Tory leader David Cameron's pledge to change the law should he become Prime Minister to ensure that members of the racist British National Party are unable to become teachers, is a vote winner for black parents like myself. The surprise, as the head of the teacher's union the NASUWT told me the other day, is that it was a Tory leader and not a Labour prime minister who took the stand.
It wasn't that hard getting Cameron's vow. All I did was ask him whether he would allow any of his children to be taught by school staff who not only negated their existence, but denied their rights to citizenship. Responding to my question at his 'meet the black folk' hustings in south London recently, the Tory leader took a few moments of rhetoric before realising that he had to make that promise there and then because gathered around him were the great and the good of the black middle-classes.
The black middle-classes are the very people he needs to attract to beat Prime Minister Brown at the polls. And for the middle-classes the issue of who your children are taught by, is of paramount importance.
BNP members are banned from joining the police force, the military and the prison service. The idea that they would be acceptable in schools suggests that we protect prisoner's rights against racists better than we protect school children. All children, white or non-white, need to be protected from racists - in the just the same as they are protected from paedophiles. And I don’t know which is worst a BNP or a paedophile teacher.
Labour don't get it. They don't get why a black parent would take such an extreme view. They don't understand that when you make sacrifices for your children's education that it is demoralising to hear the Labour Education Secretary Ed Balls, capitulate to the recommendation by a former chief inspector of schools that it is okay for the BNP to be teachers. That has lost Labour mine and other black votes. Which black parent is going to vote for a political party which says we'll let racists teach your kids?
Mr Balls, would you allow your children to be taught by someone who negates their very existence and denies their rights to citizenship? We need to know before May 6. And after that we need to make sure that Cameron doesn't back down from his promise if he is the incumbent at 10 Downing Street.
VOICE Online
Showing posts with label Ed Balls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ed Balls. Show all posts
March 30, 2010
January 21, 2010
Ed Balls accused of wooing the anti-immigrant vote
Ed Balls has been accused of wooing the anti-immigrant vote in his new constituency as he fights to remain an MP in the face of a resurgent Conservative Party and one of the highest BNP memberships in the country.
The Tories have made defeating the Schools Secretary a priority, hoping for an upset similar to the ousting of Michael Portillo in 1997 on a 17.4 per cent swing to Labour. The Tories need a 12.3 per cent swing to take Morley and Outwood, which Mr Balls will fight after his current seat, Normanton, is abolished. They believe that they will be helped by declining Labour support over the past 15 years, Mr Balls’s “Marmite” character and improvements in their own campaign.
At the very least, they hope, their efforts will tie down Gordon Brown’s closest adviser during the campaign.
Mr Balls, who is expected to run for the Labour leadership if the party is defeated at the general election, is visiting the West Yorkshire constituency every week. The Unite and Unison unions are helping to fund his campaign and he is arranging ministerial visits to nearby schools, paid for by public money.
But the party arousing the most interest locally is the BNP. Figures, including Keith Robinson, the president of Morley Chamber of Commerce, said that they understand why the far-right candidate is popular.
In response, Mr Balls is taking on local immigration concerns. But he is risking accusations of “dogwhistle politics” for issuing “immigration surveys” to local residents and holding local meetings focused on the issue.
A visit to the constituency by The Times found widespread sympathy for the BNP, despite the small number of foreign immigrants in the area compared with neighbouring Dewsbury, Bradford and Leeds. Many were happy to speak about their admiration for the party’s local tactics.
“I think a lot of people see Chris Beverley (the Morley South BNP councillor running against Mr Balls) as an upright citizen who cares for the issues of the town,” said Mark Robinson, who runs Cucina Café, a bar and restaurant. “He never talks about race and has been very clever about assisting in the town — shopping for elderly people during the snow — which is what people like.” He did not say how he would vote, even though Mr Balls regularly eats in his restaurant.
Mr Balls’s immigration survey, similar to leaflets used by Labour in the West Midlands, works by promoting existing party policy in the form of a questionnaire.
“Do you support the updating of our immigration laws so that migrants who want to settle here must learn to speak English, YES or NO or NOT SURE”, it asks.
Or whether “a probationary period should be passed before they are able to claim state benefits” and if “the Australian points-based system will be good for our area”.
This is balanced with a question asking when immigration is acceptable. “Do you think that people with high levels of skills such as computer specialists, doctors, etc, should be able to come to this country if there are job vacancies that can’t be filled?”
BNP membership information, leaked in 2008, revealed that the Morley area had 90 members of the far-right party, the highest number of any constituency. Morley Town Council has two BNP members.
