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August 26, 2004
Sport
Now the UK Today doesn't usually do sport, not because I'm not interested, but rather because I'm not interested enough. Besides which, there are plenty of other sites which do sport a lot better.Anyway, enough of the excuses, here's a bit of sport for you to contemplate:
Labour Party Manifesto - 1997
Sport
A Labour government will take the lead in extending opportunities for participation in sports; and in identifying sporting excellence and supporting it.
School sports must be the foundation. We will bring the government's policy of forcing schools to sell off playing fields to an end. We will provide full backing to the bid to host the 2006 football World Cup in England. A Labour government will also work to bring the Olympics and other major international sporting events to Britain.
In 1998 the Labour Government acted on this promise by introducing the School Standards and Framework Act, section 77 of which empowered the Secretary of State to protect school playing fields. In the last 6 years, of 213 applications made to sell school playing fields only 6 have been rejected.
Tony Blair, 20th June 1999
Let's make this clear. We want to back competitive sports in schools and between schools.
Tony Blair, 28th September 1999
Today we set out more plans to boost arts, culture and competitive sports in schools.
Tessa Jowell, 17th March 2002
I want school sports coordinators to spend the next 12 months bringing competitive sports back to schools.
Charles Clarke, 23rd May 2004
We need to do more to get sport back into schools.
Then earlier this week we were treated to the latest pronouncement from this government on sport in schools, with Blair backing plans to spend £459m per year on sports training including extra-curricular sports (which used to have a different meaning when I was at school and usually involved girls, cigarettes and bike sheds).
Now not only does this latest announcement carry the smell of hypocracy - it was many of the left-wing LEAs which started the decline in competitive school sports in the first place, but there seems to be an air of jumping on the Olympic bandwagon. We have another restatement of a failed manifesto promise from 7 years ago, dressed up as an entirely new policy and announced at a time when British athletes are doing well in the Olympics.
Hell, maybe I'm being cyncical, and maybe this announcement and Cherie Blair's appointment as an ambassador for London's 2012 Olympic bid are unrelated. You decide, but once again we have a classic example of New Labour being long on rhetoric, but short on delivery.
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Posted by Clive on August 26, 2004 2:03 PM in the category Old Stuff