! (of course they are all great editions in their own special way).
I was the reporter on the School Councils story, where some schools give their pupils extraordinary amounts of power including the right to observe and criticise lessons, and a part in the hiring of teachers.
One of the pupils I interviewed said she thought it was "amazing". I would have to agree. I was a bit sceptical about the concept before visiting Villiers High School in Southall, West London. But I have to say after witnessing it in action I was very impressed. The Learning Advisors, as they are called, were extremely mature (far more so than I was at the age of 15), they took their responsibilities seriously, and they had some very incisive comments to make.
For the teachers, being inspected by pupils was voluntary, but those that I spoke to who had taken part found the experience worthwhile. Nothing goes down on their employment record, and the whole idea is to share good practice within the school but from the perspective of the students rather than other teachers or professional inspectors.
With job interviews, the school claimed that in 99% of cases there was agreement between the student interviewers and the school management team over the right candidate. I asked the pupils whether there was a temptation to appoint a teacher they liked rather than one that might be too strict, and I think they were being genuine when they said they preferred the stricter teachers!
I'm sure it wouldn't work in every school, but perhaps sometimes we should give children more credit. Adults don't always know best.
Rob Burns(6): I've got an even more drastic suggestion - How about electors chose their constituency candidates?
Re Schools, it seems to me that giving students a lot of power while they are learning will raise their expectations that there will be similar levels of democracy at work. What disappointment awaits them!
The recent revelation that a record number of people are seeking help for unmanageable debts is shocking but not surprising. A credit culture has been allowed to develop in our society 鈥 with potentially dire consequences for millions of ordinary people.
The Citizens Advice Bureau says debt now accounts for one in three of all the enquiries it receives, its advisers dealing with more than 6,600 problems to do with borrowing every working day. These are the casualties of the credit boom and recent sharp increases in the cost of living. Worryingly, these people are not fretting about funding a holiday abroad or a second car, they are struggling to afford day-to-day living costs.
According to press reports the number of those falling behind with their gas and electricity bills has jumped by more than a third in the last 12 months. Those with council tax arrears rose by a quarter, telephone debt problems were up by 19 per cent and the number of people falling behind on mortgage and other secured debt repayments rose by 11 per cent.
This is the real story behind rising house prices and our apparently buoyant economy. People are now grappling with vastly bigger mortgages than their parents had to contend with, even allowing for inflation, and the recent interest rate rises are beginning to bite. Of course we are all responsible for our own actions, but I think some of the blame must also be shouldered by the banks, big business and the Government who for too long have turned a blind eye to this ticking timebomb.