Gove apologises to his former French teacher - BBC News BBC News Gove apologises to his former French teacher 23 October 2012 Close share panel Image caption Mr Gove said it was never too late to set the record straight Education Secretary Michael Gove has apologised to his former French teacher for misbehaving in class 30 years ago. In a letter published in the Radio Times, he says he cringes when he remembers himself, aged 15, competing to ask "clever-dick questions" and indulging in "pathetic showing off". He asks the teacher, Mr Montgomery, whom he refers to as Danny, to accept his apology. Mr Gove goes on to pay tribute to the work of the teaching profession. My mum told me, it's never too late to set the record straight. Michael Gove, Education Secretary The letter says: "It may be too late to say I'm sorry. Thirty years too late." He adds: "When I look back at the 15-year-old I was, lurking at the back of your French class at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, I cringe.

"You were trying, patiently, doggedly, good-humouredly, to broaden our horizons. You were, without any pretension or pomposity, attempting to coax a group of hormonal lads to look beyond familiar horizons and venture further. "You weren't just dinning irregular verbs into our heads, you were opening up a different way of seeing. "And all we could do was compete to think of clever-dick questions to embarrass you and indulge in pathetic showing-off at your expense." Mr Gove writes that his former teacher was "unaffectedly passionate" about both French and German. 'Growing gratitude' But he was confronted with a "cocksure crew of precociously assertive boys who recognised you were only a few years older - a rookie in the classroom - and therefore ripe for ragging". Mr Gove acknowledges that because they misbehaved they missed out, and thanks Mr Montgomery for his perseverance. "As I've grown up - and become a father myself - my gratitude only grows. To you, and to everyone else in your profession," he says. Mr Gove goes on to tell the teacher that his work, and that of the rest of the teaching profession is "hugely appreciated".

He ends by saying: "So Danny, it may be too late to say I'm sorry. But, as my mum told me, it's never too late to set the record straight. "And you were a great teacher - one of many who helped introduce me to the work of great thinkers and writers - and thus gave me the greatest gift of all - the chance to write my own life story." National Union of Teachers general secretary Christine Blower said: "So Mr Gove recognises that teachers are not the enemies of promise or happy with mediocrity as he previously asserted. "I take this open letter as an apology to the profession for those unacceptable characteristics and a recognition that teachers do an amazing job every day. "Teaching is indeed of critical importance so if Mr Gove really believes that let's see policies emanating from the DfE [Department for Education] that teachers would welcome." Labor English Zone: November 2012 Labor English Zone Feedback So Australia strikes again at LEZ! This time we would like to illuminate you about one of the most striking aspects of the Land Down Under, especially when visiting the country as a tourist.

We are not referring to beautiful Sydney with its Harbour Bridge and Opera House, neither are we talking about Ayers Rock in the centre of the country nor the beautiful fauna found at the Great Barrier Reef. Today we’ll be dealing with Australian road signs! As in any developed country, signs of notice, stop, caution, danger, obedience, emergency, safety and many others may be found in Australian roads. In any case, the most popular ones are those regarding caution and danger. Most of them are diamond shaped, with a black picture or message on a yellow background. And here it comes the interesting part. While in Spain drivers must be aware of “cows” or “deers” (at most), Australians were eager to show the wide variety their fauna has to offer. Hence, they designed funny caution and danger road signs with pictures of various Australian animals on them: Feedback Dear students, There’s only one month left to celebrate the 25th December, aka Christmas Day. A good plan for this day, apart from spending it having those lavish dinners with the family, is to go to the cinema, in spite of the recent increase in prices that the big screen has suffered.

Literature has always been one of the main sources of inspiration for the development of movies. From LEZ, we’d like to recommend you two films which will be released precisely on Christmas Day this year, based on two key classic English and French literary works: The Great Gatsby and Les Misérables. In case you’d like to watch the movies in original version, there are some cinemas in Vigo which offer that possibility, such as Cines Yelmo and Multicines Norte. Nevertheless, we do not promise they’ll precisely screen these films in English... Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Feedback Dumb Ways to Die is a song by Australian band Tangerine Kitty. The Melbourne Metro created this awesome animated video-clip as a reminder that getting hit by a train is the dumbest way to die. DUMB - Ignoring the signal at a pedestrian level crossing SMART - It's just common sense to obey signals at level crossings. Trains move faster than you think... so be smart, obey the signals, look both ways and double check before crossing.

