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.

Northern Ireland GCSEs are different to England's GCSEs. In NI kids take exams covering the 1st year of the Gcse course and an exam covering the second year of the GCSe course. Same with A levels. Even though they are called the same thing results cant really be compared.

Why would he leave a good school he didn't have to pay fees for? His friends were also likely there. You are being ridiculous.
If you don't like him, fine but to attack a 16 yr old or his parents (now dead) for this decision is just pathetic.

And yet children have to leave their friends because their school has closed down.

But as long as Keir’s alright 👍

He wasn't. And this is the most idiotic, dishonest thread I've seen in ages. You just don't like him. Probably you don't like his party either? There are plenty of things you could legitimately criticise him for. This isn't one of them. However, if you have a preference for another party and you aren't similarly examining their history versus their current party policies - well, that would be hypocrisy, wouldn't it?

Totally agree. I’m not particularly a fan of his either, but the OP is just making themselves look ridiculous by banging on and on about something that was his parents' decision. OP: give it a rest! You are looking obsessed.

Friend went to companies house and looked. Most small private schools (not public schools) make little profit. Why? Teacher’s salaries, pensions and VAT. No one is minting money.

this thread is ridiculous. Expecting a 16yr old to decline the offer of free sixth form and go to state incase he enters politics later on and people accuse him of hypocrisy. You’re bonkers. What a bizarre thing to say.

Jog on 🙄
Oh and pay your tax!

He claims he went to a state school. And he is persisting in charging VAT on schools to the extent that many of them are closing. Of course he wants to stop children going to private schools. It’s in his socialist DNA.

So you're telling us the academies (the secondary moderns) in your area are terrible and that's the system you support for the majority of children?

The whole Private school VAT thing has really sent some wealthy people absolutely crackers, it's so funny/

He did go to a state school. And, incidentally, he isn’t a socialist.

“The whole Private school VAT thing has really sent some wealthy people absolutely crackers, it's so funny/“

I doubt it. The properly rich can easily afford it and it probably lowers competition for the top private schools for them, at least those that are not boarding schools.

The people complaining are those who used to be able to afford it and already pay the majority tax in this country. They are the ones who will move their kids to state schools and possibly top up pensions, ISAs etc instead and cut their hours down. Which then leaves far less money for those who need it in taxation (UCS top ups, welfare state).
So the ramifications of this kind of policy are far greater than you having a laugh.
The rich always win anyway.

@Asking4afrend
My husband comes from very humble roots and worked his socks off at his comprehensive school to go to an excellent university. He is a classic case of social mobility so I do believe that everyone should be given a chance in life. But then not trash that leg up afterwards.

Excellent. I applaud your husband.

I went to a Direct Grant Grammar School just like Starmers. I was an ordinary inner city kid from a large family, and I don't think there's much doubt that the education I got for free gave me an advantage.

That school, like Starmer's, went private the year I left, incidentally.

But it's because of your husband that I'm against private education and also against grammar schools like the one I went to. I don't see why I should be given a leg up at eleven when that opportunity wasn't offered to your husband.

Your husband is proof that the comprehensive system can work. Surely that's a good thing. Don't you feel that all kids should be have the same chance? And don't you think it's the job of politicians to change systems that are unfair and unequal, whether or not they benefited from them?

Araminta1003 · Today 09:14
The people complaining are those who used to be able to afford it and already pay the majority tax in this country.

I think what you meant is 'the people complaining tend to come from the band that, overall, pay the majority of the tax in this country, though those who send their kids to private school obviously are a pretty small minority of that group so the repercussions are likely to be correspondingly insignificant'.

So what? Most private schools aren't Eton but the VAT has been applied to all of them.

@PointsSouth - I do not know. Because the IFS reports tend to highlight how much taxation comes from the top 10% of earners. So we shall see. If it was only 6% of kids in private schools but concentrated in those families then the repercussions could be big, depending on the choices they make. If you are overreliant on one group for your taxation income you take a key person risk as a society. Some will just pay the VAT others will go part time and top up pensions and cancel out tax income. We will probably never know as they will just freeze the tax thresholds for the rest of us so one way or another the rich will not be paying for the fallout. The rest of us will.
The point was that private education is a great way to entice high earners to want to earn more, thereby paying more tax. If it tips the other way, not good news.

@Araminta1003 The point was that private education is a great way to entice high earners to want to earn more, thereby paying more tax.

I love this take on tax-related economics. It’s a great idea. If we make very expensive things even more expensive, the rich will earn more to pay for it, so pay more tax.

That’s lateral thinking with real world benefits. I’m all for it.

@PointsSouth - well thank you for your most sincere compliment on my lateral thinking skills!

Although I did not have to exercise too much of them to work out that we are better off just keeping DD in the state grammar system rather than sending her to specialist music school at a cost of 50k plus per year (plus VAT). Given the tax bracket I am in, and having to up my hours to 100 per cent (which in my career involves more like 60 hour weeks) just “cost” too much. But let’s not pretend it is not also costing the state pretty much equal amounts per annum. And as we would have had to do the same for my current 11 year old in due course, that is into the hundreds of thousands potentially. I am happy to share the “burden” back with the State.

With the lateral thinking skills, comes a similarly inclined friendship group. So it will come as no surprise that several have indeed removed their precious brood from sometimes even proper public schools to send them to state Sixth Forms just this year and drop down their hours. There is a Laffer curve and a “fuck em” curve that has appeared to have seeped in. Let’s hope we are indeed in the minority!

@Araminta1003

Econonic strategy aside, thank you (sincerely) for ‘fuck ‘em curve’. I suspect I’ve lived most of my life cruising around it at a fair old lick, like an Olympic cyclist.

You’re the one who’s bumped a ridiculous thread from May this year!