If you are based in Scotland, and interested in education policy across the UK, going on Twitter is currently like being in a well-known film.

There is such a good comparative paper to be written about all this at some point. Friday = govt hunkers down and a Labour petition.

Except in Wales, where a Labour petition would clearly be odder.

Friday also = demonstration day. https://twitter.com/ExpressandStar/status/1294273499025022982?s=20

The comparative study someone some day should write should note differences in demos. In Scotland, they looked more organic (no printed posters) and focussed absolutely on the students (I don’t think there were calls from demonstrators for sacking at that point, just a solution).

This might be where the study starts to consider the different political trajectories. In Scotland the government in charge is strongly supported in the affected age group, in England the opposite is true, and that starts to come through in what goes on posters and in slogans.

In England this plays into a larger feeling among young people that the govt is failing them, while in Scotland the stronger narrative is that the govt values young people, against which this jars. (Please don’t @ me about policy content, my interest here is just attitudes.)

So even leaving aside parliamentary arithmetic, and more imminent election here, the pressures on governments are different. SG is trying to avoid bad damage to a successful relationship with young people, UKG has little left to lose with that group (but more with their parents?)

So while events so far look very similar, to the day, the conditions for a policy reversal were more favourable here (Discuss.) and how far events in England go the same way from here on is unpredictable. And I’m sorry I’ve left out Wales, which is also the same, and different.

The problem with this analysis is that it’s 4 days early. It may yet prove to be correct about the difference in response, but the proper cyclical comparison today would be with the position in Scotland last Saturday. Pieces like this work from Tuesday. https://twitter.com/AngusRobertson/status/1294532604444782592?s=20