Donate SIGN UP

Ruth Kelly

Avatar Image
flip-flop | 09:44 Mon 08th Jan 2007 | News
23 Answers
I see another Labour member has joined the 'do as I say not as I do' brigade along with Blair, Abbott, Harmon and, I suspect, many others.

Now personally I don't see anything wrong in private/selective education, but I do see something wrong in Labour MPs telling us our kids should be educated by the state and then doing doing the exact opposite, particularly in this case having been the Education Secretary until recently.

Opinions?
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 20 of 23rss feed

1 2 Next Last

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by flip-flop. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
how do you know it is Ruth kelly
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6240165 .stm

Its irrelevant if it is Ruth Kelly or not the fact of the matter remains, a pios Labour minister is adopting the usual stance of do as I say not as I do.

Personally I agree with whoever is sending their child to private school, the state system is a mess that is why I chose to spend 10K a year sending my child to a private day school.

And before all the lefties come out of the wood work, you may like to know my older kids went through the state system, and what a mess that was. I had one in special needs - failed, one in the local comp - failed and one in grammer school who only got anywhere because she is a bbright spark, the school were totally unable to ooccupy her mind leading to mis behavoir problems that they couldn't cope with either.
It is Ruth Kelly - was on the BBC this morning. Apparently it's because the child has Dyslexia and she wants him to go to a specialist school that will cater better for his needs (at �15k a year).

This from the representative of a government that's been advocating closure of special schools and integration of learning disabled children into mainstream education.

Like flip-flop and youngmafb, I have no problem with people educating their children in a way they see fit, whether that be private (if they can afford it), state or at home. I honestly wish more people had the choice.

But to advocate one thing and then do something completely opposed to that is hardly the action of someone trying to gain the approval of the electorate. It's like a bishop taking part in satanic rites.
I don't think a Labour mp sending their child to a private school is exacly the same as a bishop worshipping Satan!

but it is rather disappointing!

So gracious of David Cameron to stand up in her defence I'm sure it's a great comfort to her!
Saxy_jag, Dyslexia? Perlease! What a load of horsesh1t anyone who can't spell these days has dyslexia. The real cases must be mightily pi55ed off. Any way I'm amazed that this is news, lefty thinking is based on a "do as I say not as I do" mentatlity. "The state schools are exc llent under Labour......." err except not quite good enough for our own kids, classic socialist thinking at work!
As opposed to classic Tory thinking of "my kids are too god to mix with the rest of the great unwashed so I'm sending them off to Eton to prance around Windor in top hats"

Not only is Cameron an old Etonian but 5 of his inner circle are:

Oliver Letwin, Edward Llewellyn, Danny Kruger, George Bridges and Zac Goldsmith.

What a man of the people!
Yes Jake but they make no bones about it, where as labour have exactly the same attitude as the tories but try to pretend otherwise.
Jake, I take exception to your comment about being a Tory means thinking of "my kids are too god to mix with the rest of the great unwashed.

Althougj I suspect your comments may be more directed at politions I am a Tory, I tried the state system and it failed on 3 counts. I now go without things to give my child a better start in life. She is not a eaton and there are plenty of ordinary people there too.

Personally with what I have seen coming out of the state system I'm glad our members of parliament got a good education.

We could of course have a government full of Prescotts !!!!
Loosehead, I'm only saying what I heard on the news.
sorry Saxy I was really having a go at the general tendency for anyone who is bad at spelling to claim to be dyslexic, I wasn't having a go at you.
Apology accepted. Maybe I took it wrong. I know what you're getting at, but I'm assuming here that the child concerned has been properly assessed and diagnosed. Whatever, politicians should either practice what they preach or stop preaching.
Question Author
Kelly has said she has taken the decision as her local authority do not provide suitable provision for dyslexic kids, whereas her local authority has today said that that is nonsense and that they 'talior-make' services for kids with difficulties.

It is all flim-flam: she wants to educate her kid privately, which is fair enough in my book, but she's coming out with a load of old b0110cks to defend her hypocritical stance.

If a constituent turned up at her surgery and said they had a kid that had dyslexia, Kelly would trot out the party line that kids with learing difficulties are to be educated in the mainstream, whilst paying �15k to educate her child privately.

I think it is an absolute disgrace.
Well I'm mostly digging at Cameron who is painting himself a man of the people whilst surrounding himself with old Etonians!

Somehow I can't see him loosing much sleep over the education of the masses.

You cannot judge an entire national system on your own personal experience youngmafbog - that's like saying - why don't people in south America speak English? Everybody I've ever met speaks it!

There are some very good comprehensives and some public schools which shall we say "put less emphasis on academic options"

In fact when you look at the value added scores the best one in England is - guess what - a comprehensive.

But there is a huge discrepancy and lottery depending on where you live not not least in areas where there is still selective education.

Probably time to revoke the charitable status of fee paying schools though. If I give money to an organisation and it educates my children in return that is not a charity by any reasonable definition


If schools aren't doing enough to help dyslexic children (and other special needs) couldn't she have done something about it ~ either in the past, or make some moves now?
Just a thought ; if dyslexia is the inability to spell or
punctuate correctly, then I suspect that at least 50%
of the adult population of the UK is dyslexic. Add
those for whom grammar and syntax are 'Terra
Incognita' , and it leaves precious few who are truly
literate. Seemingly, we don't need special schools,
we only require schools a la 30s, 40s and 50s., where
the 3 Rs were taught, and learned, thoroughly.
I agree Scylax!
Its a bit like the chief executive of Tescos doing his shopping at Sainsbury's because they offer better service and quality
The whole scenario is an insult to the ordinary person - especially those who actually vote labour. I send my two children to private school because the local primary state school is bursting to capacity. We can only just afford it but it is worth the sacrifice as they are both flourishing. When it comes to senior school, we are not able to then afford the fees and I really try not to worry myself sick over it.
This woman really has pi55ed me off goodstyle!
Good leadership in industry means the people at the top state the direction for the organisation and set an example through their behaviour.
Good political leadership works exactly the same way. Ruth Kelly is the latest in a long line of members of the Cabinet who operate under 'Do as I say, not do as I do'.
I think she is right to put the education of her child as her first priority. It seems that in this case everyone agreed that he would benefit from a couple of years in a school which would cater for his particular needs. I agree that, ideally, every child would have their individual needs met in the local state school, but that is never going to happen, and I admire her for putting her child first - even though she knew she would come in for a lot of stick.
But I do believe that the majority of children are well served by their local schools. Mine all went to the local primary school on a council estate, and then to the secondary. They have all done extremely well academically - and I am sure are much more well-rounded individuals than they would have been if I had chosen to send them to private schools - which is where I was educated.

1 to 20 of 23rss feed

1 2 Next Last

Do you know the answer?

Ruth Kelly

Answer Question >>