Wow, time really does fly. Incredibly it’s almost five years since I launched this website. I’ve written thirty-odd blogs in that time, but one in particular will always stand out.
I’ve never sought to build a narrative through this blog, but reading over past articles two themes stand out: the importance of social justice and the power of education to build a better world. These two themes really fused in “every so often you meet someone special.”
This week in Full Council I was asked about Hate Crime in Brent. This was my answer…
Hate Crime is utterly abhorrent. It has no place in this world – and least of all in Brent.
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This week we passed the Council’s budget for 2016/17. Take a look at my speech and let me know what you think.
“Thank you Madam Mayor.
Last month myself and Cllr Butt met with the Minister for Local Government.
I asked the Minister if he could offer the people of Brent any hope for the future after years of cuts.
He burst out laughing.
He literally laughed in our faces.
And now we know why.
This is a picture of me and my friend Maggie.
We’re both Councillors.
One of us is a senior manager in the NHS. One isn’t.
One of us drives a rather nice car. One doesn’t.
And one of us can rent a home from the estate agent we’re standing in front of. One can’t
Maggie is the senior manager. Maggie has the nice car. But only I can rent the home.
That’s because I’m white and Maggie is black.
I delivered this speech to the Brent School Governors’ Conference yesterday. It received a warm response, so I thought I’d share it online…
This Conference is about “The challenge of being challenging.”
But what do we really mean by challenge?
Scrutinising data, driving progress, pushing improvement. These all matter hugely.
But for me, the ultimate challenge is to uphold values in education.
Michael Pavey 