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  • CEO of Graduate Coach Chris Davies on How to Secure Graduate Jobs in 2024

    How to Get A Graduate Job, Chris Davies (CEO Graduate Coach)

     

    If you are looking to secure a graduate job in 2024, you must first be aware of the unique set of challenges the current graduate job market presents and secondly learn how to strategically position yourself to impress graduate recruiters.

    This post shares the latest facts and figures you must understand before you embark on your graduate job search and outlines a step-by-step plan to help you get a graduate job in 2024 despite the odds.

    The oversaturated graduate job market

    It is important to note that there are far more new graduates each year than there are graduate jobs available. This problem is made worse when you add the graduates from the year before who have not yet found a graduate job.

    Approximately 2 million graduates are seeking jobs, whilst Bloomberg quoting from Adzuna stated that new graduate jobs fell by 50% in 2023 to only around 12,500 new graduate roles each month (in 2019 there were 25,000 jobs). This means that there is an oversaturation of the graduate job market, with far too many graduates applying for the same job opening. As a consequence of this, the bar is now much higher to stand out from other applicants.

    A degree from a good university is no longer enough to secure a job after graduation. Employers now want candidates who have both some kind of work experience, as well as several key skills that will let them thrive in a working environment.

    This is something that universities are not communicating to their students as well as they should, meaning that many people are leaving university woefully unprepared for the challenges they must overcome to get employed. Having little to no work experience, no idea of what skills they must demonstrate, and are unable to put together a CV or cover letter that will help them stand out from other candidates.

    The impact of AI

    Graduates must also start to consider the impact of AI on the job market, and if their chosen career path may soon be automated. White collar roles are particularly at risk of this, especially junior ones, as many companies will decide to use AI rather than take a risk on someone who has just graduated and will need time to get used to their working environment.

    There is also a higher demand for grads in digital and tech industries as the world becomes more technologically advanced. Although graduates who studied other areas can still learn these skills, they are at a disadvantage compared to their peers who did.

    Understanding yourself and your skills

    As previously mentioned, graduates need to have several key employability skills, identified by the CBI, to prove to potential employers that they can excel in a workplace environment. These skills are:

    Business Awareness

    This is the ability to know what a business aims to do, how it achieves those aims, and who its competitors are. This is often something interviewers will ask about during interviews, so you should research a company’s competitors and their position in the market beforehand.

    Communication

    Communication is being able to clearly and concisely make your thoughts known to others, either by speaking or writing. This includes both work colleagues and potential clients.

    Entrepreneurship

    This is being able to notice and take advantage of business opportunities. Entrepreneurship is especially useful in senior roles where you must make important decisions instead of simply following instructions from others.

    IT

    IT is using technology in a workplace environment. This includes simple things such as and email and more complex tasks like programming and is required for nearly every job.

    Numeracy

    Numeracy is the ability to do maths to solve problems. This is one skill that is important at a basic level for most jobs you can apply for and one that you will already be familiar with from school.

    Problem-Solving

    The ability to solve problems is using logic to resolve both long and short-term issues. It is something that you will need to use daily in any working environment you apply for.

    Resilience

    Resilience is being able to work under pressure and not having your work’s quality be negatively affected, making it especially useful in jobs with lots of deadlines to meet.

    Self-Management

    Self-management is being able to display the correct attitude in a workplace environment. This includes body language, tone of voice and how smartly you are dressed.

    Teamwork

    This is the ability to work alongside others to achieve the same objective. In a workplace environment, this can include dividing responsibility as well as brainstorming ideas.

    Alongside these skills, you will also need to show that you have skills more specific to the role you are applying for, such as being a skilled coder for a job as a programmer. To figure out which jobs you already have the skills for, you can do a skills audit, comparing a list of your own abilities to the requirements listed in the job descriptions for roles you think would be a good fit for you.

    How to master the Job application process in 2024

    CVs and cover letters

    As well as having the having the key employability skills, you must be able to demonstrate how you have used them, through your CV and cover letter. Tailor your CV and cover letter for the role you are applying for, looking through the job description and ensuring you highlight how you already have the skills they are looking for. This will make you stand out from other applicants who send the same CV and cover letter for every job they apply for.

    You also need to ensure that both your CV and cover letter are tailor-written to get past the ATS (applicant tracking system), which automatically sorts through job applications and only shows the best ones to employers.

    How to look for jobs

    You should be looking for job openings on a regular basis to ensure you don’t miss out on any great opportunities. Expand your search by using as many job boards as possible, such as LinkedIn, Indeed and Google. You should also check websites for companies you want to apply for, as they sometimes post job openings on their own site without posting them on an external job board, meaning only the most dedicated candidates will be likely to apply.