One senior Tory said that the leaflet was the sign of a “dogwhistle” campaign, comparing it with Michael Howard’s 2005 “Are you thinking what I’m thinking” election campaign.
But Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP for Dagenham, who leads the party’s campaigns against the BNP, defended Mr Balls’s tactics. “The ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking’ Tory campaign was pernicious because it simply called for an emotive reaction. The right way to campaign against the BNP is to talk about remedies, which this leaflet does,” he said.
“The idea that there are no-go areas, such as immigration, has to be lanced. People have to be reassured you are aware of the issue and you understand the sheer velocity of the change over the last decade.”
Mr Balls has a battle to take the seat, despite a notional majority of 9,784, according to UK Polling Report, after the Tories designated it a battleground seat and sent William Hague to the area for a poster launch.
At the local elections in 2008, Labour came fourth across the five wards in the new seat, trailing the BNP. The result in Stanley and Outwood East, which mostly falls in Normanton, was a particular shock since the Conservatives took the seat directly from Labour.
While plans are being drawn up for David Cameron to hold a “Cameron Direct” meeting, there is little sign of enthusiasm for his brand of conservatism in the area.
Karen Wilson, 45, a part-time waitress, received a call from Mr Cameron. She complained about the discrepancy between the education of her sons, 14 and 12, one of whom goes to a grammar school and the other to a comprehensive.
“He said that education was something they were looking at the moment. But I felt he was not really listening to what I was saying.” She said that she was unlikely to vote Tory again.
Mr Balls’s efficient local office, serving both his future and current constituents, has won plaudits. It is helped by £31,902 given in 2008 by Unison, and £5,000 given last year by Unite.
Michelle Austerfield, a charity helper, said a problem with her benefits was sorted “overnight” by his team.
Mr Balls has even made public spending pledges — promises to Morley businessmen that he will help to open doors with the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, for money towards a new nightlife development in the town centre.
But Philip Boyes, an electrician in Leeds who lives in Outwood, said that Mr Balls’s work was a stepping stone for his national ambitions. He was outraged at tales from his wife, who works at the local school, who reported that staff were discouraged from raising problems with Mr Balls, the Schools Secretary, when he visited.
“I will vote Tory because the country has been living beyond its means,” he said. However, he sympathised with those who turned to the BNP. “At the moment if they got in power it would be anarchy. But if they got rid of one or two of their extremist policies they would be electable.”
Mr Robinson, president of Morley Chamber of Commerce, said that he understood why people supported the BNP.
“Their ideas strike a chord in most people’s minds. Their candidate is a personable young chap. But it’s frustrating because you can look back to times when a similar situation (with growing far-right support) happened in Europe and look how that turned out.”
TimesOnline
The Tories have made defeating the Schools Secretary a priority, hoping for an upset similar to the ousting of Michael Portillo in 1997 on a 17.4 per cent swing to Labour. The Tories need a 12.3 per cent swing to take Morley and Outwood, which Mr Balls will fight after his current seat, Normanton, is abolished. They believe that they will be helped by declining Labour support over the past 15 years, Mr Balls’s “Marmite” character and improvements in their own campaign.
At the very least, they hope, their efforts will tie down Gordon Brown’s closest adviser during the campaign.
Mr Balls, who is expected to run for the Labour leadership if the party is defeated at the general election, is visiting the West Yorkshire constituency every week. The Unite and Unison unions are helping to fund his campaign and he is arranging ministerial visits to nearby schools, paid for by public money.
But the party arousing the most interest locally is the BNP. Figures, including Keith Robinson, the president of Morley Chamber of Commerce, said that they understand why the far-right candidate is popular.
In response, Mr Balls is taking on local immigration concerns. But he is risking accusations of “dogwhistle politics” for issuing “immigration surveys” to local residents and holding local meetings focused on the issue.
A visit to the constituency by The Times found widespread sympathy for the BNP, despite the small number of foreign immigrants in the area compared with neighbouring Dewsbury, Bradford and Leeds. Many were happy to speak about their admiration for the party’s local tactics.
“I think a lot of people see Chris Beverley (the Morley South BNP councillor running against Mr Balls) as an upright citizen who cares for the issues of the town,” said Mark Robinson, who runs Cucina Café, a bar and restaurant. “He never talks about race and has been very clever about assisting in the town — shopping for elderly people during the snow — which is what people like.” He did not say how he would vote, even though Mr Balls regularly eats in his restaurant.
Mr Balls’s immigration survey, similar to leaflets used by Labour in the West Midlands, works by promoting existing party policy in the form of a questionnaire.
