Tories rush to hand over lucrative school to party donor before election

I’ve heard similar stories like this from elsewhere in the country, where previously ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ schools have suddenly found their Ofsted scores dropping and the management of the school’s governors criticised. And years ago, Private Eye carried the story about how the construction of privately run academies and free schools was being pushed, despite the fact that the numbers simply weren’t there to support them.

This all looks very, very much like the Tories doing what the Tories do best: selling off state assets cheap to their little donors chums.

Pride's Purge

(not satire – it’s the Tories!)

It’s a sad reflection of the all-pervading stench of corruption in the UK today that this is not a front-page scandal worthy of ministerial resignations.

Before the election stops them, the Tories have been rushing to hand over a state school – with substantial lucrative real estate and assets –  to a private chain of schools owned by one of their donors despite protests from parents.

In fact just about everyone in the local community is against this so-called ‘forced academisation’ of Hewett School in Norfolk.

Even the local council has threatened the government with High Court action – all to no avail.

The story began when Hewett’s Ofsted score strangely plummeted in just 18 months from ‘good’ (May 2013) to ‘inadequate’ in all areas (October 2014). Governors who were ‘communicating well’ in 2013 were suddenly deemed to be failing in 2014.

That was when the…

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