You can find more dumb ways to die here Set fire to your hair Poke a stick at a grizzly bear Eat medicines that’s out of date Use your private parts as piranha bait Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die (Reblogged from Wrong Hands ) I bet you have never been to this country, but you do know it quite well, don't you...? ;) No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only. Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Feedback Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. While it may have been religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday. It is sometimes casually referred to as Turkey Day. In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is Columbus Day in the United States. In the United States, it falls on the fourth Thursday of November. Since being fixed at the fourth Thursday in November by law in 1941, the holiday in the United States can occur on any date from November 22 to November 28.

When it falls on November 22 or 23, it is not the last Thursday, but the penultimate Thursday in November. As it is a Federal holiday, all United States government offices are closed and employees are paid for that day. It is also a holiday for the New York Stock Exchange and most other financial markets and financial services companies. Feedback ESO Students, If you like sports, especially football, and you usually read sports newspapers such as Marca now you can pursue your passion and learn English at the same time: Marca has launched a website in English where you will find all the news and info on your favourite sports, clubs and idols. (Reblogged from Singing Pigs ) A short little piece inspired by the tenth student in fifteen minutes to inquire about a test. 1. Have you graded our tests yet? No. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a Scantron machine. Good thing, too, because to my knowledge, Scantron machines cannot grade short answer or essay questions which make up the bulk of your test.

And while I do consider myself a reasonably intelligent human being I have not yet perfected my reading skills to complete ninety, four-page tests in one hour (which is exactly how long it has been since you walked out of my classroom) even if I weren’t teaching the rest of the day or preparing your classes for tomorrow. I reassure you that the second the tests are graded, the grades will be posted online because (also contrary to popular belief) I have better things to do than get my kicks by keeping already-graded-but-still-unentered exams around my house for added decor or extra toilet paper. Even though I’m paid peanuts, even I can afford toilet paper. So scoot your butt out of here and let me start digging through this pile o’ trees I just killed in the interest of furthering your education. This photograph courtesy of TripAdvisor ESO 2 Students, This is your 2012-13 1st term PBL assignment. You must PRINT/COPY THIS POST and BRING IT TO CLASS during the lessons on MONDAY 19th & WEDNESDAY 21st November.

Before that, you must READ IT CAREFULLY AT HOME and try to understand as much as possible At school, during those 2 lessons, you will work in 4 groups of students per class. Your task is to WRITE A COMPOSITION ABOUT VIGO as in a touristic leaflet. You can bring any dictionaries, books, guides or whatever material you consider necessary for those 2 sessions. You must write AT LEAST 3 PARAGRAPHS including this information: (Original source: OnlineCollege.org ) ESO Students, What type of learners are you? What's the most efective way you learn? Are you a visual learner, an auditory learner, a read/write learner or a kinesthetic learner? Click here to see the image enlarged and find out: Dear ESO students, November is already here, and so is the quiz corresponding to this present month. This time, we’d like you to pay attention to the encrypted messages below, corresponding to three different quotes. As usual, the first student who’s able to write those three quotes in English providing the name of the person who said them will be given a 10. Good luck and enjoy! Feedback ESO 4 Students, Are you looking for your passion in life?

Discover who you are, what you love, and the career that’s meant for you on Sokanu .... while reading in English and learning lots of new vocabulary. Your career, next to your relationships with friends and family, is the most important investment of your life. It's likely the greatest investment of your time. It's the biggest decider of the type of people you spend your time with every day, the environment that you spend your days in, and what you do with your mind and body. The cool part is that all of these details are what make a fun, purposeful life well-lived. Sokanu is to be the place you come to whenever you have a question about your career. What do I want to be when I grow up? Who am I as a person? Who is similar to me? Sokanu is a platform for everyone. Nearly every person must "work" to make a living, yet very few of us find the work we are meant to do.

Feedback LEST WE FORGET Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day (the event it commemorates) or Veterans Day – is a Commonwealth holiday (observed in all Commonwealth countries except Mozambique) to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11th November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918 (major hostilities of World War I were formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice). The day was specifically dedicated by King George V, on 7th November 1919, to the observance of members of the armed forces who were killed during war. In the United Kingdom, although two minutes of silence are observed on 11th November itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. Ceremonies are held at local war memorials, usually organised by local branches of the Royal British Legion – an association for ex-servicemen.

