John McDonnell - fee paying scholar to Marxist

Sorry since I had this tablet I cannot spell.

McDonnell

I thought he sounded Mancunian but perhaps Urmstongran will know!!

MxDknnell, not Mogg, obviously

Mogg for the panto villain

B Johnson and Stanley would be great as the ugly sisters.

The man wouldn't look out of place as a dame in a pantomime

Me too; not a fan. But must admit to finding him a bit fascinating. Don't actually know why .

There used to be all sorts of grants, bursaries and scholarships available for "poor children". McDonnell would have started secondary school in 1962 - only 18 years after the 1944 Education Act. Before 1944, approximately a third of places in fee-paying schools were actually free, usually awarded on ability. Even after 1944, many of the schools which chose to become independent still had funds to award many free places. Many of them were church schools. Many working class parents saw this as a route to improving the future for their children. It's not unlikely that McDonnell had a church-funded place, nor is it unlikely that McDonnell hated being there, which is why he left after two years.

To my knowledge, St Joseph's has had three staff found guilty of physical and sexual abuse, which could be a reason McDonnell hated it (although he's never said anything as far as I know). It's not a school in anywhere the same league as Eton, Charterhouse or Winchester. It doesn't even count as a public school because its headteacher is not a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

This all sounds like a nasty and spiteful smear. Quite honestly, if I'd been to a school like that, I'd want to abolish them and make sure every child had an education appropriate to the 21st century. Many of them are closing down anyway because parents are realising that a good comprehensive is better than these minor private schools.

As for his accent, it's not surprising that he still sounds a bit like a Scouser because he was brought up by parents who would have had a Liverpudlian accent. I must admit that he doesn't sound very Liverpudlian to me, but that's because I was brought up surrounded by Liverpudlian accents. Michael Gove sounds Scottish to me, but I doubt if he does to Scots. Tony Blair doesn't sound like a Scot.

PS. I'm really no fan of McDonnell, but this kind of smear is just spiteful and presumably intended to distract from real issues.

McDonnell was born in Liverpool to a family with an Irish Catholic background.[8] He moved with his family to East Anglia when he was very young; his father became a bus driver and was a branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union.[2][9] McDonnell attended Great Yarmouth Grammar School.[10] McDonnell began training to be a Catholic priest, receiving a Church grant to attend St Joseph's College, Ipswich,[11] a Roman Catholic boarding fee-paying independent school for boys (now co-educational), before eventually deciding against the vocation at the age of 15 or 16 as he "basically discovered girlfriends, so celibacy wasn't going to be an option. I was also into politics."[12] McDonnell is now irreligious, but refers to himself as a "cultural Catholic" and is a regular churchgoer.[12]
Upon leaving education, McDonnell held a series of unskilled jobs. After marrying his first wife, he studied for A-levels at night school at Burnley Technical College, and at the age of 23, he moved to Hayes in Greater London, attended Brunel University, and earned a bachelor's degree in government and politics.[13][14] During this period, he helped his wife run a small children's home in Hayes, and was active on behalf of his local community and for National Union of Public Employees. After completing his master's degree in politics and sociology at Birkbeck, University of London,[14][15] he became a researcher and official with the National Union of Mineworkers from 1977 to 1978, and later the Trades Union Congress from 1978 until 1982. From 1985 to 1987, McDonnell was head of the policy unit at Camden Borough Council, then chief executive of the Association of London Authorities from 1987 to 1995, and the Association of London Government from 1995 until 1997.[16]
...this is from Wikipedia; so, if it's on there it's hardly a secret. There was a man in our village who had the poshest of posh accents. He told me his father had died when he was young and because of this, as the eldest boy he was sent to a very posh private school. I think his father might have been in the forces but I'm not sure. I think it rather alienated him from the rest of his family. I hadn't realised till then that some children from poor families were sometimes sent to private schools.

I’m pretty sure that’s the case with many accents from across the world, not just the many Scottish and Welsh regional accents . It’s more to do with the age you move to another country as opposed to the accent itself.

A question:

Why do the Scots and the Welsh rarely lose their accents wherever they live in the world?

I know what you mean - it can be hard to switch off from all the going’s on.

Enjoy the wine and I hope it’s warmer over there than here - a balmy minus 6 tonight!

Ha! Thanks Scj - you’re probably right but living out here isn’t the same as a holiday (well, not quite). I read the newspapers on line here just the same as at home and watch Andrew Marr, Sky TV, politics Live.

I think I’m a current affairs junkie!

But thank you for your kindly meant post.
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If I were you Urm I’d get back to enjoying my Rioja and my holiday, and wouldn’t be giving UK politicians a second though - and I genuinely mean that nicely!

And not just their past - they’re doing a good job of trying to hide the present for their own gain too.

Probably true jura!

I’ll give it a rest.
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Thanks everyone for joining in - well over 100 posts, so some folk were interested in this topic after all.

Ask Boris and his cronies - he’ll have the answer to that.

Past

But why try to hide your part if there is nothing to hide?

Just shines a spotlight on their lack of principles and judgement

Meanwhile, over on the right, the lack of principles and judgment is so obvious, so well documented, so plain for all to see that no spotlight is needed.

Mountain/molehill Urm - stay focused on the really important issues facing the UK and ask yourself if the serial liars and cheats at the top of that particular tree (or should that be at the bottom of that particular dung heap?) are more worthy of our concern.

That’s a rhetorical question btw.

Very Northern, jura

I've never heard a Scot sound anything other than Scottish (various according to areas).

talk about bee in t'bonnet

oh dear, you do repeat yourself - and totally ignore replies. Night.

No fault or problem in being sent to a fee paying private school. But to hide the fact for political ends ?

Yet more pious hypocrisy from these Labour leaders. Just shines a spotlight on their lack of principles and judgement.

Calli ''But in everyday life she speaks normally.''

what does 'normally' mean. I always speak 'normally' - but my 'normal' is not the same for different context and people- quite .... yes, normally.

Yes really - my Kent accent is more pronounced at times, other times I sound more Scottish. If you’ve lived in different parts of the country as a child and an adult I think it’s quite common.

It’s not red herring - this thread is about whether or not he, as a politician, can be trusted. I have rightly pointed out that in the overall scheme of things there are far more important things to focus on. Out of all the things, why pick on this - and why present it as “fee paying scholar’ when he wasn’t?

If I was going to start a thread about untruths I’d get my facts straight before I typed the title.