Starting September, trainee teachers will be facing tougher revamped tests in English, mathematics and reasoning to raise the standards of literacy and numeracy displayed by educators.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said: "These changes will mean that parents can be confident that we have the best teachers coming into our classrooms. Above all, it will help ensure we raise standards in our schools and close the attainment gap between the rich and poor."
EU Rebellions Featured
The conservatives and Europe. Possibly the longest running saga in politics (apart from politicians and sleaze or maybe the still lingering perceptions of class warfare) is haunting Cameron’s government and represents a ghost from the past that the Tories could really do without. After yesterdays defeat in a bill pledging a real-terms cut in EU spending between 2014 and 2020, with Labour joining Tory rebels and the Lib Dems in rejecting the plans. Nick Clegg has attacked the pledge to reclaim powers lost to Brussels as a “false promise”. Clegg attacked the PM’s hopes of repatriating powers.
“A grand, unilateral repatriation of powers might sound appealing but in reality, it is a false promise, wrapped in a Union Jack,” was how Clegg described Cameron’s plans in a speech at Chatham House. He even said that such views from the government would lead to a British exit from the EU which would have “catastrophic” results.
MP Richard Ottoway, the 67-year-old former naval officer who represented Croydon South since 1992, announced that he will not seek re-election and opted to retire to spend time with his family and to enjoy his hobbies while he still can, revealed the news at a local meeting in Purley on Friday, October 26th.
After more than 25 years in the parliament, his standing down in 2015 from the Tory seat will leave a potential way in for Boris Johnson, the London Mayor.
Lord Heseltine, the former Tory deputy prime minister, has urged the government to be bolder as far as stimulating the economy is concerned. In the report, ‘No Stone Unturned’, commissioned by Downing Street, he said that people think the UK is lacking a “strategy for growth and wealth creation". He made 89 recommendations to help industry. One of these being to move £49bn from central government to local leaders and businesses.
The main theme of the report was a call to devolution from Whitehall to Local Enterprise Partnerships that are being established in England. He argues that these bodies are key to stimulating regional growth. He claims that at the moment, LEPs do not have "the authority or resource to transform their locality in the way our economy needs".
England have begun their tour of India against an Indian A side and already have injury concerns. Steven Finn strained his thigh pulling up while fielding, but scans show that he doesn’t have a particularly serious injury. He is set to be “assessed” to “determine a rehabilitation programme” an ECB statement said. Finn could be rested ahead of the first Test match on 15 November Ahmedabad. Fortunately England have alternative fast bowlers for the meantime, such as James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Graham Onions.
The other notable side story to the opening match is the return of Kevin Pietersen after his summer exile. The mercurial batsman had been banned for sending “provocative texts” to opposition players during South Africa’s summer tour. He has since apologised to the ECB, former captain Andrew Strauss and current captain Alisdair Cook, facilitating his return to the side. On his return he scored 23 runs of 24 showing he still has his trademark power but did not build on a reasonable start as he was caught and bowled by Yuvraj Singh. Tim Bresnan described his return as “business as usual” for the England side.
A gay former Conservative MP and ex-parliamentary aide to Margaret Thatcher, the late Sir Peter Morrison, have been described as a “pedophile” by Rod Richards, the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives.
Mr. Richards was a Welsh Assembly Member until 2002 and briefly led the party in the chamber during 1999.
It was said by German intelligence that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has deposited an amount of £840,000 to the Swiss bank account of a certain Kadhim Al-hilli, a former factory worker that is believed to have been close to Hussein’s Ba’ath Party but fell out of it and decided to move from Baghdad to Pimlico, Central London and later settled on in Surrey, together with his wife, Fasiha, and two boys.
Zaid Al-Hilli, son of Kadhim, denied allegations of him being involved in the crime. He also denied the rumors about his father’s involvement with Saddam and that they’re living outside of Iraq to avoid Saddam’s regime for 41 years.
Kumud Gandhi is becoming one of the most high profile personalities in cooking education. She has become a go-to person for BBC Radio and The Times and has almost become the celebrity face of Indian cuisine. Not content with a normal standard of food, she is always pursuing the best combinations of spices and flavours and always looking into the science of food to see what intricate tastes she can create and also looking into how to create food that is healthy as well as tasty.
The health element of her cooking has been gaining plenty of attention. She often speaks and writes on national platforms about the work she does in her cooking school, ‘The Cooking Academy’, to try to spread her philosophy on using particular herbs and spices to prevent ailments.
Miliband: Mental Health Featured
Ed Miliband has lambasted Jeremy Clarkson and Janet Street-Porter for representing a cultural antipathy towards mental illness. He was shocked by Street-Porter’s article calling depression “the latest must-have accessory” while he also accused Clarkson of demeaning “Johnny Suicides”. In what could be regarded as post-stiff-upper-lip Britain [i], people with mental illness are indeed encouraged to get help with their difficulties rather than soldiering on through like a tough old nut – no pun intended[ii]. In our post-Freud world we should be aware of the neurotic damage that self-repression can cause. Miliband is right to talk frankly about the ease with which people can become discriminatory and sneering about other people’s approaches to their own health and happiness.
Former Pop Star Gary Glitter, Real Name Paul Gadd was arrested by police last Oct 28, 2012 on allegations of Sexual offence.
Karen Ward, the woman who made the allegations against the former pop star, says “I saw Gary Glitter have sex with a girl in Jimmy Savile’s Dressing room.”