Typically, poppy wreaths are laid by representatives of the Crown, the armed forces, and local civic leaders, as well as by local organisations including ex-servicemen organisations, cadet forces, the Scouts, Guides, Boys' Brigade, St John Ambulance and the Salvation Army. The start and end of the silence is often also marked by the firing of a cannon. A minute's or two minutes' silence is also frequently incorporated into church services. Further wreath-laying ceremonies are observed at most war memorials across the UK at 11 am on the 11th of November, led by the Royal British Legion. The beginning and end of the two minutes silence is often marked in large towns and cities by the firing of ceremonial cannon and many employers, and businesses invite their staff and customers to observe the two minutes silence at 11:00 am. No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only. Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Feedback By dictionary definition, a cover is “something that covers or is laid, placed, or spread over or upon something else”.

Regarding music, a cover version or cover song is a new performance or recording of a previously commercially released song, the “authentic” version. A cover version can have a radically different style, be recorded in another language or even be a “mere” instrumental version of the original. One of the latest and most popular songs which has been covered to the maximum is the theme “Somebody I Used to Know” by the Belgian-Australian musician Gotye featuring the New Zealand singer Kimbra. The album, “Making Mirrors” was released in Australia in August 2011, however the song became really popular in Spain during the first half or this year 2012. An amazing lecture from the late Alan Watts. What do I desire? Be the change that you would like to see in this world. This is a really great lecture from Alan Watts, a British philosopher. It’s well worth the three minutes to watch. Watts talks about encouraging his students and listeners to do the thing they love most, because there’s no point wasting a lifetime trying to earn enough money to be stable enough to begin doing what you love to do. Better to lead a short life doing what you love than a long life doing what you don’t.

What do you desire? What makes you itch? What sort of a situation would you like? Let's suppose — I do this often in vocational guidance of students, they come to me and say 'well, er, we're getting out of college and we haven't the faintest idea of what we want to do'. So I always ask the question: What would you like to do if money were no object? What would — How would you really enjoy spending your life? Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Feedback Education Secretary Michael Gove has apologised to his former French teacher for misbehaving in class 30 years ago. In a letter published in the Radio Times, he says he cringes when he remembers himself, aged 15, competing to ask "clever-dick questions" and indulging in "pathetic showing off". He asks the teacher, Mr Montgomery, whom he refers to as Danny, to accept his apology. Mr Gove goes on to pay tribute to the work of the teaching profession. Continue reading the main story The letter says: "It may be too late to say I'm sorry.

Thirty years too late." He adds: "When I look back at the 15-year-old I was, lurking at the back of your French class at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, I cringe. Badger cull statement: Politics live blog | Politics | The Guardian Badger cull statement: Politics live blog Tuesday 23 October 2012 11.25 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 19 July 2016 13.00 EDT 3.48pm BST Afternoon summary • Owen Paterson has claimed that the government's decision to cancel the badger cull planned for this year does not amount to a U-turn . In a Commons statement, he said the cull would go ahead next year. In a comment article, Damian Carrington, the Guardian's head of environment, says Paterson should abandon the policy for good. • Michael Gove has accused Ed Miliband of being a "small-c conservative" because of his resistance to modernisation. In a speech, Gove said that Miliband's "one nation Labour" speech illustrated not a move to the centre but an "explicit disavowal" of the centrism practised under Tony Blair's leadership.

Gove also said that the "blue Labour" philosophy favoured by Miliband was "anti-globalisation, explicitly anti-liberal and proudly protective of the past". Blue Labour thinking - Ed Miliband's thinking - is not then a continuation or refashioning of Blairism, it is a critique and rejection of Blairism. It's an attempt to repudiate the period in the party's recent past when wealth creation was welcomed, when spin doctors argued education reform would mean a move away from the bog-standard comprehensive, when the director's box at the Emirates was preferred to the Durham Miners' Gala. That is why it is a fundamental mistake ... to see Ed Miliband's One Nation speech as a move to the centre. It was an explicit disavowal of the centrism practised under Tony Blair and a celebration of an older, more solidaristic socialism of the kind which would have found favour with Tony Crosland or even Tony Benn. Where Tony Blair used his speeches to identify the forces of conservatism and declare war on them, Ed Miliband has used his speech to celebrate the forces of conservatism and declare he wants to become their leader.

