Emailed in by Bob E.
... as yet another beneficiary of government corporate welfare (during the reign of Teflon Tony) and leading light behind an educational "charity" finds himself being parachuted into a ministerial post and a peerage as education minister in a Blue Wing led Grand Alliance.
And entirely coincidentally this happens just as "a think tank closely linked to the Conservative Party" called Bright Blue which in addition to some Blue Wing big noises also has Jonty Ollif-Cooper of A4e fame amongst its "important faces" has been suggesting there is nothing wrong whatsoever in "independent" state schools being run for profit.
Full details are promised in a forthcoming publication but "informed sources" suggest the proposal will be that the "state" provides 100% of the running costs of these schools, and also acts as guarantor for any loans or equipment leasing etc. that the school should enter into and any "profits" go to the 'people doing the hard work' aka the "charities" established to run these "free schools".
On the upside they are now (all of them blue, yellow, red) quite brazen about this these days, so perhaps that means the "brown envelope" is becoming a thing of the past.
From The Guardian
John Nash, a wealthy Tory donor, venture capitalist and enthusiastic sponsor of academies, has been appointed an education minister in a move that will delight those seeking faster reform by the education secretary, Michael Gove. He will be rushed into a peerage to make him the voice of education reform in the Lords but he is also likely to become a key figure in Gove's team at the education ministry.
Nash and his wife have given nearly £300,000 to the Conservative party since 2006, Electoral Commission records show and the Department for Education confirms. His appointment follows Lord Popat of Harrow being made a government whip this week. He has given the Conservatives £288,000 since David Cameron became leader.
Nash runs a charity called Future that is active in sponsoring a range of academies, but it has been agreed with the Cabinet Office that he will play no role in decisions that could be deemed to affect his charity.
Christmas Day: readings for Year C
9 hours ago
5 comments:
With Tony Wot's His Name it was Cash4Peerages. Now under Cast Iron it's Schools4Peerages.
The smell of rotting fish is beginning to return to Downing Street me thinks.
This sort of thing is, presumably, what Cameron means by "We're all in it together".
"The smell of rotting fish is beginning to return to Downing Street me thinks."
I don't think it ever left. It was just that the landlord left the doors and windows open after the last lot of tenants departed.
BB, Cash 4 Peerage seems quaint and old fashioned compared to what is being done here, which is basically Cash 4 Lots more cash.
B, yup.
Oh dear - I find myself agreeing with Guardian commenters on this.
AKH, what's the problem? When Labour is in power, we agree with The Telegraph, when the Tories are in power, we agree with The Guardian. Those Are The Rules.
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