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[cem_devecioglu]

anyway this is about banks holding the real power, at least politicians are elected 

ok Banjax, let me ask you a question, why an ordinary people cant be a candidate

yes we can 

although in some cases, notably america you need so much money you end up compromising on everything to get power 

in the UK i think there's a feeling among "the elite" that power cant be entrusted to the oiks who didn't go to the right schools (Margaret Thatcher strangely, being a notable exception) 

I want to see

Then come and vote in a local election - there are countless independent candidates from all walks of life in every single one of them.

Some of them even aren't crackpots and actually get voted in, I hear.

how many of them can go in the parliament, percentage ?

[albitz]

Anyone can (in theory) be a candidate in UK elections, but as a Labour activist was saying on TV tonight, socialist / labour supporters for many years have had very little chance of doing this because Peter Mandelson has installed cronies from his circle of Notting Hill champagne socilalists in most constitiuencies, and local  party workers and supporters have been completely frozen out. Up the workers and power to the people eh ?
Thatcher was indeed an exception to the public school PM rule, as was iirc John Major. Many people who were educated between the end of the war and the mid 60,s were able to have great social mobility, but that mobility has slowed down and now been reversed by succesful socialist governments, due to the fact that their half baked political dogma has wrecked the state education to the point where millions of school leavers simply do not have the articulacy of thought or speech to have any hope of reaching high office, even in todays dumbed down version of British politics.
From what I have seen, the brighter ones are doing the spell checking at the Grauniad.

[Banjax]

37% of current MP's went to fee paying school which doesnt sound high until you consider that only 7% of students in the UK attend those schools, so it is skewed in favour, even more so when you consider Labour only has around 15% of its MPs privately-educated.

Tories and Lib Dems the percenatge is much higher 

[cem_devecioglu]

Anyone can (in theory) be a candidate in UK elections, but as a Labour activist was saying on TV tonight, socialist/ labour supporters for many years have had very little chance of doing this because Peter Mandelson has installed cronies from his circle of Notting Hill chamoagne socilalists in most constitiuencies, and local  party workers and supporters have been completely frozen out. Up the workers and power to the people eh ?
Thatcher was indeed an exception to the public school PM rule, as was iirc John Major. Many people who were educated between the end of the war and the mid 60,s were able to have great socoa mobility, but that mobility has slowed down and now been reversed by succesful socialist governments.

as I said, your socialist parties behave in tunes  :-/

sorry Albs, cant say more in detail..

[Banjax]

I'd be more comfortable with Labour having 7% ex-public school - reflecting society as a whole 


cem: "public school" in UK means "private/fee-paying"...........never did know why tho 

[Dishevelled Den]

37% of current MP's went to fee paying school which doesnt sound high until you consider that only 7% of students in the UK attend those schools, so it is skewed in favour, even more so when you consider Labour only has around 15% of its MPs privately-educated.

Tories and Lib Dems the percenatge is much higher 

Have you a figure for that BJ? (out of genuine interest)

[Banjax]

37% of current MP's went to fee paying school which doesnt sound high until you consider that only 7% of students in the UK attend those schools, so it is skewed in favour, even more so when you consider Labour only has around 15% of its MPs privately-educated.

Tories and Lib Dems the percenatge is much higher 

Have you a figure for that BJ? (out of genuine interest)

ashamed to say i delved into the Mail.......shudder 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/election/article-1275951/Election-results-2010-New-boys-fuel-private-school-Parliament.html

[cem_devecioglu]

I'd be more comfortable with Labour having 7% ex-public school - reflecting society as a whole 


cem: "public school" in UK means "private/fee-paying"...........never did know why tho 

  just the opposite here..

[albitz]

37% of current MP's went to fee paying school which doesnt sound high until you consider that only 7% of students in the UK attend those schools, so it is skewed in favour, even more so when you consider Labour only has around 15% of its MPs privately-educated.

Tories and Lib Dems the percenatge is much higher 

Private education was something to be hidden and ashamed of in politics until very recently. Blair hated it being mentioned, Dave played it down at every opportunity. Many Mp,s from all parties were Grammar educated. Now, the only possible way for most people to get a decent education is to go private, and almost anyone who can afford to do so does. So it stands to reason that there will be more privately educated people appearing once again at the top of any tree you care to look up at.
Im sceptical about the quoted figure of Labour MP,s who went to public school tbh, but maybe there are still enough of the old grammar educated members( as most of them were) still in the house to justify that figure ? I doubt it tbh.
Conversely, if most of the current Labour MP,s went to comprehensive schools it would explain quite a lot about the quality of people on the opposition benches currently.