• Gove has said that he is writing to MPs in areas of "concentrated educational under-performance" to encourage them to support his bid for more primaries to become academies. I want the MPs in those cities to work with me to persuade their local authorities and their local communities that we need rapidly to improve their schools. They have a simple choice: stand with those in the academies and free schools movement who want to put children first; or stand with the adults who are blocking school improvement. That's all from me for today. Thanks for the comments. 3.25pm BST Here's an afternoon reading list. • Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome says it is now possible to imagine David Cameron supporting Britain leaving the EU. What will the Prime Minister do [if other EU member states refuse a renegotiation]? After all, he is adamant that he wants Britain to remain within the E.U. There are two possibilities. The first is that he sticks to his view. The second is that he shrugs his shoulders and recommends that Britain pull out. Extraordinary as it may seem, the latter course is now possible.

I am not sure that the significance of the Gove intervention - the Education Secretary's admission that he would vote to pull out of the EU were there an In-Out referendum today - has been fully grasped. It marked the moment when a view held by roughly half of party activists and a significant percentage of Tory MPs was backed without reproof at Cabinet level - and by the Government's most successful senior Minister at that, and one who may yet be, for all his protestations to the contrary, a future party leader. • David Butler at Ballots and Bullets writes about what happens to chief whips after they move. Few ex-Chief Whips however became very important on the political stage. Wakeham, and, still more, Heath stand out as the eminent exceptions. So while many Chief Whips do have a political afterlife, the post is often the most significant that an individual will ever hold. Andrew Mitchell may want to take note of that rather depressing fact. at 4.22pm BST 2.46pm BST The Ministry of Justice has announced what it describes as "a new measure ... [to] help prosecutors combat corporate offending".

Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) will allow prosecutors to agree not to prosecute firms accused of serious economic wrongdoing, such as fraud, bribery or money-laundering, provided they make amends, pay a fine and agree to reform their internal procedures to stop the problem happening again. Updated at 2.52pm BST 2.17pm BST And here's what Friends of the Earth is saying about the badger cull announcement. This is from Liz Hutchins, FoE's senior political campaigner. The self-professed ‘greenest government ever’ might make fewer mistakes on its environmental policies if it adopted an evidence-based, rather than ideological approach, to policy making. Ministerial plans to cull badgers and buzzards were severely undermined by the partial use of facts to suit certain interests. The forthcoming energy bill is a crucial test of the government’s scientific credibility – will it listen to its climate expert’s call for our power system to be decarbonised by 2030, or give the go-ahead to George Osborne’s reckless dash for gas? 2.14pm BST National Farmers Union president Peter Kendall.

Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian The NFU says the decision taken to delay the badger cull was "exceptionally difficult but on balance ... responsible and right". Peter Kendall, the NFU president, has put out this statement. The NFU and its members take their responsibilities on this issue extremely seriously and I know there will be many who are devastated by today’s news. We have all worked tirelessly to prepare for the delivery of this government policy to see us finally get on top of this terrible disease. But there have been a series of obstacles, not least the appalling weather, delays because of the Olympics and Paralympics, and the legal challenges from those against the policy. And let’s be clear, the numbers from the badger population survey last week, which demonstrated just how large the badger numbers are, have left us with a huge challenge to ensure we achieve the targets needed for disease control. We have always said that this has to be a science-led policy to reduce disease and we have to be confident of achieving the numbers needed for disease reduction. As we rapidly approach winter the odds of achieving that number decrease. This is why, reluctantly, we have taken the decision, with the companies involved, to delay until late spring next year.

For those that have suggested that this cull is irresponsible, I think today’s decision shows that this is simply not the case. Postponement is the most responsible thing to do. We have said all along that this has never been about killing badgers; this has always been about eradicating disease. It has been about the battle to get on top of the TB on our farms that strikes at the very heart of our beef and dairy herds. This has been a very tough year for farmers, which has lent its own set of challenges. In preparing to deliver on this government’s TB eradication policy we have met with delay after delay; challenge after challenge. But I am proud of the way that farmers have worked together and shown great resilience in the face of not inconsiderable opposition - and for that I want to thank them. Updated 2.02pm BST The statement is now over. So much for one nation. Listening to that statement, it was like hearing a row between the farming party and the non-farming party.

