Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Manuel,

"of course, you maoists hate these schools, even of they provide (at the top end) some of the finest education in the country"

Interesting sentence.


I don't think that many are grumbling at the existence of "public" or "private" education, but the majority of the public do not see why it should be subsidised out of general taxation and for benefit of the "chosen" few.

The "schools" should be self-funding, from rich Oligarchs with dubious connections or children of the Chinese Mafia etc..

The "subsidies" should go into facilitating the "state" system.

Especially when we are all in it together and austerity looms further and further into the future.

Conservatives and Labour tied

Latest YouGov / The Sun results 1st December -

Con 32%, Lab 32%, LD 8%, UKIP 15%;

http://order-order.com/2014/12/02/now-even-the-nerds-turn-on-ed-top-boffin-warns-miliband-has-failed-to-perform/

If there was one voting block Ed Miliband thought he could rely on, it would be his fellow nerds, yet a four-year academic study granted access to Ed Miliband’s inner circle today concludes he has “failed to perform as a leader”.

This is Miliband's 3 point plan for Britain.

Time to restore the mess David Cameron has left us in.
#CameronMustGo

http://order-order.com/2014/12/01/goodbye-gordon-never-forget-the-prime-mentalists-greatest-hits/

I love Miliband's fantasy three point plan.

Indeed, no mention of where the money is coming from.

What gagging law? There doesn't seem to be much evidence of a gagging law on this thread!

Pie in the sky three point plan - some of these "I will" sentences are just impossible to implement in reality.

Errrrr Max.......... Labour have submitted there costing to the OBR, the Tories have NOT.

Where are they going to get £7 billion plus £3 billion from????? thats what working people want to know.

There are whispers Working Tax Credits will be cut.

Yet again Tories hitting the Poor and looking after the very rich.........PATHETIC.

fred - public schools are only subsidised insofar as they are charities and qualify to be same under the very strict legislation that govern these ..... you know that full well, but of course it does not suit your agenda to do other than twist the truth to suit

there is a parallel argument of kinds, that our (good) unis have a large % of overseas students that study engineering and other sciences, but then disappear back "home" on graduation ......

sir james dyson observed very correctly that we ought to be persuading these graduates as much as possible to join uk companies

QUESTION.......why do parents send there kids to private schools rather than the local school just up the road.??????????

ANSWER......... because they want to steal a privileged march on there neighbour and local people who have less means than they do.

Never ever let anyone says its envy or jealousy its not, its being about fair and the culprits are the selfish parents of these children.

Manuel,

I think it is you who are ducking and diving.

It is a subsidy from the public purse.

If the public schools are the pinnacles of virtues you suggest, let the stand on their own feet, i.e. what they are really worth in the market.

No objection.

Quite happy for them to exist, but not to be subsidised by the public.

Quite happy for my offspring to have language, music and other "coaching" when they were young and thought to be beneficial. Also, quite happy to do so. Didn't mind the cost.

But thought that similar should have been available to all.

To a certain degree similar to the above was afforded me, by my parents.

=====

Ask you d-in-law, how many UK born medical graduates are leaving the country each year to avoid repaying medical course fees?

Interesting!

Why do Labour's chosen send their kids to selective/fee paying schools?

fred - what you object to is that they qualify as charities ..... is that not the truth of the matter?

sticky - do not forget that a great many parents move to where the best schools in the state sector are .... why would that be? ...... it's not to "steal a march" (good polemics) but to give their children the best start in life that they can

GF,

Slight objection, the reason is often that the children enjoy being extended to a degree not available in the state system and that they want the best opportunity for the future of their children and prefer to spend their excess money on what they think valuable.

Those things in a decent society should be available to all.

---------

What do you know about BDEV that I don't?

The Bugger is going against my expectations.

murders in Kenya all over the world MUSLIM FOLLOWERS ARE MURDERING CHRISTIANS AND THE WEST ARE TAKING NO ACTIONS
TIME IS RUNNING OUT THEY MUST UNITE AND WIPE THESE MURDERERS OUT

let's murder the murderers :-)

CYNIC BY THAT POST IT SAYS YOU AGREE WITH THEIR CRIMES FACT THE POST SAYS YOU DO

no, but in honesty, what is the difference or how do you draw the line?


one w/e "we all" say assad is a murdering bastard and needs to be destroyed ...... the next w/e we find ourselves supporting him against ISIL
a difficult and dirty world

Labour's champagne socialists send their kids to the very best comprehensives in the country by the simple process of buying a very expensive house in the catchment areas. They save the school fees and put it into a property which increases in value. You can see that the top 20 comprehensives in the country are surrounded by very expensive houses. The process is similar to paying for private education.

It is worse though in one respect. It prevents all but the very well off getting into good comprehensives. I have such a school across the road from me. Nearly all the parents are very well off. They are well known actors, media people, politicians, TV presenters, film directors etc. As soon as a comprehensive get high ratings, it is swamped by people paying to get into the school buying property there. Their political views prevent them from paying school fees, but doesn't stop them from using their money to get into the best schools.

The private school vs buying property to get into a school are exactly the same. You might stop private schools but you can't stop people buying in a catchment area.