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 ..

I can see it would be hard moving your children - perhaps you can come to an arrangement with the school. Maybe they are cutting future bursaries

However, please don’t use the fact your children are academically brilliant and hard working as a reason for them to go private. Those of us with children in state schools could find it insulting. My son is very bright. He doesn’t go private. The school approached him about a bursary in a private school for 6th form. I wasn’t keen. He isn’t either. Some of us just want local and to be in the community. But not because our children are not clever or don’t work hard or we don’t care…

Because he is denying "hard working families" as he likes to call them, the chance to do what he is doing for his kids ie give them a good education.

Why can't you see that it is hypocritical???

The families who have trust funds won't be affected by the VAT rise. The people who have 2 jobs to pay for school fees will be.

Move to the local state school, where your 'academically brilliant' children will surely shine. Or sell stuff/move to a smaller house so you can afford the private education.

Ah yes, a good old race to the bottom.

Or cutting your cloth to suit your purse. If schools are concerned parents won’t be able to afford the VAT uplift and will remove their children, as a business/corporate entity they can chose how they use any slippage in their budget eg upgrade facilities or support parents to pay the VAT.

So true

I’d be over the moon if they got rid of fee paying schools full stop. 🤞

It will be interesting to see the numbers in the private schools and how they have changed by the end of the year. I don’t remotely believe as many people will remove their children as threatened.

Spot on - thank you. And if that isn't your experience (to whatever degree) then you are lucky and privileged. Whatever money is thrown at those schools won't make any difference if there are parents like that.

Private school education is expensive but anyone can learn critical thinking for free

www.grammarly.com/blog/appeal-to-hypocrisy/

It's easy enough for you to say as your children's fees are heavily discounted. Perhaps staff fees will feel the pinch too as schools tighten their belts.

Imagine if they did scrap private schools - it would cost the country loads!
in addition house prices in the catchment of good schools would go up even more.
The post earlier from a teacher working in state school was spot on about the reality of many state schools today.

I agree but also think the UK should get rid of grammar schools. All the grammars are in posher areas so it's difficult for students from poorer areas to get to these schools. The vast majority of grammars are in the South too.

@IMustDoMoreExercise
Because he is denying "hard working families" as he likes to call them, the chance to do what he is doing for his kids ie give them a good education.
Two things.

1. He is doing what he can to improve the education available to everyone. Contrary to Mumsnet belief, the vast majority of state school pupils get an excellent education-albeit without the very desirable private school frills?
2. Are you expecting him to move from the house he moved into 20 years ago?

If Oxbridge is the end game for your academic offspring then they’ll have a better chance if they have gone to the local state comp.
I say that as a private school parent, My DCs schools are also reducing bursaroes among other things so fees don’t have to go up by the full 20%. It’s a shame but hopefully children like yours will make the comps better, which I think is partly the government’s aim?

Seriously?
No Private education? No choice for private piano lessons? No choice for top up lessons? Just take the bare minimum provided by the state and ban everything else?

Tell me how will you explain that policy to my sister in law desperately trying to help my quadriplegic nephew to speak, read and one day walk? Should she give up hope because she has to pay for private things beyond the state provision? Or do your rules only apply to certain things? How do you feel if I tell you this will absolutely kill and destroy foreign investment in the UK? Is your ideology more important than jobs?

I can assure they are not........Working in a school the parents that do not care are now the majority

What is it you are asking exactly?

We've worked incredibly hard to cover the remaining 50%

Lots of people work incredibly hard. You haven't necessarily worked harder than that nurse down the road whom the government have simply paid less than you. Even being able to afford 50% of the fees for two kids means you are likely rather high earners, or have had help to afford a home/car etc so have very low outgoings.

Trust me - if your children are academically brilliant, they really will be fine.

@Dorisbonson "No Private education? No choice for private piano lessons? No choice for top up lessons?"

That really is whataboutery. We're talking about schools-not out of school activities.

Who is he denying what to? He’s not preventing anything?

No Private education? No choice for private piano lessons? No choice for top up lessons? Just take the bare minimum provided by the state and ban everything else?

You know the poster was referring to private schooling - eg primary and secondary education. Which was clear from her reference to private schools. Nothing about music lessons, private tuition - which I’d happily pay VAT on anyway.

Simple

Why

Hopefully those of us lawyers who had a good private school education (or state) will be able to litigate the proposal into the ground..... let us wait to see. I don't know if any schools group is planning a judicial review but there may well be grounds.

The best state school with a very small catchment area where his wife became a Governor before his kids went there. I wonder why she did that?

It is hilarious to blame the current PM for the choices his parents made when he was a child. 😂 I didn’t vote for Labour and I’m not a KS fan but this is bonkers.