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Interviewing Nick Clegg
Mon, 21 July 2008 - by Hannah Pipps
Today I met with Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, to have an informal discussion about different issues affecting young people.
As Nick strode through the door, chatting away on his mobile phone looking important and busy, it made me think ‘does he really want to be here and does he have the time for us?’ However, the mobile phone got shut off, a welcoming smile appeared on his face as he came over and we all introduced ourselves. Even if he didn’t want to be there, he certainly showed no sign of it. After sitting down and sharing a little joke over how cosy it was, we cut straight to the chase with our questions. We asked how Prime Ministers Questions had gone earlier that day and of course, we asked what he thought of Gordon Brown; the response was to be expected. Nick certainly made it clear how he didn’t like the fact that our Prime Minister would never give a direct answer to a question.
As our discussion went on, issues about housing, faith schools and the environment were all raised. Nick spoke with enthusiasm and passion about different matters and really made me believe that he wanted to change things for the better in this country.
He gave in depth answers to the questions and I found myself intrigued by what he had to say. Nick seemed to be a genuine, down to earth politician who enjoyed talking to different people and who appeared to have some promising ideas for our country. As our discussion came to a close, Nick obviously was a busy man and had other things scheduled for the day, however he was polite enough to finish answering any final questions that we had. I’m sure given more time, there would have been many additional questions that we could have asked, however, until next time, I wish Nick all the best!
The interview can be seen here now.
Catch 21 gets RSS feeds
Mon, 7 July 2008 - by Webmaster
Finally we've joined the 21st century here at catch21.co.uk and we now offer RSS feeds. These are a popular way for our website to tell you that there is something new. Our RSS feed will let you know as soon as a new video or blog is added at catch21.co.uk.
Click here to add our new feed to your RSS reader.
Catch21 will continue to ask your questions to the MPs we interview on your behalf, so you can see if your question has been answered and you can be the first to tell us what you think of the questions or any of the issues raised by using our comments section at the bottom of each blog and video entry.
No idea what an RSS feed is? This page at the BBC should help you.
Education Reforms ‘Off Target’
Wed, 18 June 2008 - by George Robinson
‘No excuses’ proclaims Ed Balls; schools must reach the minimum government GCSE targets. There has been a worrying trend of successive governments that have attempted to quantify the performance of schools through examining GCSE and A level results.
This crusade, launched to understand which schools give value for public money, has the opposite effect. It simply tests which schools have the apparatus to create ‘exam factories’. It creates a nation of young people who are quite superb at reciting which ‘assessment objectives’ they are required to ‘hit’ to tick government boxes. But ask them something which does not appear on the syllabus and you will receive a quizzical stare. Most likely followed by the question ‘but that’s not on the syllabus?!’. I know this because I am a product of this system, and the syllabus is taught in a manner akin to the gospels in a monastery. The consequence is that neither GCSE’s nor ‘A’ Levels give you adequate insight to the subject you study, but instead only equip you with the tools to hit arbitrary government targets.
Over and above this, the government seems unaware or, more likely, uninterested that schools can provide young people with skills that cannot be quantified by exam league tables. The threat that those schools that fail to reach the minimum government target will be shut down will further stifle the other services provided by schools. Extra-Curricular activities will be outlawed in a desperate attempt to bring the school into line with government targets, and the less academic pupils will become even more disillusioned with a system that seems to consistently overlook their strengths. The great irony is that another government initiative that attempts to reform education, further isolates schools from the people they exist to help, their pupils.
Examining Exams
Wed, 28 May 2008 - by Kiran Tailor
I am one of the millions of people that hate exams and through all my years of study, preparing for exams was the one thing I hated most. In recent times though exams are being attacked from all sides. It's being claimed that they are too easy and there are constantly revelations about how papers have been leaked.
I read today that teachers were 'coaching' students on exams by giving them hints about what was on the exam papers. This has been going on for years, teachers predict on what comes on papers and try and brush their students up on it and the people that are
complaining about it should remember that it happened in their time too.
