Free Schools (Part II)

Steve Bell © 2010

 Was it just Toby Young and his friends that wanted one?  It was one of the Tories few well-trailed promises pre-election, but it certainly doesn't look like the world is queuing up to set up Free Schools.

Lord knows why - they are ideal. Why place inner-city plebs in modern buildings with adequate facilities when you can bang 'em in an office block?

"Ethos", we are told by the government, "is more important than landmark buildings"... although you try telling that to the pupils here.

So, the dream of getting that pesky state out of the way might take longer than Gove thinks. The vanguard, meanwhile, will no doubt be religious groups desperate to persuade everyone that science is a load of tosh, companies pretending to be 'concerned citizens' who are simply planning to bide their time until the rules are changed to allow them to make a profit... and the ranks of the Disgusted from Tunbridge Wells, one of whom writes:

"I realy wont to set up a free School. I am fed up of goverments like NuLieBore and the EUSSR telling us what too do in this Great Country. We need a return of Christian Values, the cane and no Political Correctness and immigration. I am going to set up a school to teach this and also to help with making sure that Our Children learn proper subjects like Grammer and not islam and homosexuality".


Still - probably for the best that there isn't a mass move towards the idea, as:

a) there's no money for it; and

b) the pioneers of the scheme don't like it at all anymore.