"A drag queen called `Flowjob` who shares sexually explicit images of herself on Twitter has sparked a furious backlash after she visited a primary school to educate children as part of LGBT history month."
"The drag queen`s social media feeds show pictures of her simulating a sex act with a dildo, laying spread eagle in a bath tub with a ball in her mouth and simulating oral sex..."
"During the visit `Flowjob` read a story to Primary 1 children aged between four to five."
"Glencoates Primary School in Paisley has come under fire for allowing `Flowjob` to visit the kids with many saying it was `inappropriate`, `outrageous`, and `disgusting`."
"The school and its headteacher Michelle Watson have since locked their Twitter accounts following the barrage of complaints on social media over the weekend."
"One parent with a seven-year-old child at the school blasted the headteacher and claimed parents had not been told about Flowjob`s visit..."
"If teachers are left to make 'professional decisions', the danger is that they are not studied well enough in the field of reading and spelling - choices must be fully informed and we know that teachers are not necessarily knowledgeable enough with regard to research findings, or perhaps experienced enough in synthetic phonics teaching, to be in a position to make informed choices."
"In any event, it should not be down to the chance of who the teacher is, and the teacher's views and knowledge-base, when children go to school - we DO have research findings and leading-edge practice to inform us - but not everyone wants to 'hear' or has had the training and experience to be fully knowledgeable."
"The fact that the teaching profession even abandoned teaching the alphabetic code of the English language demonstrates that what teachers teach in the field of reading instruction is beyond individuals' 'professional choices'."
"I suggest that it would be remiss of governments in countries where there is illiteracy and weak literacy not to investigate the research and not to inform and influence the teaching profession."
"This field is just far too serious."
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Debbie Hepplewhite
Some teachers have come to understand their lack of training in phonics: "`I trained as a teacher around 18 years ago and remember coming out of my training and going into school, and teachers saying, ‘we don’t really know how children learn to read.’ I didn’t think much of it at the time and after teaching a whole class for two years I became a support for learning teacher." "Two years ago I went on a course called Phonics Forever. It covered the science behind reading and explained things about the English language and the alphabetic code that I just didn’t know. I remember getting a bit tearful because I could think of so many people that I could have helped better if I’d actually known the science behind teaching children to read. It was like an epiphany, a revelation`...." "Since this one-day training session, support for learning teacher Alison Taylor has done a huge amount of reading on the subject, exploring research from different experts around the world." "Alison says: `It became apparent to me that much of our poor literacy is due to teachers not having been educated properly themselves about the English language`." "She now feels passionately that systematic synthetics phonics can make a huge difference in Scotland..." "Professor Rastle explains that this is a global war, occurring in all English-speaking countries, and only in England has the war been `won by science`." "England has put in place a national policy where primary schools are required to teach reading via systematic phonics." "A simple phonics screen check was recently implemented to test the effectiveness of this practice." "When introduced in 2012, teachers in England were saying they were using phonics; however, in that year only 58 per cent of children met an acceptable standard in their phonics knowledge. Over each successive year that figure has increased dramatically, and it’s now over 80 per cent." https://www.gtcs.org.uk/News/teaching-scotland/76-the-science-of-reading.aspx
The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) held its second `Excellence in Professional Learning Awards` in September. It looks like they are here congratulating practitioners for `nurturing North Ayrshire`. It`s a pity they pay so much attention to how practitioners `nurture` and yet do not give much attention to how teachers are taught to instruct learners to read.
Given the focus in Scotland on `adverse childhood experiences` (ACEs) one thing seems to be overlooked: a lifelong inability to read is one of the most devastating experiences a child could possible undergo; and yet, as the Clackmannanshire study has shown, is well within the grasp of primary teachers to do something about. Yet as the GTCS reveals there still remains a cavalier approach to the teaching of reading.
Here is an important tweet from Anne Glennie, Scottish primary teacher and literacy consultant and trainer, who quotes:
"GTC Scotland would like to advise its readers that it does not hold a policy position on teaching children to read. We aim to publish a wide range of articles in `Teaching Scotland` offering different viewpoints. This is to inform our readers about current practice in education. Publication of a particular point of view does not mean that we endorse it."
There are several comments following the tweet:
___________________
"What is the point of the GTC in that case?"
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"GTCS functions include: Setting the Professional standards expected of all teachers."
"Accrediting programmes leading to the award of GTCS Standards, including Initial Teacher Education programmes at Scottish universities."
"How can they hold teachers in Scotland to professional standards but not hold policy positions on the science behind reading?"
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Debbie Hepplewhite Retweeted Anne Glennie
"This is utterly unaccountable - extraordinary - unforgivable. What have 'views' to do with the science of reading instruction? Such irony as the Clackmannanshire research is important - supported a move in England towards official systematic synthetic phonics."
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The letter from Alison Taylor that prompted the GTC announcement that they do not have a policy position on teaching reading is here:
"Dear Editor,
I was disturbed to see an article in Teaching Scotland no 75 about Reading Recovery. This `intervention` has been withdrawn in many English speaking countries because it does not tackle the core of the literacy problem, and yet here in Scotland we are promoting it."
"To Raise Attainment for All and Close the Gap, Scotland must improve the teaching of beginner readers, so it is essential to educate all our primary teachers in the science behind reading and evidence based methods to use. We are not taught the complexities of the English Alphabetic Code at university so can end up using a mixture of effective and ineffective approaches."
