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[Politics] Tory meltdown finally arrived [was: incoming]...



WATFORD zero

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Jul 10, 2003
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Blue Valkyrie

Not seen such Bravery!
Sep 1, 2012
32,165
Valhalla
More evidence coming to light of big dog's birthday party in the flat, that the police didn't investigate for some reason and which SG didn't investigate because she thought the police were investigating. All very convenient.

[tweet]1530804555096768513[/tweet]
Good Stuff.

More truth coming out.


The Police like re-opening Covid investigations as they did so with Starmer.


Time for them to re-investigate ???


I've already written a stern letter to my Tory MP about the disgrace in DownIt Street. He has to go.
 










Westdene Seagull

aka Cap'n Carl Firecrotch
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Oct 27, 2003
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The arse end of Hangleton
Speaking from the perspective of having spent five years as a boarder at a British public school I think this is worth commenting on.

Public schools do indeed have great resources. They have enough equipment and text books to go round, home-work (prep) and revision is supervised and compulsory. Class sizes are smaller. All the things you imagine, all true.

However, that doesn't mean the teaching and tuition is of a better standard. I don't know what it's like now but back in the late 80's and early 90's when I was there, teachers (Masters) barely stuck to a curriculum, half of them were semi-pissed, they dithered around with classroom tests asking cricket questions in maths tests so that nobody got full marks , the religious nutters just debated the bible all class, some just joked around with the sports cliques all period.

Masters well past their sell by dates talking about the war or cars or great test matches when they should have been teaching the curriculum. Classes were what I imagine a meeting at No.10 might be like today, good fun but totally unfit for purpose.

The real learning went on in extra-curricular classes run by teachers who were passionate about their subjects and wanted to teach. They ran extra classes in lunch breaks and evenings for those who were keen, because everyone knew you learnt **** all in most of the day classes.

Then you had the other element which idiots like Johnson and Mogg could very well have benefitted from. Not just rich parents but rich parent who were willing to throw money at the school;

"Mr. X, we think it would greatly advance your son's education if the new library was finished ahead of schedule. Mr. Y, we think you son could probably make the Rugby 1st's if only he had a new pitch to practice on" etc.....

The sort of parents who always had their cheque book on them when attending school functions.


That's not to say one had to be rich to get ahead there, if you were bright and applied yourself you would be fine. But if you weren't bright and didn't apply yourself but your parents had means, you would also be fine.


So in short, these people we perceive to have had great educations probably had nothing of the sort. They had expensive educations. Sure, they can quote a bit of Latin but they know nothing about history, politics, geo-politics, other nations, economics, social studies etc. All they learned was that pissing about and not putting the effort in didn't necessarily preclude you from being rewarded.

How disappointingly well it has served them.

As someone who's, now, ex-wife has worked in a private school for years and who's children went to said school ( against my wishes ), I think I need to add something to your excellent post. You may pay to go to a private school, the classes might be smaller than state school and the resources and buildings much better BUT, those teaching in the private sector often don't have the qualifications required to teach ( the ex-Mrs WS does by the way ).
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
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Yes, amazing how that lie has become currency.

'Secondary' picketing was of course made illegal by Thatcher. I am not sure whether people are being stupid or mendacious when they forget to say 'secondary'. Especially when it isn't secondary (as it almost never is these days - or the picketers would be instantly arrested. Which was partly the point of [MENTION=2318]Peteinblack[/MENTION]).
 






Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
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Oct 8, 2003
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Faversham
As someone who's, now, ex-wife has worked in a private school for years and who's children went to said school ( against my wishes ), I think I need to add something to your excellent post. You may pay to go to a private school, the classes might be smaller than state school and the resources and buildings much better BUT, those teaching in the private sector often don't have the qualifications required to teach ( the ex-Mrs WS does by the way ).

Read Decline and Fall. Fail your Oxbridge degree? Get a job as a teacher in a private ('public') school.

How? They are not bound by the National Curriculum. This also gives them the freedom to promote weird doctrines (which happens in a weird doctrine - i.e., religious - school). You used to have the freedom to teach that homosexuality is an illness, or blaspemous, too. These days one assumes that promoting hate is illegal so the subject is presumably avoided or mentioned in passing as 'people we should pity'.

