Only. Diane abbot

Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary? that would be good... Holding her Refugee's Welcome sign and with a husband who is a Bilderberger... is definitely not what is needed

 

Labour would have to gain over 100 seats to have anyone as home secretary which just isn't going to happen.

I've just driven north from London and as London bridge was still closed at 5am this morning, I took a journey up the M11 and A1 for a change.

I don't know how many tory posters, banners, signs and placards I saw, but it was a lot. I saw maybe half a dozen ukip ones, even 1 single lib dem one.

Crazily in the whole journey, the one single labour message was graffiti with #jc4pm daubed over a motorway advertising truck.

 

I think do yes

 

Did you read law at university then

 

Nothing like reasoned debate is there. Genius.

 

I can't see Labour forming the next government. Best I'm hoping for is a hung parliament, which would kill off May.

 

No. You weren't put in a room with someone on the same course. This was halls and they were overcrowded so you went with whoever really.

 

I think the only. Constraint they had has been removed

 

My wife is visiting her Dad today and has just phoned me to let me know she's arrived safely.
Told her about Diane Abbott. Her response was " who's she.?"
Hoping that a lot of voters in the 192 marginals that will ultimately decide the election are asking
that self same question.

 

I'm so glad you aren't my boss.

 

If I was your boss you would have got the job on merit, suitability and potential. You would have been given guidelines on what was required for the position which I would have worked with you to achieve. You would not have been asked to do anything without the knowledge, experience and training to do so and I would not ask you to do anything I wasn't prepared to do myself. You would be required to attain a level of work ethic suitable for the position which again wouldn't be unreasonable.
Failing this I would sack you and be very disappointed with myself.

 

I find myself agreeing with you. The standard is so good in Public Schools an old mate of mine who is a not too successful businessman obtained an "O" level in Art after 7 years in Public Schools. At Leeds Uni when I was there 35 years ago the staff said that the ex public schools pupils struggled because they were no longer spoon fed and rote learned It was the Comprehensive School educated who came out with the higher honours grades. Two of my year were educated at Radley College and came in with 3 straight "A"s and came out with 3rd class honours. Neither of them were particularly bright. Both walked into high paid jobs in the City and turned up at our 5 year reunion driving Porsche's. They followed Daddy who job was something in the City. The Class System is still holding social mobility back.

 

Well done. You sound much more rational now you've calmed down.

 

Doesn't matter if they are grammar schools, private schools, or even the old named Secondary moderns.. it is about accessibility, standards and type of education that matters.
The problem I have had is that previous Governments (particularly the previous labour ones) created a policy with the aim that every school leaver should GO to University and get a degree (on the face of it a worthy objective) However it should really have been selective in that everyone should have the opportunity to do so with no financial barrier ONLY if they had the desire, aptitude and inclination.

Not everyone is academically inclined. The sausage factory approach and the sneering attitude of the elite towards tradespeople and engineers has been a problem in Britain for many decades and is not a recent phenomenon. Germany prizes engineers and has the car building industry and a thriving engineering sector to prove it. Britain has always looked down on blue collar workers and the route to promotion, status and high salaries has always been white collar, office, academia and management. It was the same in the days of the 11 plus. There is nothing inherently wrong with 'streaming'. What IS wrong is that that not passing the exam was seen as a failure and 'demotion to Secondary modern whereas going to grammar school somehow made it appear that you were somehow superior. That is nonsense as not everyone is academic but many are creative, good with their hands, have enquiring minds and end up in engineering or as tradespeople (again a term that makes some look down at them - that is, until they come home to water pouring through their ceiling or no electricity due to a short circuit or power grid failure) . I have met and worked with many graduates and qualified people who, frankly, were totally inept and at the same time encountered people often working alongside them who had very few qualifications but the workethic, intelligence and ability that made them far more effective in their roles and yet they often seemed to be overlooked when it came to promotion. Admittedly there are many careers, particularly sciences that require a degree course but not so much for the peice of paper but the knowledge it imparts in order to do the work.
That same sausage machine approach to education (and thank God Gove moved from education) is NOT the way. Qualifications are not the 'be all and end all' and, particularly with bums-on-seats degrees that were created a few decades ago with the rise of Tertiary colleges aligned to Universities to offer modular degrees devalued them to the point where you need a degree to be an office administrator (secretary/clerk to you and me) nowadays.

Grammar vs Comprehensive is NOT (or rather SHOULD NOT BE) about separating the wheat from the chaff. Instead is should provide separate environments of equal standing to nurture the hopes and aspirations of young people who choose a different career providing the necessary courses and appropriate facilities to suit their needs.

 

It seems strange that highly profitable businesses would turn their noses up at a well educated state school graduate in preference for an upper class berk. I suppose they value social conditioning over academic ability and work rate. That's how we end up with MPs and the Peerage.

 

I got a blue at Oxford.
I'd have got the pink but I was snookered behind the black and went in off.!

 

Cheers scarf I'll sleep like a baby now I've got your approval

 

Notwithstanding some of your valid points, the manifesto is actually costed. As the party in power it is in the last budget statement they produced.

 

What about new policies? Not to mention the ***** they say they will "consult" on after winning power. Quite handy when you've gagged charities innit.

 

You sound like Tony Benn