Them & Us

For-profit schools

Up to now, academy chains have not been allowed to declare a profit directly out of the school budget.

A recent article in the Independent reports that education minister Michael Gove wants to take the next step and allow for-profit schools.

The proponents of the plan argue, "For-profit state schools are an example of applying Conservative means - faith in markets and competition - to deliver progressive ends - better free education for children with parents who lack the resources to give their children the best education" and proposes "mixed-age classrooms, where children are taught by ability rather than age".

This is nothing to do with improving education; it's about profiteering at our expense and handing over public services to big business.

Of course, if you can also select the pupils that will cost you less to educate, then profit margins can be increased too.

Martin Powell-Davies

'Low pay'

70% of MPs believe they are underpaid. Already paid around £65,000 a year, Tory MPs are feeling most aggrieved, wanting a £31,000 increase.

For the millions of public sector workers employed by the government to provide vital services, and for those who have to rely on already measly benefits to get by, MPs feel a 1% increase is the absolute limit.

Apparently the reason they need such a wage hike is that the 'costs of the job' are not covered by the new expenses rules. So they want to be compensated for the, albeit limited, crack-down on expenses? Don't think so mates!

Bankers' restraint?

Goldman Sachs is thinking about delaying its next round of bankers' bonuses.

Why? Poor performance? Threat of triple dip recession? Fund public services instead?

Of course not. If the bonuses aren't paid until after 6 April, the poor bankers can take advantage of the 5% cut in top-earner income tax.

In the US, Goldman Sachs paid bonuses early on 31 December - hours before taxes on earnings over $400,000 were increased.

Every penny counts, eh?

Bob Severn

Waste

A new report 'Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not' produced by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has found that between 30-50% of all food produced each year is wasted - between 1.2 and two billion tonnes.

The authors cite a number of reasons including inadequate investment in third world and developing nations in harvesting, transport and storage, but by far the largest identified is supermarkets rejecting crops of fruit and vegetables because they do not meet purely cosmetic standards for size and appearance. 30% of the UK's vegetable crop is not harvested for this reason.

This is at the same time that just shy of one billion people around the world are going hungry and the report expects the world population to grow by a further three billion by 2075. Time for a socialist plan of production and distribution.

Iain Dalton

Conflict of interests?

A chain reaction re-shuffle following the resignation of Lord Strathclyde means a new junior education minister has been appointed.

And it sounds like John Nash will be among friends in the Tory Party establishment. He is a former chair of the British Venture Capital Association and has donated around £300,000 to the Conservative party in the last 30 years.

He clearly shares the Tories outlook for education too - Nash founded a charity which sponsors two academies in London.

Which class are you?

In 2011 24% of people in Britain felt they were working class, now it's nearly 60%. No wonder really when a university education, home ownership and 9-5 job - all the things used to trick us into thinking we'd escaped to the middle class - are all out of reach for an increasing number of us. We're all plebs now!

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.