Posts Tagged ‘Stephanie Peacock’

Michael Gove, Nelson Mandela and the King James bible

05/12/2011, 08:23:09 AM

by Stephanie Peacock

It is often said that the only way a politician can leave a legacy is to name a building after himself. I say “him” because, other than a hundred Conservative clubs in the provincial towns of England, I cannot think of a building that carries the name of a former female politician. There is the Centre Pompidou in France, The Reagan National airport. You can’t walk through a Labour borough in London without finding at least one tribute to Nelson Mandela.

Michael Gove, though, got an ‘A’ for originality last week. Michael has created a whole new genre of political legacy. Without any sense of irony, Mr Gove has personalised his very own version of the bible. For ever more, the Michael Gove King James bible will be a sought after piece of ebay memorabilia.

Of course it was Mrs Thatcher who once said that “No-one would remember the good samaritan if he’d only had good intentions; he had money as well”.  Of all of Mrs Thatcher’s biblical quotes, this is the one that most showed her to be out of touch. The Michael Gove King James bible may be the education secretary’s good samaritan moment: an act of political messaging that spectacularly misses the mark.

Pupils and parents will see this for what it: a misguided and expensive piece Govian spin. According to reports, the gesture could cost the taxpayer £375,000. At a time when dinner ladies are striking over their pension increases this is an appalling piece of mixed messaging. There are a lot of dinner ladies you could make happy with £375,000.

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Young Labour at the heart of the fightback

11/02/2011, 03:00:50 PM

by Stephanie Peacock

Whether it’s the tripling of tuition fees, the end of the future jobs fund or the abolition of the education maintenance allowance, this government’s reckless and draconian cuts are hitting the youngest hardest.

So it’s no surprise that since the election we have seen an extra 50,000 party members – many of whom are young members. This is a critical time for young people to join Labour and stand up to the Government’s attack on their opportunities.

A new generation of young people has been politicised by this government’s shameful and devastating actions. The Labour party needs to be on their side. We must provide an alternative and convert that passion and anger into activism. To do that we, as a party, need to do a number of things.

Over the past four years I have had the honour of being the youth rep on our party’s national executive committee. And this weekend, at our youth conference in Glasgow, I stand down. During this time, there have been big changes in Labour’s youth movement. The ones I am proudest of are the successful campaign for a £1 youth membership rate, the introduction of great training and a toolkit for activists and the historic reform of young labour. (more…)

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