The government is going to let UEFA let in thousands of people into the UK for the Euros without having to quarantine.
Let's be honest the atmosphere in a full Puskas arena in Hungary will be miles better than Wembley with 30,000 or whatever.
Agreed. Let’s be honest if England aren’t in the final (or Wales) then it’s only going to pee off the existing ticket holders. Think most Brits would prefer a full stadium abroad than a half empty one back home.
'A source with access to the counting downstairs tells me they've never seen this many Lib Dem votes at a count in #CheshamAndAmersham. Historically the seat has been blue since it was formed in 1974 with the Conservative MP never having a majority lower than 10,000.' https://twitter.com/AndyHolmesMedia/status/1405647286458359812?s=20
Don't forget LDs haven't won this seat since 1832 so it might not mean a lot.
Even if LDs win it still doesn't mean a lot cos it's a by election 👍
Given that cases are soaring do we need another lockdown, now?
I was in the pub earlier with other old people and we didn't like it if someone didn't have a mask.
*sigh* They're not 'soaring'. Any sensible look at the graphs by date of infection has them reaching a peak and already declining where they did so first. We'll look back in a couple of weeks time and see the peak was, ooh, about the 14th. Anyway, presumably your vaxxed by now? So you can afford to take a rather more relaxed view over whether people are marked or not.
Or we will look back in end June and see hospitalisations up to 500 a day...
Well my money's on it not doing so. And I suspect in your heart of hearts yours is too, or you wouldn't have been out to the pub
I mean, I'm no expert. But the numbers don't look worrying to me.
Tories in to 1.12 on Betfair. Unusually for a by-election night there's only 93% cover (i.e. there's a gap between bet and lay). My guess is a Con win by 800.
'A source with access to the counting downstairs tells me they've never seen this many Lib Dem votes at a count in #CheshamAndAmersham. Historically the seat has been blue since it was formed in 1974 with the Conservative MP never having a majority lower than 10,000.' https://twitter.com/AndyHolmesMedia/status/1405647286458359812?s=20
Really best for everyone if the LDs win. Gives them a break, puts a boot up Labour's bottoms to perform, and should prevent Tory complacency.
I know that 'not getting complacent' might not seem for the best for Tories, but it happens to everyone in power eventually, threats keep you sharp for longer.
The percentage of state school pupils at Oxbridge is now about right ie 2/3, the same as the percentage of top A grade A Levels that go to state school pupils
The 7% of pupils in who are in the private sector get 33% of the Oxbridge places.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
'A source with access to the counting downstairs tells me they've never seen this many Lib Dem votes at a count in #CheshamAndAmersham. Historically the seat has been blue since it was formed in 1974 with the Conservative MP never having a majority lower than 10,000.' https://twitter.com/AndyHolmesMedia/status/1405647286458359812?s=20
Don't forget LDs haven't won this seat since 1832 so it might not mean a lot.
Even if LDs win it still doesn't mean a lot cos it's a by election 👍
Well no, but everyone agrees to forget that the day after a shock result (hell, they agree to forget it with non shock results). Makes it more fun.
Paul Waugh @paulwaugh · 14h "They are shitting bricks" - a Tory local govt source on the mood in CCHQ over the Chesham and Amersham by-election today. Lib Dems quietly confident of scoring an upset in the safe seat. Paul Waugh @paulwaugh · 1h Conservatives were so worried about the seat, I'm told both Theresa May and 1922 cttee chairman Graham Brady were both out knocking on doors to get the Tory vote out today.
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
No, they should take the students with the best potential.
And no more than 7% from private schools achieves that somehow?
I'm hardly enamoured of private schools and private school dominance, I just don't know how one measures 'the best potential'.
It wasn't my suggestion of 7%.
For my Medical School we take academic achievement into account, but it isn't 100% of the assessment. We have 8 mini-interview stations, and a situational awareness test.
The private students are nearly always heavily coached, but that does come across as over rehearsed and glib much of the time.
So do we admit the students with the best potential? Yes we do, because we analyse in course performance and feedback to the selection team, who in turn tweak the mini interviews to better predict potential.
The percentage of state school pupils at Oxbridge is now about right ie 2/3, the same as the percentage of top A grade A Levels that go to state school pupils
The 7% of pupils in who are in the private sector get 33% of the Oxbridge places.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
Based on the fact private school pupils get 33% of A Level A and A* grades it would be lowering Oxbridge standards to reduce the number of private school pupils it takes and see Oxbridge fall behind Ivy League colleges like Harvard, Stanford and Yale as UK private school pupils with top grades went to the US instead.
