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.

@derxaI hardly think that description applies to Starmer as an ex DPP, Pat McFadden is one of the best ministers of recent times, and Wes Streeting seems capable too. Compared with the cabinets of the last 10 years I think they can more than hold their own

RobinStrike
Starmer was at grammar school that turned private for his sixth form and got a bursary (note he is called after Keir Hardie, his parents would never have sent him private)

They clearly filled out a bursary application form for a private sixth form and in fact we don't actually know whether they were asked to pay a modest contribution towards the fees.

@Clavinovasee the Sutton Trust report I linked earlier. This is a screenshot from the relevant page. All of his year group would have been paid for by the LA

The whole of Starmer’s year group had fees paid by the local authority

Only up to the end of Year 11 - The Sutton Trust are incorrect.

Personally I think the Sutton Trust analysis is rather slapdash/misleading: they say only one member of the cabinet attended private school and their chart shows two, they've not mentioned that Shabana Mahmood attended grammar school for sixth form, they don't mention that Lisa Nandy attended a prep school, their post about Keir Starmer's school is misleading and they've not mentioned that David Lammy had state boarding fees paid by a scholarship.

Fair play of the school to not kick him out, it would have been harsh.

YABVU

Grasping at straws. Give it a rest.

Keir likes things that other people pay for. It seems rather hypocritical when it comes to private schools, concert tickets, penthouse apartments and expensive clothes but the basic principle is very in line with left wing thinking.

Well you could but you would be very hypocritical for doing so when you have likely paid for your child’s education via the tax-free route of buying a house in catchment.

And what if you just happen to live in the area you grew up in? Or a local school undergoes rapid change & becomes very good? Or you are a catholic? Why are private school parents blocked from buying houses where they would like?

So if you just, like most people, sent your child to the school nearest to you and like most people your child did well and was as happy as can be expected, school being school, you’re free to comment? Phew.

No, any child who did well at a state school must have been to one of those very few examples of a "good" one.

Your child must have emerged from Knife Crime High with no GCSEs and an ASBO to be allowed to comment.

Not even then since in that case you'd just be jealous.

Or you spent the equivalent of school fees on tutoring…..

Oh, and you can’t comment if you paid for music lessons…

So you say, but nobody seems to be able to provide any independent evidence from a decent source of this being a cost to the tax payer. So until I see this I’m not going to believe such allegations are anything other than total hyperbole from people upset about the decision. Before the change came into force people were saying how thousands of kids would be returning to state schools, doesn’t seem to have happened. Now apparently that change has been postponed to Sept. Guess time will tell.

Educational privilege is primarily determined by the level of education of the mother and wealth. So yes, if you have been to a top university yourself or had excellent education otherwise, live in a nice house etc, and your child has no SEND, then you should really not be commenting on SEND children going to private schools and trying to tax the hell out of them. Very distasteful. Especially when aimed at people actually poorer than you as well or with a less privileged education themselves.
And if you have ever used private schools facilities in the holidays you are a hypocrite.

So yes, those of us who are privileged and were privileged enough to send our DCs to excellent state schools, why would we ever wish any lesser for any other child? And that includes them having access to private schools.

And finally you cannot be pro VAT on education but at the same time by anti Brexit. Mutually exclusive.

@MoominUnderWater - the evidence is already there. More kids than the Government expected (by 4x) already left private education since January.

It is the same when you look at eg the stock market. If things perform below expectations, you know what the next set of results will likely be.

Then come to where I live and you'll see exactly that. The bank wouldn't lend me the multiple I needed for a mortgage in the catchment of the decent schools so I live in a shitty area and pay fees. I'm not alone. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Most parents are killing themselves to allow their kids to finish out the school year or exam cycle they are in, so we won't see the impact of this yet. Loads of y11 are not staying to 6th form when they did before for instance but they won't be showing up in the figures yet. It's a bit early for making any pronouncements on this. And I've yet to see any tangible positive impact on a state school..anyone seen a maths teacher job filled by one of these mythical 6000 new teachers paid for by this?

There we go again with questioning somebody's level of intelligence. You don't sound very clever yourself leaping to that lazy assumption.

Of course the government don’t want to highlight this as it puts for policy in a very bad light. This also why they said they’d not monitor the impact after 6 months despite n in owing that the vast majority of the ikk no pact would happen after that. It’s politics and politicians lie.

Remember when they told you that the money would fund 6500 new teachers? Well now teachers are mowing made redundant because the VAT policy is a net revenue loser.

13,000 children have already left mid year. That is already 4 times higher than the government report estimated would be the case at this stage. The September admissions at Reception and 11 are significantly down.

It really is just a case of how big will the taxpayer bill be. Of course Labour and those in support of the policy have to pretend that isn’t happening otherwise their motivation for support of the policy is exposed.

Well, this has escalated. Clearly it’s a sore point even as some of you are screaming that it’s old news.

I’m off to work. And hoping that my Year 7s still have their SEN support when they complete their schooling. Reeves told us the VAT would be ploughed back into education yet now I see cuts, cuts and more cuts.

SEND. I’m sure we used to be able to edit our posts at some point on MN? Rushed post.

They were all made for hypocritical political reasons
None were FOR children in any way - unless you think taking away social mobility is 'for' children?

Not even then since in that case you'd just be jealous.

Right, so basically you can't criticise private schools if you went to one, if your dc go to a crap school or if they go to a good school. 😆😆What about if you don't have dc?

These Labour threads always go the same way.