"About 21 months ago I was introduced by Anne Glennie `The Learning Zoo to teaching decoding through systematic synthetic phonics (SSP)` which is part of the Big Five for teaching literacy. This started my reading journey of the science behind reading. In the schools I work in, we now use evidence based methods to teach literacy, both universally and for PEP interventions. This has had a huge positive impact on developing the literacy skills of our pupils."
"In my experience many pupils are included in intervention groups (such as Reading Recovery) that encourage pupils to `guess` words using multi-cueing (use the picture, first sound or context clues - when what they really need is systematic and explicit teaching of the Alphabetic Code from simple to complex code. They then require practice, little and often, in decoding and encoding using the letters and sounds. Schools need decodable books as a resource to do this. Many schools teach phonics but do not have this vital resource to enable children to practise the letters and sounds they are learning. All beginner readers need to be taught the same skills and knowledge. Some children including those with `dyslexia` need lots of extra practice to retain their learning of sound to print."
"Many poor readers are relying on memorising words for decoding and have no other strategy to use when they come across new words. Teach them to decode using SSP and they have skills and knowledge that will stay with them forever. Get them to practise to mastery and we help all pupils. `Reading` is a life skill and we must not let the children in Scotland down. Let`s get it right from the start."
"Ministers were urged to obtain the backing of JK Rowling to help sell the named person scheme."
"Minutes from a meeting of Scottish government officials and outside stakeholders released under freedom of information legislation disclosed a call for the Harry Potter author to be brought in to convince a sceptical public to back the plan." "The idea of involving her came after the writer Alexander McCall Smith took a swipe at the scheme in one of his serialised novels." "He used two episodes of his 44 Scotland Street series in The Scotsman to mock the scheme last year. In an episode on April 21 a character said: `It was a shocking moment of realisation. Irene was an unrepentant social engineer. She was post-factual. She was a . . . He searched for the metaphor, and then he found it. She was an archetypical named person.`" "On May 5 McCall Smith’s novel contained the following passage: ‘Ah yes,’ said Domenica. ‘The named person legislation. Can you believe it? Can you believe that they’re insisting that every child in Scotland should have a sort of official guardian — because that’s what it amounts to. Can you conceive of a better way of insulting parents?’" "At a meeting on June 21 last year plans were drawn up for introducing the scheme. Under the plans for August 2018 an official wrote: `High profile person/celebrity — as that is the world we live in — to publicise Getting it right for every child. Get JK Rowling on board, countermine the likes of Alexander McCall Smith`." "Alison Preuss, of the No 2 Named Person campaign group, said: `It seems an odd thing to have discussed at a serious meeting. It now seems obvious they weren’t very confident on getting the legislation through`." https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jk-rowling-s-help-sought-for-named-person-plan-pzxb77qqb
"The basic assumption that underlies typical reading instruction in many schools is that learning to read is a natural process, much like learning to talk. But decades of scientific research has revealed that reading doesn't come naturally. The human brain isn't wired to read. Kids must be explicitly taught how to connect sounds with letters — phonics..." "Most teachers nationwide are not being taught reading science in their teacher preparation programs because many deans and faculty in colleges of education either don't know the science or dismiss it. As a result of their intransigence, millions of kids have been set up to fail..." "Whole language was a movement of people who believed that children and teachers needed to be freed from the tedium of phonics instruction. Phonics lessons were seen as rote, old-fashioned, and kind of conservative. The essential idea in whole language was that children construct their own knowledge and meaning from experience..." "The battle between whole language and phonics got so heated that the U.S. Congress eventually got involved, convening a National Reading Panel to review all the research on reading. In 2000, the panel released a report. The sum of the research showed that explicitly teaching children the relationship between sounds and letters improved reading achievement...." https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read
"We suffer the consequences, but who makes the policy?" asks Brian Gerrish on UK Column News, Wednesday 18 July 2018.
"And as we`ve just heard at the start of our news today the British government is descending into chaos. But somebody behind the scenes is still pulling the strings and making the decisions."
"Let`s have a look at this organisation which was flagged up to us a couple of days ago: the Horizon Scanning Programme team. `Horizon Scanning is about exploring what the future might look like to understand uncertainties better`. And the UK government is crowing about this in quite a number of places. So apparently it`s not about making predictions, but systematically investigating evidence about future trends. Horizon scanning apparently helps government to `analyse whether it`s adequately prepared for potential opportunities and threats, and this helps ensure that policies are resilient to different future environments`."
"So we`ve got a Horizon Scanning Programme team `coordinating strategic horizon scanning work across departments, drawing on insights from experts in and outside government to challenge our thinking`. So note there that we`re bringing in experts from outside government. Who are these experts? It`s not easy to see but we`re going to work on this and see whether we can pin some of them down at least."
"But here`s the Horizon Programme team responsible for `coordinating work between departments and input from those experts outside the Civil Service; creating communities of interest around specific topics; improving cross-government horizon scanning; developing networks to gather and share information; bringing emerging issues to a senior-level audience`." "So this is really incredible stuff. It`s working on government policy but they say `well it isn`t really`. Let`s have a look at the detail. How does this thing come about? Well prior to 2014 we had a Cabinet Office Horizon Scanning Secretariat and we had a Government Office of Science`s Horizon Scanning Centre. They merged March. That produced the Horizon Scanning Programme Team." "We`ve got a Steering Group which is the Cabinet Secretary`s Advisory Group. And if you don`t know what these organisations are, I`m going to say we didn`t until recently. Research it yourself because there`s a lot of questions to be asked here."
