Education – Blair has his bill but...
WORKERS, APR 2006 ISSUE
Blair's success in getting his Education Bill through its second reading with the help of Tory votes has at least achieved two positive outcomes.
Firstly, 52 principled Labour MPs voted against, which can only accelerate Blair's decline. And the vote has concentrated the minds of the teaching unions.
The NUT analysed how the White Paper would emasculate the power of local authorities to create good local schools, relying instead on businesses and religious sects. But the unions' main strategy was to call on members to write to their MPs to vote against the Bill – a low-level activity that failed. The campaign will need to galvanise members who have yet to understand the nature of this deliberate attack on the school system, on wages and conditions, and on the unions themselves.