Friday, January 21, 2011

Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain

It may annoy some recent commenters on this blog, but this is a potentially important and interesting programme. From the BBC Two website:
David Cameron and Nick Clegg seem made for each other: Eton and Oxford meets Westminster School and Cambridge. But does the return of public school boys to the top of our politics say something worrying about the decline of social mobility in Britain?

Andrew Neil goes on a journey from the Scottish council house he grew up in to the corridors of power to ask if we will ever again see a prime minister emerge from an ordinary background like his.

In this provocative film Andrew seeks to find out why politicians from all parties appear to be drawn from an ever smaller social pool - and why it matters to us all.
Posh and Posher - a silly title - is being shown next Wednesday, 26 January, at 9 p.m. on BBC Two.

Later: Read more on Andrew Neil's programme.
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3 comments:

  1. RichardG21 January, 2011 10:08

    Well we could've had PM Johnson, but that's over since his wife ran off with the bodyguard.

    Michael Gove is the son of a fisherman.

    You made the point in the Penny Red thread that people used to be proud of going to good schools.

    Now people like Andrew Neil, who despite their backgrounds are more privileged than anyone in society, are trying to shame people who went to good schools into somehow not doing what they were raised to: be successful.

    Public schools don't fail their students: they teach them to succeed, encourage them to get to the top. What's wrong with that? All schools, especially those paid for by the taxpayer, should be raising our kids' aspirations. When public schools inspire their kids to succeed, and state schools do not, why is it a surprise that the former outnumbers the latter in positions of power?

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  2. Anonymous21 January, 2011 11:31

    Peopel keep saying that about Nick Clegg.

    Well, Robinson -- that's almost Cambridge, I suppose...

    S.

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  3. Jonathan Calder22 January, 2011 20:37

    RichardG: Describing Michael Gove as "the son of a fisherman" suggests a childhoold of bare feet and mended sweaters. In fact his adoptive parents paid the fees for him to attend one of Scotland's more exclusive private schools.

    And I am not sure where you get your account of Andrew Neil's views from as the programme has not yet been shown.

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