    By doing this, you should be able to send job applications on a regular basis. However, you should avoid a scattergun approach. Focus on the right job titles for you and your skillset, only sending high-quality job applications to maximise your chances of being invited for an interview.

    Networking

    Networking is another important part of increasing your chances of employment. Employers are far more likely to choose someone they have met rather than someone who they only know through a CV or cover letter. Attend networking events and ask friends and family if they have any useful connections.

    You should also optimise your LinkedIn page to be appealing as possible to any employers who check it during the application process. Ensure your profile picture is professional, add all relevant skills and work experience you have, and make sure to add a portfolio if it is relevant to the type of jobs you are applying for.

    How to become interview confident 

    Being prepared for any job interview you do will drastically increase your chances of impressing employers, and therefore improve your chances of progressing to the next stage.

    You can do this by having pre-prepared answers to common questions, such as a self-introduction and questions that ask you to recall a time you displayed a particular skill, also known as competency questions. However, you should avoid memorising an answer word for word, or you will sound inauthentic, decreasing your chances of impressing the interviewer.

    It is also important to use the STAR method while answering competency questions. STAR stands for situation, task, action and result. First, explain the situation you were in, and the challenge you faced. Next, discuss your role in the task needed to resolve the situation. Move on to explain the actions you took to resolve the situation and describe how they had a positive result.

    Another way of preparing for an interview is to re-read your CV and cover letter from your application, and review anything included that you think you will be asked questions about, such as any previous experiences. Recall what you wrote and how it is specific to the specific job and company you are applying for. This is something you should already have done when sending the initial application, but it never hurts to go over it again.

    It is also vital to do research on the company you are applying for. In particular, where they are in the market, their USP and who their competitors are. This is something that commonly comes up during interviews and shows that you have put in the extra effort compared to other applicants, making you stand out and an outstanding candidate.

    Conclusion 

    While it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a graduate job as the market becomes more crowded, there are still steps you can take, to make yourself stand out and greatly increase your chances of getting a graduate job. Showing you have the skills necessary for the role and being well prepared for interviews are all vital, and relatively simple once you get the hang of it.

     

     

  • Dinesh Dhamija: Solar Companies Leading Europe’s Growth

    Solar Companies Leading Europe’s Growth by Dinesh Dhamija

    In each of the past few years, Prague-based Raylyst Solar company annual revenue rose by an average of 824 per cent until it topped €111 million – number one amongst the fastest-growing solar companies in Europe in the latest FT 1000 ranking.

    Not far behind, in fourth spot, Germany’s Solar Drektinvest leapt by 385 per cent annually, while fellow German business Pader Solartechnik registered 335 per cent growth.

    So, what lies behind solar’s dominance of the growth charts?

    Partly it’s down to the EU’s Green Deal, a financing initiative to speed the transition from fossil fuels, along with record-high oil and gas prices and European countries’ efforts to diversify from the hydrocarbon market, disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s also a reflection of the low cost and high availability of Chinese-made solar panels. In 2018, 21-year-old Jan Kameníček, the company’s founder and chief executive, discovered EU anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar panels had ended. Today he imports container-loads of panels from China to Rotterdam and onwards into the German, Italian and Austrian markets, supplying companies keen to meet climate goals and use a sustainable source of energy.

    It is a classic story of spotting a gap in the market, taking a chance – he borrowed money from his parents to rent a warehouse – and meeting demand for a high-quality product at a discounted price. I applaud his entrepreneurial flair. Europe’s solar panel manufacturers are struggling to compete with Chinese rivals, since there is nothing like the same level of subsidy available over here.

    Kameníček would do business with European companies if their products were affordable, but he warns that anti-Chinese protectionism on security grounds – along the same lines as TikTok or Huawei – would be misplaced. “Modules are not intelligent devices. They cannot be controlled. So, I don’t see any real danger,” he says. For Europeans to compete, they would need massive state subsidies, says Kameníček. “There is no other way they can survive against these gigantic companies in China that mine their own material.”

    Brussels is considering giving subsidies to European solar panel manufacturers, which could assist consumers, by providing them with more choice. What’s clear is that the demand for solar energy is rising faster than ever, as the technology improves, the disadvantages – environmental, geopolitical and financial – of fossil fuels grow ever more obvious and the world grows ever warmer.

    Shrewd businesspeople like Jan Kameníček are making hay while the sun shines.

    Dinesh Dhamija founded, built and sold online travel agency ebookers.com, before serving as a Member of the European Parliament. Since then, he has created the largest solar PV and hydrogen businesses in Romania. Dinesh’s latest book is The Indian Century – buy it from Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1738441407/

     

  • Networking for Saudi Students in the UK: Dr. Najah Alotaimi

    Dr. Najah Alotaimi

     

    When I speak at conferences, I often receive follow-up emails from Saudi students asking me how they can participate in similar events and establish a presence in institutions across the United Kingdom. My response is simple: cultivate a passion for networking.

