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Tim and Our Differences
Jan. 27th, 2011 10:13 pmWhilst Tim is my cousin and I love him as a cousin he can be very insular. He hates the French, (he calls them the most odious people in Europe), dislikes any northerner, and definitely does not like the Welsh nor the Scottish. However, he does like the Irish and loves Eire especially the city of Dublin. He is also a big U2 fan so , quo eat demonstartum , the Irish are cool.
Our politics are poles apart. He votes Conservative and I am more to the left but not a new labour supporter as they do not represent the working man or to put it in terms of the old class struggle “the working class”. Why I mention this is that last night a documentary on BBC 2 “Posh and Posher” posits why our politicians are coming from a narrower and narrower strata of society, the old public schools. The resignation of Labour politician Alan Johnson is the last of the well known working class men to come from humble backgrounds. The programme by Andrew Neil was a real eye opener and highlighted the fact that the end of grammar schools has closed opportunities to working class kids to become special advisors leading towards being a politician.
I can understand why comprehensives have replaced the old grammar school system as the streamlining and selection process of the 11 year-plus was deemed to be divisive but I feel it did lead to better opportunities and that since the fifties the idea of meritocracy was in the ascendant.
My old school, Herbert Kay High ,which I attended between 1967 - 1972 , was a grammar school and it did me no harm at all despite not getting as many qualifications as I hoped for. However it did give me a much more rounded education than I might have got from a comprehensive. I do regret not working as hard as I should have done. I remember my parents calling me a slow learner and perhaps that is why I failed A levels and went direct into working as a living.
It was a few years later that I decided to update my education and towards the end of the seventies I did Open University courses and years later achieved a BA. So for me grammar school was a godsend. I agree with Tony Parsons that the return of the grammar school or something similar is the only way back to the ideals of meritocracy and real equal opportunities.
When it comes to television we even have differences here. He hates Hustle, Primeval and Being Human. He is a big fan of Minder, The Professionals, and Top Gear. We both love Spooks and Morse, plus Midsomer Murders. Vive la difference
Our politics are poles apart. He votes Conservative and I am more to the left but not a new labour supporter as they do not represent the working man or to put it in terms of the old class struggle “the working class”. Why I mention this is that last night a documentary on BBC 2 “Posh and Posher” posits why our politicians are coming from a narrower and narrower strata of society, the old public schools. The resignation of Labour politician Alan Johnson is the last of the well known working class men to come from humble backgrounds. The programme by Andrew Neil was a real eye opener and highlighted the fact that the end of grammar schools has closed opportunities to working class kids to become special advisors leading towards being a politician.
I can understand why comprehensives have replaced the old grammar school system as the streamlining and selection process of the 11 year-plus was deemed to be divisive but I feel it did lead to better opportunities and that since the fifties the idea of meritocracy was in the ascendant.
My old school, Herbert Kay High ,which I attended between 1967 - 1972 , was a grammar school and it did me no harm at all despite not getting as many qualifications as I hoped for. However it did give me a much more rounded education than I might have got from a comprehensive. I do regret not working as hard as I should have done. I remember my parents calling me a slow learner and perhaps that is why I failed A levels and went direct into working as a living.
It was a few years later that I decided to update my education and towards the end of the seventies I did Open University courses and years later achieved a BA. So for me grammar school was a godsend. I agree with Tony Parsons that the return of the grammar school or something similar is the only way back to the ideals of meritocracy and real equal opportunities.
When it comes to television we even have differences here. He hates Hustle, Primeval and Being Human. He is a big fan of Minder, The Professionals, and Top Gear. We both love Spooks and Morse, plus Midsomer Murders. Vive la difference
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