Pandering to demands of school children and relaxing school uniform rules will not do them any good - Sarah Todd

Reading a story at the beginning of the week about the demise of the traditional school uniform under Labour led your correspondent down the pathway (p-words are everywhere today) to pandering.

Barmy would almost have done the job, but not quite as it has hints of harmless eccentricity. Same goes for bonkers. There was another ‘b’, but that took us back to the farmyard - the male bovine to be specific - and that would be no good for a newspaper of The Yorkshire Post’s repute.

So pandering it is. It’s perfect (that p wasn’t deliberate) for describing the Members of Parliament who make up the Commons culture, media and sport committee’s current crazy idea that children should be allowed to wear tracksuits in the classroom to make school uniforms ‘more inclusive’.

They have issued a report urging the Government to permit sportswear and trainers ‘as standard’ to remove ‘barriers to activity’ in the classroom.

All at a time when Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, is already making it harder to enforce state-school uniform by limiting the number of branded clothing items (think school crest or logo) to three.

Reports suggest one in eight schools have already started ditching ties for tracksuits, with 12.4 per cent of schools in England already permitting at least one item of sportswear - joggers, leggings or hoodies - as part of their standard daily uniform.

Suella Braverman, Reform UK’s spokeswoman for Education, Skills and Equality, hit the nail on the head with her observation that schools are ‘not extensions of the living room.’

So where does pandering come in?

Well, it’s just what is happening these days. The dictionary defines it as ‘to say, do, or provide what someone (such as an audience) wants or demands even though it is not good, proper, reasonable, etc.’

Now hands up, your correspondent isn’t immune; sometimes having to pull herself up short after rustling up meals at separate times for grown-up children back living at home.

‘Stop pandering to them,’ their grandmother will point out and she’s right. Same with the mountain of washing, fridge full of food and nighttime taxi service but that’s another story.

Pandering is an indulgence - such as letting children wear leisurewear at school - that doesn’t do them any good in the long run. Be it our 20-somethings not thinking about their own meals and clean clothes or schoolchildren not having the discipline of conforming with smart schoolwear.

Do estimates that only around half of the adult male population knows how to tie a necktie matter? Maybe not. But the fundamental principle of showing respect through more formal clothing - be that for a teacher, potential employer, or somebody’s life at a funeral for example - does. We dilute basic clothing courtesy at our nation’s peril.

Now, coming from a generation that ran the risk of having to do PE in your pants if you forgot your kit, a little leeway here and there isn’t a bad thing.

However, an investigation by The Telegraph last year lifted the lid on social media influencers giving advice on how children getting their knickers in a twist about wearing uniforms could be used as an example of additional ‘sensory and emotional’ special educational needs that could open up the gateway of benefit claims.

Prejudice is our parting p. Back to the dictionary, which tells us it’s all about preconceived opinions that are not based on reason.

Call it prejudice on this sometimes panderer’s part, but repeatedly this Government seems to be making decisions that are based on its own personal beliefs rather than balanced reasoning.

Increasingly it feels like there is a general slipping of standards stemming from massive chips on their shoulders about hard work, discipline, smartness (just take a look at the front benches on Sir Keir’s side), success (entrepreneurial or academic) and so much more.

The left of politics would have folks believe that it’s the right-leaning that are the most prejudiced. However, this is a two-way street and they are very definitely steam-rollering down it - one final p coming up - potholes and all.