How long do you give Andy Burnham as PM?

[AndyBurnham2L]

Build ‘em up.
Knock ‘em down.

Short honeymoon and then the grumbling will start. It will all be over for him by Christmas.

So, who’s next?

State ideology 🤣

How far would you extend this though?
Do you think parents should be allowed to pay for tutors? Or is that unfair on poorer people?
Music lessons? Should nobody learn how to play an instrument because some people can’t afford to?
How about food - should the rich kid be denied organic steak and salmon because the poor kid can’t afford it?
And clothes? If one kid’s parents can’t afford to buy him a thick, warm coat does that mean the rich kids parents shouldn’t be allowed to buy one either?
In an ideal world all children would have warm coats, good diets, access to music lessons or tutors if they wanted them - and we should strive to create a world in which that is possible - but taking these things away from the privileged does not achieve that goal.

Here’s one recent example:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jan/12/state-school-pupils-in-england-may-have-to-drop-gsce-latin-after-funding-pulled

That was a funding issue, not state ideology

Don’t be so naive.

Go on then, explain

Read the article!

The article is scraping the barrel. It affected 8000 pupils. And this is nonsense:

“It is very difficult to get a handle on vast swathes of the humanities if you don’t have some knowledge of Latin. A lot of English literature is saturated with knowledge of Latin. It’s really important to understand the history of art, and the language of the church is written in Latin,” Holland said.

I have an English Literature degree and wasn’t even slightly hampered by not being taught Latin at school.

Sack and ashes for all.

Apart from some lucky ones who can pay more than anyone else for eye watering expensive mascara.

Perhaps you are simply unaware of how much you missed.

Why sack and ashes instead of quality for all?

Invest properly in state education, SEND, children services. Lessen the gap.

I got a good degree from a Russell Group university without it. It’s hard to see how much better off I’d have been if I’d leant Latin. Especially since the need for it never arose and dictionaries exist if it had. If you can speak a language with Latin roots like Italian you can work most words out anyway.

Good idea; let the parents of the 93% of kids using state schools pay more tax towards their education.

If I go out for dinner, I don’t expect my neighbour to pay for my meal.

What? If I went out and had a meal of caviar and wine, then of course the caviar has VAT. Because it is a luxury I am paying for.

I thought you said bringing up what is said on other threads is not on? You made quite the fuss about it yesterday.

VAT is charged on all dine-in restaurant food. Hot dogs to Lobster.

If you buy Caviar in the shops; it’s VAT free. Yum yum.

You wouldn't complain about the VAT for your choice of dinner.

In your scenario, will you decline using any services offered by state educated people?

You might have gained a richer, deeper understanding of the literature you studied if you had known some Latin. The fact that you got a good degree does not preclude that possibility.

Who on earth is sitting down to a quick caviar lunch at home? Get a grip and either pay for your child’s education or don’t. It’s quite literally your choice.

Highly unlikely. Can we stop now, please?

I don’t think you understand the point I was making.

State schools parents want more spending on their schools and are calling for private school parents to pay through more taxes.

Why the fuck should we do that? Pay for it yourself!

Bur apparently it was ok when someone else did it?

But now it’s not?

I support the VAT on private school fees, and that's coming from someone who went to a private school myself.

At the end of the day, you're buying a private service, and like most other services, VAT applies. I'm currently paying VAT on having a new boiler fitted—something I'd argue is far more of an essential than private education and I don't get an exemption.

If someone can afford around £75,000 a year in school fees, I find it difficult to have much sympathy about having to pay VAT on top. That isn't about resenting wealth or success—I'm a higher-rate taxpayer myself. It's simply about treating private education like other private services rather than giving it a special tax status.

Oh dear. 😂

We do, through our taxes.

You want privilege, you pay extra