More than a bit – Learie Constantine got a peerage.

Incidentally, I recently discovered that JRRT was a close contemporary at King Edward’s School of Marshal William Slim, the best general of WWII on the Allied side (some say either side). He was made a Viscount.

Wikipedia’s list of KES Old Boys is fascinating. Mark Steyn is one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9WM6LCc0xk&feature=PlayList&p=D8F77CD5DAC4CC11&playnext=1&index=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZbbDBnCsiM&feature=related

At one time, Professor Sir Tim may have been viewed as a controversial choice for a knighthood, declaring as he did in 2002 while heading up education in Birmingham, that the national curriculum was “Stalinist”.
But his inspirational, yet conciliatory leadership style won him more friends than enemies, and he was soon appointed London schools “tsar” and then chief adviser for London schools.

It’s kind of great to have a system to go from Stalinist to tsarist.

Some leading economists in Britain were warning about the looming consequences of the house-price bubble back in 2002 and even before. Take, just for instance, Charles Goodhart:

“CHARLES GOODHART, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee [and economics prof at the LSE], warned yesterday that the Bank is failing to take sufficient account of the house price boom in setting interest rates.

“His warning comes amid growing fears among economists that house prices, fuelled by the lowest interest rates for 38 years, are getting out of control. Yesterday, new figures showed that homeowners are borrowing record amounts against the rising value of their homes. . . ” [6 April 2002]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2002/04/06/cngood06.xml

The rational expectation is that the Conservatives in opposition in 2002 and after would have kept on about this to call for measures to restrain the growing mountain of consumer indebtedness – which eventually reached UKP 1.4 trillion, about equal to the UK’s annual GDP - and for an end to 100 per cent and better mortgages, especially to borrowers who were persuaded into lying or failing to declare their incomes in mortgage applications.

Apparently, bankers and mortgage brokers, blinded by incentives, really came to believe that average house prices would go on rising faster that average earnings indefinitely. But then, according to impeccable Conservative sources, of the Shadow Cabinet of 29 members, no less than 19 are millionaires. Why would they care?

Indeed. I suspect a few years later, Patten would have been too scared of the legal consequences to say this, as the whole topic got that much more toxic.

This is also a broadcast from the Department of Yes, the Tories Really Were That Awful.

By precedent and tradition, peers in the Lords are much less compliant with guidance from party whips. Also, about 200 peers are declared “independent Crossbenchers” who are there mainly because of professional expertise or their career experience:
http://213.52.137.147/

A peerage is different, in two ways. On the one hand it allows you to sit in the Lords; on the other most peerages are offered by parties that expect you to take their whip. I imagine that it is far more common for people to turn down peerages than knighthoods, because the strings attached are visible, and accepting a peerage without an intention to toe the line is thought to be an act of bad faith.

None whatsoever. It’s about like becoming an Honorary Colonel of Militia in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Basically, it’s a way of the establishment saying, “the guy done good”. Knighthoods aren’t peerages, so they don’t entitle you to sit in the House of Lords; they may make it easier to get a table at the sort of restaurant you can imagine.

Congrats to Prof B., though, really. Sounds like the right sort of person to get a gong.

About the libel award: am I right in thinking that part of the case was related not to the question of whether he was a nutter ( though I’m sure he wasn’t), but that it was professionally damaging for someone in authority to suggest that a Chief Education Officer went around frightening children.

If so, I think its good to have libel laws to restrain people from saying this sort of thing. Particularly when they are your boss, as John Patten, in his capacity as Education secretary presumably was Brighouse’s.