ConLib’s policy of reducing the state is in full swing, with its scrappage of the £55billion Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF).
A perfect epitomisation of the devastation this will cause is in my local area, Oldham, where 13 new projects have been halted. This is disastrous news to the local population with an unemployment rate well above the national average.
In times of economic downturn, the way to steer an economy away from depression is through investment, and there is no sounder investment than in education, with the result of generating a workforce capable of creating wealth as opposed to a generation of benefit claimants. The decision to place short-termism ahead of the long-term future of the country is extremely dangerous. Everyone appreciates the desperate need to cut the nation’s deficit, however, is damaging the future of the future workforce of the country the best way to do this? It is entirely inappropriate for children to be educated in crumbling, clearly out of date buildings, which are no longer fit for purpose.
Savings and improvements have to be made, but it is very much apparent that those most affected by the ConLib cuts are those who can least afford it.
These cuts are perfectly co-ordinated with recent comments by Iain Duncan Smith, who introduced plans to make the workforce “more mobile”, clearly reminiscent of Tebbit’s now infamous “Get on your bike” speech. These plans included sketchy details of paying people to move out of areas and vague promises regarding local authority housing placements. It is without logic to pay grants and subsidies to encourage people to move to an already overpopulated London and the South East.
The policy of cutting funding from education in deprived areas, and instead, funding relocation packages, is entirely without logic. It is time for an urgent rethink from this so called “Progressive” Government, as the only thing we are progressing towards is another recession.
A perfect epitomisation of the devastation this will cause is in my local area, Oldham, where 13 new projects have been halted. This is disastrous news to the local population with an unemployment rate well above the national average.
In times of economic downturn, the way to steer an economy away from depression is through investment, and there is no sounder investment than in education, with the result of generating a workforce capable of creating wealth as opposed to a generation of benefit claimants. The decision to place short-termism ahead of the long-term future of the country is extremely dangerous. Everyone appreciates the desperate need to cut the nation’s deficit, however, is damaging the future of the future workforce of the country the best way to do this? It is entirely inappropriate for children to be educated in crumbling, clearly out of date buildings, which are no longer fit for purpose.
Savings and improvements have to be made, but it is very much apparent that those most affected by the ConLib cuts are those who can least afford it.
These cuts are perfectly co-ordinated with recent comments by Iain Duncan Smith, who introduced plans to make the workforce “more mobile”, clearly reminiscent of Tebbit’s now infamous “Get on your bike” speech. These plans included sketchy details of paying people to move out of areas and vague promises regarding local authority housing placements. It is without logic to pay grants and subsidies to encourage people to move to an already overpopulated London and the South East.
The policy of cutting funding from education in deprived areas, and instead, funding relocation packages, is entirely without logic. It is time for an urgent rethink from this so called “Progressive” Government, as the only thing we are progressing towards is another recession.
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