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Rather sadly, the job you achieve in life (barring things like ill-health, accidents and wrongful imprisonment) is largely down to your own efforts and character: character is destiny and a' that. So the public school debate is a non-sequitur.

What is the problem, and it's going to get much worse when the boomers die, is the money and inheritance that wealthy parents gift their children. You can be very, very stupid but if you had wealthy parents you are not going to die in a council house, even if you deserve it.

So if Labour really wanted to increase class mobility, they'd tax houses not public schools.

If you die in a council house nowadays you've won the lottery given how hard it is to get social (council / housing association) housing. If you had wealthy parents.

Heck I look at the people trying to trade a central London Peasbody flat and wish I could trade with them.

Rather sadly, the job you achieve in life (barring things like ill-health, accidents and wrongful imprisonment) is largely down to your own efforts and character: character is destiny and a' that. So the public school debate is a non-sequitur.

What is the problem, and it's going to get much worse when the boomers die, is the money and inheritance that wealthy parents gift their children. You can be very, very stupid but if you had wealthy parents you are not going to die in a council house, even if you deserve it.

So if Labour really wanted to increase class mobility, they'd tax houses not public schools.

No, as May discovered that is political suicide as far more voters own houses or have parents who own houses than attend public schools.

The biggest increases in social mobility in the last 100 years (bar the expansion of white collar office jobs after WW2) arguably came from Thatcher's sale of council homes so more could own their own homes and grammar schools, Labour of course opposed both

Parents could own their own grammar schools?

Impressive.

Grammar schools were and still are where they exist the only state schools which really tend to challenge the top private schools on Oxbridge entry and admission to the top professions like law and medicine

That is unsurprising as they are selective. If you only let in the most academically gifted students then you will tend to have a lot going on to top universities and academically challenging courses. It doesn't necessarily tell you anything about the quality of the school.

Completely off topic.

A section of my garden - ca 24 metres by 13.5 - has yet to be cultivated. It is wild land with all sorts of weeds, brambles, helps of sand, stones etc on it. Anyway, yesterday I did a preliminary design for the planting beds, fruit trees etc - pencil and paper and all to scale - and gave it to my waller to price up the capping stones (cocks and hens stonework), turf for the paths etc.

This morning he came back to me and said that his wife, who works in the nature field, took one look at it and said "permaculture".

Apparently that is what my design is. I confess I know very little about it and had zero idea that there are principles of permaculture design. But I seem to have stumbled upon them. Which is either serendipity or I have absorbed more than I realise.

Anyway now I had better go off and learn a bit more about it.

https://x.com/bphillipsonMP/status/2066858995063595033

The Gestapo marched hundreds of thousands of innocent people to their deaths.

I've ended private schools' tax breaks to invest in state schools.

No responsible leader makes vile comparisons like this. Kemi Badenoch is not fit to be Prime Minister.

My ending VAT relief on private schools she has actually just reduced choice in education by forcing some smaller private schools to close and made the remaining private schools more exclusive by reducing the number of scholarships and bursaries they provide

'My ending' !! We'll have you for this! Banged to rights!

Smaller private schools and larger private schools have closed due to poor management, poor financial controls and an inability to survive in the real world.

Pb should just accept on private schools it’s like the only remotely popular thing the government has done. Let it go.

Why?

It's a terrible policy that's going to damage the education sector overall, raise costs for taxpayers and damage our ability to train our future workforce.

Populism can take place at any part on the political spectrum, and that's what this is.

Having said that, I wouldn't have done this policy and made state schools so good, private schools would close down.

This doesn't work. What private schools sell is not primarily education, it is social polish and access to privilege.

Utter rubbish.

Sorry but the one thing a private school will give you from the age of 13 onwards is a set of contacts (friends from school and parents of those friends) that could well set you up for life..

Yup. It’s definitely set me up for life and there’s no point denying it.

There is, because it isn't true.

I have no contacts or friends from my school or parents of those friends who have "set me up for life".

The closest I can think of is a few close friends from university (state school, as it happens) who've helped me out a few times.

This old school tie thing is a myth that hasn't been true for decades. If then.

It is more subtle than "the old school tie", it is about converting Economic Capital into Social Capital, Cultural Capital and Symbolic Capital as described in the works of Pierre Bordieu.

In particular Social Class in the UK is defined more by Cultural Capital than anything else. A lot comes from family background, but also from education.

Rather sadly, the job you achieve in life (barring things like ill-health, accidents and wrongful imprisonment) is largely down to your own efforts and character: character is destiny and a' that. So the public school debate is a non-sequitur.

What is the problem, and it's going to get much worse when the boomers die, is the money and inheritance that wealthy parents gift their children. You can be very, very stupid but if you had wealthy parents you are not going to die in a council house, even if you deserve it.

So if Labour really wanted to increase class mobility, they'd tax houses not public schools.

No, as May discovered that is political suicide as far more voters own houses or have parents who own houses than attend public schools.

That's true, if unfortunate. May's problem was honesty, in that she thought she was far enough ahead that she could be straight up about it rather than be vague and then announce the plan after the election, which is the usual winning strategy.

Possibly a sign of how being concerned with seeking 'mandate' for a policy can be destructive. When if the public like you enough/dislike your opponents enough, they won't care if something was in the manifesto or not, and the Lords can generally be talked down (unless it is about assisted suicide).

Rather sadly, the job you achieve in life (barring things like ill-health, accidents and wrongful imprisonment) is largely down to your own efforts and character: character is destiny and a' that. So the public school debate is a non-sequitur.

What is the problem, and it's going to get much worse when the boomers die, is the money and inheritance that wealthy parents gift their children. You can be very, very stupid but if you had wealthy parents you are not going to die in a council house, even if you deserve it.

So if Labour really wanted to increase class mobility, they'd tax houses not public schools.

Have you read any of Bourdieu's work? You might find it interesting. Some is a little dated such as the tastes of the French middle class in the 70's and 80's but the underlying concepts remain sound.

It is why so many of the top tier of our society come from private education. They are not smarter or harder working than their state school rivals but they do have more Social and Cultural Capital.

It's also about geography. It's much easier to accumulate cultural capital and make connections if you start out in or near a great city than if the nearest town with a bank branch is an hour away by bus. It's possible to overcome that disadvantage, but it's not as easy as not having to. The social capital private schools undobtedly provide is of a similar nature- nether essential to suceed, nor a guarantee of success, but it surely helps a lot.

And whilst effort, character and ability are important in achieving life aims, I prefered it when John Major acknowledged the role of luck- even if it's just being in the right place at the right time. And whilst all of us are (to an extent) lucky to be in Britain in 2026, some of us are luckier than others.

I agree. Indeed your point on geography is very pertinent to places like Makerfield. Opportunity in Britain is based around London and a few few other cosmopolitan metro areas. This causes a lot of resentment when those living in the cities get the opportunities while they feel excluded, particularly when those getting the breaks are of immigrant heritage.