Burnham unopposed & likely to be PM by mid July

The quality of state schooling is not homogenous - that’s the entire point, hence catchment area games etc.

As for the ‘most money’, this is also disingenuous. For the majority of PS parents its a simple opportunity cost issue.

I disagree. If you achieved academic heights from a state school it’s entirely logical to want to make gold standard education available to all, not just those with the most money.

@blossomtoes - OK it happened it the past.
I was referring to the 90s era of Education Education Education and all the extra people who went to university and the emergence of the Russell Group as an elite brand.

It is completely tone deaf to have a go at private schools when you yourself attended the elite brand commodification of university at its peak.

The NEU represents private school teachers.

We are the largest education union representing teachers, lecturers, support staff, and school leaders, in maintained and independent schools and colleges across the UK.

We have a powerful voice and have been effective in winning improvements to our members’ working conditions and shaping an education system that works for all.

https://neu.org.uk/about

You’ve missed the point. He went to Cambridge from a Welsh mining village in the 1930s. It’s not, as you asserted, a Gen X phenomenon.

“It’s not a Gen X phenomenon. My head teacher in the 1960s was a Cambridge graduate whose father was a Welsh miner. He was justifiably very proud of his origins.”

@blossomtoes - you can be proud and still acknowledge your privilege of an elite education elevating you and being grateful.

Take me for example, on one side of my family immigrants dire poverty and starvation and on the other side top privilege. Whatever, you pick what you want to see and you have to be honest.

There seems to be misinformation below on the poll

NEU members polling:
Deltapoll interviewed a representative sample of 4,131 NEU Members, online, between 3 - 8th June 2026. The figures have been weighted to be representative of all NEU members.

@MulberryBrandy - Philipson had a dedicated parent who took her to the library and sent her to Catholic school. That is not deprivation!

The kids who are deprived are those whose parents are chaotic, overcrowded, addicted.
Any teacher you speak to will tell you that if you have a dedicated parent who reads to you regularly and values education that that is 85 per cent of the battle.

There are schools in this country on their absolute knees with no teachers etc and half their class with SEND and Bridget wants to stick even more unfunded SEND kids into the state system.
Her main aim seems to be to get a few more Bridget’s into Oxford to lessen competition with private schools. Who actually cares about any of that! It is not relevant. The kids who is well taken care of and goes to the library and to Catholic school is already ahead compared to most of the rest of the country.

Interesting if so. They are more aware than the gov and many voters on what the policy would do.

I’m glad they’re asking for her to go now.

Given 11 union leaders wrote to say Starmer needed to go Burnham will probably listen.

It’s not a Gen X phenomenon. My head teacher in the 1960s was a Cambridge graduate whose father was a Welsh miner. He was justifiably very proud of his origins.

I do think the attack on Bridget Philipson's background is unfair. Her mother's founding of a refuge for women is also to be praised.

Oh yes, private school teachers, THAT BASTION OF BROADEST SHOULDERS available in the UK today.

You do recall the NEU and others were against VAT on private school fees?

Actually, I take that back. There is of course SALTBURN - hmm, classic working class made up sob story gone wrong.

All the teachers polled work in private schools. Of course they’re going to say it’s a failure.

Yup.

New Statesman sets out a timeline:

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/06/the-timeline-how-starmer-lost-control

@MulberryBrandy - The Bulllingdon Club is part fiction now with all the Netflix etc bandwagon eg Anatomy of Scandal Riot Club etc that it has inspired. Difficult to tell what is made up and what was real.

Bit like the Labour Party Working Class Classic Champagne Socialist Sob Story. Actually surprised we do not have more Netflix drama based on it as yet! But as it is a phenomenon of my Gen X/millenial cusp generation I suspect it is still to come.

As said they are asking for Phillipson to go as the expectation set out over what the VAT policy would do has failed.

They believed her, many did (not sure why when it was obvious how bad it was) but it’s come back to bite and will mean she loses her job.

State school teachers need full funding for teaching assistants and teachers who are fully trained in SEND and have access to continuous training and all children deserve early intervention and diagnosis.
That is basically it, it is not complicated.
And all schools need a schedule of infrastructure maintenance to keep buildings safe and up to date and if Milliband is so keen on the Green agenda, why not start with making our schools and hospitals energy efficient and up to date.

Oh, are the teachers’ unions now pro removing VAT on school fees?

Also, do you know if the unions have liked any Ed Sec, over the years?

They obviously bought into her VAT policy and the 6,500 extra teachers.

They’ve realised what a bogus claim it was and want her out, I expect she’ll lose her job. It should be a bit of a wake up for whoever takes over. Pledging VAT type nonsense won’t work.

To be clear, once you have attended Oxford or Cambridge or any other super elite institution and got a degree in your pocket you are no longer working class!!!

Thank you @Araminta1003

Reality is always welcome over ideology and wishful thinking.

Buller, buller, buller!

I hold no particular candle for BP; my point was around the usage of the stats.

Has their been an education secretary over the years that the unions approved of?