Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Is Neil Kinnock in print for @guardian on #corbyn and #remain ?

Yesterday I saw online an opinion from Neil Kinnock and a news story around it. This repeated the claim that Corbyn is to blame for the Brexit vote because of a poor contribution to the campaign. I saw some negative comments on this on Twitter, some about Kinnock in general, and a robust defence from   .

I was interested to wait till it appeared in print. Would there be any context such as facts about Corbyn during the actual referendum?

Today I find there is nothing in print at all. Maybe I missed it yesterday. If anyone knows where or when Kinnock was in print please let me know.

As in previoius posts my impression is that Corbyn contributed a lot and the idea of blaming him for losing votes seems to have been around for a long time. Spectator podcast had the "give him enough rope to hang himself" narrative as early as during the first leadership election.

So maybe somebody realises this is getting a bit thin and the Kinnock comment is free is not being promoted.

What would be interesting is how decisions were made as to who got which slots on TV. How closely was Will Straw working with Downing Street. Honors list might be a clue. Who had the idea that Lord Darling should share a platform with Osborne? Did Corbyn know this was going to happen?

The Guardian has got another story about leaked emails showing reservations about #remain. Actual Corbyn views and actions are way down the text. I wonder if there are any emails showing how Corbyn was treated by the #remain players. If the gameplan for any election or vote is to blame Corbyn later then there must be some difficulty in the situation.

Anyway, main point today is just to check a fact. Kinnock not in print so far.


Monday, August 15, 2016

Margaret Beckett MP , request for comment

This is only a blog but I am trying to move forward a bit in the social media discussion around the Labour leadership election. Anyone can respond to the Today prog  @BBCr4today     so this is another version.

I am slightly asleep when listening to Today but I think I heard that most of the £25 vote forms rejected were because of previous membership of the Greens. Not sure how that will help with tactical voting in 2020. But anyway the main event was an interview with Margaret Beckett. As reported in the Guardian -

She said some in Jeremy Corbyn’s inner circle appeared “perfectly happy” for a split to happen, adding: “I’ve got no idea what they think is going to happen in the future or whether they actually don’t care at all what happens in parliament.”

 As mentioned previously I am now using the hashtags #nonspiracy as well as #remain and #corbyn. Rather than just raving on I have accepted that there has been no conspiracy to blame Corbyn for lost votes / get rid of him. But I am still puzzled as to what happened. I still think Corbyn was under reported during the referendum. So how were decisions taken? Lord Mandelson on Laura Kuenssberg report seemed upset that Downing Street took control. Will Straw part of Cameron honours. Did Corbyn end up on the Last Leg on his own initiative or part of a series of media deals? If Lord Mandelson has been correctly reported in suggesting moves against Corbyn should wait on vote problems what to make of comments in media from undisclosed sources that Corbyn is terrible etc.? When did this start? Certainly I think the #remain case would have worked better if Corbyn was reported.

How did it come about that Lord Darling shared a platform with Osborne to announce a "punishment" budget? My guess is that if we knew about the "nonconspiracy" around this we might know more about the "nonconspiracy" around Corbyn.

Apparently there has been a random sequence of events. Hilary Benn is reported in the Observer and Sunday Times but had no idea at all how the report happened. Later it is mostly just mentioned that he was sacked. Most of the Shadow Cabinet resigns, apparently in a series of individual decisions. The PLP continues to be what appears to be a series of events intended to destabilise the leadership. Personally I find it even more shocking to be told nobody had thought this through than to consider it was some sort of plan.

But the danger of a Labour split must have been considered at the time. You would think.

Meanwhile the Guardian , back on topic for this blog , has repeated reports on every form of Trotskyist or Bolshevik organisation ever to exist in the UK. In most cases there is a named leadership and a postal address.  So far as I know there has been no Guardian reporting on who is involved in #savingLabour or where the money is from.

Anyway I am sticking with the #nonconspiracy idea unless I get some solid info on something else. There is just a random set of people who more or less know how to work with each other. No detailed script.

On a previous occasion when social media was under scrutiny for a lack of politeness that some MPs found shocking, Margaret Beckett said something like it did not worry her because "I don't do Facebook". So I don't really expect to get any direct comment from her. But possibly someone will add something. They may or may not be Labour voters. Considerate Greens maybe. Any comment welcome, especially clues on how the #nonconspiracy actually works.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Guardian advert clue for MBA cost story, check at BETT 2017

Following previous post about Guardian story on parental funding of bring your own Apple device, today I find an advert for online courses from Liverpool University. Checking the website I find some details but no clear claim made about costs. Then I find a website, Startclass, that seems to have some numbers. they show Liverpool MBA cost at under $20,000 compared to similar at over $100,000. Now these numbers may be out of date. I have tried other search on Startclass that suggests they concentrate on the USA, (Exeter is in the UK by default, just my take but not much easily found about our local uni) Also I realise that as a Russell Group member Liverpool is not going to advertise strongly with the feature of saving money. However they are clearly promoting online options, a move on from just the MOOC. Questions about costs do arise.

At BETT previously I have not been able to discover much from the Leadership streams, either for HE or FE. Presumably moves towards online courses are considered. FutureLearn may turn up as part of BETT Futures but the OU has stopped having a stand. BETT 2017 is towards the end of January so a good time to check some facts. Have any schools or universities got a clear plan for moving online or using more tech such that there are lower costs for staff and buildings? Is this evident in how courses are promoted? Student feedback so far?

By the way, based on visiting the campus in Exeter and Lancaster every so often my guess is that the budget for iconic buildings is still steady on course.

Meanwhile I have been thinking about the Guardian story and the way parents are expected to pay the costs of tech as an extra. What about a Chromebook or similar? Has it got to be Apple? other tech is available. BETT worth a visit even if you just think of learning as something at home.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Tech for Education, Guardian has missed the crunch time my guess

Education pages yesterday complain that parents are expected to pay £785 extra for an iPad for each child in school.  Tom Bennett from ResearchEd explains that tech may not be needed. This seems to continue a long line of such articles. They do have a point. Schools should by now have worked out some savings on buildings and staff costs so that tech resources are free for students. But there has been no encouragement of this from Guardian coverage.

Page 13 report from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology that children who play games on computers get better results on subject tests. Peter Etchells from Bath Spa calls for more nuanced data and more research to discover what is happening "if anything".

Peter Scott recently wrote about the troubles of UK universities post Brexit. He made no mention of technology as an option that might be positive. Polytechnics now usually described as "post 1992" without any consideration of tech as such. Outside the UK there are universities with the word "Technology" in the title.

Peter Scott a while ago promised not to write about the MOOC. He sticks to this resolve. My guess is that the technology around the MOOC is now doing well in the locations where it has been acted on. I think the Guardian fails to report anything because they don't really have a plan to get beyond print and somehow think that readers will be happier if online is played down in all respects.

Not sure where or when but some sort of news event will crop up eventually. Search on Twitter could be a way to find it.

Print version seems at another angle to online

I continue to update the Blog about Fleet Street and Europe. It seems to be becoming more about television. But often the Labour Party aspect gets more space than seems balanced. It is still interesting how the Guardian and BBC spin things around Corbyn. But more should be in this blog.

Found this link through Twitter. Long interview by Ewen MacAskill but I have not seen this in print. Maybe I missed it but seems mopre likely the Guardian is hiding things. G2 today  features Tom Watson on the Trotskyists in the Labour membership apparently. Nothing about who is behind #savingLabour.

So my guess is the Guardian will connect a bit online still but the print version not so sure.