Of course given grammar schools get disproportionate numbers into Oxbridge if we had more grammar schools we would not need to dumb down with positive discrimination proposals like yours
The government is going to let UEFA let in thousands of people into the UK for the Euros without having to quarantine.
Who cares? We already have every variant under the sun here. Isn't going to make a difference.
It wouldn't be about letting in more variants, not really, it'd be about perceived unfairness just to cater to demands of UEFA who, when a Super League is not involved, are slightly less liked than toenail fungus.
On topic, I'm sure that most of the difference is GOP voters taking their lead from their erratic leader, who never issued a clear message on vaccination one way or the other. But there will also be people out in the sticks who rarely see anyone outside a tiny community, and therefore feel less vulnerable - there is nowhere in England quite as remote as bits of Nevada...
Given that cases are soaring do we need another lockdown, now?
I was in the pub earlier with other old people and we didn't like it if someone didn't have a mask.
*sigh* They're not 'soaring'. Any sensible look at the graphs by date of infection has them reaching a peak and already declining where they did so first. We'll look back in a couple of weeks time and see the peak was, ooh, about the 14th. Anyway, presumably your vaxxed by now? So you can afford to take a rather more relaxed view over whether people are marked or not.
Or we will look back in end June and see hospitalisations up to 500 a day...
Well my money's on it not doing so. And I suspect in your heart of hearts yours is too, or you wouldn't have been out to the pub
I mean, I'm no expert. But the numbers don't look worrying to me.
I'm not an expert either and hopefully I am wrong. As has been previously covered on this website that's not unusual!
The government is going to let UEFA let in thousands of people into the UK for the Euros without having to quarantine.
Who cares? We already have every variant under the sun here. Isn't going to make a difference.
It wouldn't be about letting in more variants, not really, it'd be about perceived unfairness just to cater to demands of UEFA who, when a Super League is not involved, are slightly less liked than toenail fungus.
HMG will just suck it up under the disguise of the "pilot event" plans.
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Up to a point. There's a strong argument to be made about it not necessarily being in the country's best interest to have a self-perpetuating elite who can afford the best education. A bit more social mobility might be good for us all. But there's also an argument to be made that we shouldn't be drawing all our governing class from just two universities.
Grammar schools are one answer to all this - we certainly had a lot more social mobility in the era of grammar schools - but clearly there are problems with the grammar school approach too.
I don't think I agree with placing an arbitrary ceiling on oxbridge numbers. But we can't pretend the current approach is without its problems for society as a whole.
We have no idea at all about long term side effects of the vaccine. All this for a disease that 99%+ of people survive.
This is the disconnect I don't understand - long covid is a VERY VERY real. Around 7% of kids get it (Figures from ITV) - it'll be just as high in adults, and the older & more unfit you are the more likely an adverse outcome becomes... "Long term side effects of the vaccine" - I don't know a single person with any side effects other than feeling ropey for a few days; there simply don't look to be any. We'd have heard tales relating to adverse birth/obstretric outcomes from the USA if there were any; btw evidence is emerging Covid can knock your sperm count lower... The shear volume of adverse outcomes from Covid is astounding, I heard on the radio about a surgeon who is incontinent now because covid has shot the nerve endings in his bladder. The tales are long and plentiful and people are NOT making it up.
Why is the bar for Covid set at survival and the bar for vaccination set so much higher. It's very very transmissible, unless you're planning on living like a hermit for the next 50 years you WILL encounter it. Why on earth would you not want to get the very best protection that vaccination offers compared to encountering Covid as a novel virus ?
None of this is very convincing. Long Covid: a lot of uncertainty / lack of clarity about what this is. Long term - The jabs have only been around for 6 or so months. No idea about impact on unborn children, its banned for babies why give it to pregnant mothers This and the other responses read like social pressure supplemented by vague appeals to science.
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
No, they should take the students with the best potential.
That's a fair point.
And I benefited from that. I was from a middling comprehensive, with average grades (well, not average, obviously, but nor did I have 15 A*s at GCSE and predicted 5 A*s at A Level).
But I was articulate and they felt I had the potential to perform.
When I was there, there was a positive correlation between those Colleges that took the greatest number of people from State schools (and yes, Trinity was number one there) and the proportion of Firsts.
The government is going to let UEFA let in thousands of people into the UK for the Euros without having to quarantine.
Who cares? We already have every variant under the sun here. Isn't going to make a difference.
It wouldn't be about letting in more variants, not really, it'd be about perceived unfairness just to cater to demands of UEFA who, when a Super League is not involved, are slightly less liked than toenail fungus.
HMG will just suck it up under the disguise of the "pilot event" plans.
