Chatterblog (Free subscription) | 22/11/2009
Proposed Additional Rights for Grandparents Published: 4th November 2009 The Conservative party has revealed plans to give grandparents additional rights in relation to contact with their grandchildren if they win the next election. David Willetts, who speaks for the party on family issues, has said that grandparents would be given the ability to make an application for a Contact Order or Residence...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Number of school-leavers not in education, work or training tops a million for the first time, figures show The number of school-leavers not in education, work or training has topped a million, the highest total on record, government figures reveal today, prompting accusations that ministers are failing to help young people during the recession. Almost one in five 16- to 24-year-olds in England are...
Conor's Commentary (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Michael Gove has been on Today bemoaning the level of 'electioneering' in today's Queen's Speech, suggesting that such tactics would have been beyond previous Prime Ministers. I presume Michael was having a laugh. Otherwise, I must have been dreaming when John Major invented 'a grammar school in every town' just ahead of the 1997 election - the policy Michael and David Willetts have wisely binned -...
nigel hastilow (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has promised tax breaks for new businesses and a simpler tax system to end the need for elaborate avoidance schemes. Mr Osborne and David Willetts, the Shadow Higher Education Secretary, were speaking to business leaders and students at Birmingham Metropolitan College. This is some of what they said: George Osborne Government has to face the fact that the economy is...
Blogs from People Management (Free subscription) | 13/11/2009
Cutting quangos down to size (or entirely) always makes good copy, so it's no surprise that proposals for a 'substantial reduction' in the number of sector skills bodies have dominated the coverage of Lord Mandelson's skills white paper. But we shouldn't miss the other messages that the government is sending us, some of them offering a radical (and welcome) shift in the skills agenda. The white paper...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 09/11/2009
Higher university fees would consign poorer students to the 'bargain basement', says NUS president The former chief executive of BP was today appointed to run a comprehensive review of the top-up fee system amid warnings from students against a hike in tuition costs. Lord Browne will chair the independent review, which has been charged with examining the impact of tuition charges on who goes to university...
Mandate Communications blog (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
Following up our coverage of which senior politicians were the best gatherers of media coverage during their party conferences , Mandate has now been tracking their successes and failures at getting print media coverage during October. The Conservative top ten is much the same as during their conference, with just Andrew Lansley replacing David Willetts in the top ten whilst the top five places are...
Chris Whiteside's Blog (Free subscription) | 01/11/2009
This is the third or fourth time this year when something has actually happened which I would once have expected only after Hell had frozen over ... I spent several years of my youth as a Conservative involved in Student politics during the premiership of Mrs Thatcher, including a year as one of the comparatively few Conservatives elected as a student union sabbatical officer. It would be fair to say...
Times Online (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
Universities have failed to earn the right to charge £3,000 a year in tuition fees, David Willetts, the Shadow Universities Secretary, said yesterday. He told students that if the issue arose now he would probably not vote for higher fees.
TheUniversityBlog (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
This week, the National Union of Students (NUS) is holding several Zones Conferences in Manchester. Today is the second day of the HE Zone Conference (wish I was there!) and David Willetts, the Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, has just spoken. The following Tweet came through from @NUS_HE: David Willetts: “the student experience should [...]
Computing.co.uk (Free subscription) | 28/10/2009
Parliamentary reporter, Computing , Wednesday 28 October 2009 at 10:50:00 More than 100,000 undergraduates still waiting for payment The Tories have accused the government of introducing an over-complicated system for delivering student loans, which has left 109,000 undergraduates struggling with inadequate financial support weeks into their first term at university. Shadow universities and skills...
A New Direction for Wirral West (Free subscription) | 27/10/2009
David Willetts MP will be visiting Wirral West this Thursday 29th Oct I’ll be holding an informal gathering offering you the chance to ask David Willetts questions, offer suggestions and take part in the shaping future Conservative Policy. If you’d like to attend please call the office on 0151 632 1052 Date of event : 29th Oct Time : [...]
Saga (Free subscription) | 26/10/2009
Emma Soames, Editor-at-Large of Saga Magazine and Trustee of the Saga Respite for Carers Trust, said: "David Willetts' announcement to award greater rights to grandparents will be warmly welcomed by today's over 50s, many of whom have seen their families torn apart as a result of separation or divorce.
Chatterblog (Free subscription) | 26/10/2009
Power to the grandparents: Tories to hand out sweeping legal rights to keep families together By James Chapman Last updated at 9:12 AM on 26th October 2009 • Comments (138) • Add to My Stories Millions of grandparents will be given sweeping new legal rights if the Tories win the next election. The law will be changed to ensure they do not lose contact with their grandchildren after a family...
ConservativeHome (Free subscription) | 26/10/2009
ToryDiary: David Willetts proposes new access rights for grandparents to their grandchildren Ali Miraj on Platform: Who, in Parliament, speaks for the white working class? Seats and Candidates: Immigration and Unemployment are the big issues of the week for Margot...
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