More on the U.K. reading lists

John Sutherland writes "this reading list fails the test" for the Guardian. Here's his opening sentence:

• "Anyone looking thoughtfully at the curriculum prescribed by Alan Johnson's Department for Education and Skills will be inclined to sum it up in one phrase: 'Conservative'."

Why conservative? Partly for the very same reasons Pooja Makhijani mentioned in the comments to my previous post on this matter.

This controversy isn't new, Michele of Scholar's Blog reminds me. She reported on the list controversies earlier this year.