Plausible. Worth remembering that one, you can get away with pretty much anything so long as you talk about it being a pilot event for something.
Come to think of it I think it falls under one of the 'five standard excuses' from Yes Minister, no. 3.
1. There's an explanation for the bad thing, but security prevents disclosure 2. Idea only went wrong because of cuts 3. Worthwhile as it provided a lot of data (even if it was a bad idea) 4. Occured before important facts known 5. Lapse by an individual
The percentage of state school pupils at Oxbridge is now about right ie 2/3, the same as the percentage of top A grade A Levels that go to state school pupils
The 7% of pupils in who are in the private sector get 33% of the Oxbridge places.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
That's misleading. Perhaps one third of places at private schools will come from people on scholarships, and they are likely to be quite bright (on average).
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
No, they should take the students with the best potential.
That's a fair point.
And I benefited from that. I was from a middling comprehensive, with average grades (well, not average, obviously, but nor did I have 15 A*s at GCSE and predicted 5 A*s at A Level).
But I was articulate and they felt I had the potential to perform.
When I was there, there was a positive correlation between those Colleges that took the greatest number of people from State schools (and yes, Trinity was number one there) and the proportion of Firsts.
That's great to hear. But I can't help feeling that some of those 22 students from Westminster School will have got into Trinity because they were well-coached to do so, and in so doing they have prevented others like you from taking a place there.
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Up to a point. There's a strong argument to be made about it not necessarily being in the country's best interest to have a self-perpetuating elite who can afford the best education. A bit more social mobility might be good for us all. But there's also an argument to be made that we shouldn't be drawing all our governing class from just two universities.
Grammar schools are one answer to all this - we certainly had a lot more social mobility in the era of grammar schools - but clearly there are problems with the grammar school approach too.
I don't think I agree with placing an arbitrary ceiling on oxbridge numbers. But we can't pretend the current approach is without its problems for society as a whole.
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
I think they probably are more able, after all much intelligence and work ethic is either genetic or familial culture.
But undoubtedly, private school is an instrument of the self replicating oligarchy too, so while private students often have maxxed out their potential, state school students often have potential in reserve and are the better candidates.
Paul Waugh @paulwaugh · 14h "They are shitting bricks" - a Tory local govt source on the mood in CCHQ over the Chesham and Amersham by-election today. Lib Dems quietly confident of scoring an upset in the safe seat. Paul Waugh @paulwaugh · 1h Conservatives were so worried about the seat, I'm told both Theresa May and 1922 cttee chairman Graham Brady were both out knocking on doors to get the Tory vote out today.
T May and Brady in the area? Well that would certainly encourage me to be out. Not necessarily to vote though.
Both sides have been backed (in a thin market). Con 1.08 LD 4.5
The market seems very thin for one where £725k has been matched.
Amazingly so. And you'd think the trend would be starting to be apparent in the count. I see someone has just laid the Tories with £1000, so they're out to 1.1.
Both sides have been backed (in a thin market). Con 1.08 LD 4.5
The market seems very thin for one where £725k has been matched.
A lot of trading, perhaps, and probably most people will not want to leave money on the table to be snatched up by those at the count once the polls closed.
The percentage of state school pupils at Oxbridge is now about right ie 2/3, the same as the percentage of top A grade A Levels that go to state school pupils
The 7% of pupils in who are in the private sector get 33% of the Oxbridge places.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
That's misleading. Perhaps one third of places at private schools will come from people on scholarships, and they are likely to be quite bright (on average).
Ok but if 7% becomes 5%, getting 22% of the places, the argument still stands.
Private school scholarships of course do not get fairly dished out among the brightest children across society - they go to the children of families with connections, in the know, etc. Families like the Johnsons in fact.
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
Both sides have been backed (in a thin market). Con 1.08 LD 4.5
The market seems very thin for one where £725k has been matched.
Amazingly so. And you'd think the trend would be starting to be apparent in the count. I see someone has just laid the Tories with £1000, so they're out to 1.1.
The LibDems have been bouncing between 4.5 and 6 for some time now.
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
Disgraceful, it's like pooping on the altar during mass.
'A source @reformparty_uk claims the Lib Dems ‘have got it’. Said the ‘sheer campaign machine on the ground’ may have swung it for them. Said papers coming in also compelling. Also thinks Reform ‘might beat Labour’. What do you think? #CheshamAndAmersham by-election' https://twitter.com/rorythomasb/status/1405652909971415040?s=20
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
At least we are clear now that you don't believe in equal opportunity.