"So here`s the overall chair. It`s our old friend Jeremy Heywood, immensely powerful individual within government and the Civil Service; and the overall minister the Rt Hon David Lidington CBE MP. Now he`s the Duchy of Lancaster, treasurer, so that`s a very important role. Previously he was [with] BP and another pretty high profile global company. So what takes place in these organisations? Well we`re hopefully now starting to get a glimpse. But what we can say with certainty is that they are closely tied in with what was the government`s Behavioural Insights team and this was the British government using applied psychology in order to change the way people.... think and behave."
"And apparently this organisation has had its own ten commandments and so we`ve got a Dr John Carney here, the Principal Scientist within the Systems Thinking and Consulting Group of the Defence Science and Technology lab but he`s previously been Team Leader for Horizon Scanning." "He had this to say: `Don`t think that Horizon Scanning is about predicting the future - this is a common misconception. The value of Horizon Scanning is using it to change mind-sets.` So that`s a pretty powerful statement there that. These people, not all of them are in government, certainly not put in positions of power by a democratic process, but they`re working to change our mind-sets. We`re not actually told how those mind-sets are going to be changed..." "But this is the sort of stuff they`re getting up to. And the bottom one here caught my attention. `Social attitudes of young people`. We can find one of their papers here. The interesting thing about this paper is that there`s no authors mentioned on it. So they don`t seem to want to say who actually put the thing together in any detail but down at the bottom it says in capitals: `THIS IS NOT STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT POLICY`. Now this is a very interesting claim because of course this material is clearly being used as the basis of government policy ." "So what sort of thing are they saying? They say `In some areas, we see little change in young people`s attitudes, behaviours and experiences compared to older generations. For instance, when we ask people of different ages what is important in life, we find remarkably little difference between generations. Similarly, we see little evidence of generational shifts in willingness to justify selfish behaviour, such as tax and benefit fraud`. What an amazing label to stamp on a future generation. `Or appetite for being involved in community engagement. These areas where there are few, if any, changes between generations remind us that we should not overstate the possible changes over the next 10 years in young people`s attitudes, behaviours and experiences`." "So clearly the government [is] working behind the scenes to change the way that young people think." "And it goes on here. I found this staggering. `As well as shaping evolving attitudes, we would expect to see continued changes in the behaviours and experiences of young people in the next 10 years. One way that this could occur would be through an intensification of the trend towards longer routes and more complex routes to full adulthood and independence`." Mike Robinson interjects. "What does that mean?" "Well I`ve read it several times Mike. What I pick up from this is that they`re talking about delaying people becoming adult." "But how can they delay people becoming adult when they sexualise them at ever younger ages and push more and more adult themes on to ever younger children?" "Well that`s occurring at one end of the spectrum. Of course the other thing that`s actually happening is you`re seeing, for example, in social services documents that even when somebody`s got to the age of twenty one or twenty six they are still deemed to be under the control of the state. What I picked up from this is it`s almost like the state is expecting us to be children in the eyes of the state and anything they can do to increase the childish behaviour will continue."
"If we go to the other extreme we could say that years ago we had people at the age of sixteen doing some really important work within apprenticeship. They had to turn up at work; they had to have the right tools, the right skills to do a skilful job. Many youngsters now at the age of sixteen are still effectively playing games." "But who knows who devised the policy?" "And on the back of that I`m going to thank this viewer for getting in contact with us. The email was this: `Dear Brian, Don`t know if this is of any interest ... The summer reading challenge in libraries this year is based on The Beano ... you know, Denis the Menace and Beryl the Peril ... but the staff have been told not to use the words PERIL or MENACE when speaking to the children! This disturbed me so I started to look into it`."
"It is all the work of The Reading Agency; and their partners include the British Council and the BBC. Funders include the Cabinet Offices` Social Action Fund and the Wellcome Trust .... There are evaluation forms and a family survey that staff seem to complete but details only available to staff`." "Trawling around this site I found `The Public Library Universal Health Offer` from the SCL ...all very creepy ... SCL organise the `shelf help` books training young children in anxiety, depression, self harm, body image, eating disorders and bullying`."
"And so it goes on. This is sort of part of the material this lady was looking at and I can see why she`s concerned about it. And let`s bring in the `Vision` of the Reading Agency." "`Reading for pleasure enhances people`s literacy, life chances and quality of life. It is vital for our prosperity`. And number 2 here. `Libraries aim to be a force for social change through reading. They bring people recreation and pleasure, learning and literacy, health and wellbeing`. So we know this is linked up with the Cabinet Office and here we can now see that libraries themselves are aiming to be a force for social change." Mike Robinson. "And they`re using childish material to do that." "And they`re using childish material. And this was the second part of this presentation. I`ve just shown that first slide. And I couldn`t help but see this. `Libraries` reading work helps local authorities achieve key outcomes`. So this is nothing about assisting the individual. This is about assisting a local authority to achieve its outcomes and those outcomes have been set by the Cabinet Office and central government." "And I`ll just end on this one, which was also sent to us. This is Rhonda Borough Council which is looking for somebody to fulfil a contract. They want a wellbeing game and the wellbeing game will be for 6 to 14 years. `Thisproject will support school pupils to reflect on wellbeing. It will involve pupils reflecting upon their wellbeing profile and completing `real world` activities to help them develop within a wellbeing context. The main aim of the Wellbeing Game is through gamification to enable pupils to reflect on their personal wellbeing profile and to engage in the world of challenges that will help them build personal strengths and character. Pupils wellbeing challenges will then be linked to the virtual world to promote engagement. " "With many young children committing suicide in South Wales I don`t get a warm feeling about that contract which is being offered particularly when we can see, or we`re getting closer to seeing, the real detail of the links back into the Cabinet Office itself and outside agencies that are helping the British government form policy."
