Tristram Hunt’s speech at Walthamstow school on 25th November has had a hostile reception from the right-wing press. The Daily Mail echoed a private school head’s cry of “Offensive bigotry” and says that the proposals are a “threat to private education”. The Telegraph warns us that “Tristram Hunt has resorted to the politics of […]
Posts Tagged ‘Private Schools’
Four oddities of Labour education policy
Apr 22nd, 2014 by David Pavett.The Labour Party’s declared aim is to build a “one-nation society” with a “one-nation economy” and a “one-nation education system”. What would a “one-nation education system” look like? Clearly, there can be many different solution to such a complex problem but some general principles would need to apply in all cases. With this in mind […]
Stephen Kinnock: another private school champion set for parliament?
Feb 13th, 2014 by Keith Wright.He swanned over to Wales, and it seemed he meant business. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, his wife and the Danish Prime Minister, flew over for a county Labour party dinner in a grand and rather questionable move that some said would backfire. But apparently, the thing getting Labour members exercised in Aberavon is a story that we […]
Cameron shocked at private school grip on top jobs!?
Nov 18th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Cameron’s admission he must ‘do far more’ to increase social mobility is surely a prize irony, even by his standards. His close friend Gove’s obsessive drive to promote free schools and ‘converter’ academies must be one of the prime engines for embedding social immobility for the next generation, because they will reinforce social segregation. Whilst […]
“State-school” Clegg, and when did selfishness become the norm?
Mar 21st, 2013 by Conrad Landin.“Nick Clegg to send son to state school”, muttered the headline in the “most viewed” column on the BBC News website. This was a not-unpleasant surprise for me – for when a public figure says they are “considering” going private, it usually means the decision has already been made. It is of course a relief […]
Private school Clegg: have our politicians no shame?
Jan 25th, 2013 by Conrad Landin.Surprise, surprise. Nick Clegg, the man who once said the attainment gap between state and private schools was “corrosive for our society and damaging to our economy”, is considering going private for his own son. “I’ve never, ever, ever sought to make my children’s education or my children a political football,” he told radio station […]
Excuses, excuses: will no-one rid our papers of these turbulent ‘parents’?
Jul 25th, 2012 by Conrad Landin.It’s a rite of passage for the chatterati. Send your kids to private school. Feel guilty. Feel the necessity to explain it over the Caesar salad and rioja. Then look for a solution to turn the whole thing around, be lauded as a brave non-conformist, feel good about yourself, and never have to repeat your excuses again.
Private school parents are wasting their money
Oct 14th, 2011 by Owen Jones.Our comprehensive schools are under attack and barely anyone in public life is defending them. As part of an ideologically charged campaign to strip the state of all but its most basic functions, the Tories are fragmenting the education system by building a patchwork of privately run free schools and academies. Forced into retreat, champions […]