The Waugh Room

I would suggest there is a difference between on the one hand ex Oxbridge Guardian journalists, writing for a newspaper that we can choose to read or not read, and on the other hand ex Oxbridge politicians who are sitting in the cabinet making decisions which affect all of us, and whom we haven't necessarily chosen.

Er, did we not choose them in an election about a year ago?

Er, No. No-one voted for a coalition. (And what is it with these right-wingers and their 'Er'?)

Right. So who should be in the cabinet then? (And what is it with these Herberts accusing anyone questioning their assumptions as being "right-wing"?)

"Right. So who should be in the cabinet then?"

Certainly not members of a party who promised at the election not to raise VAT, not to raise tuition fees and not to cut the deficit hard and fast.

OK, not them. Then, who?

 Isn't it obvious? LABOUR MPS!! In a coalition with the LibDems and other minority parties, who would be similarly made to drop election pledges - but that would be different because it would be LABOUR making them do it.

Thanks so much Kevin T. I knew I wasn't getting it. Are they the same Labour MPs who stood on a manifesto commitement to introducing AV, though?

To be fair I don't think Labour dropped their entire manifesto within weeks of forming a government as the Lib Dems have done.

Well, the actual *people* in question were voted in locally as individuals, irrespective of who the government end up being. I'm not usually one to pick up on this pedantry but when discussing the possible bias of the individuals in question, I think it's important to remember that they are elected individually. 

The point was about MPs, not the government. The Oxbridge educated MPs were chosen by their voters just like the Guardian is chosen by its readers.

The country voted for a coalition by not giving any particular party a majority of seats in parliament. The Conservative party though got the most votes and Labour the smallest number for a generation.

Had the electoral system been biased in favour of the Conservatives, in the way it is currently biased towards Labour, then there would have been a good working majority for the Conservatives.  The Liberals could then have continued in their woolly unrealistic ways untroubled by reality.

The main qualification to be a Guardian journalist is to possess a huge amount of sanctimony.

The best way to get a post removed from the G's 'Comment is Free' is to list the private schools the paper's writers went to. The second best way is to list the Oxbridge colleges. Touchy.

There is a game to be had in seeing how fast the CiF moderators remove any comments that get under the skin of the Guardian's Novyklatura. Comments on people who got into Oxford with one A level get particularly short shrift.

And questioning Martin Kettle's abiding affection for Blair is also a guarantee of being moderated out of existence.

I just posted this on the Guardian 'Comment is Free'. It;ll be interesting to see how long it stays there: I was wondering whether the following was true and whether it will be the subject of a moderating injunction: 'Hacks frequently point out the sharp contrast between the Guardian's relentless assault on privilege and the lesser-known educational background* of its own staff. 'Well, after years of jibes within the trade about its reputation as a bastion of Oxbridge elitism, it looks like the Gruan is now about to undergo a bit of self-analysis. 'I've learned that the paper's readers' editor has emailed all staff asking "on condition of anonymity ... whether you attended Oxford and Cambridge" The readers' editor's email states: '"If you did, do you believe this is [sic] affected your chances of getting a job at the Guardian?"' http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/26/pcc-privacy-law-injunctions-editorial?commentpage=last#end-of-comments

Can we stop talking about Oxford and Cambridge as though they are not meritocratic? Having a degree from either is a convenient shorthand indicating that one is very clever. There should be no shame in that. I've worked in politics for over ten years and yes, Oxbridge graduates are unquestionably vastly more intelligent than average.

You are, of course, entirely right and even the Labour party acknowledge this implicitly: every one of the candidates in their last leadership election went to Oxbridge. What on earth the problem with it is, god only knows.

with, of course, the caveat that rugby or rowing blues may be equivalent to a rather slow goldfish. but if you want something heavy lifting.........

land economy was the get out for the ..ahem..more intellectually negligible of the sporting crowd. as long as you could recognise and name a fence post you'd get a third, and if you beat oxford/cambridge (delete as applicable) everyone was happy.

Rochdale is better than Oldham though. If you had just put a little more effort in, you might have got to Cambridge :)

I would surmise that very few "attended Oxford and Cambridge".

"Where did you read?" what's does this mean and why is it offensive?

DS - One "reads" at Oxford or Cambridge, elsewhere one "studies" ...

Don't know why they're asking. Th readers are already on the case. You need RapidEddie's list: http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/5450859 Alan Rusbridger – Magdalene College, Cambridge Alexander Chancellor – Trinity Hall, Cambridge Allegra Stratton – Emmanuel College, Cambridge Andrew Osborn – Oriel College, Oxford Andrew Rawnsley – Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Ben Goldacre – Magdalen College, Oxford Bidisha Bandyopadhyay – St Edmund Hall, Oxford Catherine Bennett – Hertford College, Oxford Clare Armitstead – St Hilda's College, Oxford David Mitchell – Peterhouse, Cambridge David Shariatmadari – King's College, Cambridge Emily Bell – A. N. Other College, Oxford George Monbiot – Brasenose College, Oxford Hadley Freeman – St Anne's College, Oxford Ian Black – A.N. Other College, Cambridge Jackie Ashley – St Anne's College, Oxford Jane Martinson – A. N. Other College, Cambridge Janine Gibson – St John's College, Oxford John Harris – Queen's College, Oxford John Hooper – St Catharines College, Cambridge Jonathan Freedland – Wadham College, Oxford Madeleine Bunting – Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Marina Hyde – Christ Church, Oxford Martin Kettle – Balliol College, Oxford Martin Wainwright – Merton College, Oxford Melanie Phillips – St Anne's College, Oxford Nick Cohen – Hertford College, Oxford Paul Lewis – King's College, Cambridge Paul Sagar – Balliol College, Oxford Peter Bradshaw – A. N. Other College, Cambridge Peter Preston – St John's College, Oxford Polly Toynbee – St Anne's College, Oxford Riazat Butt – A. N. Other College, Oxford Richard Norton-Taylor – Hertford College, Oxford Rowenna Davis – Balliol College, Oxford Sam Leith – Magdalen College, Oxford Seumas Milne – Balliol College, Oxford Simon Hoggart – King's College, Cambridge Simon Jenkins – St John's College, Oxford Simon Tisdall – Downing College, Cambridge Tanya Gold – Merton College, Oxford Timothy Garton Ash – St. Antony's College, Oxford Victoria Coren – St Johns College, Oxford Zoe Williams – Lincoln College, Oxford