    International students, especially Saudi students, often overlook the importance of forming connections while they are studying abroad. This may be due to navigating an unfamiliar environment, but it is an essential component of making the most of their educational journey and maximising the impact they can have within their communities when they return home.

    Currently, there are approximately 14,070 Saudi students enrolled in the UK higher education. Among them, 11,850 are studying in UK Universities, 2,000 are pursuing distance or online learning. The majority, about 12,025, are pursuing undergraduate degrees. Universities such as Imperial College London, King’s College London and the University of Manchester boast some of the highest numbers of Saudi students.

    These students are part of a longstanding cultural diplomacy that’s linked to century-long relations between the two countries. They benefit from a prestigious educational programme which provides financial support for their education and living expenses. This enables them to pursue bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in the UK. This initiative aims to create a pool of highly skilled individuals who can contribute to their country’s development upon their return home.

    Saudi Arabia is undergoing a period of transformative economic and social change. This has been partially fuelled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, which was launched almost a decade ago. This strategic plan aims to diversify the economy and reduce the country’s dependence on oil. Achieving these goals requires international expertise, innovative ideas and knowledge transfer.  This is a major reason why Saudi students in the UK should see their time abroad as being about more than simply earning a degree. Saudi students should instead embrace the opportunity to expand their horizons by engaging with influential figures and thought leaders whilst they are studying in the UK, ultimately bringing these insights back to their homeland.

    The UK can be a powerful ally when it comes to bringing this Saudi vision to life. As a global hub for accomplished professionals, influential individuals and creatives, the UK gives students the chance to connect with various experts in their fields. This exposure can open doors to internships, job prospects and academic advancement. When students have the chance to gain insights from industry leaders, this can expand their perspectives substantially.

    The UK is also a vibrant environment with endless events and initiatives that students can engage in to enrich both their creativity and learning. When students participate in these activities, they can gather valuable insights and ideas outside of academia, which can later translate into entrepreneurial ventures and projects back home. This knowledge transfer can have an incredibly positive impact on communities, create employment opportunities and support the growth of the private sector.

    Investing in networking can lead to fruitful collaborations that benefit Saudi society and business. Building connections with UK start-ups, entrepreneurs and local businesses can pave the way for long-term global engagement and intercultural understanding.

    Networking begins with a good story that makes one stand out. Saudi students have unique stories to share, especially around how their country transformed from resource scarcity to a leading economic player. My own experience studying in the UK as a Saudi woman has profoundly impacted my life, and I often share this story with others.

    While earning a recognised degree from the UK is invaluable, the true potential of studying abroad lies in establishing a network of peers, experts and professionals who can offer guidance, mentorship and collaboration opportunities. These connections not only close geographical gaps but also encourage a diverse exchange of ideas and perspectives.

    For Saudi students, gathering the will and effort to engage in networking is crucial. Joining clubs, associations and groups related to their field can accelerate both professional and personal growth. Actively participating in events, workshops and seminars sustains and nurtures these connections. In today’s digital world, an online presence is essential when it comes to expressing one’s personality, interests and aspirations to their network. Making the most of social media platforms can facilitate networking and global connections.

    By immersing themselves in the rich opportunities available to them, Saudi students in the UK can build the right foundations to become invaluable assets to their communities and make a significant contribution to the ongoing transformation of their country.

  • Introducing Tim Clark’s new education report ‘Better Schools: the Future of the Country’

    Tim Clark’s new education report in England: Addressing the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, Ronel Lehmann


    “The number of empty teaching posts in England has more than doubled in the past three years”

    (BBC 6th June 2024)

    A stark headline, following the publication of the latest DfE figures, published last Thursday. Figures reveal that the government has missed its target for recruiting trainee teachers “for nine of the past ten years”. What makes this “the perfect storm”, however, is that the retention of existing teachers, as well as the recruitment of new ones, is also in crisis. The figures show that the number of teachers leaving the profession is the highest since 2010 with almost 9% quitting for reasons other than death or retirement.

    Over the past twelve months, two reports written by Tim Clark, “Better Schools: The Future of the Country”, have focussed primarily on how we can improve our schools at little or no cost. All his recommendations stem from a lifetime in state education and two phenomenally successful headships; the epithet, “a Titan in education” is well deserved.

    We all recognise that money is finite and that the public purse is not bottomless, but positive change and development does not always have to have a large price tag. Of course, our teachers must be well paid, as befits an essential and crucially important profession, but remember that more than one half of teachers did not even vote in last year’s strike ballots.

