Corbyn / BBC declare social class of employees?

Corbyn is step by step going to move everything into state controlled, media, press, what next ? Authors to state their backgrounds before their books can be published

POGS It seems a very odd idea of JC's but perhaps, looking at his own background of privilege and the fact that despite that he failed to pass exams or get into a top university, that could be an indication of why he wishes to pursue this policy.

luzdoh Bigotry of any kind has no place when establishing a level playing field.

mostlyharmless I just had to answer you because I love your name! I can't decide whether you are soft and cuddly or scary and spiky!
Yes, Oxbridge had a grid system in the 70s for trying to give a fairer entrance assessment to state school children. They were placed further along the grid on the assumption - true because it was researched - that they did not have the privilege of the extra Oxbridge tuition the public school scholars had or even the experienced teachers they had. Now there is no 7th term entry, they still say they try to give state school pupils a fair attempt, knowing they don't have the same preparation.
Life will never be equal but in education we should always be equal. I am extreme. I would ban private schools . But I would make all schools perform to a very high standard or there would be sanctions. I would pay teachers a very high salary but make them perform to a very high standard. That does not mean over-working them. They would be among our cleverest graduates, even in the infants' class. Education would be something the country would be proud of and encompass the breadth of human accomplishments, so gardeners and painters/decorators would be respected as highly as brain surgeons. It sounds too good to be true but if we all did it from the beginning it would work. All the children at school would all wear any kind of standard school clothing of the type bought in chain stores, so it would not be possible to see that one child goes to the posh school with a boater and ribbon on his blazer and the other has a simple black jacket and trousers.
That would begin the equalisation of the class system!
However, the true judge of it is invisible and to do with beliefs and standards. That's another story!

So a maths teacher and an engineer are a "privileged" back ground now are they? There seems to be little evidence that he "failed" to get into a university, as he went off to VSO (something that is surely more laudable). When he left the course on Trade Union Studies after disagreeing with his tutor he had already worked in a Trade Union so possibly did know more about them.

luzdoh If only....

evidence he failed to get into university ?

With 2 E grades at A level he wouldn’t have tried surely

luzdoh. mostlyharmless is from Douglas Adams ‘Hitchiker’s Guide to the Universe”. It’s a description of planet Earth and its inhabitants.
I am mainly soft and cuddly but spiky if very annoyed I guess!

In which case he couldn't have 'failed' to get in could he? If you don't try you can't fail.

Apparently your occupation is the main determinant of social class, so if you work for the BBC and you are an office cleaner, you are working class, if you are a programme producer or a presenter you are middle class and the Director General is probably upper middle class.

So what?

He didn’t fail to get into university he failed to get grades which could have got him into university if he wanted to go to university , even I had better grades than he did and I am not the brightest coin in the mint

varian I would think it’s probably the recruitment of trainees where Corbyn thinks social class is an important issue.

Who would be missed first, the director general, or the person who cleans the toilets?

I am wondering where children stand whose parents, having taken advantage of state education in the 60’s and who rose to the middle classes by virtue of their university degree and subsequent professional employment, then sent their offspring down the road to the local comprehensive.

Are such offspring, because of their privileged parents, to be discriminated against in higher education or employment opportunities, or are they regarded as more deserving because they have had a state education?

Maybe what Jeremy Corbyn want to know is what class were the parents of BBC employees. I understand that his parents were comfortably off. Does that mean he should or should not be able to work there?

Shouldn't a solid accredited 'working class' background be essential for anyone wanting to lead the Labour Party?

Since 1935 only 2 (Callaghan, Kinnock) of the Labour Party's 11 leaders have come from the working class. The rest have all been solidly middle class, including, of course Jeremy Corbyn.

What we all want is equality for all, in education, healthcare and job opportunities.

I think all of us posting on this thread know that is an utopian dream, and that no political party can deliver that in our lifetime.

Our children and grandchildren can only hope that one day our vision will become reality.

The trouble is Monica that as you probably know, the traditional working class is shrinking.
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2016/feb/26/uk-more-middle-class-than-working-class-2000-data
So there is an increasingly small pool of candidates for the Labour leadership, if a solid, accredited ‘working class’ background is indeed a criterion for selection.
The same applies to any organisation aiming to employ people on the basis of their socio-economic background.

Possiby Corbyn left his college course because he thought he knew more , big difference

I attended a grammar school. I came from a large council estate and was like a fish out of water. I’m sure I would have fitted in and done much better at my local secondary modern. I wanted to work in some kind of social care . (Not encouraged for “one of our girls”) who mostly had things arranged for them for after school. My best friends father was very high up in the NUM, sorted. Another good friends father worked in BBC local radio, a few friends had family members in local government or the police . My dad worked in a factory and my mum was a shop assistant .

What does “working class” even mean today ? You have a full time or permanent job? What about the not quite working class? Or the less than working class ? Or the I have never worked class?

I think it unlikely in the extreme that Jeremy Corbyn would even think about anyone’s social class - it just wouldn’t occur to him.
There are a lot of spiteful smears going around now which don’t belong in the world of politics.

Thank you for sharing that gilly

So are you claiming this is “fake news” sluttygran?

www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/jeremy-corbyn/news/97768/jeremy-corbyn-accused-hypocrisy-over
Just some thoughts.....
Presumably in this brave new world anybody who used to live in a seven-bedroom manor house in rural Shropshire and was privileged enough to attend the local grammar school would be ruled out of consideration for any high office?
Wasn’t Mr Corbyn’s Director of Communications and Strategy, Seumas Milne, the son of a former director general of the BBC educated at Winchester and Balliol?
If he got his job based on merit, why should others from a similar background not be able to do the same?
Why should an individual be judged for the choices made by his or her parents?
Even Diane Abbott, who would no doubt consider herself to be working class, made the choice to send her son to a private school. Were he to work for the BBC, would he be disadvantaged by the sacrifices made by his mother?