The Children, Schools and Families Bill

Well, those who wish to denounce me as a dolt lacking in political acumen now have the perfect opportunity! I'm not sure what the Conservatives true motives were, but they have certainly managed to humiliate Ed Balls in the first few days of the election campaign, so perhaps that is sufficient motive in itself.

I suppose the real question which home educating parents will be considering now is whether having seen off this attempt to usurp their legitimate rights, as they see it, they will be able to relax for the next few years, safe in the knowledge that this particular issue has been dealt with and buried. Or will it be like a scene from one of those horror films like Halloween? You know the sort of thing, where the murderous monster is apparently dead, but as the soon as the heroine walks past, it returns to life and grabs her ankle. I suppose that for now, the euphoria will be enough for those who have fought so hard against these measures. It is hard under such circumstances not to feel that the whole business is now buried for good and the Graham Badman Report consigned to the dustbin of history!

I imagine that what most parents now will be hoping for is a return to the ante bellum status quo. In other words, that the situation which existed before January 2009 will simply be restored and that life for home educating families will be restored to 'normal'. The only problems here is that ideas are very hard to dispose of when once they have been aired so publicly. Whether you regard the Badman report as I did as a breath of fresh air, or as many others did as a foetid stench, it is likely to linger for some while. The interesting point will be to see what, if anything, the Conservatives do about home education, should they get in on May 6th. We already know that Labour's first action will be to reintroduce the Children, Schools and Families Bill in its full, unemasculated glory. Will the Tories really be able to resist the temptation of meddling themselves in the matter? We shall see.