Sean Martin

Sky news has just revealed that a few Labour backbenchers have asked for nomination papers for a possible leadership election. Brown may have less time than we thought after all...

The think-tank Reform has just wired us a copy of their maths challenge – a set of 10 questions designed not only to test the grey-matter, but also to promote a rigorous maths curriculum.  The challenge will be distributed at the party conferences – to see how the politicos fare – but we’ve reproduced it below for the benefit of CoffeeHousers.  For information on how to have your answers checked, click here.  Do let us know how you get on…  Questions Note: These problems are designed to be tackled without a calculator 1.(a) 15 x 9 = ?;   (b) (2 1/2 + 5/3 ) ÷ 2 1/2 = ? 2.When you count “1, 2, 3, …” out loud, what is the first number you come to that contains an “a”? 3.

One of the major educational challenges facing us today is ensuring talented pupils receive the same opportunity to excel. Today’s publication of a Warwick University study shows that low teacher expectations have meant Black Caribbean pupils are less likely to be entered for higher tier testing, apparently highlighting the “institutional racism” in schooling. This attitude ignores the real reason why disadvantaged pupils often don’t reach their educational potential: the poverty of aspiration and information in comprehensive schools. Research from the Sutton Trust has shown that many comprehensive pupils academic progression is marred by a lack of knowledge of various aspects of university entrance.

The Northwest Passage has been a focal point for both environmentalists and shipping companies for years. The sea route along the North American coast has been blocked for hundreds of years by a pack of Arctic ice. But through climate change the pack is melting away and the waters may soon be available for maritime use in 2009. This new route could chop thousands of nautical miles off journeys from Europe to Asia. But the melting of the ice pack shows worrying trends in global warming. The ice pack blocking the route has reached its smallest size since records began. The pack’s disappearance has been exacerbated by its melting rate speeding up during its usual cooling season.

Since 1997, faith schools have been peddled as a way to deliver high quality education – first by Blair, and now by Cameron and Gove. Sure, they may get impressive results. But to judge them on that basis alone ignores the gross unfairness, elitism and favouritism that lie at their heart.   As a state funded institution, faith schools should have the same selection policy as any other state school. The discrimination on the basis of faith at entrance denies many pupils the opportunity to get a high quality education. This is hardly in line with the message of “parental choice” repeated again and again by the political mainstream. If faith schools want to continue their elitist selection procedures, they should become private enterprises.

A study has shown that 1/3 of graduates receive no financial benefit from having a degree. And there’s been a 12% rise since 1992 in the number of graduates in non - graduate positions five years after leaving university. The worst performers were converted polytechnics and new universities spearheaded by the Labour government. These findings show the dangers of the incentivisation of higher education. A couple of weeks ago I said school wasn’t for everyone. Well, university isn’t either. Bribed into A levels by EMAs, and fooled by dated graduate salary figures into university, young people are sleepwalking into up to £20,000 of debt. And it’s not just a few of them either – some 50 percent of school leavers are intended to head to university.

Well done George Osborne. Just before Labour launch their economic recovery plan he has demanded corporation tax cuts from Darling. This is a great political move that puts the Chancellor in a difficult position. By proposing these tax cuts Osborne has heightened expectations before Darling’s unveiling. If he fails to promise them then the much fêted plan will seem to have fallen short. Also this move will be music to the ears of business leaders who are suffering in the economic climate. They will want to feel that the government is doing all they can to support them through increasingly competitive times. A Darling rejection will be seen as a snub to struggling business interests.

Laura Richards, a former head of the Met Police homicide prevention unit has claimed stop and search makes gangs stronger not weaker. The method has been used by the Met in stabbing “hotspots” to catch knife carriers. Richards feels the indiscriminate searches are marginalising young men, and suggests that – as 90 percent of knife murderers are previously known to police - searching targeted youths would get better results. On the surface this seems a great idea, with excessive police interference only worsening what are already poor relations with young people. The problem emerges when we look at who the targeted street knife criminals are: generally under 20 and disproportionately black.

