Shami Chakrobati now Shadow Attorney General in Corbyn reshuffle

I'd certainly like to call him a big C. Can't stand him or Diane Abbott or the Labour Party. Loony lefties.

trisher - I think my impression of Emily Thornberry's unfortunate tweet and Shami's "Essex man" remark revealed a disdain for a section of society with their pejorative generalisations implying that "Essex man" for example are one dimensional, and not in a good way, is a fallacy, I know that because I married someone who was born and brought up in Essex and he does not represent their small minded vision of what they view as the "worst" type of British male. They would be the first to kick up a fuss should an unflattering generalistion be applied to say another ethnic minority.

Annie yes I would concede that Tony Blair might not always have had grandiose money making plans, I think possibly he turned into the money devil when he sold his soul to Bush.

Jess,yes you are completely wrong , I do not present myself as anything, I have been a Labour Party member for fifty years, no, over fifty years now, time does fly . I didn't learn about socialism from books ,I learned from experience and the advantage of inheriting the papers and journals of my g grandfather who worked with K Hardie in the birth of the Labour Party, of having Michael Foot as a family friend.

I learned of socialism this way.

You choose to believe rumour of Blair, I choose to believe what Gordon Brown told me of the reasons he and Blair took as to why they joined the Labour Party.

I can also accept we are now in 2016 and not 1900.

Tony Blair imo was a traitor who took this country in to an illegal war so that he could cozy up with President Bush. He was in fact his puppet. He should be in prison writing his memoirs. He deliberately lied to the country and he got hundreds of people killed fighting a war that should never have been fought. He is I think, evil!

Mr Corbyn on the other hand is a principled man and good luck to him. At least he is honest. I live in the same town he was brought up in and I can tell you that the school he went to is one of the best in the country, and it is oversubscribed. The streets are full of cars come entrance exam day. It teaches respect for others, compassion, it sends pupils out to do good works around the town, it frowns on bullies and the exam results are amazingly good.

Both labour, both politicians, but worlds apart.

However because of Corbyn's stand on trident there will be many who will not vote for him unfortunately. He knows this, but he will not depart from his principles.

If Blair thinks he has a chance of beating Mr Corbyn to become Leader of the Labour Party I think he is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Thank you TerriBull , if Blair had his eye on life after westminster he would have joined the Tory party in my opinion

Bonjour

I am interested in the choice of the Shadow Cabinet not the gender to be honest.

1) Can Labour unite with Corbyn's reshuffled cabinet? (yes I know other parties have their own problems start your own thread

2). Is it looking even more like an Inner London Social Elite speaking for Labour.

3) I am particularly interested in the choice of Shami Chakrabarti as Attorney General, the predictions from months ago from some political pundits have come to fruition.

So far I am wondering why given the recent coverage of Sarah Champion and her 'issue' gives rise to not being an open goal for wondering why Corbyn gave her the role of Shadow Women and Equalities Minister. Certainly the timing is somewhat surreal but that's a personal observation maybe.

As for Chakrabarti I am not for one moment surprised but again it is an open goal considering she only joined the party a few months ago, received a mixed opinion over her Anti Semitism Report from adoration to a white wash and her taking one of the ultimate 'Establishment' positions as Baroness . Then again both her and the Corbyn were so anti the House of Lords there must be a 'U Turn' on their widely known held views.

I wonder if more will be announced today.

Yorkshiregal, Corbyn went to a prep school !

Anniebach, how come you were asked to give permission for your grandson to sit a scholarship exam? What about his parents? I hope you are proud of yourself for denying that little boy a chance to fulfil his potential. If people are offered a leg up it is our duty to encourage them to take it. I could not live with what you did, it would be on my conscience for ever. You might feel holier than thou but I bet those children have other views.

At the (quite substantial - knowing how Gransnetters react) risk of being lambasted - maybe we can see why Anniebach is not in favour of "grammer" schools! Bring it on. ?

Anniebach, the school I am talking about is a Grammar school! All three of my children went there, as did my nephew, and now my grandson is in the 6th form. They didn't previously go to prep school they went to a state school. The Jnr school Mr Corbyn went to may be a prep school but he went on to a Grammar school. He also lived in the town (on the outskirts), yes it was a big house, but many people live in big houses. I don't. He did a lot of good work in this town and round about and he earned, yes earned, lots of respect for all his hard work. Despite what the Tory press would have you believe he is a DECENT man and a kind man, unlike Blair who would trample on anyone to get to the top.