There were some Conservative MPs who expressed reservations about the cull (see 1.36pm and 1.39pm), but broadly they were all strongly in favour of culling badgers and many of them spoke about the damage bovine TB is doing to farmers. There must be some cattle farmers living in Labour constituencies too, but you would not have guessed this by listening to these exchanges. Instead Labour MPs focused on the political embarrassment this causes for the government, the cost of the pilots and doubts about the Defra science case. at 2.13pm BST 1.50pm BST Labour's Jon Ashworth asks if Paterson will publish the figures for how much has been spent on the scheme so far. Paterson says he is happy to do this. And he rejects claims this is a U-turn. "This is not a U-turn," he says. 1.48pm BST Labour's Willie Bain asks what Paterson has to say to scientists who call the cull a costly error. And why did Defra cut spending on vaccine research? Paterson says Defra has not cut spending on vaccine research.

Updated at 2.05pm BST 1.46pm BST Labour's Steve McCabe asks why the government is going ahead with the cull when its own impact assessment says the costs will outweigh the benefits. Paterson says what's more important is what the cost would be of doing nothing. 1.45pm BST Lord Krebs, a government science adviser, has described the cull plan as "crazy". Asked about this, Paterson says Krebs accepts the link between badgers and bovine TB. Krebs was objecting to the way the proposed cull was going to be conducted, he says. 1.41pm BST Mel Stride, a Conservative, says bovine TB is causing misery to farmers in Devon. Labour did nothing to address the problem, he says. 1.40pm BST Labour's Andrew Miller asks Paterson to publish all the scientific evidence he has received on this. Paterson says most of this information has already been published. If Miller cannot find it on the internet, Paterson will send it to him. Updated at 1.48pm BST 1.39pm BST Andrew Percy, a Conservative, says there is a lot of concern among the public about this.

Can Paterson "nail down the arguments" over the next year? Paterson says he accepts there is public concern about this. Updated 1.37pm BST Labour's Simon Danczuk asks how much the trials have cost so far. Paterson says he will write to Danczuk with the figures. But he repeats the point about bovine TB possibly costing the country £1bn. In the light of that, the amount of money spent so far would look like "a round of drinks". 1.36pm BST Tracey Crouch, a Conservative, says it was disappointing to see Labour MPs laughing during the statement. She says a cull would only cut bovine TB by 16%. Paterson says 16% is a significant number. A cull would lead to disease figures going down. 1.34pm BST Labour's Chi Onwurah asks if Paterson believes in evidence-based policy, or policy-based evidence? Paterson says he is following the evidence of respected experts in the field. 1.31pm BST Guy Opperman, a Conservative, asks if farmers will continue to get the financial support they need and deserve until this disease is eradicated.

Paterson says he wants to see an expanded cattle industry. But bovine TB has to be tackled first. 1.30pm BST Labour's Sheila Gilmour says Defra has a track record of backing off under public pressure. Will Paterson reassure her that he will reconsider the whole policy? Paterson says Gilmour has missed the point. He wants to go ahead. There is "enormous pressure" for a cull from cattle farmers. No one is backing off at all, he says. 1.28pm BST Labour's Nia Griffith asks when the EU might allow vaccinated cattle to be exported. Paterson says the government has been working on this for two years. But it does not have a viable proposal to put to the European commission yet. Updated at 1.34pm BST 1.27pm BST Glyn Davies, a Conservative, asks Paterson to confirm that the scientific criteria will be adhered to next summer. Paterson says the tests will follow the scientific criteria. 1.26pm BST Labour's Mary Glindon asks Paterson to fast-track a vaccine programme as a long-term solution. Paterson says he would love to go ahead with a vaccination programme.

