The NEU is on the second day of its annual conference in Brighton. Yesterday delegates voted to abolish Ofsted…
This morning members have voted through a motion on “combatting the rise of the far right.” Here we go…
Motion 20 says the union members oppose “all forms of racism, fascism and far-right extremism” including “the divisive politics promoted by Reform UK.” The motion additionally says anti-racist and ‘anti-fascist’ teaching materials will be created for distribution to teacher members as well as “literature making the case against the far right.” We don’t need no thought control…
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”