77% of the new Cabinet attended state schools - that's 22 Cabinet secretaries

If you want private school then pay for it. My concern is for the 96% of children who don’t have that option

Such naivety, you need access to technology. Lockdown showed that many pupils didn’t have this or were sharing devices. We lent many laptops out at my school. Also more importantly you need a quiet place to study and many do not have that.

I don't think most kids in any type of school give a shit who's in the cabinet tbh

No I am not expecting sympathy. I am expecting people (particularly those slapping taxes on) to not be ignorant about the current situation inside schools.

It fills me with joy that 77% of our new cabinet can be direct role models to 94% of our children.

No it’s not a protected characteristic. And what you call poor people is up to you - it’s not like it’s going to make the gap in wealth, life expectancy, etc etc any wider.

Sure. Private tuition is also extensively used by state school parents though. In particular to gain selective places and huge privilege.

Money absolutely buys privilege and gets you ahead in education. But that money is not confined to the private sector. Anyone can use tutors. Just click online. Furthermore, the entire content of most GCSEs can be learnt from YouTube, if a person is willing.

I thought it was more than that - media (including the Telegraph) report that only one cabinet member went to a fee paying school.

I don't think this is what the thread is saying.

I think it's due to how Labour dislike private schools and yet a lot of them went to, and do send their kids to private school.

It's the hypocrisy of it.

Are you expecting sympathy for private school pupils whilst 96% of children are educated by the state ?

The difference being many private school parents also top up their children’s education with private tuition. They might not buy their GCSE results but they can certainly boost their children’s chances with more money.

‘Pikey’ is a derogatory term for gypsies/travellers, it’s a racist term and has nothing to do with being poor

I know what's happening - the same as I described and worse. My brother has been assaulted whilst teaching. Only in some state schools though. Not the lovely grammars.

What do you think is happening in the state sector ?

So is being poor a protected characteristic, or is it ok to call someone poor "scum" "scrounger" "pikey" "oik" or whatever?

I have to say, you make your own happiness and achievements.

Rayner has shown that.

You don't go to private school and buy your GCSE certificates. If you knew about what is going on currently, in 2024, in private schools, you'd know teachers are underpaid, overworked, on stress leave - the whole 9 yards. It isn't utopia and the kids still must put in the work to get good results. My DS had 4 different English teachers in Y9-11 (ie the GCSE years) in his private school.

And remember that the inequality between one state school and another is far greater. State school could mean one that sends 78 kids to Oxbridge a year - or it could mean that almost nobody progresses into further education.

I have no interest in where people went to school.

Sorry, I didn’t realise being rich and privileged was a protected characteristic. If anyone has waged class warfare over the last few centuries, it’s not the ‘lower’ classes.

And do you think if Boris had the same family life whilst living in poverty in a council house in Sunderland, he would have ended up prime minister?

I remember when we opened up after Covid thinking you could see the Eton impact. This was at the point where you were allowed employed staff in your home (nanny and cleaner) but not family. No grandparents. For my family, like many others it meant we struggled on with home working and home schooling without support for extra weeks.
I don't think it had occurred to the Cabinet at that point that not everyone had nannies. So yes, a mix of life experiences in Cabinet is important - across all backgrounds.

The state school I went to was in a very different area to Keir starmer , so state in and of itself doesn't mean anything. Regardless, it's not any better to say that all people who went to private school are clueless twats than it is to say all people who went to rough comps are thick scumbags

I am no fan of Boris and never voted for him or Brexit.

But I wonder if you know anything deeper than "average wealthy man" about him.

His mother was in and out of mental institutions. I would say that is a seriously unfortunate childhood. He ended up at Eton because he was phenomenally intelligent. His abusive father (who was mostly away) didn't want to look after him and the year before the Eton entry/exam basically told a headmaster to get Boris in there. The headmaster said it wasn't possible. But Boris got a scholarship through intelligence and hard work.

It's very easy to think people who are rich have an easy life. And often very wrong.

I do think it justifies being less impressed with their achievements though.

Obvs.

Time for a bit of Benthamism. The greatest happiness in the greatest number. 93% of our children go to state school. Time to make them happy.