"So let`s have a look at what the BBC is up to here. If you go into it, this is highly animated. I find it particularly annoying because the screen scrolls in a particular way as you`re trying to read the text but it`s the story of some boys in the 1800s. They stow away on a vessel. They`re treated very cruelly. Eventually they`re put onto the ice and I think it`s two of them survive and the rest die. It`s quite a harrowing story. You`d say it`s very dark. At the moment it`s of historical interest up in Scotland and they`ve followed through on the story. So it`s got some serious historical basis to it but of course it`s now being presented as a cartoon on the mainstream news." "Now if you get into this article and start to pay attention you come to the Magic Torch Comics organisation because they are mentioned in the creation of this whole feature of `The Boys on the Ice` and as we normally do we follow the evidence trail through. So here we are having a look at Magic Torch Comics and I`m going to say we`ve got a particularly unpleasant image with the caption: `There`s more to life than books y`know, but not much more...`Magic Torch comics is a social enterprise. By purchasing our publications and merchandise you will help to support our work and projects while demonstrating your general excellence in good taste."
Mike Robinson: "So is that a rabbit hanging by its neck?" Brian Gerrish: "Yeah, it is a rabbit hanging by its neck and as we`re going to see, sort of death and matters unpleasant, seem to be of great interest to this Magic Torch Comics." "But this is the first thing that caught my eye: [It] is that when you try to establish who these people are it`s not possible. So if you`re going to contact them you have to fill in one of the email boxes. You`re not talking to a person; there are no names; it`s just you contact us over the internet and we`ll respond...."
"This is some more of their imagery. And we`re now on the subject of witches. This is the Rowan Tree Legion, Witches at War, October 2016. And there seems to be a preoccupation with witches because this is them tweeting out Cracking#Paisley witchcraft comics created in our team-up folk comic workshops. So they`re very big on witches; they`re big on hanging rabbits; there`s an under element of nastiness and death." "BBC thinks a lot of them. So we get to the end of the BBC article. It says: `The Stowaways` graphic novel was originally created by Magic Torch Comics and Ardowan Primary School, Greenock. It was created as part of the Heritage Inverclyde, A Quest for Learning programme - an Inverclyde Council project delivered by Inverclyde Community Development Trust and funded by Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland`." "And then certain people are given acknowledgement, including for some of the images; and because the story goes from Scotland over to Newfoundland you`ve got people there identified as having an input from Newfoundland. But what is this all about?"
"Well it just gets more interesting because if we have a look at two of the individuals mentioned there, we`ve got this gentleman, Stephen Mulvey. He was the editor of the project; and the other gentleman here is Paul Kerley... he was involved in production. So Stephen Mulvey assistant editor of BBC Digital Current Affairs `where I run the writer`s desk. Russian-speaker trying to learn Spanish`, and the other gentleman is BBC journo - `being creative with photos and sound on the BBC News website`."
"My comment on this is: `Is this news Mike or is this the creation of stories?` I`m not quite sure what`s going on." "But we followed some of the tweets through. So this is Magic Torch Comics retweeting #trustelder, whoever that is. `A picture`s worth a thousand words. true #dementia care stories come to life through cartoons`. So now we`ve got into a particularly mucky area I think. We`ve got people in serious places in their lives, medical conditions, but we`re now going to support that with cartoons. And we`ll bring in this one as well. They`re retweeting the History Press; and we`ve got another hanging. `Notorious pirate William Kidd was hanged for murder and five counts of piracy`. So we`ve got anonymous comics dealing in dementia and death and mental health buried into the BBC as if it was news." "Try this one. `Bringing rebellion into the classroom`. So here`s Magic Torch Comics retweeting the Scottish Book Trust. It says: `On the most rebellious day of the year, we`re launching our Rebel writing campaign for schools. Here`s how to inspire your pupils to start sharing their rebellious tales`. Now we could take the light hearted view this is just children playing with rebellious stories, but I think there`s many teachers out there who would say they`ve got big enough problems keeping order in class without encouraging the children to be rebellious. But we`ll leave it to our viewers and listeners to make their mind up on that one. "
"This is a bit more of the detail of that Book Trust because it`s got Mental Health Benefits. `Scotland is facing a mental health and wellbeing crisis. One in three people suffer from mental illness each year and the number of people with dementia is set to double in the next 25 years`. And they say here for example that reading can reduce stress. OK that`s fine. But then we`ve got: `Reading fiction can model ways of coping with alienation or problems at school, work or in relationships`. So now it`s not just reading; this is reading in order to reframe people, Mike. I`m going to bring that word in. But they`re working for a Scotland where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive, no matter what their background. And then who are they working with? Alzheimer Scotland, Millennium Cohort Study [Joseph Rowntree Foundation], the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Reading for Change. So we`re getting a bit of a clue here as to what`s going on, Save the Children, University of Sussex Mindlab research." "So this is not just about bringing books to children. This has got a highly political undertone I`m going to say, Mike, where clearly they are looking at bringing change into society via the reading habits of children." Mike Robinson: "Yeah, but if we`re talking about University of Sussex Mindlab research, we`re also looking at how that change is implemented; what types of books provide the right type of change; what types of books don`t provide the right kind of change. So this is an academic research project as well." Brian Gerrish: "Indeed. So let`s have a look in a bit more detail here. Here`s the Scottish Book Trust; lots of information; I encourage people to look at it, of course."