    Most teachers quitting the profession early [one third of new recruits quit within five years] do not quote pay as the key determinant: more frequently the reasons include workload, poor pupil behaviour (adding to workload), weak leadership (failing to deal with behaviour and workload), Ofsted and a lack of respect for the profession. As our reports demonstrate, with the right approach and policies, all of the above can be tackled quickly, effectively and at little expense.

    Unlike the previous two reports, which discuss a variety of topics, Tim’s latest report looks solely at one specific area of education: SEND. Almost 20% of children are recognised as having a disability or as requiring some level of additional support. SEND provision is complex, expensive and challenging. Some topics, such as the exclusion of SEND pupils or the role of special schools, are controversial.

    With his usually clarity, Tim clearly explains the background to the current approach to SEND and explains the difficulties surrounding such issues as identification and funding. As with previous reports, Tim Clark’s new education report ends with a list of practical recommendations. Some of these will require additional funding but, as he convincingly argues, better early diagnosis of need and relevant intervention could save money in the long run.

    Ultimately, the first essential requisite for catering for SEND pupils is precisely the same as that for providing for pupils without additional needs – a full complement of experienced, well trained and highly motivated classroom teachers. Only when the current teacher recruitment and retention crisis is resolved will we be able to look forward to a truly world class school system which benefits every young person and, indeed, the country as a whole.

     

    Read Tim Clark’s latest bi-annual June report here:

     

     

  • Dinesh Dhamija: Labour’s Brave New Energy World

    Labour’s Brave New Energy World: Sir Kier Starmer’s Ambitous Policy Proposals, by Dinesh Dhamija

     

    With the UK election barely a month away, voters are scanning the parties’ manifestos for clues to the future – particularly that of the likely winner – Sir Kier Starmer’s Labour Party.

    As a solar energy entrepreneur, I’m alert to the parties’ renewable promises and ambitions. The most recent Conservative government talked a brave game, but gradually ditched its green commitments, because a vocal minority of its supporters hated the plans. This resulted in a fragmented approach to renewable energy, with many initiatives either scaled back or abandoned altogether.

    The Labour Party has promised a new energy deal in its pitch to the nation, including a state-owned business – Great British Energy – to invest in renewables: onshore and offshore wind, solar power, gigafactories, energy storage, and green hydrogen. This comprehensive approach aims to cover a wide array of renewable energy sources and technologies, ensuring a diversified energy portfolio for the UK.

    Listening to Sir Kier address a meeting in Leith in Scotland, you might think that he was the world’s green energy Messiah. Launching his party’s ‘national mission on clean energy’, he promised: “It will power us forward towards net-zero, generate growth right across the country, end the suffocating cost of living crisis and get Putin’s boot off our throat with real energy security.” These ambitious goals reflect a deep understanding of the interconnected challenges of energy security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability.

    It is, he proclaimed, “a plan to use clean power to build a new Britain, a plan to get our future back.” Stirring words, and a welcome commitment. But as recently as February this year, Labour ditched a promise to invest £28 billion a year in green spending, shrinking it to just £4.8 billion a year. What kind of a new deal is that? This significant reduction raises questions about the feasibility and impact of Labour’s green energy initiatives.

    Sir Kier bemoans the lost opportunities of the Tory government and the squabbles of the Scottish National Party, for whom a British success would contradict their drive for independence. He plans to headquarter GB Energy in Scotland and harvest the blowy conditions through a massive new wind energy programme, extending right down the eastern coast of the country to Grimsby in Lincolnshire. This strategic location aims to maximize the potential of wind energy, leveraging the geographical advantages of the UK’s coastline.

    He plans tidal energy in the Firth of Forth and in South Wales, with clean hydrogen programmes in Yorkshire, Merseyside, and Grangemouth. These projects highlight Labour’s commitment to exploring diverse renewable energy sources, recognizing the unique potential of different regions across the UK.

    Quite how far £4.8 billion will go, spread across these many fields, is an open question. The substantial reduction in proposed spending necessitates a careful reassessment of priorities and expected outcomes. Achieving significant progress with limited funds will require innovative approaches and efficient allocation of resources.

    Sir Kier points to the transformations of US President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But that included $783 billion for renewable energy and climate measures. He also wants to model GB Energy on Denmark’s Ørested or Sweden’s Vattenfall, but both of those countries have long traditions of renewable energy champions, paid for through high taxation. The comparison underscores the scale of investment and cultural commitment required for such a transition. Labour’s brave new energy world is an incredibly positive but also very expensive undertaking.

    Is Britain ready for the Scandinavian model? This question remains at the heart of the debate, as the UK’s political and economic landscape differs significantly from that of Scandinavian countries. Adopting a similar approach would necessitate substantial shifts in policy and public perception.

