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The Guardian (Free subscription) | 02/12/2008
MPs and children's welfare groups called for a full-scale public inquiry yesterday following publication of the report into Haringey's failures to protect children. The Liberal Democrat children's spokesman, David Laws, said it was "wholly unacceptable" that important details about the Baby P case were still secret and the Conservative shadow children's secretary, Michael Gove, said yesterday's joint...
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Liberal Democrat Voice (Free subscription) | 01/12/2008
From The Guardian: Fewer than half of teenagers left school with five good GCSEs including English and maths this summer, official figures revealed yesterday. Some 47% of 16-year-olds across England achieved the basic target grades. The government said it was a 0.9 percentage point improvement on last year - and an 11.6-point increase since 1997 - but [...] Related posts: Conference update: David Laws...
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Obnoxio The Clown (Free subscription) | 01/12/2008
Hmmm . Ministers have rejected calls for a review into the death of Baby P, which pointed to failings in Haringey child protection services, to be made public. Michael Gove and David Laws, Tory and Lib Dem frontbenchers, wrote to Children's Secretary Ed Balls urging the internal review to be published. But Mr Balls said confidentiality was vital to the success of such reviews. Huh? Why? So that some...
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Old Holborn (Free subscription) | 22/11/2008
Ed Balls, a liar, yesterday After having been proven to be a liar , Ed Balls has finally agreed to show the report on Baby P to 5 MP’s. Just 5. They are Michael Gove and David Laws, the Children, Schools and Families select committee chairman, Barry Sheerman, and local MPs Lynne Featherstone and David Lammy. No one else is allowed to see it. AND those 5 MP’s are sworn to secrecy under something called...
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Steve Beasant Liberal Democrat (Free subscription) | 19/11/2008
Commenting on today’s annual report from Ofsted on the state of education and children’s services in England, which reveals that authorities are failing to learn from the worst cases of abuse, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “This report makes some deeply concerning criticisms of child protection services.“ David Laws [...]
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Les Bonner (Free subscription) | 19/11/2008
Responding to reports that Liberata, the company administering the Government’s Education Maintenance Allowance, is to be replaced, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “Action by the Government on this issue is long overdue. The administration of the Education Maintenance Allowance has been an utter shambles and follows the earlier problems [...]
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The Guardian (Free subscription) | 13/11/2008
Small schools will be shut or merged because of falling pupil numbers and cash shortages, the Liberal Democrats have warned today. Data obtained by the party's schools spokesman, David Laws, shows that up to 100 primary schools could be merged or closed. Ministers have announced that more than 1,500 primary schools will be rebuilt or refurbished in the next two years under a £3.55bn scheme. The schools...
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Liberal Democrat Voice (Free subscription) | 04/11/2008
David Laws, the Lib Dems’ shadow secretary of state for schools, has criticised the policy of paying poorer students for, among other things, attending class. The Telegraph reports: In some cases, students are paid £250 each in taxpayers’ money for attending every class over the course of a year. Middle-class students with the same academic record [...]
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Les Bonner (Free subscription) | 28/10/2008
Commenting on the news that England’s biggest exam board AQA reluctantly agreed to lower the pass mark for its GCSE science paper after a request from the qualifications watchdog, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “It is alarming that this exam board was forced to lower its standards, in spite [...]
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Steve Beasant Liberal Democrat (Free subscription) | 24/10/2008
Commenting on the news that Government officials responsible for overseeing this year’s SATs fiasco have been awarded thousands of pounds in bonuses, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “It is frankly astonishing to hear that staff who have overseen this year’s SATs shambles are receiving bonuses of nearly £4,000.” [...]
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Les Bonner (Free subscription) | 21/10/2008
Commenting on figures released today showing that the equivalent of over 11 million school days were lost last year because of truancy, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “The level of truancy in this country is deeply worrying. It is totally unacceptable that the equivalent of over 11 million school [...]
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Les Bonner (Free subscription) | 15/10/2008
Commenting on Ed Balls’ announcement that the Government is to scrap SATs for 14-year-olds, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “I welcome the Government’s complete U-turn. The SATs tests taken by 14-year-olds are not only a waste of time but have been highly unreliable over the last few years.” David Laws [...]
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Les Bonner (Free subscription) | 27/09/2008
Commenting on Government statistics released today revealing vacancies for teachers in nursery and primary schools have risen 32% in the past year, while vacancies in secondary schools are up 21%, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “After eleven years of Labour, it’s a real concern that teacher vacancies continue to [...]
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Iain Dale's Diary (Free subscription) | 18/09/2008
The final part of the Telegraph's Top 50 Liberal Democrats list appears today HERE . I missed off 11-21 yesterday, so I list that here too. 1. Nick Clegg 2. Vince Cable 3. Chris Huhne 4. Chris Rennard 5. Paddy Ashdown 6. Charles Kennedy 7. David Laws 8. Simon Hughes 9. Danny Alexander 10. Paul Marshall 11. Shirley Williams 12. Norman Baker 13. Tom McNally 14. Ed Davey 15. Lord Carlile 16. Evan Harris...
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Explore : Charles Kennedy, Chris Huhne, Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrats, Liberal Democrats, Liberal Party, Nick Clegg, Parties, Politics Blogs, Simon Hughes, The House of Commons, The Parliament, UK Politics, Vince Cable
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Liberal Democrat Voice (Free subscription) | 15/09/2008
Two more our of frontbenchers’ speeches for your delectation. First off, David Laws, in a video AOL wouldn’t let me upload unless I took the word “children” out of the description: Second is the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Tavish Scott MSP: (You can also read Alix’s coverage of the speech from yesterday afternoon.)