With the MDC still refusing to sign the unacceptable power sharing deal, Zimbabwe’s future hangs in the balance. The discussions are as farcical as we expected – a fact demonstrated by Mandy Russow’s piece in the South African Mail and Guardian today. In it, she interviews both George Charamba and Tendai Biti, from Zanu PF and MDC respectively, and asks them identical questions about the deal negotiations.  Charamba’s answers depict the central cause of Zimbabwe’s ruin: Zanu PF delusions. He asserts: “It is about the plight of the white man and Britain and its mining interests…I don't know what you are terming as economic decline.

The Beijing Olympics was a chance for China to shine. But despite the brilliance of much of the games, the hosts keep reinforcing the criticism that all isn’t what it seems. At the opening ceremony we had the 9 year old miming because the real singer wasn’t pretty enough. And now we have a gold medallist who may not be old enough to compete. He Kexin won the top prize in the uneven bars gymnastics at the supposed age of 16. However a blogger appears to have found lists from the General Administration of Sport of China that show she is 14. These allegations are not new as they were levied by the Chinese press before being taken down by Government censors, a sad indictment of the corruption Jonathan Mirsky outlines in his letter in this week’s Spectator.

Standing in a stuffy tube train is unpleasant enough without Bob Crow making your life even harder. Almost 3 million people have been hassled again this week with another bout of RMT strikes. Not only are these pay strikes an immense inconvenience, they are also unfair and risky in the current climate. In the current economic conditions of rising inflation there is one thing that will make it ten times worse: wage inflation. This is an economic truth that the RMT and other unions have to accept, above inflation salary increases only exacerbate inflationary pressures. Public-sector workers must recognise that they will have to spend a few less pennies whilst the economy corrects itself, just like everyone else.

English is not the first language of one in eight schoolchildren according to a new government survey. As of January 2007, 85,000 children spoke Urdu and 70,000 Bengali as their preferred tongue. These numbers show that Britain is changing. Our society is becoming more diverse in both face and tongue. However, because English will always be this country’s first language these thousands of children who do not speak English as their mother tongue, need to be equipped with the language skills that are required to flourish both educationally and in the workplace. The educational establishment needs to start giving serious thought to how these pupils’ English skills can be brought up to the mark.

The QCA has at long last pulled the plug on ETS over the SATS marking debacle with the company being forced to pay back the remaining four years of its contract payment. It is good news that the taxpayers won’t have to pay ETS £19.5 million over the next four years but it can’t hide the fact that someone at the government end should be held responsible for this cock-up. After all, they signed a £156 million contract with a firm whose record should have set alarm bells ringing. Ed Balls should take the blame but he won’t, arguing that his department had passed responsibility for the contract to the QCA. Ken Boston, the QCA chief executive, doesn’t have anyone else to blame and so he should start clearing his desk.

As the crucial negotiations in Zimbabwe drag on, Morgan Tsvangirai must hold strong and not accept any deal that leaves Mugabe in charge of the military. The offer of Prime Minster tabled to him this week is neither fair nor what Zimbabwe needs. First, Tsvangirai polled over 180,000 more votes than Mugabe in the first popular vote, any settlement that does not recognise that reality will not be legitimate. Second, the control over the economy that Tsvangirai would gain would be meaningless as Mugabe would maintain command of the military and police; the military is the cornerstone of Zanu PF support and until Muagbe’s control over it is broken, Zimbabwe will not be free. Time is on Tsvangirai’s side.

Western policymakers may be increasingly concerned about the situation in Pakistan, but the International Cricket Council still want to hold the Champions Trophy there in September. Today the ICC task force ruled that there are sufficient security measures in place. But Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa still have massive worries, and are thinking about not taking part in the tournament. The ICC are employing the Pakistani coach, Geoff Lawson, to convince them otherwise. Just as it did before the 2003 World Cup, the ICC is acting like cricket is cut off from the real world. The time has come for it to face up to the dangers of fragile political environments. This tournament attracts huge numbers of fans and many high profile targets. Their decision was predictable.