The Establishment...
- 11 November 2013 09:21252052'Truly shocking' that the private-school educated and affluent middle class still run Britain, says Sir John Major
Dominance of private-school educated elite in "upper echelons" of British public life is "truly shocking", Sir John Major says
State school educated John Major with David Cameron, who went to Eton
The dominance of a private-school educated elite and well-heeled middle class in the "upper echelons" of public life in Britain is "truly shocking", Sir John Major has said.
The former Conservative Prime Minister said he was appalled that "every single sphere of British influence" in society is dominated by men and women who went to private school or who are from the "affluent middle class"
More than half of the Cabinet, including David Cameron, the Prime Minister, George Osborne, the Chancellor, and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, are thought to have gone to private school and are independently very wealthy.
In the speech to Tory party grassroots activists on Friday evening, Sir John - who went to a grammar school in south London and left with three O-Levels - said: "In every single sphere of British influence, the upper echelons of power in 2013 are held overwhelmingly by the privately educated or the affluent middle class. To me from my background, I find that truly shocking."
Sir John blamed this "collapse in social mobility" on Labour, which despite Ed Miliband's "absurd mantra to be the one-nation party they left a Victorian divide between stagnation and aspiration".
But the comments will be seen as a challenge to the Eton-educated Mr Cameron who has faced repeated criticism for surrounding himself with advisers and ministers from a similar background and failing
In the speech to South Norfolk Conservative Association's annual dinner on Friday evening, Sir John also said:
- the Government should help pensioners who have saved carefully for their retirement and are being punished by "cripplingly unfair" low interest rates
- the Bank of England ought to return interest rates to "normal levels, say three to five per cent", so that society treats "the saver as fairly as it treats the debtor".
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Tory party members were right to feel "unsettled" by the Coalition's decision to legalise same sex marriage, but activists have to move with the times.
- the Conservative leadership should to pull their punches on the United Kingdom Independence Party, pointing out that "many of the Ukip supporters are patriotic Britons who fear their country is changing" and will come back to the Tory party.
Similar concerns about social mobility were voiced by Michael Gove, the Education secretary who went to state school, last year, but they will have extra resonance because of his role as a party grandee and former Tory Prime Minister.
Sir John said: "I remember enough of my past to be outraged on behalf of the people abandoned when social mobility is lost."
He continued: "Our education system should help children out of the circumstances in which they were born, not lock them into the circumstances in which they were born.
"We need them to fly as high as their luck, their ability and their sheer hard graft can actually take them. And it isn't going to happen magically."
Turning to the Conservatives' prospects at the 2015 general election, Sir John said that if the party decided to "shrink into our comfort zone we will not win General Elections - the core vote cannot deliver a general election majority".
The Bullingdon Boys rule ...........no wonder they are out of touch............. - 11 November 2013 10:19252057You just know that every time Cameron appoints someone they are going to have been from Eton or at the very least from his supposed social class.The very rare time he appoints someone who would normally only have the chance to shine his shoes is his populist appointments.
- Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
11 November 2013 17:19252117Point is though Ken
does little to heklp societyALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS - 11 November 2013 17:43252120a bit bad when a former blue prime minister has to make an issue of it.
- Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
11 November 2013 18:11252125We continue to see a number of leading lights in the tory party come out of the woodwork all chipping away at the mouse,
who is being weakened all the timeALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS - 11 November 2013 22:28252153they do seem to be gunning for him keith.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/11/john-major-public-school-tory-elite - 12 November 2013 10:14252173Exactly why they infiltrated the labour party so they are in a win win situation
You cannot get a fag paper between them - 12 November 2013 12:00252182I don't know why the Conservatives are being high-lighted, the Reds are just the same (and yellows come to that) - most of them are very rich and feel they are superior to ordinary people.
A good education is good and necessary, nothing wrong with that surely ? Is being rich wrong too ?
Roger - Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
12 November 2013 18:27252239nothing wrong
but there is when in controls society
and there are haves and have notsALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS - 12 November 2013 19:20252258There will always be haves and have nots Keith, you know that.
