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From a new school to the invasion of Iraq, it feels like we’re at war with our politicians
THERE’S a vicious circle about politics today.
The more politicians engage in spin, the more people become disengaged, the more people become disengaged, the more politicians start spinning again.
Witness the sham politics played out over the debate about where to site a new school in Camden.
In a great betrayal of the electorate, a sham consultation is taking place in the borough.
On the surface, all looks above board. Who can deny that public meetings have been arranged by the council and duly held?
This week witnessed, perhaps, the biggest gathering held so far (see pages 1 and 7).
But in the hearts of the hundreds of parents who desperately want a new school sited in the south of the borough, a lingering, sinking feeling can be found.
It can be summed up as follows: “No matter what we say, whatever facts we lay before them, they have already taken the decision!”
“They” are the Lib Dems and Tories who have come up with the topsy-turvy argument that the best site for a new school is in the Swiss Cottage area, where, within a short distance of each other, there are already THREE secondary schools – Haverstock, Quintin Kynaston and Hampstead.
Meanwhile, in streets south of Euston Road, there is no need for a new school, say our intelligentsia at the Town Hall
That this Alice in Wonderland view of the world bears absolutely no relation to the facts of the case appears to disturb the sharp minds of our political class not a jot!
We believe, along with many parents south of Euston Road, that the decision-makers have already made up their minds. That they are only going through the motions of consultation.
Just as Tony Blair had already decided to support a war by George Bush against Iraq well before the matter was finally debated in Parliament, so today the evidence points to a similar conspiracy being hatched in Judd Street.
Every nuance of sound reasoning is irrefutably on the side of the parents who want a school built in the school-starved part of Camden
But will it prevail?
It’s not a question of the politicians being short on commonsense – dogma is blocking their minds.
This surfaced when Frank Dobson smoked out education chief Andrew Mennear’s argument that only certain types of schools attracted government support. A reply from education secretary Alan Johnson to a query from Dobson swept Mennear away.
Let’s hope that if the wishes of parents are brushed aside, they will bear this mind at the next elections!
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