Cameron just avoided giving answer to 8 x 9 , LOL.

Live BBC NEWS.

Answer : 72 (for those interested)

He probably gets it confused with 9 x 8.

Even if you haven't learned your tables, this is quite an easy one to work out very quickly:

10 x 8 = 80; then subtract 8

not sure why 12 times table is being plugged, its fairly useless these days

far more interesting would be to teach kids to multiply by 15, which might
even awaken some interest in maths

He was right to decline to answer. Had he bitten, harder questions would  surely have followed until he got one wrong.

The Education Sec. fell for it the other week. A ten year old asked her for the cube root of 125 and she floundered. She was then asked for the cube root of 1728 minus 11 and bombed again. It was all over the media for the next couple of days.

Judging by the woeful job he has made of PM this does not surprise me

Live now ....SKY

We should focus on the 14x table, so that we know just what Yanks are on about when they refer to themselves as weighing approx. 273 lb.

Just under 124 kg.

If they knew that, I think Americans would be keener on learning the metric system.

Feb 2, 2015 -- 10:07AM, Ken Masters wrote:

Just under 124 kg.

273 lbs = 123.831 kg (not sure that is just under 124 kg, Ken)

If you know your 7 x table then you know 14 x (provided you can also multiply by 2)

That still only takes you up to 168 lb, Foinavon. Most Americans are beyond that point when they enter High School (whatever that is).

Twelve-times table is vital for when civilization goes Mad Max and we need to build our own slide rules and rulers. Anyone can make a tool to calculate inches, feet and yards or pennies and shillings, but it's quite impossible to divide up a metre into centimetres by hand.

Leopard, you're the comedic equivalent of a shadow on your lung x-ray. Block me, stalk someone else. Ta.

he's not paid to know his 8x table any more than my dentist is .

My main concern is he gets on with running  the country and my dentist fixes my teeth .



fwiw I'm pretty useful with numbers - hence a betting career ,and it helps when making decisions with shopping value ,but i would FAIL every exam going - so each to their  own strengths .

Cameron = complete bluffer

Coachbuster     02 Feb 15 16:45 
he's not paid to know his 8x table any more than my dentist is .

Is your dentist First Lord of the Treasury?

Of course he should know what 8x9 is. The thick cu nt.

don't think it makes any odds calculators were invented for a reason  - most successful scholars are useless with numbers ,that's a known fact .

i accept that numeracy is important and i think it holds the country back - but that's not my problem .

as long as I know it helps me that's all that matters .

As Chief Tory, he'd probably admire your "I'm alright, Jack" attitude, Coach. And he'd probably still get an A* in GCSE maths, tbf.

Feb 2, 2015 -- 7:23AM, laroche wrote:

He was right to decline to answer. Had he bitten, harder questions would  surely have followed until he got one wrong.The Education Sec. fell for it the other week. A ten year old asked her for the cube root of 125 and she floundered. She was then asked for the cube root of 1728 minus 11 and bombed again. It was all over the media for the next couple of days.

Spot on.

Not alright Jack at all - EVERYONE has the chance to improve their numeracy .

It's no different to remembering names or reciting lyrics - you either like dealing with it or you don't .

The gov't can't be responsible for everything .

Maybe education/the system needs to be looked at by those in the know -  but as the system is directed   by folk with a paper  education it's really not my problem . I have my own problems top deal with .

In fact poor numeracy costs almost every individual dear - companies make billions ,mainly through number deceit and trickery - quite legally as well

Coachbuster     02 Feb 15 17:38 
don't think it makes any odds calculators were invented for a reason  - most successful scholars are useless with numbers ,that's a known fact  .

i accept that numeracy is important and i think it holds the country back - but that's not my problem .

as long as I know it helps me that's all that matters .

Thanks for clearing it up.

Today's kids should be learning  2's complement binary , octal & hexadecimal in the high tech world we live in.

whats wrong with those sentiments ? do you want me to knock on doors and force folk to learn numeracy ?

folk desire to pass exams to get a job ,not excell at numbers -that's how it is .

folk have the opportunity to learn numbers but don't want to ,they may find it of no benefit  .

if i wanted to play the guitar to get in a band i would practice myself to a decent standard  .

