To say I am fucking elated that this bunch of charlatans are on there way out

[Doyouhonestlyexpectmetobelieve]

My God I hated Thatcjer and all she stood for .. but at least I think she was honourable in her beliefs even if they were not mine .. but THIS LOT .. from BOJO onwards what a bunch of grifters ..

And before anyone says 'they are all the same ' .. I really don't think so ... At least in the 'lining their own pockets ' agenda .. AIBU to think this ?

It’s a pity means tested bursaries will be hit by his policy then.

Zonder
This is a ridiculous post. How is he pulling up the drawbridge behind himself? I think you're confusing him with Braverman and Sunak making sure no other children of immigrants have a chance here.

Did Braverman and Sunak's parents arrive in the country illegally?

If schools scrap bursaries it's down to them, they have have options.

It will show how charitable private schools really are.

Meanwhile the Tories are going after disability benefits.

No idea. It's an interesting term that's generally used incorrectly these days, I find.

Bursaries will be the first things to go with VAT.
His whole family have benefitted from private education but he doesn't want others to have that same benefit.

You’re fantasising. Why would bursaries be the first thing to go? They’re funded by trusts.

Saschka
Either way, they had buses and trains in the 60s, even up north. I don’t think 300miles is an insurmountable distance to travel for an annual holiday.

You keep posting about camping, youth hostels and public transport - Starmer said his family stayed in a cottage in the Lake District when he was a child and his father owned a Ford Cortina (in the 1970s).

Labour should consider the impact on means tested bursaries before introducing the VAT policy

It’s a result which they can foresee, and a negative for dc

If Starmer benefited from one all the more reason not to have this outcome

He clearly did go to a private sixth form

If he was admitted to grammar school in year 7 the expectation would be that he would complete A levels there. That’s the point of grammar schools.

When the school became private, well after he had started, it would have honoured its commitment to its current students.

You’re fantasising too.

I didn’t see any rosettes on Thursday morning. There was only one old, grumpy teller. He was a Conservative. It’s getting easy to spot the Conservatives - they’re the old, grumpy ones.

spelling.

DuncinToffee
Meanwhile the Tories are going after disability benefits

You didn't see my earlier post then?

I'm pretty sure I heard Ellie Reeves (Rachel Reeves' sister) say last week that the benefits bill is 'staggeringly high', there is 'no incentive for people on disability benefits to actively seek work' and they should 'give it [work] a go.'

urbanbuddha
If he was admitted to grammar school in year 7 the expectation would be that he would complete A levels there. That’s the point of grammar schools.
When the school became private, well after he had started, it would have honoured its commitment to its current students.

They did (or rather Surrey County Council did) - up to age 16. Starmer started sixth form in 1979 - different era then.

I shall be quietly relieved to have a change of government.

I shall be happy if Andrea Jenkyns and Philip Davies lose their seats.

Stop imaging and acquaint yourself with the facts.

Ah come on now @urbanbuddha , if everyone did that there'd be no Tory voters left.

I've explained the same as you put in your first paragraph there. However the fact that Norman Cook didn't stay on to 6th form at the same school at the same time because he was trying to be working class is concrete proof of something or other apparently.

They did (or rather Surrey County Council did) - up to age 16. Starmer started sixth form in 1979 - different era then.

But how do we know he got a bursary?
The school would have needed its ex -grammar school boys even if it also admitted new fee-paying pupils. It may have waived the fees for the grammar school boys who had been there since year 7.

A general election will not help any of us. It won't make any difference who is in power. Politicians and their parties are all the same. They are all self serving money grabbing liars who are in it for themselves. They all hate the ordinary British people, they hate the poor, the sick and the disabled. Any so called promises that are made in election manifestos are all false, as they will be backtracked on as soon as whichever party has made them gets into power. I've had enough of being lied to and let down by every government in living memory. I've had enough of being governed by morally bankrupt sleazy filth. Whichever party is jostling for power are all as bad as each other, all dishonest and dirty.

Saschka
Some people (not just Clav) have some bizarre ideas about what it means to be working class on here

Well, don't ask Keir Starmer -

Starmer was asked to define what he meant by 'working class' on LBC about six months ago. Starmer said 'people who go out to work every day to earn a living are working class.' The LBC presenter had to point out that middle class people go out to work to earn a living as well.

That's exactly what happened according to Wikipedia.

The school was converted into an independent fee-paying school in 1976, while he was a student. He was exempt from paying fees until the age of 16,

I consider myself a Tory- purely because of political leanings. To be honest if you examine it , so is Keir and also I think history will say tony was more right than Boris.
However, delighted that this lot are going. No I am not one of the weirdos that will vote reform .
Voting in the next election for me will be difficult- purely because if geography , but I sincerely hope labour get in. How worse can it get?

But how do we know he got a bursary?

We don't - but Starmer's spokesperson didn't deny he received a bursary for sixth form when asked. He said Starmer 'couldn't recall' which is unlikely and deliberately evasive. We don't know whether Starmer's parents were asked to make a small contribution to the fees either - obviously school fees were much more affordable in 1979.

The school started taking girls in the sixth form the same year it converted to independent status.

Oh well if his dad owned a Ford Cortina in the 70s you are right, he must be landed gentry as those cars were completely out of reach for all but the ultra rich.

It was the best selling car in the UK between 1973-1982 with 2.5m sold, but I expect that was all down to Keir Starmer’s dad buying them all.

A general election will not help any of us. It won't make any difference who is in power.

I'm sorry you feel that way @TeaMistress.

Fortunately, it's not true. The party in power makes a huge difference to the country, its people and its prospects. Don't give up hope because of the Tories. Things can get better.

I've only claimed that Starmer comes from a lower middle class background. His father owned his own small business.

You are the one making up stories about his family staying in youth hostels and travelling 300 miles by train because they couldn't afford a car. His family owned a car and they stayed in a holiday cottage/s. Next you will be telling me that all teenagers in the 1970s/early 80s had free music tours to Malta with the local youth symphony orchestra - just like Keir Starmer.

I have said nothing of the sort, as will be clear to anyone who wants to go back and ready my posts. I said working class people are not penniless destitutes, and many working class families could afford to go on holiday in the 60s and 70s. If you think his family is lower middle class, I’m not really sure what the gotcha is meant to be here? He wasn’t brought up in wealth and privilege.

Working class people can go on holiday, and own cars. Pointing out that Keir Starmer’s family did those things does not suddenly mean that his family were rich and he’s lying about it.

Saschka
I have said nothing of the sort, as will be clear to anyone who wants to go back and ready my posts

You suggested camping and youth hostels and public transport because you assumed they must have had family holidays on a shoestring.

He wasn’t brought up in wealth and privilege

I didn't say he was - I said he was lower middle class. Not sure why Starmer doesn't seem very keen to acknowledge his father was self-employed and the 'factory' his father worked in was his own small business. Conversely, we are told with much hype that Rachel Reeves worked for the Bank of England - she'd left the BofE by the age of 27.

It's obvious that Starmer's father was eccentric/odd and let the condition of the family home fall into disrepair in later years. I read that when Starmer's mother died in 2015, his father moved into a shed/outbuilding in the garden.

I was describing my own family’s holidays, as well you know because you then googled where you wrongly thought I was brought up to demonstrate it was closer to the Lake District than Reigate is.

You are the person arguing that only the wealthy can travel 300 miles for a holiday.