A source @reformparty_uk claims the Lib Dems ‘have got it’. Said the ‘sheer campaign machine on the ground’ may have swung it for them. Said papers coming in also compelling. Also thinks Reform ‘might beat Labour’. What do you think? #CheshamAndAmersham by-election
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
Often thought the only way to sort this is to award a grade based on your percentile in your own school's year. So the top 1% of Eton and Prudhoe High and every where else get first choice of Uni places. Wealthy folk would be desperate to get their dim offspring into the very worst schools. Levelling up in action.
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
At least we are clear now that you don't believe in equal opportunity.
I do believe in equal opportunity, I believe in more grammar schools.
I am also however a Tory not an equality of outcome socialist like you
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
That's a tweet from May.
What’s she doing hanging around Wycombe Leisure Centre at this time?
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
Often thought the only way to sort this is to award a grade based on your percentile in your own school's year. So the top 1% of Eton and Prudhoe High and every where else get first choice of Uni places. Wealthy folk would be desperate to get their dim offspring into the very worst schools. Levelling up in action.
Which helps those in the 99% in the worst performing schools how? The Oxbridge places would still go to wealthy middle class parents kids mainly in the top 1% at every school just fewer of them would go to Eton
The percentage of state school pupils at Oxbridge is now about right ie 2/3, the same as the percentage of top A grade A Levels that go to state school pupils
The 7% of pupils in who are in the private sector get 33% of the Oxbridge places.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
That's misleading. Perhaps one third of places at private schools will come from people on scholarships, and they are likely to be quite bright (on average).
Ok but if 7% becomes 5%, getting 22% of the places, the argument still stands.
Private school scholarships of course do not get fairly dished out among the brightest children across society - they go to the children of families with connections, in the know, etc. Families like the Johnsons in fact.
You're assuming that scholarship pupils are accepted into Oxbridge at the same rate as non-scholarship. My guess is that they significantly outperform their "daddy paid" contempories.
Indeed, here in LA, the private schools boast of how many of their students go to Harvard, etc.: but when you dig into the details, it's almost all the bright kids who aren't paying who get in.
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
That's a tweet from May.
What’s she doing hanging around Wycombe Leisure Centre at this time?
Reportedly May was in C&A today canvassing for Tory candidate, so sounds like she's paying close attention even if she's not there tonight. (Think TSE means that she re-tweeted this story.)
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
Often thought the only way to sort this is to award a grade based on your percentile in your own school's year. So the top 1% of Eton and Prudhoe High and every where else get first choice of Uni places. Wealthy folk would be desperate to get their dim offspring into the very worst schools. Levelling up in action.
Not a bad idea, indeed it would encourage parents to keep their kids at Gas St Comp.
Personally, I would be more radical, I think it is time we closed the Universities. They have long outlived their purpose. Indeed I am musing on a PB header on the subject.
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
Disgraceful, it's like pooping on the altar during mass.
Yup, it's not like mistaking the confessional box for the toilet, which is understandable.
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
That's a tweet from May.
What’s she doing hanging around Wycombe Leisure Centre at this time?
Reportedly May was in C&A today canvassing for Tory candidate, so sounds like she's paying close attention even if she's not there tonight. (Think TSE means that she re-tweeted this story.)
No, the tweet you posted is from the month of May.
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
At least we are clear now that you don't believe in equal opportunity.
I do believe in equal opportunity, I believe in more grammar schools.
I am also however a Tory not an equality of outcome socialist like you
Haha - I have obviously got you rattled.
The truth of course is that the Tories like to proclaim that they support equal opportunity but two of their strongest articles of faith: private education and inherited wealth are diametrically opposed to equality of opportunity.
I have no problem with people supporting those policies - it's just plain hypocrisy to pretend that you also support equal opportunity at the same time.
BREAKING: mob ejected from #Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted. Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors. Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow.
Rory Butler @rorythomasb Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for @bbc
@bucksfreepress Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
That's a tweet from May.
What’s she doing hanging around Wycombe Leisure Centre at this time?
Reportedly May was in C&A today canvassing for Tory candidate, so sounds like she's paying close attention even if she's not there tonight. (Think TSE means that she re-tweeted this story.)
No, the tweet you posted is from the month of May.
I think she was PM for a bit longer than a month mate.
EDIT - An angry crowd has been thrown out of Wycombe Leisure Centre as results for the first unitary elections continue to come in.
The BFP's Local Democracy Reporter Rory Butler is at the count and videoed the events as they unfolded.
He tweeted: "Mob ejected from Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted.
"Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors.
"Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow."
In the video, a group of men can be seen angrily arguing before they walk out of the leisure centre.