But the science is not ready yet, he says. 1.25pm BST Tony Baldry, a Conservative, asks Paterson if he will meet Creagh on privy council terms to see if she has a single idea for dealing with the problem. If she has, she has not mentioned it, Baldry says. Paterson says he would be happy to work with Labour on this. 1.23pm BST Duncan Hames, a Lib Dem, asks what the government is doing to develop the "diva" test (the one that can differentiate between vaccinated cattle and diseased cattle). Paterson says he wants to proceed with this "full bore". 1.20pm BST 1.19pm BST Neil Parish, a Conservative, asks for an absolute assurance that the culls will go ahead next year. Paterson says he agrees with Parish; he wants the culls to go ahead. 1.18pm BST Daniel Kawczynski, a Conservative, asks if the cull will be extended quickly if the pilots are successful. Paterson replies: "Emphatically yes." He says he is confident the pilots will be a success.

1.16pm BST Robert Drax, a Conservative, asks how many farmers have been threatened in the proposed pilot areas. Paterson says fortunately the number is tiny. 1.15pm BST Labour's Robert Flello asks Paterson to meet scientists opposed to the cull. Paterson says Flello is wrong to say the government is basing its poiicy on "NFU science". It is following the evidence produced by the last Labour government. He says he is happy to meet scientists. 1.14pm BST Paterson says there are going to be roughly 60 marksmen in each of the cull areas. 1.13pm BST Labour's Chris Williamson says earmarking £250,000 to examine dead badgers is a waste of money. Paterson says this is a ludicrous question. It shows Labour does not understand the problem. The problem could cost the government £1bn. 1.11pm BST Paterson says the police forces in the cull areas will receive funding to cover the costs they have incurred.

Updated at 1.18pm BST 1.11pm BST Simon Hart, a Conservative, says farmers watching the reaction of the Labour party will feel "a shiver down their spine". Labour is exploiting this for party political reasons. So much for one nation. Paterson says Labour's approach has been "shameful". Updated at 1.18pm BST 1.09pm BST James Gray, a Conservative, asks Paterson to confirm that a workable badger vaccine would not help badgers that are ill. Paterson says an injectable badger vaccine was licensed last year. But you have to vaccinate every badger every year. And it won't help the ones that are ill. He says he is doubtful whether the Welsh government's vaccination programme will work. Updated Ian Paisley, the DUP MP, asks if the department has a plan B. According to Paterson's figures, 30,000 cattle will be slaughtered over the next year. Paterson says that Paisley is right to say that, until Defra deals with the problems, the "horrendous" slaughter figures will continue. But he has to respect the science, Paterson says.

1.06pm BST Paterson says other countries are culling badgers. 1.06pm BST Labour's Barry Gardiner asks what the government is doing to improve bio-security. Paterson says he agrees on the importance of bio-security. "But we are dealing with an animal that can get into sheds," he says. He says one millilitre of badger urine contains 300,000 colony-forming units of disease. He says that only 0.001% is enough to spread disease. (I didn't quite follow to which unit the 0.001% referred, but the general point is clear - Bovine TB spreads very easily.) Updated at 1.07pm BST 1.01pm BST Anne McIntosh, a Conservative, asks if farmers in the cull areas will be given legal protection. Will Paterson ensure that vaccinated animals can be sold legally in the EU? Paterson says the police have co-operated in a tremendous manner. On vaccination, he says the current vaccine is only 50-60% effective. That is not very effective. A test has been developed to show the difference between a vaccinated animal and a diseased animal.

But it is not yet ready. The EU authorities are saying that if Britain did vaccinate now, it would not be allowed to export cattle products. He says he will discuss this with the European commission. But he cannot present them with an evidence-based vaccination programme. Updated 12.58pm BST Labour's Meg Munn asks why Defra got the figures so badly wrong. Paterson says the figures showing there were more badgers than expected only came in relatively late. 12.56pm BST Sir James Paice, the former farming minister, says the decision is disappointing. But he says that the fact that there are more badgers than expected in the culling areas makes culling even more necessary. Paterson agrees, and pays tribute to the work Paice did in developing this policy. Updated Owen Paterson Photograph: BBC Parliament Owen Paterson is responding to Mary Creagh. He says the pilots were designed to see whether culling would work. The government was wholly subscribing to the science. The government is not dropping the policy, he says. This policy is absolutely intact ... We will deliver pilot culls from next summer which will show the efficacy of what we intend to do.

