God's Country

Part Sixty-Two

'Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.'

James 4:7

Harry Trevor was enjoying going on the offensive. He had made a decision shortly after the Question Time incident. He had nothing to apologise for. He was following his head and his heart, and he was passionate about helping people. He could not do that without changing things, and first of all he had to change himself, and his sister, or he could not expect anyone else to make a positive change. In the end it was all for the greater good and he was preparing Olivia to live in a better world in God's love. His brief was health and education, and the two major discussion points of the final week of the election were the proposed National Service program and the idea of some of them being nuns. So the focus was firmly on him, and he was absolutely loving every single minute. He was not going to hold back and let people take a swing at him ever again; he was going on the attack.

"Quite honestly this is very embarrassing for the CDP if you ask me," Len Courtney said, a spokesman for the National Union of Teachers dragged out by the BBC to attack the CDP position. "Forcing children to wear ridiculous uniforms and giving their teachers the right to beat them again is not the answer to the mess our schools are in. It's archaic...totally out of keeping with modern thinking."

"So what is the answer then Mr Courtney?" The BBC presenter asked and Harry waited for the inevitable. Courtney was there to protect his own interests.

"Our teachers are overworked and underpaid...they have been forced to change the way they work so that their schools look better in the league tables, and they have been starved of cash and resources." Courtney replied, trotting out the same old nonsense.

"Oh stuff and nonsense," Harry almost exploded, completely unable to hold himself back anymore. "Education budgets have been securely ring-fenced and protected by successive governments in the last twelve years and whilst I fully accept that teaching can be a stressful profession at times, the fact is that it is still a well-paid job with excellent benefits. The problem is that teachers struggle to gain their pupils respect in the classroom, because the pupils have no respect for themselves and no pride in their school anymore. The problem is that the modern thinking you talk about means that the education received in our schools today is much worse than it was before the Second World War."

"Learn that at Eton, did you?" Courtney snapped back.

"No I learned that on the back streets of Birmingham, talking to kids, trying to keep them going to school and to stop them taking drugs." Harry retorted, more than holding his own and enjoying the battle. "It's so bloody easy for imbeciles like you to attack me Len...yes, I went to Eton, and yes, I am a committed Christian...two things you equally despise. But rather than trying to attack my background, which is frankly an irrelevance, or fall back on the supposed hardships your members face, let's talk about what we are trying to do here. I want the pupils of any school to stand out from the crowd, I want them to feel a spirit of unity and take some real pride in their appearance and their college. I want them to feel good about themselves, and I want them to arrive at school prepared to work hard for their own sake. Not your sake, not my sake, but for their sake. A uniform is proven to help with those things, and it makes them very visible before and after school, which will hopefully serve to keep them out of trouble just a little bit more. Discipline and respect are two elements that have gone missing from far too many children's lives. I want to give your members back some sanctions that really mean something to a lad who comes to school to cause trouble. Ask anyone who faced corporal punishment at school whether it worked, and they will say yes. Ask them if it ever did them any lasting harm and they will say no. But it is one of a number of changes that need to take place, not the be all and end all. If I can get every state schoolchild dressed in a smart uniform I will be a very happy man, but I also expect your members to sharpen up their acts as well...I want to see them in suits and ties too to help them earn that respect. And I want to return to robust teaching...not learning by project or discovery. I want your members to teach kids to read, to count, to speak a foreign language and ultimately send them out into the world as well rounded human beings ready to play their part in the continued success of this great country of ours. And all you can do is ask for less work and more money...and pick on superficial aspects of a rounded policy we believe will make a real difference. Instead of nitpicking and scoring points you should be grateful to us for highlighting the problems your members face in the classroom. Giving them back some authority, giving them the power to control unruly pupils, should be seen as a good thing...but you prefer to call us old-fashioned and worry about the human rights of a pupil who gets the cane. Well I'll tell you something this is one subject where we do want to turn back the clocks...to a time when every school leaver could read, and count, and write. The three R's still count for me, and I fully intend to bring them back into fashion, along with smarts pupils with sensible haircuts. That is what counts Mr Courtney, not whether your members have to work a bit harder for their money."