Thread 15 Starmer - Nolite te bastardes carborundorum

[DuncinToffee]

Previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5244293-thread-14-starmer-the-starmeristas-strike-back?page=40&reply=141334312

So they'll protect the triple lock, but look at means-testing?

Means-testing - does that basically mean all those on final salary pension schemes…

I'm not sure that's she ever going to get back into power to engage in any of her incoherent thoughts. I mean that was what she did last time when she had actual responsibility and ability to change things.

All mouth, no trousers

Is anyone still on those? The teacher one was reformed years ago. It would be a really bad idea to means test pension - it discourages making the sort of basic forward planning most can afford.

Means-testing based on income alone is also quite unfair. HMRC do not have a clear picture of anyone’s overall asset wealth so means-testing is never going to be fair. Bad idea, another disincentive to work and save.

Well, well, well…
IMF upgrades U.K. growth forecast…
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/17/imf-upgrades-uk-growth-forecast-and-takes-swipe-at-trump-plans?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

https://bsky.app/profile/jessicaelgot.bsky.social/post/3lfx22dr55c2i

New - The Speaker has ordered the House of Commons authorities to close Strangers bar - for MPs and guests - for an indefinite period after an incident of drink spiking was reported to police. A safety review is being carried out.

I am sure I read something about Russian diplomats joining a Houses of Parliaments tour and the Speakers had to give out a warning.

Index of gilt market general news coverage down 80% today.

Looking at the 'economic commentators still active on X' components, it's down almost 100%

😂

Rachel.from accounts doing better then?

I am sure someone will esplain*
all these signs of positivity away.

*not a typo

So it seems. Not that there will be any acknowledgment in certain quarters.

I did have a wry smile when I saw that on Apple News as I checked my phone after work.

I imagined by the time I'd walked the 25 minutes home someone somewhere would have twisted it.

https://bsky.app/profile/bestforbritain.bsky.social/post/3lfxe3bd4fc2q

Donald Tusk: "I am aware this is a dream: that instead of a Brexit, we will have a Breturn. Perhaps I am labouring under an illusion. But I'd rather be an optimist and harbour these dreams in my heart. Sometimes they come true in politics."

The BOE needs to be able to cut rates so all eyes will be on inflation. As long as it stays down, we will hopefully be fine. The opposite scenario is not worth contemplating.

Yes a closer relationship with the EU would be fantastic. I also keep on hoping for something!

The education tax on private schools is being fast tracked in the High Court for judicial review. Wouldn’t it be semi ironic if it gets buried in the celebration of staying within the spirit of EU laws?
The university freedom of speech act was also going to be challenged by judicial review and then a legislative compromise was swiftly reached by Labour.

VAT on private school fees, not education tax

The only thing is, if it does get buried, the tax paid on this terms’s fees won’t be returned to those who paid it (I expect that pretty much everyone will have paid the Spring term fees now).

Education tax because those kids are being educated? What else is happening in these schools? Quite intrigued now.

I was baffled by the amount of dire schools, even though many of the posters didn’t know of anyone who attended & had never visited the school.
the local private school has just embarked on an expansion programme building another classroom block & various other new facilities.

To be honest, DH's school is riddled with RAAC and is about as bad inside as many comps. But it does have huge playing fields .

Education isn’t being taxed because you can access education without having to pay. It’s a privilege tax. I’ve taught in both state and private schools. People are buying privilege.

By privilege do you mean selection? Only being with others who can primarily pay? Is that a privilege?

To pay 20k plus per year and 40 per cent tax plus VAT on top?
It isn’t tax efficient from a parental point of view whatsoever.

Or is the privilege in the education itself? Is it actually that much better than all state schools? (I doubt it) or is it in the extracurricular offering, typically?

All the studies show that good education is down to quality of actual teaching primarily. Which can be excellent in many state schools.

@Araminta1003 the privilege is obviously in being able to pay for private education in the hope that your DC will get something better. Whereas for most of us it's catchment school or nothing.

Personally I'm a great believer in state schools, but then the Netherlands do not have many private schools at all - nothing like on the scale of the UK - and our Royals attend state schools, albeit ones in very leafy parts.

The education isn’t. The attention in small classes is. The connections you make are.
Ate you really trying to suggest there’s no advantage? Why do people pay then. Again, I’ve taught in both.

I think the real privilege is if you have an excellent local state school where your DC can thrive, make lots of local friends, attend local clubs.
I think the connections thing is a fallacy, Perhaps for kids in boarding schools because they have to, forcibly, make each other quasi family so it becomes a brotherhood or sisterhood bond. However, surely peer on peer “connections” at university will always be far more significant, so for connections it really has to be the top universities. In reality, it’s the parental demographic that has the connections, not the 15 year olds.

And finally, I reckon people pay for different reasons like family or cultural expectations, genuine need like SEND or local underperforming option or not getting into the sought after local school.

So no, I don’t think feeling you have to pay all that money plus some now and work extra hard to fund it, is a privilege. But I appreciate the very differing views on the subject.

In reality, I am far more interested in the human rights act aspect in all of this and recent policies by the executive that have been challenged and the whole parliament is sovereign question.