"Let`s bring in some of the people. We`ve got here Keir Bloomer, the chair, former Director of Education for ClackmannanshireCouncil, Chair of the Tapestry Partnership, a leading organisation in the field of teachers` professional development. Convener of the Education Committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Member of the review group which wrote `A Curriculum for Excellence` (Scotland`s national curriculum)] So OK, this man seems to have an education background. I`d like to know a little bit more."
"But let`s bring in this one. We`ve got Andy Marchant. He works with financial services companies, management consultants and charities on their business plans; previously Managing Director and Marketing Director, Aegon, Directo Line and Royal Bank of Scotland; experience in innovation and strategy. So how does this link in with children`s books?" Mike Robinson: "It`s not quite so clear is it?" "Not quite so clear." "Well what about this man? We`ve got James Saville, Director of People, Operations and Systems, UK Government Department for International Development. So he`s been DFID for the past five years. His team were the 2015 Scottish HR Network team for their response to the Ebola crisis. So he jumps from that to books. But he`s also worked for HBOS plc, financial services and oil and gas sectors. So this man is a sort of international corporatist, now apparently helping children with their reading." "Or we`ve got Catherine Smith, former head of marketing at RBS, consultant with KPMG. But she`s a member of the Executive Board, BBC Scotland. So a bit of a coincidence." "And we`ll bring in the last one here. I think this lady is Norwegian. She`s had a Master`s Degree in Comparative Literature but she started her marketing career in Google EMEA headquaters in Dublin." "When I look at these people, they`re not just there to help young children with their reading skills. This is bringing in a whole layer of political and cultural change. This is the sort of stuff that George Soros would back...."
Seidenberg: "I think parents need to be alert because we usually assume that if we’re sending our child to school, the educators will be able to take over and will have the training to be able to teach kids to read and learn other things. Middle-class parents already know that they have to supplement what goes on in the classroom: They know that it’s expected that they will work with the children at home to fill in things that are not being taught in the classroom. Lots of things are sort of being outsourced, but that model assumes that there’s a parent in the home who can help, who speaks the language, who’s available. And that’s not going to be true in many cases. It’s not going to be true if the parents are low-income and they’re working multiple jobs. It’s not going to be true if there isn’t an adult in the home who is a native speaker of the language. And it’s not going to be true because people from a lower-income background may not be as aware that the way kids are taught kind of assumes that they’re going do some of the heavy lifting." "So parents need to understand that the schools have shifted some of the burden for instruction onto them, and I think they should push back. I think they should say, ‘Hey, schools have the responsibility for teaching children basic kinds of skills, and parents are not professional teachers. Parents are not educators. And moreover, parents may not have the backgrounds, skills, or financial resources to fill in the gaps.’ So hold the schools to the obligation to teach children to read and not assume that the parents or caregivers are going to pick up the slack." https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/the-ignored-science-that-could-help-close-the-achievement-gap/506498/?utm_source=twb
Mike Robinson: "We`re going to start off [with] Don`t let the Weather get you Down...because it is world book day. We know that totalitarian regimes in the past don`t like books much but we`re going to celebrate World Book Day. We know they don`t like them in the past because what they tend to do is to burn them. This is a form of censorship of course. "
"So we have to report a similar form of censorship because the John Wedger interview that you`ve been pointing people to over the last couple of days Brian has been taken down and the Youtube channel GeorgeGreekTrucker has been closed. The account associated with this video has been terminated. So we`re burning books effectively here because it seems we don`t want - as a nation, government and establishment media - we don`t want any dissenting voices in this regime." Brian Gerrish: "We don`t want any dissenting voices. The government don`t want to be challenged in any way. The government doesn`t want to have to explain its policies. It doesn`t want to produce evidence. So I think there`s a number of issues under the surface here and we`ll say also the fact that this is happening I think is a very good sign because it shows that simple `people power`, people putting out accurate material over the internet is now frightening the government and this is the backlash. So we can see them more clearly."
Mike Robinson. "Yeah. It`s not just individual accounts either, obviously. Richie Allen`s account recently has been taken down on Youtube; other alternative media accounts in the last few days: Alex Jones is even under attack as well. So this has become quite a broad problem. So if you want to find this interview now it is with Bitchute which is a Youtube alternative and the url is at the top there if you want to go and listen to that interview. If you haven`t heard it yet, we do suggest you listen to it."
Brian Gerrish. "We certainly do. Now I`m going to attempt in the short time available to take people through what`s been happening in the John Wedger case. It`s clearly hotting up and yesterday afternoon I took some extraordinary calls from media people responding from the establishment about the John Wedger case."
"This was the original BBC 3 Counties radio screenshot that was taken down, but Andy Collins was the main interviewer for John Wedger. And let`s remember that police whistleblower John Wedger also had alongside him in that interview former police lady Maggie Oliver and one of the key things that comes forward is she`s saying, `Yes the bullying, the threats, the intimidation that John`s suffered, I`ve suffered as well. This is the pattern.` ... We know that not one, but two - and there`s a lot more police officers come forward talking about what is really happening: the fraud, the corruption, the lies, the intimidation, the covering-up of child abuse - what do we see the state do? Well it starts to censor people reporting this information." "Now key to the report for me was this gentleman, Mike Penning, former Policing Minister and I`m going to say brave enough to stand up alongside John Wedger to be counted. He also joined John on part of a very cold section of the walk from London to Manchester but this is what he said during the interview: `I handed the whole file [that`s the John Wedger and child abuse file] tothe Home Office and it vanished... there are some strange things happening here...[and then he goes on to talk about whistleblowers as being bullied and warned off] there are other officers saying identical things... the minute they come forward they accuse [these]people of a breach of data... for the police this has a prison sentence attached to it..."
