How do you fit this week into 500 words? From jostling over PISA tables, to pig semen, the Autumn Statement and Mandela's passing, it's been quite the whirlwind.
PISA
Things kicked off with a bold move from new Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt, who came out of the traps early to get ahead of the story on the rankings of schools in England in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tables. Hunt pointed the finger at Education Secretary Michael Gove as UK schools stagnated despite the UK spending more than the OECD average on education – dropping to 21st place in Science, behind Estonia and Vietnam.
Hunt claimed that this, as well as the decline of much admired Finnish schools, was evidence that Gove's education reforms were the wrong answer. But with the PISA tests only taken in 2012 Gove hit back at Hunt and the Labour Party, insisting that these results were their legacy, with the effect of his reforms not yet trickling through. It's hard to say who won the PISA jostling this time, but what we can see is that there is still a long way to go in education if we stand any chance of keeping up with the powerhouses of Singapore and China.
Cameron in China
Cameron has been putting his best foot forward on that front though, by leading a delegation to Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu to promote British Business and help secure new contracts. With £6bn of deals agreed it was certainly a successful trip, with Jaguar Land Rover netting a £4.5bn agreement to provide 100,000 cars to China’s National Sales Company, with one of the more surprising agreements being a multi-million pound deal to ship pig semen to Chinese shores.
The Autumn Statement
Back on UK soil and the dividing lines emerging out of the Autumn Statement on Thursday seem to clearly be GDP growth Vs a 'cost of living crisis.' The Autumn Statement was the first time since arriving in Number 11 that the Chancellor was able to announce upgrades to the economic forecasts previously produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility, with GDP growth now predicted at 1.4% this year and 2.4% in 2014.
This gave Labour a tough job to do in responding, but the ground they are standing firmly on - for the time being - is that growth is not trickling down to the people that need it most. It will be interesting to watch how polling develops on how people feel household budgets are being effected by the economy in the next 18 months, which will surely be critical come election time. Read the full PLMR analysis here.
Nelson Mandela
And finally the news that developed overnight that Nelson Mandela, who led South Africa out of white minority rule, has passed away. Westminster and the political press are at a standstill, as people queue up to pay their respects. As Peter Hain MP, a friend of Mandela and key anti-apartheid campaigner in UK, put it, for his bravery, courage and humanity he was, "the icon of all international icons." Rest in peace.
Elin Twigge
Deputy Managing Director, PLMR