Indicative of our wonderful egalitarian, meritocratic society where social class doesn’t matter and there is equality of opportunity is the new Brown Cabinet where almost 50% of the new ministers are ex-public school and and 50% are ex-Oxbridge.
This lot are practically identical in social class and origin to the Conservative Party circa 1924. Even Alan ‘working-class hero’ Johnson, recently publicly disowned by his own union, went to a posh grammar school.
Relative to John Reid, Tessa Jowell, Hazel Blears, David Blunket, John Prescot, Peter Mandleson, not to mention the preceding 18 years of Tory cabinets.
But yes, it’s only relatively good, and i was being a tad sarcastic.
Regarding 50% at Oxbridge: that might just be because top politicians will tend to be very clever people, and very clever people tend to go to Oxbridge. There is nothing sinister in that. My opinions are i suspect closer to yours regarding private schools, but i’m surprised that somebody who goes to Oxford does not themself see that Oxbridge does not equate to undeserved privilege and class division. Surely we’re both proof of that?
Also, Johnson going to grammar school is no surprise, whatever his background. If he scored highly in the 11 plus he would of course have gone to grammar school, regardless of his social background. You can’t criticise him for a system he was merely a part of as a child (whatever he’s done later that we can criticise).
28 June, 2007 at 2:25 am |
Nah…straight against the wall next to paris and branson.
28 June, 2007 at 10:34 pm |
Dunno, i thought his new cabinet was quite good (relatively).
28 June, 2007 at 11:58 pm |
You thought the new Cabinet was quite good?!
Relative to what exactly?
Indicative of our wonderful egalitarian, meritocratic society where social class doesn’t matter and there is equality of opportunity is the new Brown Cabinet where almost 50% of the new ministers are ex-public school and and 50% are ex-Oxbridge.
This lot are practically identical in social class and origin to the Conservative Party circa 1924. Even Alan ‘working-class hero’ Johnson, recently publicly disowned by his own union, went to a posh grammar school.
2 July, 2007 at 11:18 am |
Relative to John Reid, Tessa Jowell, Hazel Blears, David Blunket, John Prescot, Peter Mandleson, not to mention the preceding 18 years of Tory cabinets.
But yes, it’s only relatively good, and i was being a tad sarcastic.
Regarding 50% at Oxbridge: that might just be because top politicians will tend to be very clever people, and very clever people tend to go to Oxbridge. There is nothing sinister in that. My opinions are i suspect closer to yours regarding private schools, but i’m surprised that somebody who goes to Oxford does not themself see that Oxbridge does not equate to undeserved privilege and class division. Surely we’re both proof of that?
Also, Johnson going to grammar school is no surprise, whatever his background. If he scored highly in the 11 plus he would of course have gone to grammar school, regardless of his social background. You can’t criticise him for a system he was merely a part of as a child (whatever he’s done later that we can criticise).