“Do you support the updating of our immigration laws so that migrants who want to settle here must learn to speak English, YES or NO or NOT SURE”, it asks.
Or whether “a probationary period should be passed before they are able to claim state benefits” and if “the Australian points-based system will be good for our area”.
This is balanced with a question asking when immigration is acceptable. “Do you think that people with high levels of skills such as computer specialists, doctors, etc, should be able to come to this country if there are job vacancies that can’t be filled?”
BNP membership information, leaked in 2008, revealed that the Morley area had 90 members of the far-right party, the highest number of any constituency. Morley Town Council has two BNP members.
One senior Tory said that the leaflet was the sign of a “dogwhistle” campaign, comparing it with Michael Howard’s 2005 “Are you thinking what I’m thinking” election campaign.
But Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP for Dagenham, who leads the party’s campaigns against the BNP, defended Mr Balls’s tactics. “The ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking’ Tory campaign was pernicious because it simply called for an emotive reaction. The right way to campaign against the BNP is to talk about remedies, which this leaflet does,” he said.
“The idea that there are no-go areas, such as immigration, has to be lanced. People have to be reassured you are aware of the issue and you understand the sheer velocity of the change over the last decade.”
Mr Balls has a battle to take the seat, despite a notional majority of 9,784, according to UK Polling Report, after the Tories designated it a battleground seat and sent William Hague to the area for a poster launch.
At the local elections in 2008, Labour came fourth across the five wards in the new seat, trailing the BNP. The result in Stanley and Outwood East, which mostly falls in Normanton, was a particular shock since the Conservatives took the seat directly from Labour.
While plans are being drawn up for David Cameron to hold a “Cameron Direct” meeting, there is little sign of enthusiasm for his brand of conservatism in the area.
Karen Wilson, 45, a part-time waitress, received a call from Mr Cameron. She complained about the discrepancy between the education of her sons, 14 and 12, one of whom goes to a grammar school and the other to a comprehensive.
“He said that education was something they were looking at the moment. But I felt he was not really listening to what I was saying.” She said that she was unlikely to vote Tory again.
Mr Balls’s efficient local office, serving both his future and current constituents, has won plaudits. It is helped by £31,902 given in 2008 by Unison, and £5,000 given last year by Unite.
Michelle Austerfield, a charity helper, said a problem with her benefits was sorted “overnight” by his team.
Mr Balls has even made public spending pledges — promises to Morley businessmen that he will help to open doors with the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, for money towards a new nightlife development in the town centre.
But Philip Boyes, an electrician in Leeds who lives in Outwood, said that Mr Balls’s work was a stepping stone for his national ambitions. He was outraged at tales from his wife, who works at the local school, who reported that staff were discouraged from raising problems with Mr Balls, the Schools Secretary, when he visited.
“I will vote Tory because the country has been living beyond its means,” he said. However, he sympathised with those who turned to the BNP. “At the moment if they got in power it would be anarchy. But if they got rid of one or two of their extremist policies they would be electable.”
Mr Robinson, president of Morley Chamber of Commerce, said that he understood why people supported the BNP.
“Their ideas strike a chord in most people’s minds. Their candidate is a personable young chap. But it’s frustrating because you can look back to times when a similar situation (with growing far-right support) happened in Europe and look how that turned out.”
TimesOnline
November 06, 2009
Campaign to ban BNP from teaching coming to Carlisle
A national campaign to get BNP members banned from working as teachers comes to Carlisle next week
The NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK which has more than 2,000 members in Cumbria, is joining forces with Carlisle Against Racism to host an open meeting on Wednesday evening. The union’s number two deputy general secretary, Jerry Bartlett, is travelling to Carlisle to be one of two speakers.
The free event is taking place at the University of Cumbria’s Fusehill Street campus from 7pm. Wednesday’s event comes less than two months after Education Secretary Ed Balls ordered a review into the rules against racism in schools. He wants recommendations from the study to determine whether there are suitable safeguards in place “to maintain trust in the teaching profession”.
David Cornwall, national officer for NASUWT and national executive member for Cumbria, said: “It is essential that we keep race hate out of our schools and colleges. We welcome the opportunity to work with Carlisle Against Racism, an organisation that is successfully building a movement to combat racism in the city and surrounding areas.
“We hope that teachers from local schools, students from the university and anyone who opposes racism will come to our event.”
NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: “The NASUWT is campaigning vigorously for the teachers’ contract to be amended in line with those of the police, armed forces and prison service to prevent BNP members from working as teachers. We are equally strongly pressing for BNP members to be banned from serving on governing bodies.
“The NASUWT is appealing to all local authorities, governing bodies and the organisations that represent and support them to review their compliance with the provisions of the Race Relations Act 1976.”
