Push the button, Max.

So what do you think?  The Schools' Minister is proposing to limit the use of calculators in primary schools.  He says that it is important that kids are able to solve simple sums without resorting to an electronic gadget.  We certainly seem to have stopped teaching the "times tables" which underpin so much of mathematics.  On the other hand, I find myself automatically reaching for my little machine when I have to do a calculation, even though I am well capable of working it out for myself - if the facility exists to make life easier, why not use it?  So what do you think?