"So here we have not just an MP but former Minister for Policing. [He] puts in a file to the Home Office which is about John Wedger`s case - John Wedger saying that the police covered up the abuse and deaths of children with the help of the establishment and local authorities and charities; and that file disappears." "Now we`d emailed the Home Office," says Brian Gerrish, "Asking them questions about this. Yesterday afternoon they came back, unbelievably aggressive. They said that `Mike Penning MP gave the report to his Home Office Civil Servants.` The inference here is that because he was Policing Minister, he`s automatically got a role in the Home Office. So the Home Office media spokesperson said that basically he gave the report to his civil servants. So I said `No, Mr Penning gave the report to the Home Office for action.` And then I had to ask: `So when Mr Penning gave the report to the Home Office and says the report vanished he was confused as to what he did with his own report?` At this point the media spokesperson got quite evasive. He later became, in my opinion, aggressive but then something was said that was interesting: that `the Home Office can`t intervene in policing matters. The report went to the IPCC`. That`s what I think he said to me." "So one minute this report [has] vanished. [The next] No that`s an MP that`s confused. Then the Home Office is saying, `OK that report; we can`t possibly get involved in a policing matter. It was passed through to the IPCC`." Mike Robinson: "Doesn`t the Home Office have responsibility for policing in this country?" Brian Gerrish. "The Home Office has responsibility for policing and of course the Home Office directly under Theresa May, as Prime Minister, says that one of [her] primary goals is to deal with child abuse; except when evidence is put forward where a file vanishes. Quite remarkable. So how did it go on? Well here we sent an email to Her Majesty`s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Service and we essentially asked some key points." These questions followed the watchdog`s report in which they found `significant weaknesses in Met police child protection probes. Inspectorsreviewed a sample of 214 cases and rated 191, or 89%, as either `requiring improvement`, or `inadequate.` Brian Gerrish wrote to them and said: ... "I would like a written response to the following questions:"
"1. Can HMICFRS please confirm that during their latest inspection they [were] fully aware of the appalling treatment of Det Constable Wedger and that HMICFRS took on board his evidence as to the abuse of power within the MET to silence his personal testimony and whistleblowing of the cover-up of child abuse by the MET, Local Authorities, Charities and Children`s Homes?" "2. If HMICFRS were not aware of Mr Wedger`s testimony, why were they not made aware of this case by the MET police?" "3. And finally, now being fully appraised of Mr Wedger`s testimony what action will Mr Matt Parr take to address Mr Wedger`s evidence in light of the findings of HMICFRS`s current report?"
"So this is what they came back with. It says:" "`For our national child protection inspection programme, we follow a set methodology which is the same for all forces. This looks at every stage of contact a child has with the police, and includes examining the experiences of children detained in custody. HMICFRS was aware of John Wedger`s testimony due to what was reported in the public domain. However, this case was not considered as part of this inspection, given the specifics of our methodology. Our Metropolitan Police Service child protection inspection report and subsequent follow-up reviews provide a robust and in-depth analysis of the force`s performance, and where improvements are needed. HMICFRS continues to closely monitor the Met`s performance in the area`." Bran Gerrish. "So they claim that they did a robust investigation by not looking at the evidence." Mike Robinson. "This is a staggering statement... So what they`re saying is - correct me if I`m wrong here - what they seem to be saying is that they look at the Met`s treatment of children detained in custody... and because John Wedger was making allegations of investigations which weren`t being carried out, therefore no children being brought into police custody, no children being interviewed by the police, they said that`s outside the remit of their investigation. So how are they supposed to inspect the constabulary and find out if the constabulary is doing its job or not, if they don`t look at allegations of the constabulary not doing its job?" Brian Gerrish. "Turn it on its head Mike; and that is by not looking at the evidence you are not really examining what the police are up to; and that is what your real job is. So these are the words from that organisation themselves. I`ve put another challenge into them today because, as we get the response from the Home Office, as we get the response from HMICFRS; and we`re now going to go on to one more - we can see that the evidence is before us... there`s a picture forming. " "Now what is that picture ? It could be simply of incompetence that John Wedger`s file had been lost. But I think that when you put these very devious and carefully constructed media team reports together you can start to smell that something is very wrong here. So let`s come on to the next one. This is the UK Column email to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)." Mike Robinson steps in to mention that the IOPC is the replacement for the IPCC. Brian Gerrish. "Yeah this one is the replacement." Mike Robinson. "So this is the organisation that the Home Office claims has been the ultimate recipient of John Wedger`s file?" Brian Gerrish. "Yes, it would appear so Mike." "So we gave them a reminder of the BBC 3 Counties radio [programme] and asked for the boss Mr Lockwood. `Could he confirm that IOPC did make the statement there` s no evidence to back up John Wedger`s testimony? ` Secondly, `Could he confirm that a significant number of staff left their posts before the investigation was completed?` and then thirdly, `In the same BBC interview former Policing Minister Mike Penning MP said he`d handed a file on John Wedger - and I`ve added wider child abuse issues because I believe that`s in the report - to senior civil servants in the Home Office and it vanished. That being the case could Mr Lockwood confirm that he was made aware of the content of Mr Penning`s file by the Home Office at the time of IOPC`s investigation into the child abuse cover-up allegations by former MET policeman John Wedger?`" "So I wanted to know whether IOPC had that file. Let`s have a look at their response." "Here we go. They said `Dear Mr Gerrish, While you are not a member of the media I am replying to you directly rather than forward your query so that it`s dealt with quickly. I`m aware that you previously interviewed Mr Wedger on your Youtube channel. In relation to the points you raised I can confirm that we supplied the following statement to BBC 3 Counties radio." "l. The IOPC discontinued an investigation into the actions of Metropolitan police officers in relation to allegations of conspiracy and cover-up in historical child abuse allegations made by a serving Metropolitan police officer. The investigation found a lack of evidence to support the allegations." "2. Only one member of IOPC left the investigation handling Mr Wedger`s case before completion. While staff leaving investigations is never ideal, turnover is natural within a large organisation, and there was consistent oversight of the investigation by a single member of staff throughout." "3. We were aware of a file but it related to internal disciplinary issues within the MPS in relation to DC Wedger." "So we get an interesting picture here. This file which had disappeared they seem to know was just containing disciplinary stuff. How does this work Mike?" "Did they see it or did they not see it?" asks Mike Robinson. "I don`t know. So I had an interesting conversation with him. Let`s take you through a summarised version. This was with their media man David Carnell." "I pointed out that the IOPC had used a cheap opening which is to say to me `You`re not a proper journalist, so we don`t normally bother with people like you, but on this occasion we`re going to give you a reply." "I said: ...