Ten thousand fewer teachers

An accumulation of small cuts means that the number of teachers in England's state schools - which had been rising for a decade - fell by 10,000 in the year to November 2011.

The BBC (25 April) reports that an official workforce survey showed 2% fewer teachers.

The number of teaching assistants is still rising. It has almost trebled since 2000, and there is now one teaching assistant for every two teachers.

No Keynesians in the Netherlands?

The Netherlands' right-wing, neo-liberal, fiercely pro-cuts coalition government collapsed over the weekend 21-22 April, unable to agree on measures to reduce the country's budget deficit to the EU's 3% target in 2013.

This collapse should, and must on some level, strengthen the hand of the labour movement in arguing against cuts.

The Financial Times (25 April) reports, however: "Anyone expecting the Netherlands to turn towards the anti-austerity prescriptions of neo-Keynesian economists in London and New York has another think coming...

Immigrants attacked in run-up to Greek election

Citizen Protection minister Michalis Chrisochoidis, a member of Pasok (rough equivalent of the Labour Party), is leading an anti-refugee drive in the run-up to Greece’s parliamentary election on 6 May.

The last act of the Papademos coalition government was to pass legislation for the construction of 31 concentration camps (in former military facilities) for illegal immigrants, identified in the election campaign as threat number 1.

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