Some union officials are more succinct in their advice to conference delegates than others. Ron Tweedie, veteran leftie from Jewel and Esk Valley College, asked what sounded like a tricky question at the annual conference of the College Lecturers’ Association at the weekend (FE Focus, page IV. “Who is eligible to vote in this ballot (for the standing orders committee)?” Tweedie enquired.
“Everybody except you,” Marian Healy, the union’s FE officer, replied. It was nothing personal: Tweedie was not a delegate from his college branch.
Or maybe it was personal.