[Banjax]

I'd be more comfortable with Labour having 7% ex-public school - reflecting society as a whole 


cem: "public school" in UK means "private/fee-paying"...........never did know why tho 

  just the opposite here..

that seems more sensible, cem 

[Entwood]

I'd be more comfortable with Labour having 7% ex-public school - reflecting society as a whole 


cem: "public school" in UK means "private/fee-paying"...........never did know why tho 

"The term public school is commonly used in the UK to refer, paradoxically, to a private school. This use of the term derives from its use to refer to some long-established boys' boarding schools, which were founded or endowed for public use and subject to public management or control; schools which were subsequently reformed by the Public Schools Acts. The term is now commonly used to describe private schools in general"

"Some public schools are particularly old, ..... [major edit] ...These were often established for male scholars from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds; however, English law has always regarded education as a charitable end in itself, irrespective of poverty"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_school_%28United_Kingdom%29

[Banjax]

37% of current MP's went to fee paying school which doesnt sound high until you consider that only 7% of students in the UK attend those schools, so it is skewed in favour, even more so when you consider Labour only has around 15% of its MPs privately-educated.

Tories and Lib Dems the percenatge is much higher 

Private education was something to be hidden and ashamed of in politics until very recently. Blair hated it being mentioned, Dave played it down at every opportunity. Many Mp,s from all parties were Grammar educated. Now, the only possible way for most people to get a decent education is to go private, and almost anyone who can afford to do so does. So it stands to reason that there will be more privately educated people appearing once again at the top of any tree you care to look up at.
Im sceptical about the quoted figure of Labour MP,s who went to public school tbh, but maybe there are still enough of the old grammar educated members( as most of them were) still in the house to justify that figure ? I doubt it tbh.
Conversely, if most of the current Labour MP,s went to comprehensive schools it would explain quite a lot about the quality of people on the opposition benches currently.

altho private education is no guarantee that you're not just rich and thick - hence the term "cream of society" 

[Banjax]

I'd be more comfortable with Labour having 7% ex-public school - reflecting society as a whole 


cem: "public school" in UK means "private/fee-paying"...........never did know why tho 

"The term public school is commonly used in the UK to refer, paradoxically, to a private school. This use of the term derives from its use to refer to some long-established boys' boarding schools, which were founded or endowed for public use and subject to public management or control; schools which were subsequently reformed by the Public Schools Acts. The term is now commonly used to describe private schools in general"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_school_%28United_Kingdom%29

everydays a school day on OOF! - cheers 

[cem_devecioglu]

I'd be more comfortable with Labour having 7% ex-public school - reflecting society as a whole 


cem: "public school" in UK means "private/fee-paying"...........never did know why tho 

"The term public school is commonly used in the UK to refer, paradoxically, to a private school. This use of the term derives from its use to refer to some long-established boys' boarding schools, which were founded or endowed for public use and subject to[size=12] public management or control[/size]; schools which were subsequently reformed by the Public Schools Acts. The term is now commonly used to describe private schools in general"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_school_%28United_Kingdom%29

Thanks Entwood

[Entwood]

Given some of the comments above ... some food for thought ....


"From 1964 to 1994, all British Prime Ministers and Leaders of the Opposition, whether Labour or Conservative, had been educated at state schools, with the sole exception of Labour Leader Michael Foot.

Labour Party leaders Clement Attlee, Hugh Gaitskell, Michael Foot and Tony Blair were educated at independent schools, but the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and current Labour party leader Ed Miliband, attended a state school.

Whilst the current Conservative leader and Prime Minister, David Cameron was educated at Eton (and the Conservatives Chancellor George Osborne attended St Paul's School), all Conservative leaders from 1965 to 2005 were educated at state schools, including former prime ministers Ted Heath, Margaret Thatcher, and John Major.

With the exception of Charles Kennedy, all other past leaders of the Liberal Democrat party, including David Steel, Paddy Ashdown, and Menzies Campbell, were educated at fee-paying schools. Without precedent, both main candidates in the 2007 election for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats -- Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne -- were educated at the same independent school, Westminster School."

So the Lib-dems aren't quite as Lib as you might think ...