Like many people I was utterly outraged by that appalling Daily Mail front page that attempted to cynically exploit the deaths of 6 young children in order to advance its own anti welfare ideology. I despaired that this nasty shameless journalism would go unchallenged except by the good folk on twitter. Then I saw Owen Jones on ITV. He had done his research, he came up with sound reasons to condemn the Daily Mail, he gave examples of other crimes which could be spuriously linked to different policies. And he won the argument. Not just with the usual suspects but call after call that came in from viewers. It struck me - it sometimes takes just one person making a good case to turn the tide of popular opinion. I began to imagine what it would be like if we had someone like Owen Jones as shadow education minister. Someone who did research, exposed lies, spoke with passion, described an alternative vision to the one currently being thrust down our throats. Thats when it struck me - we don't have to put up with an absence of policy from the labour party.
If everyone who is is dissatisfied with labour education policy demands that labour actually does something we stand a chance of at least seeing some opposition to Gove. So that is when my holiday project was born. It is teeny tiny in the scale of things but I want to help challenge frustration and anger from education folk directly at labour.
Yesterdays targets:
1 to get a twitter hashtag started #GoTwiggGo (Thanks to @Julestheteacher)
2 to persuade Alan Gibbons and Michael Rosen to write blog posts about it
3 to start a conversation with labour activists
Todays target:
1. to set up simple blog
2. to persuade 100 tweeters to devote 30 minutes a day for the rest of the holidays on twitter spreading #GoTwiggGo
So there you have it. No doubt many will think I am stupid and wasting my time but I cant sit idly by. We can't clone Owen Jones - we have to create new ones. Stephen Twigg has been ineffective and allowed Gove an easy ride. No more. Lets put some pressure on him and Labour until we get some decent opposition.
I have one week til my Easter holidays are over.
If everyone who is is dissatisfied with labour education policy demands that labour actually does something we stand a chance of at least seeing some opposition to Gove. So that is when my holiday project was born. It is teeny tiny in the scale of things but I want to help challenge frustration and anger from education folk directly at labour.
Yesterdays targets:
1 to get a twitter hashtag started #GoTwiggGo (Thanks to @Julestheteacher)
2 to persuade Alan Gibbons and Michael Rosen to write blog posts about it
3 to start a conversation with labour activists
Todays target:
1. to set up simple blog
2. to persuade 100 tweeters to devote 30 minutes a day for the rest of the holidays on twitter spreading #GoTwiggGo
So there you have it. No doubt many will think I am stupid and wasting my time but I cant sit idly by. We can't clone Owen Jones - we have to create new ones. Stephen Twigg has been ineffective and allowed Gove an easy ride. No more. Lets put some pressure on him and Labour until we get some decent opposition.
I have one week til my Easter holidays are over.
No comments:
Post a Comment