Yorkshregel, I did not say I was asked for my permission, no my grandson was not denied the chance to fulfil his potential, he gained a first in economics at university after achieving A* and 2 A's in his A levels at the comprehensive school his parents chose over a boys public school

I've lost faith in all of them, I was about to add to the diatribe....but sadly I can't be bothered. This could possibly be my last post on Gransnet too. I have found too many discussions and debates a bit inclusive. Feeling very much on the periphery and although I tried to start threads which I felt relevant, none have been put on line etc. So long girls.....

With what has happened in the last few months it would not surprise me if Mrs May shoots herself in the foot like Cameron did and we end up with a Labour landslide. Stranger things have happened.

Yes Yorksiregel, Adams Grammer School for boys , a selective school for day students and boarders. I acknowledge he did not choose the school , his parents did, he praised them at the conference for their socialist values , yet wants to stop other parents from having the same choices as his parents

Well, you'll have to wait four years to see if it does.

Two A levels grade E - hardly a glowing endorsement either for the school or for Corbyn's academic ability.

I have had the best laugh for ages - Dianne Abbot Shadow Home Secretary. We would all feel so much safer in her hands ???!!! . BUT the reality is no joke.

Interesting Ana, yet I deprived my grandson of a good education in Yorksiregels opinion

POGS, I counted 13 MPs from North of Leicester in the shadow cabinet.

Yorkshirgel

' Mr. Corbyn on the other hand is a principled man and good luck to him. At least he is honest. I live in the same town he was brought up in and I can tell you that the school he went to is one of the best in the country, and it is oversubscribed. The streets are full of cars come entrance exam day. It teaches respect for others, compassion, it sends pupils out to do good works around the town, it frowns on bullies and the exam results are amazingly good.'

Corbyn was educated at Castle House Preparatory School, an independent school near Newport, Shropshire, before attending Adams' Grammar School as a day student.

Why then does Corbyn and Co strongly oppose parents the right for their children to the same education?

It just sums up hypocrisy to some," Do as I say not Do as I Do ". Now we can go on to say he was principled and did not want his children to go to anything other than state/comprehensive education, indeed it is known to be one of the factors for his marital break up , but telling others how to choose their child's education is wrong on so many levels.

I am also going to use the word 'nepatism' and think of the posts/posters who have over the years found 'nepatism' a scurge, a disgrace in politics, they seem to find no problem
with MP's employing sons and daughters these days. Then again many 'principles' seem to permitted to lapse if it suits, there's that word hypocrisy coming to mind again.

Fingers crossed, gardenman.

A child doesn't have to go to a grammar or independent school to fulfill his/her potential - even amongst the more able.

Just copied and pasted this from Jeremy Corbyn's 'almer mater':

"Once again sixth form students at Adams’ Grammar School have returned an impressive set of A-level results. Out of 155 candidates 80% of results were graded A*- B."

My son has just left a state comprehensive with a wider range of ability than Adams', where 77% of A level results were graded A*-B.

Quite frankly, I'm shocked that the figure for Adams' isn't 100%, given its intake.

Sorry, I know it's off-topic, but it's not fair to accuse anybody of denying a child anything just because he/she doesn't go to grammar school. Incidentally, some minor independent schools offer scholarships to bright children to boost their results. Without the bright scholarship pupils, their results would be poor.

I attended a private school, my husband a grammar. Does that mean that we should have sent our children to private or grammar schools just because we went there?
The assumption that they are somehow better than comprehensives in this day and age I find abhorrent.

Nobody cares where an individual poster goes to school, nor really an MP as such. It is the telling/instructing/considering to know what's best for another persons child that is the problem.

If somebody ' told ' you Durhamjen you can no longer 'home educate ' your grandson you would be livid' smoke coming out of your ears. Why, because you and your family have 'chosen' the route you want to take.

As a general point, it is not up to others to decide how other peoples children are educated, I would never dream of it. I will however remain happy to call it hypocrisy when someone espouses one thing and does the complete opposite, How is that being a true Socialist, or does Socialism mean 'Well for you lot but not for mine'.

So POGs if politicians are not to decide what sort of education or schools a child is offered who should be? Private companies, academies, free schools? They have all been trialed recently and what seems to be becoming apparent is that they have an equal or in some cases a higher level of failure than any state school.
Why is it hypocrisy to want a good education for all children but to use your own money to buy something better for your own child? Would you consider it hypocritical to ask for a minimum wage for all but expect to be paid more than that because you have particular skills?
Of course if Public schools were banned that would be different, but I think even left wingers have abandoned that policy.