77% of the new Cabinet attended state schools - that's 22 Cabinet secretaries

[Warmfire]

and no posh tw*ts like Jacob Rees Mogg

Keir Starmer is a year younger than me. Back in the early 1970s when we were both transferring from primary to secondary schools, some areas still had the 11+ but the great majority either had already abolished it or were getting ready to do so. Most grammar schools were either closed or merged with secondary moderns or became comprehensives. A small number chose to go private instead, and that's what his school did. He wasn't in the sixth form then, he was aged about 13. At that age it was his parents' decision where he should go to school, not his. He was able to stay there without any money changing hands, as were all the other existing pupils.

You could argue that he should have left at 16, but it would still have been his parents' decision as much as his. It wasn't nearly as common back then to switch schools at 16, plus, only a minority of teenagers stayed on at school beyond 16 so there weren't as many sixth forms. I can't get worked up in the slightest at the fact that he completed his education in a school where he was known and supported and where he had friends even though the younger age groups were by then only there because their parents could pay fees.

Why not?that's what many of today's kids will have to do now isn't it because of labour's policy equality, ie: everyone on their arses

I think he should have gone to a different sixth form actually - given his views on private schools. Loads of people change schools for sixth form.

He would have been 15/16 when the school decided to become private. I doubt his views were fully formed at that age.

Everyone wouldn’t be on their arses if all education was properly funded

Isn't he named after the labour party's first MP? I think his family's views and his views were more than fully formed. I'd say they were fanatical.

Younger. The school went private in 1976. He was born in 1962.

He still benefitted from a private school education. I don’t have a problem with that but others who resent privately educated people might.

It sounds as if it was a Direct Grant school. I went to one as a state pupil in 1975. The direct grant was abolished from 1976 but that only applied to the subsequent intakes. The state pupils who were already there continued to be state pupils until they left, and at the time I had no idea whose parents were paying and whose weren't. I even got a free bus pass.

I remember it being listed on the secondary schools application form along with all the other state schools in my local authority.

This. Going to state school doesn't necessarily make somebody more capable at their job, relatable or empathetic to wider society.

But we should care, as a minority, the 7% who are privately educated are disproportionately represented in elite jobs (including politics)
MPs job is to represent the electorate. Social mobility is important and by having more people who have come from less privileged backgrounds (& make no mistake attending private school does confer privilege) this is a progressive step.
https://www.suttontrust.com/our-research/elitist-britain-2019/

There are many more female MPs in the cabinet now than in the past - again surely this is to be celebrated or should we just have continued having male dominated cabinets?

And I wish you had a included a poll on whether Rees-Mogg is a posh twat as I’m pretty sure I know how it’d turn out, in fact it would be worth putting a bet on 😉

No it doesn’t necessarily make anyone more likely to be any of those things but going to state school does make your education more akin to 93% of the population that the Government represents.

I think that the Starmers children go to a state school with a very small catchment in a very affluent area. So unless you have several million to spend on a property in said catchment you have no chance.

So they are essentially buying a good education for their children's through property. Plus they were privately educated themselves!

I've got far more time for Rayner who really has been through the real 'state' system.

@Fightthepower But surely you just have to be willing to listen and investigate. I can't imagine that a state school education 30+ years ago is anything like state school education today therefore what insight does it really provide? I, for one can say that my state school education from 20+ years ago was miles ahead of the private education one of my children received. My state school education is also nothing like the state school education being given to majority of the kids in my local area.

This is absolutely right.

The state education my mum received was miles better than the private education my children received decades later.

@Obeseandashamed It's not just the curriculum we are talking about though is it? It's also about perpetuating priviledge. For example, 20 UK Prime Ministers attended Eton (including from the last 14 years Cameron and Johnson) Is it good for the country that one very expensive school is a conveyer belt for Prime Ministers? I think Sunak's example of going without sky TV shows that some peoples lives are so far removed from reality for lots of people. And no, I don't think Johnson had the first clue what state school education is like, nor would he have listened if people had told him.

@Iffx @Obeseandashamed so we are all agreed state school education used to be better 20 or 30 years ago, that's why it's so important that its properly prioritised now.

Sorry if you weren't happy with the quality of private education that you paid for for your children. I know that is something we all agree on, we all want our children to learn and thrive at school.

An uneducated person as deputy prime minister, it is worrying.

I’d rather a Deputy PM with genuine life experience who’s fought her way to the top than someone who’s lived in a privileged bubble with a PPE from Oxford

So because your parents name you as a baby after a famous person, that means your views are fully formed and fanatical whilst still a child?
Wish I had named my DCs Mandela or Einstein. I missed a trick.

I read a post on here earlier that reminded me John Major left school at 16. In fact I just looked him up and he had a much more colourful early adulthood than I'd imagined. Education isn't just about which fancy certificates you have on your wall @CreateUserNames

I deeply value education but life experience is what makes us more worldly and insightful.

@CreateUserNames You think having a degree is a requirement to be a successful Deputy Minister? Do you really think a degree helped Liz Truss be a successful Prime Minister?

Rachel Reeves was bussed out of Lewisham to go to a posh all girls comprehensive in Bexely (there is such a thing - previous poster alluding to the fact that there is a marked difference in state school offerings)
She had the advantage of two parents who were teachers who were obviously dedicated to their daughters education. She has always felt at a disadvantage for being state educated and that she had to prove herself worthy - she is very bright and ended up at Oxford. But her career path didnt happen by accident - she was advantaged in many ways by attending an outstanding comp. The vat policy on indie schools is one of hatred and envy for wealthy people.

Yes but she was state educated, so that means she has ' life experience and insight' that her privately educated peers would not have developed. Well according to what I'm reading here.

Oh, hang on...

Starmer has repeatedly said he has no problem with private schools, doesn't want to abolish them, just believes they ought to pay VAT to benefit state schools.

Rhee stats show it's not just Labour but the whole of the Commons that has more state school educated MPs, and, thank goodness, as the older ones leave, far fewer Etonians.

www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion/all-news-opinion/sutton-trust-analysis-of-labour-cabinet/

www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion/all-news-opinion/sutton-trust-analysis-reveals-historic-sea-change-in-the-education-background-of-the-party-of-government/