And they are charities so they don't pay proper tax.

The very most expensive ones are where our leaders are trained. Mostly (but not exclusively) Conservatives.

And working class tories love it. Makes them proud to be British :facepalm:
 


The Clamp

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Jan 11, 2016
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As someone who's, now, ex-wife has worked in a private school for years and who's children went to said school ( against my wishes ), I think I need to add something to your excellent post. You may pay to go to a private school, the classes might be smaller than state school and the resources and buildings much better BUT, those teaching in the private sector often don't have the qualifications required to teach ( the ex-Mrs WS does by the way ).

A very important point!
 


The Clamp

Well-known member
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Jan 11, 2016
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West is BEST
Read Decline and Fall. Fail your Oxbridge degree? Get a job as a teacher in a private ('public') school.

How? They are not bound by the National Curriculum. This also gives them the freedom to promote weird doctrines (which happens in a weird doctrine - i.e., religious - school). You used to have the freedom to teach that homosexuality is an illness, or blaspemous, too. These days one assumes that promoting hate is illegal so the subject is presumably avoided or mentioned in passing as 'people we should pity'.

And they are charities so they don't pay proper tax.

The very most expensive ones are where our leaders are trained. Mostly (but not exclusively) Conservatives.

And working class tories love it. Makes them proud to be British :facepalm:

I’m not sure if it’s still the case but up til quite recently they were not required to report physical or sexual abuse to the authorities.

And what the elite aren’t required to do, the elite don’t do.
 








BLOCK F

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Feb 26, 2009
6,723
I tried not to respond, but your post illustrates exactly why Labour continues to struggle. The attitude that the media creates Tory voters' preferences rather than that they can think for themselves. The smug belief that only Labour voters are smart enough to vote intelligently because the Guardian or the Mirror tell the truth and they can see that. If Labour want to return to power they need to win hearts and minds of voters with sensible policies that engage with people's circumstances. Labour supporters saying Sun readers are stupid to vote Tory isn't exactly the best way to win them over. And be honest, just examine Corbyn for one of your 'villified' Labour leaders, it was his behaviour, attitudes, policies especially over blocking Brexit and a fanciful manifesto among other things that made him and Labour unelectable. Not the media having an unjustified pop at him.

Generally agree, but I understand Corbyn was, in fact, anti EU, despite nominally being on the remain side of the argument.
If he had even tried a teensy bit to promote the argument for remain, it may have had an effect on the outcome.
 




BLOCK F

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2009
6,723
As someone who's, now, ex-wife has worked in a private school for years and who's children went to said school ( against my wishes ), I think I need to add something to your excellent post. You may pay to go to a private school, the classes might be smaller than state school and the resources and buildings much better BUT, those teaching in the private sector often don't have the qualifications required to teach ( the ex-Mrs WS does by the way ).

As someone who was incarcerated as a boarder in both preparatory and public school for about ten years, many years ago(I left school 56 years ago), I have a view on the standards of teaching I received.
At prep school, in the ‘50’s, I believe several of our teachers were ex services and I’m not aware of what qualifications they had or didn’t have for teaching. However, as a young lad, I believe , on the whole, they were pretty good at their jobs and made the lessons interesting and informative. I have to say that looking back, there is not one that I can recall as standing out as a lousy teacher. At public school, the picture was far more mixed and the standard of teaching really did vary quite considerably. The good teachers were very good and were in a majority, but the poor teachers really were shite. I can still remember their names to this day.
That was all a long time ago and following the exam results that my old ‘prison’ now produce, it appears that matters have improved quite considerably. It also appears from reading the old boys yearly magazine that the teachers who variously come and go are all highly qualified and many of those that leave go on to take up more senior roles in both the public and private sectors.
Another thing that has improved from all those years ago is pastoral care, which just didn’t exist in my day.
 