`How were you aware of a file that had been lost?`- Mike Penning had said the file was lost - so I pointed out to them they were seemingly aware of a file that had been lost. " "IOPC: `Because Det Constable John Wedger told us about it`." "So I said: `But you don`t believe a word John Wedger says because you found there`s no evidence to support his allegations `." "IOPC: `John Wedger told us about the report.`" "`But the report came from a former Policing Minister Mike Penning MP - did you see the report?`" "IOPC: `No.` " "Has the Director General Michael Lockwood seen my email?" "IOPC: `No I am giving you the answer - do you think all media enquiries are seen by senior managers?` " "Will you pass my email to Michael Lockwood?"
"The answer was: `Essentially no.` And this man became really - well in my opinion he became hostile. So we now know that when I sent in an email actually saying to the main person `we need some answers here` I get an answer from what is actually the junior media person if you look at this man`s background. And he says he is giving me the answer. So now we`ve got a system of government around policing and child abuse, one of the most critical areas of the constitution, where the answer doesn`t come from the appointed Civil Service, it comes from some media person who has now assumed responsibility for answering questions."
Mike Robinson: "Why didn`t you get a written response?"
Brian Gerrish: "Well I did get the email response, but I didn`t get a formal response from the man I asked which was the boss. I went to the boss. So I`ve now asked that my original email and questions [go] through to that gentleman and we will see whether they are passed through but now of course the thing to do is to write directly in person recorded delivery."
"... Did I get a warm feeling that this organisation was concerned that we have police officers talking about the cover-up of child abuse? We`ve got missing files that have been put together by MPs and submitted to the Home Office and what I get from this gentleman I would loosely call a fairly aggressive fob off. This is dangerous stuff because it means that these organisations are just not functioning properly."
"If you want to have a look at the individual you can see him here on LinkedIn but of course he`s saying that part of his job is handling advice to senior management and drafting lines. This word `line` for me is a newspeak term. It means opaqueness. It means blurring the boundaries . Putting out a line. You`re not saying it`s the truth; you`re not saying it`s accurate; it`s just` our line`. "
"So there we are, as a result of John Wedger standing up to say that the Metropolitan Police helped cover up the abuse of children that was also supported by MPs, local authorities and some children`s charities; despite other police officers supporting what he says, what we`ve got is confusion amongst the Home Office and policing system. I think it`s pretty obvious what is going on."
"A book created to celebrate the disappearing words of everyday nature, from acorn and wren to conker and dandelion, is fast becoming a cultural phenomenon with help from a crowdfunding campaign by a school bus driver."
"Four months after publication The Lost Words, a collection of poems by Robert Macfarlane and paintings by Jackie Morris, has already shipped 75,000 copies and won two literary prizes.
Now the book, aimed at reviving once-common `natural` words excised from the Oxford Junior Dictionary, will be discovered by a generation of children after a crowdfunding drive to place a copy in every school in Scotland."
"Jane Beaton, a school bus driver and travel consultant from Strathyre, Stirling, was moved to raise £25,000 to give the book to all 2,681 schools in Scotland after “a spur of the moment” commitment on Twitter."
"Guerilla Open Access Manifesto" "Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world`s entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitised and locked up by a handful of private corporations..." "Those with access to these resources - students, librarians, scientists - you have been given a privilege. You get to feed at this banquet of knowledge while the rest of the world is locked out. But you need not - indeed, morally, you cannot - keep this privilege for yourselves. You have a duty to share it with the world... " "Meanwhile, those who have been locked out are not standing idly by: You have been sneaking through holes and climbing over fences, liberating the information locked up by the publishers and sharing them with your friends." "But all of this action goes on in the dark, hidden underground: it`s called stealing or piracy, as if sharing a wealth of knowledge were the moral equivalent of plundering a ship and murdering its crew. But sharing isn`t immoral - it`s a moral imperative. Only those blinded by greed would refuse to let a friend make a copy." "Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate require it - their shareholders would revolt at anything less. And the politicians they have bought off back them, passing laws giving them the exclusive power to decide who can make copies..." Aaron Swartz
"Residents are demanding that the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire increases its scope to include the regeneration programme ," Mike Robinson informs viewers on UK Column News on Friday 14 July 2017... Mike asks Brian Gerrish for his thoughts on whether the inquiry should increase its scope. "Well I would say it should ... Mike, because the experience of a lot of people here in Plymouth and other cities across the UK has been that where these government created regeneration programmes have been put in place we have seen a ... transformation in the way that local authorities behave. They`ve become very aggressive... So we`ve had reports and dialogue with members of the community across the country: Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, London. Anywhere these major regeneration programmes have been put in place there`s been a step change in the behaviour of local authorities and inevitably they`ve become very domineering ... and the party politics, the vision for the future, is the primary goal; people`s real interest, second place." "So we are keen to understand why residents` concerns have been systematically ignored, as they describe it.... just to reinforce that, something we`ve seen right across the country..." "It`s right across the country and it doesn`t matter what the subject is - the subject could be safety on the streets - it could be the crime rate - whatever it is that local people are genuinely experiencing and concerned about, they are not going to have a proper dialogue with the local authorities because the local authorities have been changed into political fiefdoms."