Our reporter also spoke to someone at the scene and said at least 20 men in cars tried to "storm" the Wycombe elections, with a spokesman saying the behaviour was "completely unacceptable".
Buckinghamshire Council said in a statement: "There was an incident at the Wycombe Leisure Centre count earlier.
"Police were called and things are under control. The count continues for the remaining wards and parishes."
Thames Valley Police has been contacted for more details.
We have no idea at all about long term side effects of the vaccine. All this for a disease that 99%+ of people survive.
This is the disconnect I don't understand - long covid is a VERY VERY real. Around 7% of kids get it (Figures from ITV) - it'll be just as high in adults, and the older & more unfit you are the more likely an adverse outcome becomes... "Long term side effects of the vaccine" - I don't know a single person with any side effects other than feeling ropey for a few days; there simply don't look to be any. We'd have heard tales relating to adverse birth/obstretric outcomes from the USA if there were any; btw evidence is emerging Covid can knock your sperm count lower... The shear volume of adverse outcomes from Covid is astounding, I heard on the radio about a surgeon who is incontinent now because covid has shot the nerve endings in his bladder. The tales are long and plentiful and people are NOT making it up.
Why is the bar for Covid set at survival and the bar for vaccination set so much higher. It's very very transmissible, unless you're planning on living like a hermit for the next 50 years you WILL encounter it. Why on earth would you not want to get the very best protection that vaccination offers compared to encountering Covid as a novel virus ?
None of this is very convincing. Long Covid: a lot of uncertainty / lack of clarity about what this is. Long term - The jabs have only been around for 6 or so months. No idea about impact on unborn children, its banned for babies why give it to pregnant mothers This and the other responses read like social pressure supplemented by vague appeals to science.
The antivaxxers have an entirely valid position
The real opposition is coming not from crackpots but from people who've had the usual vaccinations and are concerned that there've been more vaccine deaths from these products than from all other jabs in the past 30 years. The H1N1 vaccination programme in 1976 was halted before it got this far. Just listen to Robert Malone speaking. He's not a nutter.
Stop vaccinating people who've had the virus. These people have higher risks of side-effects. These vaccines are not like a mild version of the disease. That's the problem.
Stop suppressing Ivermectin, HCQ and other *cheap* & safe repurposed drugs. India has had success with their use against the Delta variant but the UK still doesn't want to know and is content for some people to die unnecessarily. I call that manslaughter.
What I did earlier, when looking at the C&A live blog, was hit the link for the tweet about the Libs being ahead according to Reform Party, and it brought up the tweet about the incursion at the Leisure Centre.
They should be limited by law to taking no more than 7% from private schools.
Why?
Surely they should get the best, most able, students they can, irrespective of their background.
Do you think kids that go to private school are inherently more able?
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Rubbish, even if private schools were all abolished wealthy middle class parents would just move to an expensive catchment area and go to church weekly for the vicar or priests reference to get their kids into the most Outstanding rated Academy or Church Foundation state school possible.
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
Often thought the only way to sort this is to award a grade based on your percentile in your own school's year. So the top 1% of Eton and Prudhoe High and every where else get first choice of Uni places. Wealthy folk would be desperate to get their dim offspring into the very worst schools. Levelling up in action.
Not a bad idea, indeed it would encourage parents to keep their kids at Gas St Comp.
Personally, I would be more radical, I think it is time we closed the Universities. They have long outlived their purpose. Indeed I am musing on a PB header on the subject.
Looking forward to seeing that Foxy. I'm interested, and possibly sympathetic.
One thing universities have given us over the past twenty five years or so is massive scale urban regeneration in cities like Manchester. The growth in further education has saved England's big cities from terminal decline.
But indirect benefits like this are no reason to continue with a course of action. There must be other, less oblique ways to achieve urban regeneration. And better things to do with our 18-21 year olds than teach them lots of arcania of dubious value and saddle them with vast amounts of debt for the privilege.
EDIT - An angry crowd has been thrown out of Wycombe Leisure Centre as results for the first unitary elections continue to come in.
The BFP's Local Democracy Reporter Rory Butler is at the count and videoed the events as they unfolded.
He tweeted: "Mob ejected from Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted.
"Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors.
"Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow."
In the video, a group of men can be seen angrily arguing before they walk out of the leisure centre.
Our reporter also spoke to someone at the scene and said at least 20 men in cars tried to "storm" the Wycombe elections, with a spokesman saying the behaviour was "completely unacceptable".
Buckinghamshire Council said in a statement: "There was an incident at the Wycombe Leisure Centre count earlier.
"Police were called and things are under control. The count continues for the remaining wards and parishes."
