Keir Starmer went to private school

[Asking4afrend]

AIBU to be shocked that Keir Starmer went to private school? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. So he enjoyed an excellent education which increased his social mobility and then wants to bring down the system that helped him, even when they gave him a 100% bursary so that his parents didn’t have to pay the fees?

This is from wiki:

Starmer passed the 11-plus examination and gained entry to Reigate Grammar School, which at the time was a voluntary-aidedselective grammar school.[1][12] The school converted into an independent fee-paying school in 1976, while he was a student. The terms of the conversion were such that his parents were not required to pay for his schooling until he turned 16, and when he reached that point, the school, by now a charity, awarded him a bursary that allowed him to complete his education there without any parental contribution.

I only found out about this today when I was googling the school for another reason and looked up the alumni. What a hypocrite. You didn’t hear about this in the election during all his “my father was a toolmaker” speeches.

It started as a state school but turned private while he was there. What was he supposed to do leave in protest?

Not this again!

He can't really help where he went to school?!

It's not exactly Eton, is it?

You’re being ridiculous. I’m not a fan of Keir but his parents didn’t choose a private school for him or pay for it

Most of the cabinet went to private schools.

There are labour MP's who said the bill was necessary and fair, who sent their kids.

Maybe they don't object to private schools after all, just want them to return to the very elite members only club

This is common knowledge that he went to a Grammar school. The fact the school
changed status is not as a result of his parents choosing to send him to an independent school. My daughter goes to a Grammar school. If they changed to an independent then I would expect they would want to keep clever pupils like her (as non paying) as it will improve the results of the newly independent school for their GCSEs and ALevel results, thus attracting more fee paying children to the school!

Not a fan of his but that's not his fault is it?
Where they supposed to disrupt his education just in case one day he becsme PM?

Neither are lots of the schools who are struggling with VAT!

Me too. Happened to thousands of us when the government at the time decided to duspense with grammar schools. And what?

This has been done to death.

🤣🤣

Actually he could have left at sixth form. But he chose to stay.

Gosh another anti Starmer thread. It's almost like it's a concerted effort.............

His kids go to state school.
I wonder where Farage went and all his mulitple kids went? Or Tice? Or Johnson?

He didn't choose his school. Plus, you're only telling half the story. I don't like him, but let's be fair.

Do you not think working class people should have social mobility ? As an aside grammar .school was about social mobility he was still educated at private school because of circumstances rather than his parents having pots of money.

His parents did not choose a fee paying school for him, or indeed pay fees. What point are you making? It's neither his, nor his parent's fault the school changed status.

God's teeth! Have you not got somewhere else you need to be?

Which is exactly the point. Most fee paying schools are not exactly Eton, despite what labour would have you believe in their decisive dog whistle policies

How tedious.

This is well known and documented. The circumstances are in the public domain and have been for years. Why are you shocked?

But the vast majority of pupils don’t have grammar as an option
hence the gap that private school fills

Why are private schools charging that much though? That’s where you need to take your focus. They are unaffordable to me, vat or not. But as long as enough people pay their fees they’ll keep their fees high.

There are lots of reasons to be annoyed with Keir Starmer. But insisting that he makes his policies based on his parents’ decisions when he was a child is not one of those reasons.

He went to Grammar school.

On the basis of merit: passing the 11+.

Also there used to be a system of ‘direct grant’ schools where some private schools had a high % of places for the top 11+ performers. In my school it was 50%.