    Labour’s energy policy is targeted at the Red Wall seats lost during the Brexit saga. It aims to claw back support in the industrial Midlands and north (including Scotland) by promising a brave new world of clean, secure energy, with hundreds of thousands of jobs. This focus on job creation and regional development seeks to address economic disparities and garner broader support for Labour’s vision.

    All very inspiring, but without cash to back up its promises, I fear it is little more than hot air. The ambitious plans for Labour’s brave new energy world need substantial financial backing to move from rhetoric to reality, ensuring tangible benefits for the UK’s economy and environment.

    Dinesh Dhamija founded, built, and sold online travel agency ebookers.com, before serving as a Member of the European Parliament. Since then, he has created the largest solar PV and hydrogen businesses in Romania. Dinesh’s latest book is The Indian Century – buy it from Amazon.

  • An interview with incredible artist Diana Taylor: “Young artists shouldn’t get caught up in trends”

     

    Diana Taylor graduated with an M.F.A Painting from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2010. She studied B.A (Hons) Fine Art at Bath Spa University College and graduated in 1999. In 2011 she was awarded the Abbey Scholarship in Painting at the British School at Rome. Residencies in 2011 and 2012 include Centre of Contemporary Arts, Andratx, Mallorca and East London Printmakers. A sense of journey, both physically and through memory, and the relation this has with mass-produced images, which travel our own consciousness, are central to her practice. We caught up with her at her new exhibition ‘Borrowed Time’. at Bobinska Brownlee New River

     

    I really love the new stuff. How did these paintings come about?

     

    The new paintings began with Gustav Dore’s illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The illustrations were made in the 19th century as woodblock prints and the Divine Comedy was written in the 14th century. The book I chose the images from was published in the 1970s and my manipulations from analogue to digital were made this year so there’s oscillation between temporalities within my work. I selected small areas of several illustrations and manipulated them within Photoshop by cropping, enlarging and lowering the resolution.

    I also turned the document into bit map format to screen-print them. I always enlarge the images in screen-printing too so the image is reduced in quality even further. So, what was a woodblock print has gone through a digital process into a mechanical method of screen-printing and that’s how the paintings usually begin. There are varying levels of detail and zooming in for those images.

     

    So there’s a digital element and then you set to work as a painter?

     

    I then began painting imagery from my various illustrated books of plants and botanical illustrations some of which were important to Morris’s archive- a 16th-century Gerard’s Herbal. From my PhD research on William Morris I’ve become increasingly interested in the botanical illustrations that he was using, but I also have a real love for early print and that’s why I refer to it often within my work. My love of gardening and my interest in plants as therapeutic and medicinal has steered these new works.

    However, there’s also a more serious concern with climate change, and the idea of plants growing and becoming threatened, or in decline, started mirroring my painting process which is one of building up and breaking down the image. These new paintings in my solo show at Bobinska Brownlee gallery, ‘Borrowed Time’, therefore, are about the things that I am thinking about, looking at and doing in my everyday life- which is what my paintings are generally about anyway. The title refers to concerns in a climate crisis and also to my method of appropriation- borrowing images which already exist, to create new works.

     

    Has your method of composition been relatively fixed and stable over your career, or is that evolving?

     

    My method of composition tends to change however over the past 10 years I’d say I’ve been very much focused on using a portrait format and working on a similar size and often it’s because I want to have some kind of composition which involves cascading, a kind of cascade down the painting and alludes to the idea something falling and things falling apart. The composition is not fixed. However, I always use fragments within my work and I’m interested in the composition as appearing unfinished.

    There’s something about the tension between something that’s finished and unfinished, that interests me, so the work oscillates between many dichotomies such as fast and slow painting, graphic and gesture, old and new references, art and craft et cetera yet these binaries are always symbiotic which is why I’ve converged them because they need to be together.

     

    Was it always art for you? Did you ever consider some other path in life?

     

    Yes, it was always painting for me. My granny was a painter and I always loved drawing and painting there was never any question that I wanted to do something else, although at one stage I wanted to be an air hostess just because I love travelling so much. But I realised I could travel and do my painting and I could be an artist, and make money from selling my work and teaching, which is something I also enjoy.

     

     

    Did you have any mentor in art?

     

    I had several brilliant art teachers throughout my education who have inspired me and taught me so much.  I think that’s why I love teaching so much because I want to be able to give back what I also experienced in my educational journey.

     

    Who are your heroes in art history who have helped you on your journey?

     

    I think my heroes in art history include Bernini whose work blew me away in Rome. But, in modern history, I love Sigma Polke, Robert Rauschenberg, Lee Krasner, Eduardo Paolozzi, and many others. Contemporary painters I love are Amy Sillman, (I love her writing too), as well as Michael Williams, Charlene Von Heyl, Christopher Wool amongst a load of others.