Thames Valley Police has been contacted for more details.
Never mind that - the Titanic has sunk apparently!
EDIT - An angry crowd has been thrown out of Wycombe Leisure Centre as results for the first unitary elections continue to come in.
The BFP's Local Democracy Reporter Rory Butler is at the count and videoed the events as they unfolded.
He tweeted: "Mob ejected from Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted.
"Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors.
"Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow."
In the video, a group of men can be seen angrily arguing before they walk out of the leisure centre.
Our reporter also spoke to someone at the scene and said at least 20 men in cars tried to "storm" the Wycombe elections, with a spokesman saying the behaviour was "completely unacceptable".
Buckinghamshire Council said in a statement: "There was an incident at the Wycombe Leisure Centre count earlier.
"Police were called and things are under control. The count continues for the remaining wards and parishes."
Thames Valley Police has been contacted for more details.
Never mind that - the Titanic has sunk apparently!
By election result coming overnight - senior tories expecting lib Dems to take a chunk out of their vote but not worried about losing … but …. never rule out an upset !
BBC colleague @AndyHolmesMedia at the count overnight Down pointing backhand index
EDIT - An angry crowd has been thrown out of Wycombe Leisure Centre as results for the first unitary elections continue to come in.
The BFP's Local Democracy Reporter Rory Butler is at the count and videoed the events as they unfolded.
He tweeted: "Mob ejected from Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted.
"Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors.
"Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow."
In the video, a group of men can be seen angrily arguing before they walk out of the leisure centre.
Our reporter also spoke to someone at the scene and said at least 20 men in cars tried to "storm" the Wycombe elections, with a spokesman saying the behaviour was "completely unacceptable".
Buckinghamshire Council said in a statement: "There was an incident at the Wycombe Leisure Centre count earlier.
"Police were called and things are under control. The count continues for the remaining wards and parishes."
Thames Valley Police has been contacted for more details.
Check the date on the story. As others have said, all this happened in May.
We have no idea at all about long term side effects of the vaccine. All this for a disease that 99%+ of people survive.
This is the disconnect I don't understand - long covid is a VERY VERY real. Around 7% of kids get it (Figures from ITV) - it'll be just as high in adults, and the older & more unfit you are the more likely an adverse outcome becomes... "Long term side effects of the vaccine" - I don't know a single person with any side effects other than feeling ropey for a few days; there simply don't look to be any. We'd have heard tales relating to adverse birth/obstretric outcomes from the USA if there were any; btw evidence is emerging Covid can knock your sperm count lower... The shear volume of adverse outcomes from Covid is astounding, I heard on the radio about a surgeon who is incontinent now because covid has shot the nerve endings in his bladder. The tales are long and plentiful and people are NOT making it up.
Why is the bar for Covid set at survival and the bar for vaccination set so much higher. It's very very transmissible, unless you're planning on living like a hermit for the next 50 years you WILL encounter it. Why on earth would you not want to get the very best protection that vaccination offers compared to encountering Covid as a novel virus ?
None of this is very convincing. Long Covid: a lot of uncertainty / lack of clarity about what this is. Long term - The jabs have only been around for 6 or so months. No idea about impact on unborn children, its banned for babies why give it to pregnant mothers This and the other responses read like social pressure supplemented by vague appeals to science.
The antivaxxers have an entirely valid position
The real opposition is coming not from crackpots but from people who've had the usual vaccinations and are concerned that there've been more vaccine deaths from these products than from all other jabs in the past 30 years. The H1N1 vaccination programme in 1976 was halted before it got this far. Just listen to Robert Malone speaking. He's not a nutter.
Stop vaccinating people who've had the virus. These people have higher risks of side-effects. These vaccines are not like a mild version of the disease. That's the problem.
Stop suppressing Ivermectin, HCQ and other *cheap* & safe repurposed drugs. India has had success with their use against the Delta variant but the UK still doesn't want to know and is content for some people to die unnecessarily. I call that manslaughter.
Did H1N1 lead to more than 100,000 deaths? Asking for a friend.
IKEA have u-turned on GB News. So has the Open University. I expect the others will fall in line soon enough. It will just be Ben and Jerry's but it's shit ice cream anyway.
Result expected ~"between 1 and 3am" according to #Britainelects. Tories out to 1.18 (last matched 1.25) and slightly larger sums being bet, but still a very illiquid market. I'm going to bed...
The percentage of state school pupils at Oxbridge is now about right ie 2/3, the same as the percentage of top A grade A Levels that go to state school pupils
The 7% of pupils in who are in the private sector get 33% of the Oxbridge places.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
That's misleading. Perhaps one third of places at private schools will come from people on scholarships, and they are likely to be quite bright (on average).