Mike takes up the discussion again: "Well the Mirror here...: Scandal of the flats standing empty as Grenfell Tower families live in hotels. And this is 159 social housing flats which have been identified in the Kensington and Chelsea area and the council says `We are continuing to make good progress on rehousing during a complicated process involving severely traumatised people`. So far 167 first offers have been made, 25 offers have been accepted, 8 households have been rehoused. That`s 8 households so far have been rehoused. But the point here is that there`s 159 empty flats from the Sutton estate but of course these flats are boarded up. They`re derelict at the moment. There`s no sign of those being refurbished at this stage. The housing association is called Clarion - it was originally called Affinity Sutton - and they have offered a number of flats on another part of the estate but they`re saying the tenants would have to carry out repairs at their own cost. So residents are saying they`re shocked and appalled that this is going on." "Well Mike this is one of the key areas and of course this is a con carried out by the government. But when they started to get rid of council houses - council houses had a mixed reputation across the country. Some of them were built to quite good standard; some of them were very poor indeed; but the key thing about a council house is that once people have been on the list and they`ve secured the council house it was theirs for life. It stayed in the family. If there were children they might end up living with mum and dad; they might end up with grandma and grandad living with the family. Then what the government did: `No no. We`ve got to improve these things; we`ll give you an updated kitchen or an updated bathroom.` There was a bribe element to this and these updates were then used to bring in the housing associations and what the housing associations were was a `for profit system`. They say they`re not `for profit` but they are in fact a `for profit system` and with the housing associations came the removal of secure accommodation for life. So as the housing associations have come in: who are they accountable to? It`s not really clear because invariably they have the local council on their board but they`re private organisations with a public sector input. It`s very confusing but these housing associations have become increasingly dictatorial in telling residents what they can and cannot do if they are to remain living in one of their properties."
Mike refers to an article in GetWestLondon: "West London colleges merger plan will benefit students and staff. So regeneration at the heart of all this... Now this is interesting because it involves Wornington College which is part of Kensington & Chelsea College. So Ealing Hammersmith and West London College and Kensington & Chelsea College are going to merge. They say this is a move that is going to benefit everybody. Now Ealing Hammersmith and West London College has four sites and Kensington and Chelsea College has two sites and as I say one of those is Wornington College. Now this article in GetWestLondon makes a statement that under the move both colleges will retain their existing sites and names and this is very confusing, Brian, because Kensington and Chelsea council right at the time that people are obviously upset about what is going on with Grenfell have decided that it`s time to knock down Wornington College... and to regenerate it." "So what they did without so much as a by-your-leave, without asking anybody for their opinions in April last year, they bought the building for regeneration. They`re going to turn it into flats apparently. But they say they`re still going to accommodate the college but this college is something that local people rely on absolutely. It`s something that helps people - anything from learning English as a foreign language to getting people up to a standard to enter degree level courses around the country. So the local community appreciates this and they are concerned at the moment that this college is going to disappear as a result of this deal. They don`t really understand why the deal`s happened and there is a campaign group if anybody`s interested. It`s called the Save Wornington College campaign. You`ll find it on Facebook. Do go and have a look. But the key point here is, you know, a community that is already suffering the effects of regeneration continues to suffer and, of course, some people might take the view `Well hold on, they`re wanting to knock down the old building and replace it with a new building. Why would you complain about that?` Well for the same reason that when they knock down many of these social housing buildings and replace them, they replace them with fewer homes than were there originally." "And they`re too expensive for local people to afford." "Exactly. So people are extremely sceptical about whether this is going to turn out as promised." "Well I`ll just add to that Mike that I believe what is going on here is Big Society at work. Big Society, which is never mentioned in the mainstream press and media at the moment, it is definitely there. It is being built and of course in Big Society the state is to control everything. It`s to control industry; it`s to control housing, education and of course we can see that the NHS is being privatised at the moment. It`s very nearly there and so we`ve seen the destruction of local communities across the board, whether they are community centres, or homes for the elderly, they go. Local libraries are going; local education facilities are going; and what`s invariably replacing them is always something that is bigger and shinier but if you look at what the control is, it`s really based on... profit." "Interesting that you mentioned the library because Kensington and Chelsea have decided to close the library in the area and install a private school into that building." "Libraries are being decimated across the country. Many people say that ... of course , if we end up with a system of knowledge based on the internet and electronic forms that information can be changed overnight." "Well let`s bring David Scott in at this point because, David, Grenfell Tower insulation was not certified for use with flammable cladding, according to the Guardian. The mainstream media continuing to flail around on this issue." "Yes, and it`s very striking ... some of this we covered on 15 June 2017 and we`ve covered in articles since and now cropping up belatedly in papers like the Guardian and on the BBC. "
