Endless Shadow Ministers unable/unwilling to say where the students forced into the state education sector will go in September.

This is a purely ideological policy based on jealousy.

Logistically it can't work if you think about it at all.

I can't remember an election where politicians from all sides have wheeled out more BS and simply refused to answer major questions assuming the voters are stupid.

2019 you had the likes of Rebecca Long-Bailey moaning the Labour vote had " not understood the manifesto "

#prayfortheuk

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.

@600K students so 3% is 18,000 or around 20-25 news schools depending on class size and perhaps 900 teachers.

The private schools will tend to be in similar geographic areas .

Suppose Alleyns and JAGS closed, that puts over 2500 students looking for state places in one area of South London

3% of the students would be 70-80, The more likely 20% would be 500

Edited by HKOwen (02 Jun 2024 9.38pm)

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.

'Pray for the UK' because someone is suggesting we shouldn't subsidise the richest in society going to better schools than the rest of us do.

I'm sure some people just oppose things because it comes from Labour - there is no coherent argument where a society claiming to be fair and meritocratic structures its education system as we do.

No Labour Shadow Minister has been able to say where the displaced students will be schooled is the point.

I have no problem with the policy as it lets the market do it's work.

The problem is it is being done for ideological reasons, has not been thought through and will unlikely produce the extra available money to spend on state education.

The average govt spend per pupil is 7000 per year. Every student who quits private school where the annual fees are less than 35K means a net loss.

This is simple maths

I do not disagree with everything Labour does, I think Wes Streeting has a lot to offer in terms of NHS reform for example.

I don't think you can run an election campaign on " we are not the Conservatives "

Edited by HKOwen (03 Jun 2024 10.08pm)

Edited by HKOwen (03 Jun 2024 11.02pm)

Edited by HKOwen (03 Jun 2024 11.03pm)

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.

Surely this is the opposite of 'we are not the Conservatives'?

It's a specific policy which is what everyone has been asking from Labour for months.

You keep saying 'ideological reasons' as if that's a bad thing - the 'ideology' of our society being fair and meritocratic is shared by the majority of the population. I see no issue with policies pursuing that aim.

The whole thing about state school places is a complete red herring - the reality is hardly any of these parents are going to pull their kids out of the school over a few grand a year difference. The schools will swallow some of the cost, the parents will begrudgingly pay the balance passed onto them, and hardly anything will change beyond the schools making a bit less profit and paying an appropriate level of tax.

Can you make a case as to why the taxpayer should be subsidising the richest in society to go to better schools? Not logistical challenges that a change might produce (a la state school places), but an actual case as to why the current status quo is a good thing?

It's not really a one size fits all situation. A lot of Grammar schools, for example, take in a large percentage of non fee paying kids and give them a better education. They are sometimes ran on a non profit basis with profits (if there are any) being used for more scholarships or investment in facilities that often the wider community can access. However, we also have places like Eton and Gordonstoun which are the elite - however, in those I think many have the total wrong idea about who goes there. It used to be the government and royalty set but it's a lot more diverse these days. I would agree with places like Eton and Gordonstoun being charged more - they often cry poverty which seems unlikely. However, your local grammar school is likely a completely different case.

Red and Blue Army!