Oh dear, BBC, surely you can do better than this

[steepholm]

Cameron is the 19th prime minister to have attended Eton, apparently. And there were 13 old Etonians in his first front bench team.

Why might this be, do you think? Coincidence? Well, according to the BBC web site, it's all a question of the school's ethos and confidence-building abilities - the kind of thing that could be put in place in my old comprehensive, in fact, if only they had the gumption. Connections to the rich and powerful, the social position of the families that send their children there, and old-fashioned privilege, simply don't come into it. Quite the reverse, it seems, if we're to believe an ex-master, Dr Spence. Cameron's appointment "is a sign, Dr Spence believes, that the Etonian label is no longer a handicap."

You see, in this great country of ours no social handicap is too great to overcome! Only in the United Kingdom...

Comments

[calimac.livejournal.com]

The current American equivalent is a conservative blogger who responded to the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan by plaintively asking if men were no longer considered suitable for the job.

If I recall correctly, this blogger was a woman herself. In the spirit of Phyllis Schlafly, who used to travel the country giving speeches urging women to stay home and care for their families.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That often seems to be the way, for reasons I don't entirely understand.