Roger - 12 November 2013 20:05252264i don't think it is about a good education or being wealthy, much more about elitism.
they all seem connected by the public school they went to and the friends that they keep, we need leaders with a wider experience of life, preferably those that come from humble beginnings and have achieved things against the odds.
the silver spoon in gob brigade have no idea what such things as atos disability assessments, the bedroom tax and fuel poverty mean to many people. - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
12 November 2013 20:25252268try this.
- Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
12 November 2013 20:45252269well said howardALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS - Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
12 November 2013 21:49252273Ditto, perfectly put Howard
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 13 November 2013 02:38252289David Cameron calls for permanent austerity.........dressed in white tie and standing at a gold lectern
............is he out of touch or what ?
David Cameron insists that squeeze on public-sector spending is permanent
Prime Minister outlines vision of money-saving, slimmed-down government after 2015 election
The squeeze on public spending should continue and result in a permanently slimmed-down public sector, David Cameron said on Monday night as he staked out economic battle-lines with Labour ahead of the election.
Delivering the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet speech in the Guildhall, he signalled that austerity measures would continue after 2015 if the Conservatives won the next election
Full story Independent.. - Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
13 November 2013 07:47252292That will probably cost him any slim chance of getting an overall mjorityALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS - 14 November 2013 15:55252499The Establishment want to gag us.....
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Dear Reg,
The gagging law is now with the House of Lords, who are picking it apart line by line. They know they have a controversial Bill on their hands, and we know some changes will be made. [1] But we don't yet know what they will be, and whether they will go far enough to protect our freedom of speech.
Many Lords may still not realise how dangerous the gagging law is; they might not understand how this Bill would threaten our right to campaign on issues close to our hearts. Some may be worried about going against their party. So let's make sure they know just how important this is.
THERE ARE TWO WAYS WE CAN HELP CONVINCE THE LORDS TO VOTE THE RIGHT WAY
1. Do you have campaigning experience you are willing to share? Is there something you have been part of which is at risk because of the gagging law? If yes, please click here:
Share your story
Most of us probably won't know a Lord. But peers have told us that the personal approach works. 38 Degrees members feel really passionately about protecting our right to campaign. If we all share our personal views about this with the Lords, they will be less likely to dismiss the issue.
Do you have a story about how the gagging law could stop you campaigning on an issue you love? Whether you belong to a large charity like Oxfam or have helped set up a small local group, this new law could have a damaging effect on what you can do in the year before an election:
Share your story
2. Do you know someone in the House of Lords? Would you be willing to contact them personally? If yes, please click here:
I know a lord
Nearly two hundred of our members have already been in touch to say they know a Lord and would be happy to contact them. Some have said they are personal friends, or related by marriage. Others have worked with a peer, or simply attend the same church. However you know them, getting in touch will make a difference.
Hearing a personal, passionate plea about why the gagging law is wrong might convince a Lord to vote the right way. If you know one, please click here:
I know a lord
Some 38 Degrees members think the House of Lords plays an important role in our democratic process, and others think it should be reformed. Whatever your view, Peers are going to play a crucial role in deciding what happens to the gagging law, so we need to make sure they know what we think!
If we can bring to life for the Peers exactly what could be lost if the gagging law goes through, then they are more likely to speak out against it.
We're going to collect all of the stories we get from 38 Degrees members, and deliver them directly into Lords' in-trays. We want them to be full of the views of ordinary people up and down the UK.
Can you tell us your story so we can share it with the House of Lords?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/gagging-law-share-story - Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
14 November 2013 16:40252506At least 38 degrees is putting up a fightALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS - 14 November 2013 17:46252510i doubt many in the westminster village take notice of what the proletariat think, a glance at pmq on the box confirms it.
- 14 November 2013 18:36252516Every time people go on about the political class being disconnected, I think of Lord Mandelson's faux pas in a Hartlepool chip shop. He saw a fellow customer with some mushy peas and ordered 'a portion of that guacamole'.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson