9/14/2008

Nick Clegg puts his foot in it over private schooling

Nick Clegg has told The Times that he might send his children to private schools. Moreover, he came up with the same boring old chestnut that "he would not play politics with his children's education".

The question is, if you were an opposition activist in Sheffield, what would you be saying right now ?

Sheffield, where Nick Clegg has his constituency, is a Lib Dem run council, it is, therefore, a Lib Dem run education authority. If the schools are not good enough there, technically, the Lib Dems will be at fault.

So is he saying he does not trust the Lib Dems to run Sheffield schools properly ? Of course he isn't. But this is an absolute gift for the opposition in Sheffield.

Why didn't Nick use this as an opportunity to praise Sheffield Council ? Why didn't he answer by saying that the schools in Sheffield are getting better all the time and there are any number of schools he would be happy to send his children to in the city ? By saying he might send his children to a private school he is damning each and every school in the city.

Very silly and a poor answer from Nick Clegg. I knew I should have supported Chris Huhne !

10 comments:

Brian said...

Or he is saying that parents should do what they believe is best for their children if they wish to spend their money that way. Rather liberal thinking.
By the way, independent schools offer bursaries for bright children of less well-off parents.

Charlotte Gore said...

I appreciate this must feel like a bit of a kick in the teeth for those Lib Dems in Sheffield, but you can't use the children of MPs as political footballs, and you can't hold their education hostage to politics.

Tories won't attack him for this, and Labour certainly won't (Harman, for example). No party wants this argument.

Giles Marshall said...

To be honest, this is one comment of his that has actually pulled me out of the lethargy that engulfs me every time he gives a speech and made me think there is something to him after all. I quite like his honesty. Other party leaders make the comments you want but then go out of their way to avoid the local, undesirable schools in what becomes a farcical process that brings no credit to anyone.

Clegg's real problem is that a commitment to sending his kids to independent schools won't be enough to keep all those ex-Tory voters on board, which is what he needs to do if he is to keep anything like the representation at Westminster that he's currently got. You should have elected a proper left-wing leader, to clean out all those inner city seats which Labour holds with just 30% of the vote or less!

Nich Starling said...

GM - Don't be so sure that Lib Dems in southern seats will automatically lose to the Tories just because Cameron hsa had some decent local election results.

In seats like Winchester, Eastleigh, North Norfolk, Colchester and a host of others that I could name, all with Lib Dem MPs, the last local election results have been better than before.

The truth is that in Lib Dem held seats national swings will mean very little.

Anonymous said...

(a) How long have the Liberal Democrats been running Sheffield's schools?

(b) Is that long enough to hold them responsible for their current state?

I would answer 'since May' and (therefore) 'no'.

Daily Referendum said...

Huhne should have won. Clegg is atmosphere hoover.

Man in a Shed said...

Its the ultimate test - what's good enough for your family.

Letters From A Tory said...

Clegg is not impressing anyone. His own party was attacking him in the papers today for talking about tax cuts and absolutely nothing else.

Anonymous said...

The story I saw had him talking about the schools near his London home, rather than in Sheffield. So I think you are mistaken in saying he was talking about Sheffield?

Anonymous said...

capitalism failing
market deregulation
McCain says Wall Street a casino

Clegg more taxes

I dont think so

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