Swinney rejects call for phone ban in schools
Civil war breaks out as Rowley is secretly taped saying he wants Leonard to be leader
EDUCATION Secretary John Swinney has rejected Tory calls for mobile phones to be banned from primary schools.
The Deputy First Minister said mobiles can contribute to learning. And he insisted that schools and teachers should be free to decide what the most “appropriate approach” was.
Conservative MSP Jeremy Balfour had called for the devices to be prohibited from primaries, saying research by the London School of Economics (LSE) showed better test scores were achieved in schools without mobiles. Evidence from America said youngsters who take phones to schools are more likely to be the victim of cyber-bullying.
Balfour added: “Key studies have identified the risk of allowing primary school children access to mobile phones while attending school.”
Swinney said the Scottish Government encourage schools and local authorities to “think carefully about how they can best utilise mobile phones to enhance education, while also educating learners about their appropriate use”.
The Education Secretary also argued the LSE study showed that “structured use of mobile phone technology can enhance learning and teaching”.
He told MSPs: “The fundamental point comes down to the arrangements that are in put in place for appropriate mobile phone use within our schools system.
“Teachers should have the freedom to determine what is the appropriate approach to take and how mobile phones can contribute to enhancing the learning environment.”
JEREMY Corbyn’s conference speech was overshadowed yesterday by a bitter civil war over the Scottish Labour leadership contest.
A tape of the party’s acting leader admitting left-wingers had plotted to replace Kezia Dugdale saw internal splits spill out into public.
Alex Rowley was secretly recorded revealing Scottish supporters of Corbyn had conducted “private discussions” over Dugdale’s position but had not expected her to stand down before the 2021 Holyrood election.
And despite publicly vowing to stay neutral in the contest to replace her, he confirmed he favours trade unionist Richard Leonard over rival Anas Sarwar.
As Corbyn took to the conference stage to a rapturous reception in Brighton, Scottish delegates were issuing press releases attacking each other and fighting on social media.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, who is backing Sarwar, claimed Rowley’s “hypocrisy is incredibly disappointing”.
She added: “But what is most concerning is the revelations about a plot against Kezia Dugdale.
“Kez was elected with a huge majority and it will infuriate members to learn that some MSPs were working behind the scenes to undermine her and replace her with Richard Leonard.
“Richard must urgently answer questions about his role in this plot.
“This behaviour by the party establishment is a complete betrayal of the membership and every value we hold dear.”
Corbyn’s 75-minute conference speech only contained one brief mention of Scotland.
But the UK leader appeared to signal his support for Rowley by deviating from the prepared script to thank him for taking over as interim leader.
Ironically, Corbyn also used his speech to declare: “I hope we have left our own divisions behind.
“But we must make our unity practical.”
SNP MP Stewart Hosie said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s message of unity has been blown apart by the open civil war now engulfing Scottish Labour.
“Part of that split centres on Labour’s incoherent position on Brexit – their failure to debate the issue is unforgiveable and exposes the fact that their leadership back the Tories’ extreme Brexit plans.
“Meanwhile, their leadership candidates and supporters in Scotland are tearing themselves apart in the most bitter bout of infighting the party has seen in many years.”
The recording was made as Rowley chatted with a student in a queue for a fringe event.
On Dugdale’s decision to stand down, he said: “Any private discussions we were having, we were very clear that… we didn’t think it would happen before 2021.
“Privately, we didn’t believe Kezia would be there in 2021. But not right now. It came as a surprise to us.
“So our view was that Richard was the best person and therefore we should go with that plan.”
Rowley claimed he was neutral in the contest to succeed her but added that Leonard “has everything that we need” to beat the SNP in the 2021 Holyrood elections.
He said: “For some time now I’ve thought he was the best candidate.”
Rowley had faced accusations last week that he set Nicola Sturgeon up for an attack on Sarwar by asking a question about millionaires.
Sarwar has been criticised over his wealth and decision to send his children to private school.
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “People already had their suspicions about Alex Rowley after last week’s FMQs stitch-up. This confirms he’s right behind Richard Leonard’s extremist drive to drag Scottish politics even further to the left.”
A spokesman for Leonard’s campaign denied plotting to replace Dugdale, while Sarwar’s spokesman said: “We are entirely focused on winning.”
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “Alex was having what he believed to be a private conversation with a student and a political activist.
“He has not and will not publicly back a candidate.
“He has no intention of relinquishing his role as interim leader of the Labour Party in Scotland until after the current leadership contest is over.”
Dugdale, who resigned last month, yesterday said it would be “right” to assume that her failure to inform Rowley of her resignation until a few minutes beforehand was a sign of “internal problems”.