Originally posted by WordIsBond
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Maybe, but it's pretty close to hypocrisy. That person is admitting that private schools are better -- "the absolute for your kids." if that's what they really believe, being opposed to the existence of private schools may not be hypocritical, it may just be stupid. You're too daft to acknowledge even to yourself what you really know to be true -- that private schools are better and those who care about their kids should put them there if they can.
I can give a better illustration of your point, though. Suppose someone says child benefit is an expensive bureaucracy. He wants to increase dole benefits so those on the dole with kids aren't worse off, reduce employee NI contributions so those in work with kids aren't worse off, and get rid of CB entirely. He wants to replace A (child benefit) with B. Maybe it isn't workable because many people don't have kids, but we're talking Labour policies in this thread, so unworkable is cool.
If he has a choice, he should choose B (lower tax, no child benefit), but if the choice doesn't exist, he can use A with a clear conscience while saying, "There should be a better way." If he uses A while pretending not to, that's hypocrisy. Or (here's where our Labour politicians often get in trouble) if he uses A while preaching it is morally deficient about it, that's always hypocrisy.
That's true whether it is private schools or "creative" tax management or some kind of environmentalist faux pas. It's amazing how often these people preach about morality and are doing the exact opposite. I think when you get into politics you must be required to take a pill that makes it impossible to blush.
It rarely does any great damage to the country. Few are hurt much by a politician's kids being at a school they rave against, or some Labour leader making a little extra tax-free money in Lichtenstein. My life isn't worse because they do these things, and it wouldn't be better if they stopped. But it does have entertainment value, and often does help keep that kind of person from gaining any real power. So thank you, Abbott and Hodge, for the amusement and for helping to keep yourselves and your party on the appropriate side of the House of Commons.
Maybe Labour MPs should start a private school for their kids that guarantees that the education there will never be better than the median school in Hackney North. Who could complain?
I can give a better illustration of your point, though. Suppose someone says child benefit is an expensive bureaucracy. He wants to increase dole benefits so those on the dole with kids aren't worse off, reduce employee NI contributions so those in work with kids aren't worse off, and get rid of CB entirely. He wants to replace A (child benefit) with B. Maybe it isn't workable because many people don't have kids, but we're talking Labour policies in this thread, so unworkable is cool.
If he has a choice, he should choose B (lower tax, no child benefit), but if the choice doesn't exist, he can use A with a clear conscience while saying, "There should be a better way." If he uses A while pretending not to, that's hypocrisy. Or (here's where our Labour politicians often get in trouble) if he uses A while preaching it is morally deficient about it, that's always hypocrisy.
That's true whether it is private schools or "creative" tax management or some kind of environmentalist faux pas. It's amazing how often these people preach about morality and are doing the exact opposite. I think when you get into politics you must be required to take a pill that makes it impossible to blush.
It rarely does any great damage to the country. Few are hurt much by a politician's kids being at a school they rave against, or some Labour leader making a little extra tax-free money in Lichtenstein. My life isn't worse because they do these things, and it wouldn't be better if they stopped. But it does have entertainment value, and often does help keep that kind of person from gaining any real power. So thank you, Abbott and Hodge, for the amusement and for helping to keep yourselves and your party on the appropriate side of the House of Commons.
Maybe Labour MPs should start a private school for their kids that guarantees that the education there will never be better than the median school in Hackney North. Who could complain?
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