Best Of

Our University sector is very strong but in a serious financial situation having over expanded and having become too reliant on overseas students. Right now we are seeing waves of redundancies and possible closures. Is Erasmus really the best use for £570m? How many people in the UK will be denied a University education from that choice?

My daughter did a year in the Netherlands with Erasmus. She enjoyed it immensely but the longer term benefits are a lot less clear. It was also interesting to see her cohort. I think she was definitely one of the poorer participants and the weighting to privileged private school kids was very high.

Interesting, that latter point.

The Scottish universities' admissions policies is weighted to favour applicants from less successful schools in Scotland. So you can get in with lower grades.

Sounds like it might help kids from poorer or less supportive backgrounds?

In fact, in the town I know well, it works in favour of the kids who have parents who pay for private tuition. Pretty well all the kids who have been offered places at the "ancients" (St Andrews, Edinburgh etc) have been tutored to pass the exams they need for medicine, law, etc.

The law of unintended consequences.

And, of course, the free tuition fees, which are supposed to help disadvantaged kinds is, actually, overwhelmingly trousered by well-to-do middle-class families.

We offer lower grade entry to kids from poor backgrounds (essentially based on the postcode being in a deprived area).

We have an "Access to Medicine" course for such applicants as a 6th year of Med School. They have to meet the same academic standards when on the course.

I am mid-interview cycle for our applicants and recently I have been thinking on Bourdieu's concept of Social Reproduction in terms of our Medical School entry, and I think it remains presemt despite our efforts. I am not quite sure where we should go next.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_reproduction#:~:text=All four of Pierre Bourdieu,the system of social stratification.

I once watched a documentary on candidates applying for officer training at Sandhurst. Interviews conducted by 'chaps' - mostly well off background, usually private school, played rugby not football but may have called it football etc. Tended to think that applicants from that kind of background did best at interview...

The first question at my Admiralty Board interview in 1988 was "What does your father do?" An inquiry obviously freighted with the subliminal prejudices and expectations of the British class system. I languidly replied, "Mainly annoy my mother but he also seems to have some role as a minor functionary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office." They fucking loved this response. If I'd said "E's a fuckin brickie, like." I'd have been out on my arse.

Harris lost the popular vote by a mere 1.5%. She got a higher share of the popular vote than Trump did in 2016, than Dubya did in 2000, or than Bill Clinton did in 1992.

If they’d actually had primaries and nominated a candidate who wasn’t terrible, they might even have beaten Trump.

Biden hanging on till the last moment didn't help

With the support of his cabinet and the Dem establishment.

Compare how the cabinet and MPs forced Boris out here to the lickspittle loyalty Buttigieg and the others showed to Biden.

Yes and forcing Boris out led to a landslide Labour victory and loss of the all the Conservative redwall seats, Biden I suspect would still have done better in the rustbelt than Harris did as he did in 2020

Boris was on a bizarre journey of self-destruction, he would never had lasted to 2024.

What you Conservatives need to ask yourselves is why you never made any attempt to control Boris's behaviour as PM.

Had Boris remained Conservative leader, Reform would not have got 14% at the last GE and Reform would not now be leading the polls.

Indeed Sunak might now be leading the polls as the new LOTO, Rishi made a stupid political move resigning to remove Boris

Boris had driven too many of his colleagues away with his own behaviour.

And would have driven even more away if he had remained PM for a few more months.

Say what you like but the fundamental problem was Boris's journey of self-destruction and the unwillingness of the Conservative establishment to do anything about it.

Boris could have been prime minister for ten years if he had been willing to have some self-control.

But he preferred to go to lockdown parties, grift money for redecorating and continually lie to his colleagues about trivial things.

Greetings all.
Flying visit to wish everyone a Happy Christmas. Been very busy moving into my new home, am now safely installed in Stefan Aquarone's North Norfolk and free from Clive Lewis' Socialist Republic of Green Gain Norwich South.
Probably be busy till towards May elections but a few observations since was last here (that im sure youve all discussed but i aint been here bruv)
Kemi improving but her personal recovery not yet, imo, translating into a Tory recovery (a stabilisation perhaps) - nothing over 21% since conferemces but their local election vote is starting to hold up better away from the SW and where they are also rans.
Labour face apocalypse in May - every chance they fail to 'win London' and Welsh meltdown
Tories might well poll better in Scotland than Wales - Scotland should be somewhere round Annabel Goldie 2011, Wales will be their worst there by a distance
Polanski is the sort of empty vessel that wins yourh votes like Magic Grandpa used to, but the Greens wont top 20 seats
Lib Dems need a new approach/broom or they face a real struggle to attract tactical votes from potentially fifth and hold on to the borrowed votes that won them 72 seats on 12.6% (theyll still hold a good portion whilst/if Tories struggle at 20% of course, but the bottom could fall out in a few)
Current expectation of the next GE result - +/- 3% each Ref 23 Lab 23 Con 23 LD 11 Grn 11 SNP 2 PC 1 YP 3 Advance 1 Indies/non YP gaza style 2

Merry Christmas!