The Cumberland News
The NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK which has more than 2,000 members in Cumbria, is joining forces with Carlisle Against Racism to host an open meeting on Wednesday evening. The union’s number two deputy general secretary, Jerry Bartlett, is travelling to Carlisle to be one of two speakers.
The free event is taking place at the University of Cumbria’s Fusehill Street campus from 7pm. Wednesday’s event comes less than two months after Education Secretary Ed Balls ordered a review into the rules against racism in schools. He wants recommendations from the study to determine whether there are suitable safeguards in place “to maintain trust in the teaching profession”.
David Cornwall, national officer for NASUWT and national executive member for Cumbria, said: “It is essential that we keep race hate out of our schools and colleges. We welcome the opportunity to work with Carlisle Against Racism, an organisation that is successfully building a movement to combat racism in the city and surrounding areas.
“We hope that teachers from local schools, students from the university and anyone who opposes racism will come to our event.”
NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: “The NASUWT is campaigning vigorously for the teachers’ contract to be amended in line with those of the police, armed forces and prison service to prevent BNP members from working as teachers. We are equally strongly pressing for BNP members to be banned from serving on governing bodies.
“The NASUWT is appealing to all local authorities, governing bodies and the organisations that represent and support them to review their compliance with the provisions of the Race Relations Act 1976.”
The Cumberland News
Labels:
BNP,
Carlisle BNP,
Chris Keates,
Ed Balls,
NASUWT,
University of Cumbria
September 30, 2009
Balls to investigate BNP presence in schools
There will be an investigation into the extent of BNP involvement in schools, children's secretary Ed Balls told the Labour conference this afternoon.
"I am today asking the former chief inspector of schools, Maurice Smith, to examine the evidence and make recommendations," he told delegates in Brighton. "I want us to be confident that we have all the powers we need to keep racism and BNP activity out of our schools."
The comments open the door to a ban on BNP members working in teaching or sitting on educational boards. That's a policy which teachers' union NASUWT has been recommending for some time now, but with little effect.
Activists have been pointing out that BNP members should be under the same regulations as the police – who ban BNP members from serving – because of the because of the power they have over children.
Talking to politics.co.uk later Mr Balls said he expected the report to be in by the end of the year.
"I'm not going to jump to conclusions," he said. "But I will do whatever it takes."
politics.co.uk
"I am today asking the former chief inspector of schools, Maurice Smith, to examine the evidence and make recommendations," he told delegates in Brighton. "I want us to be confident that we have all the powers we need to keep racism and BNP activity out of our schools."
The comments open the door to a ban on BNP members working in teaching or sitting on educational boards. That's a policy which teachers' union NASUWT has been recommending for some time now, but with little effect.
Activists have been pointing out that BNP members should be under the same regulations as the police – who ban BNP members from serving – because of the because of the power they have over children.
Talking to politics.co.uk later Mr Balls said he expected the report to be in by the end of the year.
"I'm not going to jump to conclusions," he said. "But I will do whatever it takes."
politics.co.uk
Labels:
BNP,
Ed Balls,
educational boards,
governing bodies,
NASUWT
June 22, 2009
Ed Balls considers ban on BNP teachers
The government is investigating a possible ban on British National party members working as teachers in schools in a move that could challenge the legitimacy of the far-right party.
A source close to the schools secretary, Ed Balls, said there had been several meetings on the issue with teaching unions which are lobbying for a change in teachers' contracts to prevent them from working if they are members of far-right groups including the BNP. The issue was being "actively looked at", the source said.
It comes after it emerged that the General Teaching Council for England (GTC), which registers teachers to work in state schools, had rejected appeals to ban BNP members. Lawyers warned the council it could be accused of discriminating against members of the far-right party if it refused to register them.
Five members of the council's own governing body wrote to the Guardian on Saturday to appeal for a national debate on the issue. They claimed the GTC was "hiding" behind legal advice to avoid banning the BNP from registering as teachers.
Chris Keates, the general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, confirmed she had held several discussions with Balls about the possibility of a ban and had called for a change to teachers' contracts to prevent BNP members from teaching.
The source close to Balls said the issue was being re-examined in the light of the election to the European parliament of two BNP members, including party leader Nick Griffin, who has been convicted of inciting racial hatred.
The GTC was advised by lawyers that it would be discriminatory to ban members of a lawful political party. It was also told that if it declared any views on the BNP, it could be accused of lacking impartiality in any subsequent disciplinary hearings involving teachers in the far-right party.