     

     

    What are your tips for young artists about the business side?

     

    I’d say for young artists it’s just important to stay focused on being true to yourself and not getting caught up in any trends. You kind of have to be thick-skinned and resilient as an artist and to stay resolute. I find a strong daily meditation practice has helped me to stay resilient and grounded as it can be so difficult to persevere when it seems at times like not much is happening in your career.

     

    Galleries seem to take large percentages from artists – is that something you think will change over time?

     

    I don’t think the 50% commission is likely to change although I’ve no idea really on this aspect of the art world- as long as the Gallery can continue to put on ambitious exhibitions and bring their collectors to the shows then it’s a really good way for an artist to get exposure.

     

    What’s your experience of art fairs?

    As a visitor to art fairs, I find them quite overwhelming as there’s so much work to see but I do visit some of the bigger fairs such as Frieze so they’re understandably overwhelming but it’s a good way to get an idea of what’s going on globally in the art world. That said it’s an odd way of looking at art because you’re hardly even giving the work any time at all. It’s just a glance and then moving on to the next thing.

    Has the conversation around NFTs affected you at all, or do you think that was just a fad?

     

    I’m not that interested in NFTs. Although I think they could be good for some artists I have zero interest in turning my work into an NFT. I think something is lost in the reproduction of a painting or work that has a haptic quality like my textiles- it’s the aura that Walter Benjamin spoke of, so an NFT for me is kind of dead and it kills the work of the hand. However, I’m sure there’s some really interesting work out there that I haven’t seen so we’ll see how far it goes.

     

    Borrowed Time ran from 18th April-5th June at Bobinska Brownlee New River. For more information go to: www.dianataylor.co.uk

  • Valete to Michael Gove: Reflecting on an extraordinary Political Legacy in 2024

    Valete to Michael Gove, Tim Clark

     

    I was fortunate to be able to attend a hastily arranged breakfast in support of Helen Grant OBE, MP for Maidstone and Malling with Michael Gove, who agreed to be guest of honour, despite announcing a few days earlier and making news headlines that he would not be standing at the next General Election.

    Although many of our readers will want to say a more formal farewell and thank-you to him at a later date, this was an historic last Ministerial breakfast on the day Parliament dissolved.

    The event was held in the Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair and attended by some 25 supporters and well-wishers. Also seated around the table were four student foot soldiers in Helen’s campaign team who have already been hard at work pounding the streets of her constituency; welcomed and treated as equals, together with other business leaders, such is the example of Finito’s commitment to supporting and inspiring young people.

    Michael, of course, needs no introduction here. At 56, the MP for Surrey Heath since 2005 he has held several key offices of state: Secretary of State for Education; Chief Whip; Secretary of State for Justice; Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and latterly, since 2022, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

    There can be few who have been so continually in such high-profile roles and so continually in the limelight. But Michael brings so much more to the table than just being an experienced, consummate politician: he co-founded the conservative think tank Policy Exchange and has had a successful career in journalism and as a writer – his controversial Celsius 7/7 analysed the roots of radical Islamism and the West’s response to it.

    To list Michael’s achievements, however, completely fails to really paint the true picture: he is a man of razor-sharp intellect but with the ability to explain and simplify complex issues; his knowledge and deep understanding of contemporary politics is phenomenally extensive; his wit is ready and genuine and his manner always engaging and polite.

    Over breakfast he was pressed on everything from national service to education; from the economy to defence; from taxation to foreign affairs, but not once did he faulter or miss a beat: every question received an immediate, logical, coherent and convincing response. Where appropriate his responses were light-hearted, such as when he said he had carried out market research into national service – he had asked his son and daughter!

    But despite the ability to be disarmingly charming and funny, his political steeliness and assertiveness are never far from the surface, for example when exposing Starmer’s former support for Corbyn (“Corbyn without a beard”) and Starmer’s comment when a barrister that, “Karl Marx was, of course, right”. Equally, however, his warmth and compassion were also evident in his support for Diane Abbott, someone with whom he profoundly disagrees on practically every issue, because for the way she has been treated by the Labour Party.

     

    Michael Gove
    Finito breakfast networking event at The Beaumont Hotel, London with Michael Gove. 30.5.2024 Photographer Sam Pearce/www.square-image.co.uk

     

    Michael’s departure from front line politics will be a massive loss to Parliament, to the Party and to the country as a whole. Whether or not you support his passionately held views on education, Brexit or whatever, no one can deny his remarkable ability to think radically and to argue his case in an engaging and convincing manner. Helen Grant, in her vote of thanks, admitted to not usually shedding a tear over breakfast, but saying farewell to Michael was just one such occasion.