The maybe one answer is to return to offering state scholarships to private schools?
EDIT - An angry crowd has been thrown out of Wycombe Leisure Centre as results for the first unitary elections continue to come in.
The BFP's Local Democracy Reporter Rory Butler is at the count and videoed the events as they unfolded.
He tweeted: "Mob ejected from Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted.
"Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors.
"Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow."
In the video, a group of men can be seen angrily arguing before they walk out of the leisure centre.
Our reporter also spoke to someone at the scene and said at least 20 men in cars tried to "storm" the Wycombe elections, with a spokesman saying the behaviour was "completely unacceptable".
Buckinghamshire Council said in a statement: "There was an incident at the Wycombe Leisure Centre count earlier.
"Police were called and things are under control. The count continues for the remaining wards and parishes."
Thames Valley Police has been contacted for more details.
Check the date on the story. As others have said, all this happened in May.
The percentage of state school pupils at Oxbridge is now about right ie 2/3, the same as the percentage of top A grade A Levels that go to state school pupils
The 7% of pupils in who are in the private sector get 33% of the Oxbridge places.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
That's misleading. Perhaps one third of places at private schools will come from people on scholarships, and they are likely to be quite bright (on average).
The maybe one answer is to return to offering state scholarships to private schools?
Or maybe all schools should be independent? And each child comes with a "voucher" that can be spent with the school.
IKEA have u-turned on GB News. So has the Open University. I expect the others will fall in line soon enough. It will just be Ben and Jerry's but it's shit ice cream anyway.
Prompted by your post, I've just had a quick look. Five minutes or so of adverts, then Dan Wooton talking about "Greatest Britons" – none of whom seem to be both British and great. Nothing on the by-election.
Comments
Antivax bullshit.
See also @darkage on this thread.
Very, very sad to see.
Even if LDs win it still doesn't mean a lot cos it's a by election 👍
I mean, I'm no expert. But the numbers don't look worrying to me.
I know that 'not getting complacent' might not seem for the best for Tories, but it happens to everyone in power eventually, threats keep you sharp for longer.
Do you think people entering private education are that much brighter than those entering the state sector, to the extent that they are six times more likely to get an Oxbridge place?
Lib Dems a competitive 2nd has been and still is the likely story here.
@paulwaugh
·
14h
"They are shitting bricks" - a Tory local govt source on the mood in CCHQ over the Chesham and Amersham by-election today. Lib Dems quietly confident of scoring an upset in the safe seat.
Paul Waugh
@paulwaugh
·
1h
Conservatives were so worried about the seat, I'm told both Theresa May and 1922 cttee chairman Graham Brady were both out knocking on doors to get the Tory vote out today.
For my Medical School we take academic achievement into account, but it isn't 100% of the assessment. We have 8 mini-interview stations, and a situational awareness test.
The private students are nearly always heavily coached, but that does come across as over rehearsed and glib much of the time.
So do we admit the students with the best potential? Yes we do, because we analyse in course performance and feedback to the selection team, who in turn tweak the mini interviews to better predict potential.
Any sensible uni does the same.
Of course given grammar schools get disproportionate numbers into Oxbridge if we had more grammar schools we would not need to dumb down with positive discrimination proposals like yours
I am just being my usual caring self.
There's a strong argument to be made about it not necessarily being in the country's best interest to have a self-perpetuating elite who can afford the best education. A bit more social mobility might be good for us all.
But there's also an argument to be made that we shouldn't be drawing all our governing class from just two universities.
Grammar schools are one answer to all this - we certainly had a lot more social mobility in the era of grammar schools - but clearly there are problems with the grammar school approach too.
I don't think I agree with placing an arbitrary ceiling on oxbridge numbers. But we can't pretend the current approach is without its problems for society as a whole.
Long Covid: a lot of uncertainty / lack of clarity about what this is.
Long term - The jabs have only been around for 6 or so months.
No idea about impact on unborn children, its banned for babies why give it to pregnant mothers
This and the other responses read like social pressure supplemented by vague appeals to science.
The antivaxxers have an entirely valid position
And I benefited from that. I was from a middling comprehensive, with average grades (well, not average, obviously, but nor did I have 15 A*s at GCSE and predicted 5 A*s at A Level).
But I was articulate and they felt I had the potential to perform.
When I was there, there was a positive correlation between those Colleges that took the greatest number of people from State schools (and yes, Trinity was number one there) and the proportion of Firsts.
Better educated, yes; inherently more able, no.
It's just another way that privilege is inherited.
