If you’re a client, you might not find it particularly comforting to know that I hated maths at school. I could do it, and was in the top set, taught by the infamous Mr ‘Cringe’ Loveland (‘I’m going to make you cringe, boy), a dead-shot with the board rubber, different times. I opted out of maths as soon as I could (at 16), having ditched all sciences at 14 and learned most of my mental arithmetic working behind bars in pre-calculator days. Another two years of quadratic equations would have been misery for me, as I suspect it will be for hundreds of thousands of other not-that-way-inclined teenagers. Message for all ministers, prime or otherwise: don’t try to form your or others’ children in your own, probably mis-remembered image. Let the teachers get on with it, and pay them accordingly to do it. We do need some artists and writers. Some would say it’s all we’ve got these days.
“How can lifelong renting be made more compatible with retirement saving?”
Here’s a future problem that will doubtless be kicked down the road until it becomes a crisis. There’s a whole generation who may never be able to afford to buy their own homes.
