View from Westminster - May 24, 2012 (From Kidderminster Shuttle)
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View from Westminster - May 24, 2012
3:40pm Wednesday 23rd May 2012 in MP's View - Mark Garnier
SOCIAL mobility is an area that successive governments have sought to address. The idea that a person born into poverty should be condemned to a lifetime of poverty is one that no-one wishes to subscribe to.
A good education is an absolute basic and more recently a university education has been identified as one engine of social mobility.
Yet it has always struck me that financial literacy – an understanding of managing a bank account and establishing value – has to be one of the cornerstones of social mobility. That is why I was so keen to help set up the Parliamentary Financial Education group.
Talking about financial education in Parliament is one thing, but seeing it delivered is another. Over the last couple of weeks, I have had a chance to not just watch a lesson, but also to give one myself.
A fortnight ago I spent an hour-and- a-half teaching a group of 16-year- olds at Baxter College some basics about how the financial world works. I borrowed the lesson from Money Saving Expert.com, and it covered simple areas such as why credit card debt is bad, how banks make money, and why spending £200 on a pair of football boots will not make you play like David Beckham.
Last week I watched a group of 13- year-olds at King Charles I school being taught about how banks work by a visiting financial expert. Basic stuff, but not something I was ever taught about.
After watching the lesson, I chatted with the kids for half-an-hour about being an MP. On both occasions I was struck by the intuition and intelligence of the students’ questions. They were genuinely enthusiastic about the subjects being taught and it was a real pleasure to have been allowed a chance to be part of their school day.
But the work of promoting financial education still goes on.
A group of us are trying to get this included within the curriculum to make sure that everyone who leaves school is more familiar with money than their parents were.
I have seen people from all walks of life and from all backgrounds floored by failing to manage their finances.
There is no doubt that a good education is key to social mobility; but giving people financial literacy has to be part of that good education.
CONTACT YOUR MP
Email: mark.garnier.mp@ parliament.uk.
Telephone: 020 7219 7198 or 01562 746771.
Write: 9a Lower Mill Street, Kidderminster, DY11 6UU, or House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA.
Comments(11)
Stephen Brown
says...
4:53pm Wed 23 May 12
In the 1990's I had a job as a community worker funded by the EU through a co-op agency. Part of that role was to go into communities and schools to talk about financial awareness, money mamagment, financial prudence and alternatives to high street banks such as credit unions.
It was a very successful project and some of those credit unions set up at that time (under a previous Tory Gvt) are still going strong. These were communities that banks had abandoned, there was high unemployment and poverty yet credit unions offered a lifeline, as did the project itself in demonstrating alternatives and the benefits of good financial management even in poverty, with no potential vested interest message from the financial sector.
An approach like this would be much better in my opinion - especially as it was structured and properly funded. I do have a certain unease about financial advisors going into schools to talk about banks, the economy and good mangement of money etc - know what I mean?
I would like to know what Mr Garnier means when he talks about getting it in the curriculum? This is something that should start in primary school, and it can, if done in the right way like many projects of the early 90's did. It is stuff that should be taught by educational experts, trained teachers or qualified community workers in that field to get the right positive message across.
On the whole, Mark is right in his view on proper financial education but I have reservations about the methodology and who does it.
Stephen Brown
says...
2:15pm Thu 24 May 12
He is championing the report from Adrian Beecroft which seeks to restrict workers rights. Yes, that's the same Adrian Beecroft who donated £500,000 to the Tory party and who premised his report (commissioned by David Cameron by the way) with this quote about workers who are about to lose unfair dismissal rights thanks to the coming changes “the downside of the proposal is that some people would be dismissed simply because their employer doesn’t like them. While that is sad I believe it is a price worth paying…..”
This package will probably include those who can still claim some kind of unfair dismissal having to pay a 'fee' beforehand to lodge a case with an Employment Tribunal - a kind of disincentive if you like to lodge an ET. So the scene will be someone has been sacked, who has no money, may have to stump up over a £1000 just to lodge a claim. That's Tory Justice. In what other type of court in the world would this be fair?
Of course, Mr Garnier, and Mr Beecroft, despite a total lack of evidence to support their assertions that workers rights restrict economic growth, and little call from business either it seems, will carry on regardless because this is an ideologically based argument not a factually based one. That said, even the ideology in my view is corrupted by stupidity as it's just about keeping us peasants in our place, just like in Dicken's time, which Mr Ganier says in the same breath, he does not want to go back to Dickens times where workers have no rights...doh. There you go, facing in 2 directions at the same time ...............again
.
It seems our lover of 'benevolant dictators' has merely taken a detour via another road to get his message out this week. So, I look forward to next week's column and whether we will get the Worcester News view so normal service is, in fact, resumed.
Gobby Robby
says...
5:23pm Thu 24 May 12
Red Flag Dan
says...
6:14pm Thu 24 May 12
That's why I ant to Charterhouse.
That's why his Tory predecessor, Anthony Coombs, went to Charterhouse.
That's why his Tory predecessor, Esmond Bulmer, went to Rugby.
Can you see a pattern developing?
stour67
says...
6:45pm Thu 24 May 12
Jon D
says...
10:56pm Thu 24 May 12
1)Superficial Charm - Mark is known for his affable & well mannered ways. This is clearly superficial in light of his nasty right wing views.
2)Grandiose sense of self worth - see Mark's luxuriant & expensive haircut.
3)Pathological lying - have we got all day?
4)Manipulative - he successfully fooled the voters of Wyre Forest.
5)Lack of remorse - apparent in no apology over his many **** ups eg. the forest sell off, continuing deregulation of Independent Financial Advisers.
6)Callousness - see nasty right wing views
7)Failure to accept responsibility for own actions - see 5.
8)Parasitic lifestyle - Mark was not only a banker but a Hedgefund Manager. The parasites' parasite if you like.
So there you have it. Mark is a psychopath. Now the question is does this exempt him from Parliament or are we just stuck with an unfortunate medical affliction which we haven't got round to legislating against yet? Either way this is a very serious predicament that the unfortunate people of Wyre Forest have found themselves in.
HowardM
says...
1:33pm Fri 25 May 12
Gobby Robby
says...
4:49pm Fri 25 May 12
kidderlord
says...
10:52am Tue 29 May 12
Neville Farmer
says...
7:41pm Tue 29 May 12
As to Mark Garnier supporting Beecroft, they are both casino bankers, so unlikely ever to employ "workers", let alone understand them.
Gobby Robby says...
4:34pm Wed 23 May 12