Con 1.08
LD 4.5
4.5 to back, 14.5 to lay
I didn't have any privilege, just an excellent attitude education and hard work.
Come to think of it I think it falls under one of the 'five standard excuses' from Yes Minister, no. 3.
1. There's an explanation for the bad thing, but security prevents disclosure
2. Idea only went wrong because of cuts
3. Worthwhile as it provided a lot of data (even if it was a bad idea)
4. Occured before important facts known
5. Lapse by an individual
IQ is partly inherited anyway but at least when we had more grammar schools we had selection in the state sector by IQ not just by house price or church attendance or exceptional musical or sporting ability as now
But undoubtedly, private school is an instrument of the self replicating oligarchy too, so while private students often have maxxed out their potential, state school students often have potential in reserve and are the better candidates.
Well that would certainly encourage me to be out.
Not necessarily to vote though.
Private school scholarships of course do not get fairly dished out among the brightest children across society - they go to the children of families with connections, in the know, etc. Families like the Johnsons in fact.
Rory Butler
@rorythomasb
Local Democracy Reporter covering politics in Bucks for
@bbc
@bucksfreepress
Got a story? Email: rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk
https://twitter.com/rorythomasb/status/1405652909971415040?s=20
https://twitter.com/rorythomasb/status/1405652909971415040
So the top 1% of Eton and Prudhoe High and every where else get first choice of Uni places.
Wealthy folk would be desperate to get their dim offspring into the very worst schools.
Levelling up in action.
I am also however a Tory not an equality of outcome socialist like you
Tories 1.16 LD 6
Indeed, here in LA, the private schools boast of how many of their students go to Harvard, etc.: but when you dig into the details, it's almost all the bright kids who aren't paying who get in.
Personally, I would be more radical, I think it is time we closed the Universities. They have long outlived their purpose. Indeed I am musing on a PB header on the subject.
The truth of course is that the Tories like to proclaim that they support equal opportunity but two of their strongest articles of faith: private education and inherited wealth are diametrically opposed to equality of opportunity.
I have no problem with people supporting those policies - it's just plain hypocrisy to pretend that you also support equal opportunity at the same time.
Tories 1.17 LD 4.5
EDIT Tories 1.16 LD 9!
Tories drifting
Tories 1.18 LD 6.
https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/19289141.chaos-wycombe-election-count-mobsters-thrown-out/
EDIT - An angry crowd has been thrown out of Wycombe Leisure Centre as results for the first unitary elections continue to come in.
The BFP's Local Democracy Reporter Rory Butler is at the count and videoed the events as they unfolded.
He tweeted: "Mob ejected from Wycombe Leisure Centre just now. Election count disrupted.
"Large group of men tried to break into hall. Security blocked doors.
"Talk of a “posse”. Anger, fear, confusion. More to follow."
In the video, a group of men can be seen angrily arguing before they walk out of the leisure centre.
Our reporter also spoke to someone at the scene and said at least 20 men in cars tried to "storm" the Wycombe elections, with a spokesman saying the behaviour was "completely unacceptable".
Buckinghamshire Council said in a statement: "There was an incident at the Wycombe Leisure Centre count earlier.
"Police were called and things are under control. The count continues for the remaining wards and parishes."
Thames Valley Police has been contacted for more details.
Stop vaccinating people who've had the virus. These people have higher risks of side-effects. These vaccines are not like a mild version of the disease. That's the problem.
Stop suppressing Ivermectin, HCQ and other *cheap* & safe repurposed drugs. India has had success with their use against the Delta variant but the UK still doesn't want to know and is content for some people to die unnecessarily. I call that manslaughter.
What I did earlier, when looking at the C&A live blog, was hit the link for the tweet about the Libs being ahead according to Reform Party, and it brought up the tweet about the incursion at the Leisure Centre.
One thing universities have given us over the past twenty five years or so is massive scale urban regeneration in cities like Manchester. The growth in further education has saved England's big cities from terminal decline.
But indirect benefits like this are no reason to continue with a course of action. There must be other, less oblique ways to achieve urban regeneration. And better things to do with our 18-21 year olds than teach them lots of arcania of dubious value and saddle them with vast amounts of debt for the privilege.
BBC colleague @AndyHolmesMedia at the count overnight Down pointing backhand index
https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1405657594878889996
LDEM: 44.9% (-0.4)
CON: 44.3% (+13.6)
IND: 10.8% (-13.2)
Liberal Democrat HOLD.
Bets are matched, so everyone betting on them has found a matched bet against.
Yes, the odds at which they've been backed are typically short. That's relevant. But volume of bets as you've quoted isn't on an exchange.