12.52pm BST Mary Creagh Photograph: BBC Parliament Mary Creagh, the shadow environment secretary, says this is another U-turn. The government has been "incompetent and shambolic", she says. She says Labour warned the government about this. She asked how many badgers there were in the cull areas. But ministers did not know how many badgers there were in the area. This admission meant Defra was wide open to a judicial review, she says. Is this like the forestry U-turn? Will the policy be dropped? Or is it like the health bill pause, where the government will carry on regardless? Creagh says Paterson has "blamed the weather and the police". But it was Theresa May, the home secretary, who said the cull should not go ahead during the Olympics. And what will happen if the weather is bad next year? Will farmers be able to sue the government for damages? Creagh asks if Paterson was forced to perform this U-turn by David Cameron. This policy should never have left the red box, she says. With forestry and circus animals, Defra has now performed a U-turn hat-trick. Policy should be based on the evidence, she says.

Updated Owen Paterson's badger cull statement Owen Paterson is speaking now. There are cheers as he stands up. Bovine TB is the most pressing animal health problem in the UK, he says. It used to be isolated. But it has spread extensively through the west of England and Wales. Cases are doubling every nine years. Last year some 26,000 cattle were slaughtered at a cost of £100m. Over the next 10 years it could cost £500m, he says. Last week the government announced plans for a new testing regime. Cattle and badgers can transmit the disease to each other. Culling badgers can cut transmission to cattle if it is carried out over a large enough area and for a significant length of time. That is why the government thinks culling badgers can make a significant contribution. The NFU has taken the lead in preparing the pilot culls. Paterson says he has been "immensely impressed" by the work done by the NFU. And he thanks the police for their help. The severe bad weather this summer has caused problems.

Legal problems, and the police request for the cull to start after the Olympics, mean the government has missed the best time to start the cull. New figures also show that there are more badgers in the pilot area than thought. For a cull to be successful, 70% of badgers have to be culled. Farmers now say they cannot be confident of culling 70% of the badgers, partly because of the higher numbers and the delays. The companies due to carry out the culls have written to Paterson asking him to delay the culls until next summer. Paterson says he has placed a copy of the letter in the library of the Commons. Starting next summer will ensure that the culls can conform to the scientific criteria and the evidence base. This will be disappointing, Paterson says. But he fully supports the decision of the NFU. The government is still committed to the policy. But it wants to work with the NFU to get the policy right. It wants to have a TB-free England. Vaccination would be another option. But it will be some years before a viable cattle vaccine is available, he says.

Paterson says he is utterly convinced that culling is the right thing do to. He wants the culls to be delivered safely next summer. Updated at 12.50pm BST 12.29pm BST My colleague Adam Vaughan has been speaking to Brian May, who has been one of the leaders of the anti-culling campaign. This is what May told him. A pilot vaccination scheme could come in months, not years. This is the most exciting news for farmers that you could possibly have. All of Team Badger [a coalition of groups opposed to the badger cull] are committed not only to the welfare of badgers, but of cows, and are very conscious of the misery that bovine TB causes farmers. So with this policy of culling out of the way, it will clear us to working directly with the NFU [National Farmers Union]. That’s what I sincerely hope. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s contributed to raising public awareness of this issue. It’s vital to everyone in this country, not just to the rural community. There is a much bigger picture here, which is the whole relationship humans have with other creatures on this planet.

12.27pm BST Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, is about to make his Commons statement about delaying the badger cull. 12.24pm BST Lunchtime summary • Wildlife campaigners and the Labour party have welcomed the news that the government is going to delay its proposed badger cull. Owen Paterson , the environment secretary, will make a statement in the Commons at 12.30pm confirming the delay. I will be covering it in detail live. • George Entwistle, the BBC director general, has defended the BBC's handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal . Giving evidence to the Commons culture committee, where MPs have strongly criticised him for not taking more interest in the Newsnight investigation into Savile, Entwistle also said that some past and present BBC employees are being investigated. "We are looking at between five and 10 serious allegations relating to activities over the whole period in question, the Savile period," he said. That included claims of sexual harassment made against people still working at the BBC, he added, but he could not say how many. There are further details of the hearing, which is still going on, on our media live blog.

