Comments on: Eton: David Cameron and dirty words

By: Douglas Hurd backs Ed Miliband* | Dan Wilson | eBay Expert, Online Community Specialist, Author and Blogger

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:40:39 +0000

[...] I don’t have names worthy of jettisoning in public. And I generally shy away from playing the posh school card (for so many reasons). But this tickled so much, that I have to [...]

By: dw

dw — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:46:00 +0000

This post was originally written under aa Labour Govt.

The Queen has now had 12 Prime Ministers and one third have been Old Etonians would now be the accurate statement.

By: Sue

Sue — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:56:19 +0000

As well as what Lynne said, what I’m really interested in is whether Eton is a cause or a symptom. Is it that the kind of people who have children who go on to be Prime Ministers send their children to Eton, or is it something that Eton specifically does? If Eton were closed down, would we suddenly start seeing similar figures to the ones above for Harrow or Westminster or whatever, or would there be a much greater variety of schools involved all of a sudden?

Same question for Oxford, I guess.

Because if it’s something that Eton’s doing, I would suggest that rather than condemning it, emulating it might be the way to go.

By: Christi

Christi — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:51:29 +0000

The question is not ‘Can somebody who attended Eton understand the poor’. Eton is a public school, and that’s all that it is. Most of the current Labour cabinet attended public school. Even those who didn’t are wealthy now, having earned a fortune off taxpayer money.

Can THEY understand the poor?

The recent expenses scandal, and the way MPs handled it with a combination of outrage and bewilderment, indicates that, no, they can’t understand the poor. And, frankly, they can’t understand the middle class. They have absolutely no idea what it’s like to rent a flat in London or Manchester, to struggle to pay their bills, to take public transportation home whenever you are finally going home.

Can these wealthy men begin to imagine what it’s like to be a woman who gets off work at 8pm on a Friday night and struggles home on a filthy, dangerous tube filled with drunken yobs?

They don’t know what our problems are, not really. They are given reports on them, but they do not FEEL these problems. They do not understand this country in which the average family income is £27,000 per year. They have no idea whatsoever what it’s like to live on that kind of income, and they probably can’t imagine trying to do it.

How is this democracy? How are these people, selected off of lists that they prepare and offer us, representative?

Eton is a red herring. And the class war is a lie. Public school boys telling us that OTHER public school boys don’t understand us is absurd.

We’re not that stupid.

But we are being cheated.

And the question is: What do we do about it?

By: Lynne

Lynne — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:53:19 +0000

“I might talk about how a this state comprehensive schoolboy from Brighton ended up at Eton if anyone is particularly interested.”

Well, I’m interested…please?

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:41:33 +0000

I’m always tempted to go “oh ffs, it’s only a school” – but
that there are more Old Etonians than women in the Tory top team does deserve greater examination.
that makes me think I’m probably wrong about that.