To marvel at privately educated Keir Starmer's hypocrisy?

[Bursarysadness]

Both Kier Starmer and his wife are privately educated. Kier's senior school converted into a private school in the second year of his attendance and he has received a generous full bursary up until his A levels. He has built his life and his success on this education, supported to the end by the bursary funded by the same schools and parents he is now trying to destroy. It pains me as my children receive 50% bursaries from a brilliant local school. We've worked incredibly hard to cover the remaining 50% but it has been worth it, seeing how my children blossomed. We had a very different experience in their primary state schools, including bullying and racism. We don't live in a great area. We have just been told that the school will probably reduce all their bursaries to be able to lower the fees for the non bursary parents who are now struggling because of the VAT introduction. I don't know what the future for my children is now and they have so many close friends where they are. They are both academically brilliant and work very hard - hence the bursaries were granted. I feel so depressed that, from what is becoming obvious, they won't be able to benefit from the generosity of bursaries the same way Kier Starmer did when he was a child ..

He didn't choose private education, he was at a state grammar school that became private.

Oh hello @Tiredalwaystired . So what shall I do...? Why wasn't the legislation thought through enough to exempt SEN kids from th increase? And to appease the angry masses - I'm taking about proper NHS diagnosis, not some "dubious" private diagnoses that are always doubted right?

That is just offensive and snobbery of the highest order. Clearly her constituents have voted for her so she must have done some good. MPs who are truly useless frequently do not get re selected. You demean your argument by making personal derogatory comments about Angela Rayner and her accent and background. You would have approved of my ex MP, public schiol, good university and completely devoid of any compassion or understanding of his constituents. Thankfully he is now out of Parliament. But by your snobbish standards he would have been first rate.

Happy to do so. You chose to pay to send your children to a private school. You got a perk of paying no VAT on that service for probably many years (charitable status for private schools is very obviously a ruse the rich came-up with). Keir Starmer’s parents did not choose a private school education for their son. He was going along being educated in a state school when its status was changed. He was permitted to remain there without fees. Therefore, his education shouldn’t have been disrupted by him having to move.

As an aside, I am a Labour voter. I think Keir Starmer is a breath of fresh air, I agree with VAT on school fees and I paid fees for my daughter to go to private school.

The reality is if less people sent their children to private schools state schools in that area would improve. All that’s being asked is that private schools pay their dues and it’s about time.

But it's the fee payer not the school who will be paying the VAT...and the majority of them, assuming they are higher or additional rate tax payers, already pay their dues. In fact, they probably pay your dues.

There are bigger problems that’s this in life, honestly get a grip.

DH and I are both privately educated. We feel very strongly that private schools are elitist and anti meritocratic. So we sent our dc to the local primary and comprehensive.

By your logic that makes us hypocrites. Which we aren't. We are sticking to.our beliefs and principles.

Quite honestly, OP, you're embarrassing yourself.

(Well the school already do pay VAT but that's not the point in issue)

CurlewKate
@ Clavinova
They don’t agree with the public using private education, it’s unfair on the other children, but oh wait…..it’s ok to send their own children. "
CurlewKate
@ Clavinova
"This is the least of their problems though. Been in a month and already in disarray."
Talk to me about this disarray.

I didn't post either of those comments but I am happy to agree with the poster who did;

YouGov - Just 31% of Britons say that Keir Starmer is handling the riots well, while almost half think (49%) he is handling them badly.

I think it’s because VAT is VAT. There aren’t exemptions with that tax. I do feel for you, I really do. There is definitely a cohort that is being hit by this but it’s a small number. Sadly with all legislation there will always be outliers that it adversely affects. I’m sorry it’s you.

However if it improves education in some way for a bigger audience I’m not against it.

Because the last shower in power did a great job with their private education behind them didnt they?

Actually, he was 17 by the time he commenced his sixth form studies.