• William Hague, the foreign secretary, has said that the European Union will become "democratically unsustainable" unless more power can be returned to national parliaments. (See 10.17am.) • Hague has announced that the government's review of EU powers will produce more than 30 reports. In a written statement to MPs, he said it would report in four stages, with each stage resulting in six to 10 reports. at 2.38pm BST 11.49am BST You can read all today's Guardian politics stories here. And all the politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today's paper, are here. • Nick Robinson in the Times (paywall) says television debates may well not happen in the 2015 election. No one should assume that the next election will produce a second series of prime ministerial debates. Surely, you might think, having waited more than seven decades after the invention of the goggle box for our first debates no one would want to stop them now? Oh yes, they would. In the US there was a gap of 16 years after the first debate in 1960.

After Kennedy’s charm trumped Nixon’s gruffness American voters had to wait until Gerald Ford faced Jimmy Carter in 1976. Prime ministerial debates in Australia and Canada have been irregular too. Now I am beginning to hear doubts about whether agreement will be possible for debates in 2015. • Paul Goodman in the Daily Telegraph says Theresa May could be the next Conservative leader. If you are a Conservative Cabinet Minister, and are asked whether you have ambitions to become party leader, your duty is to answer roughly as follows: “David Cameron will be Prime Minister for decades. I will have vanished into obscurity long before he wins his fourth election victory. The suggestion you’re making is absurd.” Posed the inevitable question last weekend, Theresa May answered: “We have a first-class leader at the moment [my italics]. David Cameron is dealing with the issues that he was left by the last government very well indeed.” This fell short by some distance of the grandiloquent encomium required. There can be no doubt about it. The Home Secretary is, as Tory MPs would put it, “on manoeuvres” – discreet ones, to be sure, but unmistakable for all that ...

It is not as though Mr Cameron has an obvious successor. The three front-runners to succeed him are Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and George Osborne. The first claims not to want to do so. The second lacks the means (since he isn’t an MP and will still be Mayor of London if he becomes one after the next election). And the third will lack the capacity if the Conservatives fail to win a majority next time round: he will go down with Mr Cameron, his friend, in such an event – one still more likely than not, given the collapse of the boundary review. So Tory MPs are quietly casting around for who could next lead them in Opposition. • Richard Garner in the Independent says Britain is one of only three countries in Europe where fewer than 10% of students go on to post-graduate study. In most major European countries, between 15 and 24 per cent of students continue with their studies after gaining an undergraduate degree. But in Britain, the number is significantly lower. It leaves the UK in the company of Andorra, the tiny principality and partial tax-haven between France and Spain, and Kazakhstan, the vast uranium-rich country in Central Asia where insulting the President and officials is a criminal offence.

• Roland Watson and Richard Fort in the Times say ministers fear turnout in the police commissioner elections could be as low as 10%. Turnout in next month’s landmark polls to elect police commissioners could be only 10 per cent, ministers fear. The Conservative leadership is preparing to defend public apathy as mere “teething problems” unlikely to recur once the public becomes used to the new posts. But the expected low level of participation threatens to rob the new commissioners of legitimacy ... A Populus poll for The Times found that 22 per cent of voters “strongly disagreed” with the premise that they probably would not bother to vote. However, MPs report little interest on the doorstep and they are resigned to turnout being well below 20 per cent, with some senior figures predicting that in some areas it will be half that. • Richard Garner in the Independent says Michael Gove has written an apology to his French teacher from 30 years ago for his “cocksure” behaviour in class. The Education Secretary’s letter is published in today’s Radio Times as his contribution to this year’s Teaching Awards, which will be aired by BBC2 next Sunday.

In it, he tells Mr Montgomery: “You were trying patiently, doggedly, good-humouredly, to broaden our horizons. You were, without any pretension or pomposity, attempting to coax a group of hormonal lads to look beyond familiar horizons and venture further... [yet] all we could do was compete to think of clever-dick questions to embarrass you and indulge in pathetic showing-off at your expense.” Referring to his former teacher as “Danny”, the letter concludes: “It may be too late to say I’m sorry. But, as my mum told me, it’s never too late to set the record straight. You were a great teacher – one of many who helped introduce me to the work of great thinkers and writers and thus gave me the greatest gift of all – the chance to write my own life story.”

Question: In 2012, which British MP apologised to his former French teacher in a letter published in the Radio Times, for misbehaving in class 30 years ago?
Answer: Michael Gove