I don't see the point of exams to be honest, I've never gone into work needing to memorise the peoples names or dates. Schools should be a tool not just for imparting knowledge but should also prepare people for working life and the best way to this is to give them real skills (which don't include memory retention!)
My politics course at university for example was coursework based with only a few exams and I think this the way forward. With coursework you learn how to put into practice the what has been learnt and put a real life context on things which exams fail to do. This is just one of the benefits, others like spreading coursework deadlines over the year will will do away with the stress and panic that many students feel at the end of the year. The most important advantage to me would be giving those who struggle with the current education system more year round support.
Photo courtesy of sashamd @ flickr
Is Gordon Brown's time almost up?
Fri, 16 May 2008 - by Kiran Tailor
This is something that I couldn't have imagined in June 2007. He had the reputation of being a very astute politician and as Chancellor not many could have argued with his performance. But what has gone wrong from him, why are people calling time on his stint as Prime Minister? For instance every time I see Ed Miliband on t.v. he's being asked if Gordon should be ousted and he should take over!
He has had to preside over some of the worst economic conditions Britain has had to deal with since John Major was Prime Minister and I for one, looking at his track record as Chancellor wouldn't want anyone else in politics dealing with this sit
uation right now. The housing market hasn't crashed, interest rates have still been kept reasonably low and I can't really see Britain going into a recession.
On the other hand though the 10p tax rate couldn't have been dealt with worse, for a Labour government to put out something that will not only hurt their core voters but also put them possibly in a worse economic position in this current economic climate seems crazy! He obviously paid heavily for this in the elections on the 1st May 2008 when Labour only got 24% of the national vote and Boris Johnson (Conservative) won the London Mayoral election.
This is only one situation. I've not even mentioned the non-election or the accusations that he is stealing policies, but I think it highlights one of the key problems Gordon Brown has as premier. His success as Chancellor which his office and himself championed more that anyone else has meant that the public expect the British economy to be run like a well oiled machine: think Manchester United. He gave everyone the impression that Tony was Rio Ferdinand, the guy with the flair, charm and charisma, and he was Vidic, the solid, no nonsense man that Tony would rely on to make him and the Labour party look perfect.
History has taught us one thing Governments and Prime Ministers get ousted time and time again but their economic failures, ask Major and Wilson....with Gordon Brown be added to this list?
Photo Courtesy of World Economic Forum @ flickr.com
Why the Sudden Change?
Fri, 9 May 2008 - by Kiran Tailor
The Home Secretary yesterday reclassified Cannabis from a Class C drug back to a Class B drug only a couple of years after it was downgraded. The question is why?
There has been much confusion about if Cannabis was legal or what the punishment for having Cannabis was and I was one of the confused many. In actual fact the maximum sentence for possession for Cannabis is 2 years for possession and 14 for supplying. Now its been upgraded to a Class B its 4 years for possession and 14 years for supplying.
The reasons the government has given for this reclassification are the mental health issues associated with Cannabis use, specifically schizophrenia. Their other main argument is that the strands of Cannabis now available were 20 times stronger than that which was available in the past.
All sounds pretty plausible but the government seem to be going against the scientific evidence here. Scientists say that the grade of Cannabis now available is only around 2 times stronger and because it is stronger people are using less. The worries about schizophrenia have also be exaggerated, to stop 1 man from getting schizophrenia 5000 men would have to stop smoking Cannabis and the figure for women is even larger at 20,000. Scientists also argued that Cannabis use had dropped since declassification, and that the evidence they had suggested that the classification of a drug did not effect people's thoughts whether to take a drug or not.
Overall I'm very confused by all this, it seems like after the poor recent election results the government are doing the typical thing of coming down hard on crime to win back some support. I think they've missed a trick here as history has always shown that to stop crime of any sort we need to get to the source, and by punishing the people who smoke the drugs with heavier sentences and leaving the 14 years for possession the same is ludicrous!
