Two more home 'flippers', husband and wife, Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper.

Telegraph report

I wonder whether Ed Balls will be deselected as a candidate in the next election? - I do hope so. In my opinion he has done a deplorably poor job as Children’s Secretary.

A senior pharmaceutical executive has been forced to resign his position as an advisor to the schools inspectorate, Ofsted.

GlaxoSmithKline executive resigns as Ofsted adviser
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Paul Blackburn, the vice-president and financial controller at GlaxoSmithKline, was appointed to Ofsted two weeks before the company won a contract to vaccinate 12 and 13-year-old schoolgirls against the sexually transmitted virus linked to cervical cancer.

Yesterday GSK said "unfounded allegations" were made to Ofsted and Mr Blackburn had been asked to resign by the schools watchdog.

It had been hoped that Mr Blackburn would bring private sector expertise to the public sector. His contribution had been praised by Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary."

Schools Secretary Ed Balls is at the centre of a controversy over the appointment of a top executive with the drugs company GSK to the board of Ofsted

The following paragraph is copied from http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/Newsletter/archive/newsletter_2008_07_jul_09.html

A scandal is mushrooming because the Schools Secretary has appointed a Glaxo exec to the board of the government's official education watchdog agency, known as Ofsted. And the move occurred less than a month before the government awarded a reported $200 million contract to Glaxo for its HPV vaccine for school-age girls 12 years and older, which some parents fear will give a green light to teenage sex, The Daily Mail reports. The appointment also comes at a time when a growing number of families are filing lawsuits against Glaxo over its Paxil antidepressent, claiming the drug caused suicide or attempted suicides.
Read article at pharmalot.com

Smells fishy to me...

Government advises parents to give children a less sheltered childhood

Government's advice to parents: make sure your child plays conkers - Guardian

Extract:

"It is the stuff of every grown-up's nostalgic reminiscences of childhood: epic conker showdowns, playground snowball fights and long hours playing outside, away from the watchful eyes of mum and dad. Now ministers are calling on risk-averse parents to stop "wrapping their children in cotton wool" and allow them to enjoy the delights of outdoor play and traditional rough-and-tumble fun.

In his first venture into the heated debate over the way children grow up in Britain since taking on his new role, Ed Balls, the secretary of state for children, said childhood should be a "time for learning and exploring" and children should get the chance to play outdoors and take part in school trips.

"My assumption is, that if it snows, kids go out and build snowmen and have snowball fights, that in October kids go out and play conkers, that they play marbles."

Schools should not be cowed by a compensation culture into banning traditional games, Mr Balls made clear, ahead of the publication today of a consultation document on keeping children safe while encouraging a more adventurous approach.

A minority of schools have banned conkers and snowball-throwing amid concerns that injuries could expose schools to the threat of legal action. The bans have become a touchstone in some quarters for wider fears that children are being straitjacketed by over-protectiveness and an over-zealous approach to health and safety. While local authorities fear the rise of compensation culture, most parents, too, are gripped by caution; three quarters feel their children are at greater risk when playing outdoors than they were five years ago.

Mr Balls echoed the views recently expressed by groups such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents that learning to deal with risk is part of growing up. "We rightly have high expectations for our children," he said. "We want them to be protected from any sort of harm and abuse. But this does not mean that we should wrap our children in cotton wool.

"Childhood is a time for learning and exploring. Through playing and doing positive activities, children and young people can learn to better understand the opportunities and challenges in the world around them, and how to be safe."

The government campaign will encourage parents to let children play outside "in safe environments" and take part in other "positive activities". According to statistics quoted in the paper, Staying Safe, more than one third of children never play outside and nearly two thirds of parents are worried about letting their children do so. Parents should be able to "strike the right balance between protecting their children and at the same time allowing them to learn and explore safely", said Mr Balls, a father of three young children."

I would add: safeguard your children's health by providing meals low in salt for them. - This would benefit them for the whole of their lives. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and Associated health conditions

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