    As was to be expected, he kept his cards close to his chest as to what happens next – more books, a return to journalism or, as many at the breakfast publicly hoped, a high profile role in the Lords – but there’s one thing of which we can be sure: in our host’s closing remarks he likened Michael Gove to the end titles in a Bond film and, like James Bond, Michael Gove will return.

     

    Tim Clark MA, PGCE, FRSA

    Author of bi-annual Better Schools: The Future of the Country

  • Letter from Sicily, Delightful Reflections on History and Art: Philip Mould OBE

    Letter from Sicily, Philip Mould

     

    Sicily is an extraordinarily layered country. It’s a fascinating place where the influences are still visible – and in many cases still palpable. You’ve got the Venetians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Normans, the Germans, the French, the Spanish. Then of course you’ve got Horatio Nelson who comes and gets in quite a state Sicily. He watered his ships at the Arethusa Fountain in Syracuse before the Battle of the Nile, and he ordered Marsala wine for the fleet from the winery in the west of the island. It’s absolutely heaving with the past; it is a lively cross-section of so many places.

    Then you get this extraordinary event in 1693, which was a defining moment which was the mother of all earthquakes. It pretty much flattened everything. Before that disaster occurred it would have been the most astonishing classical playground. They then rebuilt it all in this sort of bonkers baroque style, which you see ubiquitously, pushing the language of baroque to its absolute limits.

    Every building is almost moving as much as architecture can do, with these broken pediments and these great corbels which stick out. There are all sorts of wavy lines. This is very late baroque. This is eighteenth century baroque when baroque really gets going in the seventeenth century so it’s quite frivolous. But it’s consistent and it’s a stage set experience.

    Although there are quite a few tourists and it’s quite crowded, there’s a lot to excite and lift you wherever you go. And it’s all done in this highly concentrated limestone which has a uniformity of appearance and an eighteenth century harmony which is rather staggering. While it’s a terribly poor country and the stink of the paternoster is around, and all the infrastructure’s not been quite completed because of corruption. It’s not really like Italy actually. I think I’ve added my sense of Sicily to European civilisation: you see another aspect of to a place which you thought you knew.

    One strange thing about going to a place later in life is that a part of you almost assumes there’ll be not that much there, otherwise you’d have heard of it already. But what we find is instead this invention and perennial surprise of new places.

    I think there are some places in the world – perhaps the Lake District is one – where you get this continuity and purity, but sometimes it can be difficult to get the measure of a place when you can feel commerce has moved into it. You lift your eyes and you see the industry on the outside. It’s rather like the plastics in the sea; you’d have to be blind not to see that we lived in this semi-ruined world. It’s rather like pylons – you have to will them to not be there to have some form of historical innocence.

    I find suspension of disbelief difficult when it comes to travel; I suppose one must take a leap of the imagination, and try to peer past all the fixtures of the tourist industry. This is difficult but it is certainly worth doing. Perhaps people have been saying since Roman times, it’s as if wherever we look we’re seeing the destruction by humanity of our surroundings. This is why at my home in Duck End, we try to create a haven. It’s important to retain an element of romanticism; I believe I must care for the world around me.

    Art is much the same. When a painting is complete they’re a pure and subjective response to the world as it was then, and as artefacts they remain constant in a world where things are changing and disappearing. As I think about it, single artefacts, although they may be damaged and deteriorate, they are things you can hold onto more than is the case at the macro level. These are the sorts of thoughts I get as I travel through Sicily. It is an interesting exercise for instance to walk through a Canaletto as opposed to walking through a street in a country we’ve not been through.

    There’s one painting of London by Canaletto in Prague, it’s huge about three metres wide and two metres high, obviously done with a camera obscure from the Thames and looking at the City. It’s astonishing because of the verisimilitude of everything that was there, and the happenings on the river, and the density of medieval London which still existed after the Fire. I was possessed by that – I walked in there on a rainy day and it was astonishing. It almost paves the way to a sort of linear abstraction. Perhaps this is what travel sometimes teaches us: to look again at what we have back home.

  • Dinesh Dhamija: India’s 10 year reckoning

    Dinesh Dhamija

     

    Since his election as Indian Prime Minister in 2013, Narendra Modi set out a vision for his country to become a fully developed economy by 2047, the centenary of its foundation.

    Could India finally cast off its colonial burdens and achieve its undoubted potential?

    We are now a third of the way through the journey from Modi’s arrival until 2047 and the Indian population is about to cast its votes in a General Election.

    Here’s how the main economic indicators have shifted during the first decade of his tenure:

    From 2014 to 2022, India’s GDP grew by an average of 5.6 per cent in compound annual growth (CAGR) terms, compared with a CAGR of 3.8 per cent on average for 14 other large developing economies such as Brazil and Mexico.