If i wanted to cook a meal ,same again .

i'm rubbish/medicore at most things ,but once again but that's my problem . But i realise numbers makes my life easier .

The Leopard

Answer : 72 (for those interested)

Thanks Leopard that was helpful.

Feb 2, 2015 -- 10:34AM, Ken Masters wrote:

Leopard, you're the comedic equivalent of a shadow on your lung x-ray. Block me, stalk someone else. Ta.

I think I've hit a nerve

Just block me Ken if my light hearted quips I annoy you.

Is this the real reason that MPs have difficulty working out there expenses claim?

FGS... their expenses

FGS ?

i_agree_with_nick - 02 Feb 15 13:02

Even if you haven't learned your tables, this is quite an easy one to work out very quickly:

10 x 8 = 80; then subtract 8



You are over complicating things Hold your hands out in front of you, 8 x 9, drop your 8th finger, 6 x 9, drop your 6th finger....etc

People have been asking politicians maths questions like this for decades hoping for them to slip up.

Alistair Darling (chancellor of exchequer) was asked 7 x 5 by some kid before the last election. Darling didn't answer. Now Darling wasn't the brightest but I'm sure he knew the answer.

It's getting very predictable asking politicians questions like this. Expect more of the same in the run up

Anyone know why Farage wasn't invited to the Sky love-in today?

This on LBC :

UKIP's Nigel Farage was also invited to the event, which came just three months before a General Election in which social media could play a decisive role for the first time.

Sky :

Although invited, UKIP, Leader Nigel  Farage,  is unable to attend due to his work commitments in Strasbourg that day.

Hey Dave, what is 8 x 9 ?
"This party has always been completely clear on this matter. We've always said that we would launch an independent review to establish all the facts and report when the time is right. That's the right thing to do. That's the fair thing to do. That's what this government will do. There is no question that 8 x 9 has increased in in real terms since the previous government and we will continue to do what is right for decent, hard-working, decent, British, hard-working families" [walks off camera]

Ta Leopard, thought Cameroon might have refused to appear if Nige did..

Can't expect the man to answer a loaded question like that without asking Mr Murdoch what he thinks first.

it's actually a much more interesting question than it first appears.

it's part of the timestable often not mastered by rote.

but certainly the arithmetic required to compute it is not beyond any school-leaver, what it does require though is a switch to your slow brain, rather than recall by rote. (e.g. 8*7 is 48+8 for me, or 6*9 is 60-6, 11*12 = 120+12)

now what this means is that you need to recognise a situation, acknowledge gaps in your intuitive and rapid fast brain and employ your rational methodical slow brain.

a pretty important skill for a man who has to make a lot of decisions.

8 x 9 isn't exactly something you'd need to stop and work out - you know it or you don't - a bit like knowing a nursery rhyme .

it's a bit like asking what is the capital city of .... ?  or what film was .. blah blah blah ?

why don't adults ask him what 230 x 54 is for example - that's proper numeracy ,atleast that requires some working out mentally

DStyle: Are you suggesting pupils of Cameron's age weren't required to learn all the tables from 2x through to 12x? Please don't say that's something that's disappeared from the curriculum.

of course everyone learns/learned up to 12*12.

What i was saying is that there are a few areas where the rote learning isn't as thoroughly embedded. you may need to do a bit of mental digging to pick it out and you may get it wrong.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/may/31/times-tables-hardest-easiest-children#data

Would Cameron have had to pass any kind of intelligence test to get into Eton? Or is the entry criterion merely the same as the one for captaining the England cricket team: that you're from the right kind of family with the right size of wallet?

Would Cameron have had to pass any kind of intelligence test to get into Eton? Or is the entry criterion merely the same as the one for captaining the England cricket team: that you're from the right kind of family with the right size of wallet?

apparently cameron is pretty bright. i think he was rated by his supervisors at oxford.

osborne on the other hand....

Apparently they put digestive biscuits on the floor. and then stand in a circle majiculate like fury,
and the last one to finish has to eat the biscuits.

Probably not that bad if you just get stuck in and pretend that it's cheese!