You are really showing your own personal complexes here @Readandwrite . You might have missed my previous post explaining I'm foreign. Foreigners don't have the same accent judgement and prejudice British people have. We are completely blind to it. Haha. So not, I'm not judging her for her accent and her background at all. We can't choose it. But lack of education - yes. There are people from many difficult backgrounds who strive to get educated and get good education. Yes, I want the government to be educated. Preferably well. I don't want someone with no education to represent me. I don't care about their accent

Er he went to a state school. As do his children. Why can’t people do their research before letting rip? 🤣

So to you the only useful education is a load of academic qualifications? My father left school (during the war) with no qualifications. Got some allied to his military career. But after 24 years in the RN he got involved in local politics and had offers to be put forward to stand for parliament. His work at local government level meant that a fair number of the local 'great and the good' attended his funeral. But by your reckoning he would not be good enough to represent you. I pity your narrow minded belief that academic achievement is the only thing of value.

Privilege manifests itself in so many ways. All upper middle class children have private orthodontic treatment if needed (and often if not, really) and do usually have much more perfect teeth than those less wealthy. As we know career opportunities are far greater for those perceived to be attractive and the private dermatologists, orthodontics, range of sporting opportunities all combine to ensure that middle class children make the best of their genetic inheritance.

You are right. Keir Starmer's grammar school went private after he had joined it and his parents obviously didn't want to move him as he liked it, but it was state when he started.

Claphambunny. John Major wasn't well educated, he had even failed his eleven plus. However he did the banking exams which are very difficult and was well respected in the financial world. People can self-educate and make something of themselves if they are determined and have good intelligence. I admire that.

Wow, what a lot of snide, unpleasant responses this thread has generated.

Unfortunately the labour ethos is to drag everyone down to the same miserable level… God forbid any working class upstarts might somehow - through sheer hard graft - give their kids a chance to enter Sir Keir’s echelon (yeah yeah, I know his father was a toolmaker).

OP - I completely agree with you… but in this forum, we’re in the minority.

He did attend a private school with a bursary in the sixth form (Surrey County Council only covered his fees up to age 16);

Head of school where Keir Starmer received bursary urges him to put children above politics.

Last year, The Sunday Telegraph revealed Sir Keir received a bursary to fund his sixth form studies at Reigate Grammar School after it became a fee-paying institution two years after he joined.

Speaking to The Telegraph, [Reigate head] Mr Fenton reminded the Labour leader of the benefits of his own private education.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/headmaster-keir-starmers-school-focus-children-not-politics/

^ This. I went to - or more accurately "was sent to" - public boarding school. Over my dead body would I send my own child, bursary or not.

You are right that privilege manifests itself in very many ways. I'm being told I'm privileged - I was born into real poverty but, because I work hard, that's described as privilege. I would suggest many of the people on this thread are far more privileged than I am.

Do you have family support? Good health? These are all privileges.

Well it’s down to private schools to manage their accounts and make choices on who they choose to support

that some schools will choose to cut bursaries in order to help ease the fees for full paying students surely tells you that they value children on bursaries less than those who attend on full fees

it makes more economical sense

I've made the same point that Keir enjoyed the benefits of private school that he would happily deny others to win votes. We had to take our eldest out his state school for his safety (targeted by bullies to reel him into their county lines gangs) and there were simply no places elsewhere, so private was all we had left. I had to cash in my pension to pay for it. I disn't object to paying for a state school place we weren't using and I don't expect any sympathy or supportive comments, we made our choice - but please realise that the vast majority of kids in private school don't have super-rich parents, they're ordinary folk doing the best they can for their kids. The few super rich parents won't even notice the extra tax they pay. So Keirs duplicitous action is going to create a lot of hardship and misery for ordinary people and will raise little or no extra tax money

It's amazing how many private school parents here seem to want to give the impression that Starmer is going to go round in to each private school and burn it to the ground while singing the state anthem of the USSR.

Private schools aren't disappearing. They're going to get a bit more expensive. Lots of things get more expensive for lots of reasons. You either re-prioritise your budget, find a cheaper option, gain an additional source of income or realise you can no longer afford that product/service.