In the Third World you just go hungry and die.”The best houses in his village of Benson sell for more than pounds 250,000. Major Clarke admits that the population of wealthy pensioners and high- powered commuters is not a great breeding ground for social activism “People have busy jobs in the City They have a lot of interests. When they come back in the evenings or at weekends a game of tennis and a glass of whisky is about the size of the time they’ve got. But it’s not that they don’t want to be involved – we’re well supported financially – it’s merely that they’ve got such full lives.”Veronica Keating lives on a farm and also runs her own shop selling handmade dolls’ houses for up to pounds 800 a time. A Roman Catholic, she became involved in Jubilee 2000 through her local Cafod support group.
“It is precisely because we are comfortable that we have a responsibility to be aware of such poverty,” she says. “My children had a good education, we have never had to worry about health care, but these people have got nothing I hope it isn’t guilt. The fact is I’m grateful for what I have got, and this is a small thing you can do in return.”Cathryn White, who manages retirement apartments in the village of Goring, agrees. She does not go to church, and got involved with the campaign only when a friend asked her to help out on a stall for an hour, but she became convinced that this was a just cause. “I think we should all care about people who are less well off We have taken a lot from them. It must cost us less in the long run to help them help themselves.”Sixteen-year-old Dan Radice lives in the village of Berrick Salome two miles away – “it’s got swings, a village hall, some cows and not much else” – and learned about the debts through a book his brother bought him.
“My generation is going to inherit these problems, and it’s getting worse, not better It has got to be sorted somehow or it will affect us all People have got to take global responsibilities these days We can’t pretend we don’t know.”. A UNIVERSITY professor is to challenge the right of schools to insist that female pupils must wear skirts. If the test case succeeds, no school in the country will be able to stop girls wearing trousers. Professor Claire Hale, who teaches healthcare at Leeds University, decided to pursue legal action after making representations to the Department for Education regarding her daughter. The Schools Minister, Charles Clarke, told her he has no power to intervene, but he offered his “sympathy” and has given what she considers the “green light” for a court challenge.
For more than 30 years disputes have raged over school uniform.
The great majority of state schools insist on uniform but most give girls the option of wearing either skirts or trousers.The professor’s daughter, Jo Hale, 13, who attends Whickham Comprehensive in Gateshead, is demanding the same rights as boys at the school, with her mother’s backing. “Lots of us want to wear trousers and we just can’t see why we’re not allowed to,” she said. “If you’re sitting at your desk in class doing your work like you’re supposed to, what difference does it make if you have trousers on? It doesn’t mean you’re any less intelligent or anything.”The principle of “equal rights” is most often cited by pupils who want to wear trousers. But Professor Hale believes there are other important considerations.Earlier this year, a pupil at her daughter’s school was sexually assaulted as she waited at a bus stop. A man approached from behind and put his hand up her skirt before fleeing. The police advised her parents that for her own protection she should wear trousers. Her school refused permission to do so.”If girls aren’t wearing a skirt then no one can stick their hand up it,” Professor Hale said “Trousers are harder to get off and easier to run away in.
The police are always going on about the need for women to be on their guard and dress appropriately.”She also argues there is a medical case for trousers. “Some teenage girls suffer from vaginal candidiasis [thrush] This is exacerbated by the wearing of nylon tights Skirts are also more constricting than trousers. There are certain postures, positions and lifting activities which girls and women cannot easily perform when wearing skirts. Boys don’t show their pants to the world when they bend over, so why should girls?”Schools are well aware of the problems associated with short skirts and most, including Whickham, insist on a “respectable” length But Professor Hale is unsympathetic. “Of course the girls wear their skirts very short, and so do some teachers – that’s the fashion. The school tries to enforce longer skirts but fails miserably. If I were a male teacher these days I would certainly not have anything to do with measuring the length of a girl’s skirt.
