In a speech given early last month, Michael Howard shared his thoughts on education with the Welsh Conservative Party Conference in Cardiff. He was mainly concerned with the problem of discipline. 'Guess which class children are most likely to misbehave in?' The answer turned out to be Citizenship. And which subject would best teach children 'respect for authority and the importance of discipline in school'? History. Not any old history, however, and certainly not the trendy kind that asks them to empathise with particular historical characters. Only by learning 'what actually happened', by studying 'Britain's past and her traditions', would children learn to become 'responsible citizens'.

LRB 21 April 2005 | PDF Download