A BNP membership list leaked last year included the names of 15 teachers, four nurses and one prison officer as well as 17 former police officers and 16 members of the armed forces. Members of the BNP, National Front and Combat 18 are banned from joining the police or becoming prison officers.
In the letter to the Guardian, the five GTC members argued that legislation required everyone working in schools to "promote good race relations and community cohesion", which would be incompatible with some views held by the BNP. The party supports voluntary repatriation of non-white citizens.
Guardian
A source close to the schools secretary, Ed Balls, said there had been several meetings on the issue with teaching unions which are lobbying for a change in teachers' contracts to prevent them from working if they are members of far-right groups including the BNP. The issue was being "actively looked at", the source said.
It comes after it emerged that the General Teaching Council for England (GTC), which registers teachers to work in state schools, had rejected appeals to ban BNP members. Lawyers warned the council it could be accused of discriminating against members of the far-right party if it refused to register them.
Five members of the council's own governing body wrote to the Guardian on Saturday to appeal for a national debate on the issue. They claimed the GTC was "hiding" behind legal advice to avoid banning the BNP from registering as teachers.
Chris Keates, the general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, confirmed she had held several discussions with Balls about the possibility of a ban and had called for a change to teachers' contracts to prevent BNP members from teaching.
The source close to Balls said the issue was being re-examined in the light of the election to the European parliament of two BNP members, including party leader Nick Griffin, who has been convicted of inciting racial hatred.
The GTC was advised by lawyers that it would be discriminatory to ban members of a lawful political party. It was also told that if it declared any views on the BNP, it could be accused of lacking impartiality in any subsequent disciplinary hearings involving teachers in the far-right party.
A BNP membership list leaked last year included the names of 15 teachers, four nurses and one prison officer as well as 17 former police officers and 16 members of the armed forces. Members of the BNP, National Front and Combat 18 are banned from joining the police or becoming prison officers.
In the letter to the Guardian, the five GTC members argued that legislation required everyone working in schools to "promote good race relations and community cohesion", which would be incompatible with some views held by the BNP. The party supports voluntary repatriation of non-white citizens.
Guardian
Labels:
BNP,
Combat 18,
Ed Balls,
far-right,
GTC,
NASUWT,
National Front,
Nick Griffin,
teachers
May 24, 2008
Holocaust exhibition for children
A new exhibition about the Holocaust designed for children as young as nine was announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls.
The permanent exhibition at the Holocaust Centre near Laxton in Nottinghamshire will open in September and primary school children will be able to talk to survivors of the concentration camps. Mr Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, toured the centre, visiting the nine rooms where the exhibition will go on display.
He said: "I think it is a really brilliant centre and I am really looking forward to coming back and seeing the exhibition open. This is really relevant to our society today - whether we have the British National Party and racism in our society or whether we have genocide in parts of Africa. It's important to educate young people that the strength of our society and the values we hold will prevent the repetition of these events."
During his visit Mr Balls met Bela Rosenthal, one of about 50 Holocaust survivors who will volunteer to speak to children when they visit the exhibition.
It has been entitled The Journey and tells the story of a fictional Jewish child as he lives through Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. But unlike the main display currently at the centre, it does not include detailed material or artefacts from the concentration camps and their gas chambers.
Ms Rosenthal's mother, father and grandmother all died in concentration camps during World War Two. She was liberated in 1945 as a three-year-old from the Theresienstadt camp in Czechoslovakia and flown to live in England, where she was later adopted.
Press Association
The permanent exhibition at the Holocaust Centre near Laxton in Nottinghamshire will open in September and primary school children will be able to talk to survivors of the concentration camps. Mr Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, toured the centre, visiting the nine rooms where the exhibition will go on display.
He said: "I think it is a really brilliant centre and I am really looking forward to coming back and seeing the exhibition open. This is really relevant to our society today - whether we have the British National Party and racism in our society or whether we have genocide in parts of Africa. It's important to educate young people that the strength of our society and the values we hold will prevent the repetition of these events."
During his visit Mr Balls met Bela Rosenthal, one of about 50 Holocaust survivors who will volunteer to speak to children when they visit the exhibition.
It has been entitled The Journey and tells the story of a fictional Jewish child as he lives through Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. But unlike the main display currently at the centre, it does not include detailed material or artefacts from the concentration camps and their gas chambers.
Ms Rosenthal's mother, father and grandmother all died in concentration camps during World War Two. She was liberated in 1945 as a three-year-old from the Theresienstadt camp in Czechoslovakia and flown to live in England, where she was later adopted.
Press Association
Labels:
Ed Balls,
Holocaust,
Holocaust Centre,
Laxton
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