A Councillors Lot

It’s been one of those weeks when all the heartache that goes with the territory of being a councillor is forgotten because you have been able to achieve something tangible. Quite often our efforts go un-noticed and un-heralded by a public that either doesn’t care or is unaware of the things we do.

The Library battle has changed all that for a while; after important meetings with Harvey Siggs and John Osman, cabinet members from the County Council, the delegation from Shepton Mallet that included Margaret Robinson, Shepton’s County Councillor, Jeanette Marsh and myself as District Councillors, with Derek Marvin and Bente Heighte from the Town Council, we felt there was a chance that the library in Shepton could be saved. The cabinet papers for the County were published on Tuesday morning and joy of joys our persuasion was not in vain and the library will remain in the town after all.

The consultation process from the county was totally genuine and the views of the people, councillors and business leaders were all taken into account, and the original plan was changed to take account of those views. The county council should be applauded for the stance it took, and the flexibility it showed when the responses came in. We must now take steps to ensure that the library in Shepton is put on a more sustainable footing to ensure its continued survival into the future no matter what slings and arrows are thrown at it.

Our Education System

There was a very interesting programme on BBC 2 during the week, called “Posh and Posher”, hosted by Andrew Neil of The Daily Politics and This Week fame. It looked at our political ruling classes and how the route to the top in government is becoming increasingly difficult for ordinary people.

In the 50’s and 60’s we started to see the end of the political scene being dominated by the upper and upper middle classes in our society, the Grammar School system allowed bright students from poor backgrounds to fulfil their full potential, and go on to reach the top in government or industry as they chose.

The scrapping of the Grammar schools and the introduction of comprehensive education seems to have cut that path where a young person can go on to reach the top no matter what the background.

The current generation of politicians who reach the very top, no matter which party you look at, all come from a very narrow path. All of the top politicians in government and opposition have been to private schools, especially Eton and Westminster, then on to Oxbridge to study Politics, Psychology and Economics before finding a job as advisor to government. These Special Advisors, or SPADS as they are known in Westminster, use their position to build up their network of contacts, most of whom they already know from school or university so that when the time comes for them to step into the political arena they have all the backing they need.

All of the parties parachute their preferred candidates into what they see as prime seats, to ensure they get the candidate they want in Westminster alongside them.

At the last election, even the Labour party, the traditional working class party, only managed to get 6 out of 60 newly elected MP’s from the traditional working class backgrounds elected, all of the others came through the party system, most having never done a days’ work in their life.

So in just a few years we have gone from Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher, both products of the Grammar school system, who reached the very top on their own merit, to the current situation where David Cameron, George Osborne, Michael Gove, Ed Milliband, David Milliband, Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper, Nick Clegg et al, who are all undoubtedly very bright and talented, but have also benefitted hugely from the production line that they followed.

If we look at the top of the other professions, medicine, the law, the civil service etc, we find the same pattern. Twenty years ago these jobs were filled by the product of the meritocracy that grew up during the 50’s and 60’s, now most of these jobs are filled by the product of the private school system and Oxbridge.

I am part of the generation that were denied a Grammar School education by the left wing do-gooders that destroyed the system during the 60’s. I sat and passed the eleven plus, only to find out a few weeks later that there would be no Grammar school place for me unless my parents could pay for one. So I didn’t go to Grammar School and instead was subjected to a pretty useless comprehensive education. It was only after the age of 16 when I managed to get into a Technical College that I received any sort of meaningful instruction.

So what chance do the modern generation stand? There must be millions of bright kids out there who would do great things if given the chance, but who have a huge disadvantage over the less able kids that get a decent education in the private sector.

There has never been a more cogent argument for the return of the Grammar School system, especially when you look at the current situation at the top of the political world.