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Lever

Well-known member
Feb 6, 2019
5,443
As someone who was incarcerated as a boarder in both preparatory and public school for about ten years, many years ago(I left school 56 years ago), I have a view on the standards of teaching I received.
At prep school, in the ‘50’s, I believe several of our teachers were ex services and I’m not aware of what qualifications they had or didn’t have for teaching. However, as a young lad, I believe , on the whole, they were pretty good at their jobs and made the lessons interesting and informative. I have to say that looking back, there is not one that I can recall as standing out as a lousy teacher. At public school, the picture was far more mixed and the standard of teaching really did vary quite considerably. The good teachers were very good and were in a majority, but the poor teachers really were shite. I can still remember their names to this day.
That was all a long time ago and following the exam results that my old ‘prison’ now produce, it appears that matters have improved quite considerably. It also appears from reading the old boys yearly magazine that the teachers who variously come and go are all highly qualified and many of those that leave go on to take up more senior roles in both the public and private sectors.
Another thing that has improved from all those years ago is pastoral care, which just didn’t exist in my day.

I recommend you read 'Sad little Men' - Private Schools and the ruin of England'; it was an eye opener for me to understand how we ended up getting Cameron and Johnson at the helm of our country and why they are totally unsuitable for the role .... https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/biog...hXj7ngeg3W2yNWXaFJzSeOaHc5rLD-nRoCxrcQAvD_BwE
 


BLOCK F

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2009
6,723
I recommend you read 'Sad little Men' - Private Schools and the ruin of England'; it was an eye opener :for me to understand how we ended up getting Cameron and Johnson at the helm of our country and why they are totally unsuitable for the role .... https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/biog...hXj7ngeg3W2yNWXaFJzSeOaHc5rLD-nRoCxrcQAvD_BwE

I believe Alex Renton’s book Stiff Upper Lip is meant to be a better book as I understand Beard’s publication concentrates mainly on Cameron and Johnson and is full of sweeping generalisations.
I have to say that not all ex public schoolboys come out as damaged goods and although the day I left school was one of the happiest days of my life, ‘freedom at last!’, I reckon I have gone on to be a reasonably well balanced individual as have many of my peers, despite the hardships and injustices that often prevailed at my school, back in the day.Today, the place is unrecognisable from all those years ago.
I must say, we were never given or thought we had sense of entitlement, but then again, I didn’t attend Eton.:D
 
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Lever

Well-known member
Feb 6, 2019
5,443
I believe Alex Renton’s book Stiff Upper Lip is meant to be a better book as I understand Beard’s publication concentrates mainly on Cameron and Johnson and is full of sweeping generalisations.
I have to say that not all ex public schoolboys come out as damaged goods and although the day I left school was one of the happiest days of my life, ‘freedom at last!’, I reckon I have gone on to be a reasonably well balanced individual as have many of my peers.
I didn’t attend Eton though!:D

Would you say (as I would about my Grammar School experience) that you may have achieved that in spite rather than because of your time there?

'Sad Little Men' focuses primarily on the writer's experience NOT Cameron and Johnson (and Beard didn't go to Eton) but it certainly sheds light on the general private school culture....... worth reading, honestly!
 
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The Clamp

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Jan 11, 2016
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West is BEST
One can see how boarding school could sow the seeds of monsters like Johnson. I found boarding school to be a strange paradox; on one hand it teaches independence, strength of character and how to fend for yourself. In some respects. On the other hand it teaches you that you can throw your laundry in a pile and three days later it's cleaned, pressed and ready for your collection, women are there to serve you, it is encouraged to treat anyone below you in the hierarchy like dirt.

I would hope that there have been positive changes in boarding schools but we must remember the very "strength" of these institutions is that they do not change. That their traditions are sacred and not to be interfered with by the outside world.

"We shall continue this way with or without your approval no-matter how appalling our behaviour appears, it suits us so.. yah boo sucks to you". Sound like a familiar attitude?


I know people have all sorts of different experiences at boarding school, good and bad. I tried to get through it without getting any of it on me. I did not like it and I do not think it is a healthy way to raise children. The day I left aged 16 was one of the best days of my life, and continues to be so. In many ways, people like Johnson never left.

To them, the world is an extension of their old schools, where the consequences of their actions are taken no more seriously than losing house merits or the results of an inter-house Puddox match.
 


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