    The percentage of Indians living in extreme poverty (earning less than $2.15 per day) has fallen from 18.7 per cent in 2015 to 12 per cent in 2021, across both urban and rural populations. Economic analysts attribute this to welfare schemes and the Aadhaar digital ID system, which has helped to target payments to the needy and cut out middlemen.

    Indians now make digital transactions worth Rs3,355 trillion per year, a 70 per cent increase on the Rs1,962 trillion in 2017-2018, much of it conducted via locally made smartphones, which 60 per cent of the population own. India’s digital transformation has helped it become the ‘back office to the world’, particularly centred on the cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

    India’s middle class – defined as households with an annual income between $6,700 and $40,000 – has risen from 300 million in 2014 to 520 million today, while those classed as wealthy, earning above $40,000 pa, now number 90 million, up from 30 million in 2014. These changes have opened up markets for a huge diversity of consumer goods, for national and international travel, for investment and business development. They are an extremely positive sign for the future of the country.

    Infrastructure development is another big success story: more than 10,000km of roads have been constructed each year since 2018 and 1.7 per cent of GDP is devoted to transport investment, compared with 0.4 per cent of GDP in 2014. Of course, not everything is perfect. India’s unemployment figures are concerning: they exceeded 10 per cent in October 2023 and are worryingly high among young people and women. Despite government encouragement, the female labour force participation rate fell between 2014 and 2022 from 25 per cent to 24 per cent, lower than Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan.

    Nevertheless, if the next 20 years see as much progress and economic growth as the past 10, there is every chance that Modi’s vision for the country will be realised.

    Dinesh Dhamija founded, built and sold online travel agency ebookers, before serving as a Member of the European Parliament. His latest book, The Indian Century, will be out soon.

     

  • Sir Terry Waite on careers in faith

    Sir Terry Waite

    Faith has been a vital part of my work, and that has been a gradual growth over the years.   My understanding of these matters has not been dramatic in the sense of having had a sudden conversion: instead, I think that one’s understanding changes as life goes on and experience teaches you to reflect – if you can make time to reflect, of course.

    When I was younger I thought I knew myself and thought I understood myself. But as I get older I recognise that one has a capacity to deceive oneself – and perhaps that is true of all human beings.  We can go on thinking that we are in the right way, and we might do that for a whole variety of reasons.  Part of the process of life is to try and gain a greater in-depth understanding of yourself and your motives.

    All of this is aided or supported by our Christian belief and by our belief in our spiritual life – but it’s a long process and it doesn’t come quickly. Hopefully when one gets into one’s latter years then perhaps one has gained a little more understanding. We ought to grow in our lives, and to some extent become different from our young selves. And yet I also find that none of this is in contradiction to the essential principles I was taught when I was young.

    I sometimes asked if I have refreshed my faith over time; I think it’s a gradual process. It will involve a constant self-examination. For instance, I am still an Anglican which I was brought up as. But I am also a Quaker, and a member of the Religious Society of Friends: I call myself a quanglican – a mixture of both.  As I grow older in life and experience, I recognise the necessity of silence and how silence is important and how communal silence is of the utmost importance.  That time alone, spent in meditation, is where we can sometimes make great spiritual leaps forward, and that is an important part of the Quakers approach.

    Perhaps this will not always appeal to young people who may sometimes prefer much more exuberance – much more clapping and jumping around.  As one progresses, one finds that perhaps there is nothing wrong in expressing yourself in those ways but that it is important too to balance that kind of worship out with reflection. It turns out to be a sound scriptural principle: Christ himself went out into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, and also spent time alone on the final night of his life. That means that there is precedent throughout history, but it is something we must grow into.

    All of which means that we need good teachers and educators in our faith groups – those who not push people prematurely in any particular direction, but who will be gentle with people in their development rather than letting people stay at one particular point. That said, it is worth thinking very carefully before you enter a career in faith: it can be a very hard life. I had to think very hard myself about myself.

    It was often said that I ought to be ordained as a clergyman and I never felt that as a vocation and I chose to remain as a layperson within the church and have worked from the church base most of my life as a layperson. That wasn’t an easy choice in many ways because there was no chance of promotion and becoming an Archdeacon or Bishop or a Dean: you remain a simple layman. Looking back, it was a big risk because with a young family a mortgage that wasn’t an easy way and I remember acute anxiety all the time. Even so, I am glad I did it. I don’t have regrets: it was absolutely the right decision not to be ordained but to remain as a layperson. I never had a vocation to be ordained – it’s just not me.

    So somehow this is where self-knowledge comes in. We need to know ourselves, and to what we believe to be right. Of course, we also need good counsel, and it would be a mistake too solitary in our decisions. But if you follow your vocation, it will work out for you. Of course, perhaps it won’t work out in precisely the way you expected – but it will work out.