Explained: How Oxford ruined British politics

13 out of the last 17 prime ministers have been to Oxford University.
That surely can't be a good thing.
We went to Oxford to find out why, and what that means for British politics.
Reporter: Ed Campbell
Camera: Kesia Evans
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[@ajamal5796]

I don't think the problem is necessarily Oxford University itself, I am certain that the majority of students at Oxford go on to have very normal careers like anybody who went to any other good university in the UK... the problem is the fact that the Conservative Party is now dominated by a small clique of very privileged, out of touch, nepotistic, wealthy, aristocratic, private school educated people who all know each other via the Oxford Union and use it to make connections in the political world. This tiny group has been ruling over us since 2010 when David Cameron came to power and made all of his chums from Oxford University cabinet ministers, and then Boris Johnson did the same thing. Both have been disastrous for this country. We need to vote these people out at the next election and allow people who have some experience of the real world to be in charge.

[@aluisious]

They don't have "very normal careers." They go on to the corporate dickheads who lord unfounded power over someone, somewhere. People don't go to Oxford to be dentists or design circuit boards.

[@elainekerslake6865]

Bang on the mark.

[@retrogiftsuk4812]

The statistics are actually slightly worse than the video indicates. Of the last 14 PMs that went to university, 13 went to Oxford and 1 went to Edinburgh. No PM since WWII has been to a English university other than Oxford. (Note that this is because 2 of the last 17 PMs didn't go to university)

[@DjDmt]

What about the voters? Where do they come in to it? These Muppets keep getting voted in by them, so yeah, i dont see how its anyone else's fault but the people who vote

[@srinivaschillara4023]

This is a key point. To blame OU is blaming the tool. Given the number of students passing through, only a small percentage would be successful in politics. However at the top of the ladder these people are an overwhelming majority.

[@NeuroScientician]

People often confuse having rich parents with being intelligent or competent.

[@Jay_Johnson]

Nature vs Nurture.

[@user-ct8my8rv9c]

Trump..

[@gorbachevspizzahut2809]

i agree

[@superflatjellyfish]

A lot of money being spent by parents on education in exam/interview techniques that hide their child's mediocrity, in addition to actual academic studies. Obviously every parent wants the best for their child, rich or poor, but it's the sheer culture of nepotism across top tier jobs and politics that's the poison

[@hUCK-]

@@Jay_Johnson If you're not born brain-damaged than you're roughly as intelligent as any other human ever born. It is in fact what the individual does with it plus or minus the advantage/challenges they face in upbringing.

[@BANKO007]

01:23 This girl hit the nail on the head. It's not the education, it's the network.

[@JN-wr9he]

And learning the ‘code’, from how to speak to how to pass for one of the bunch

[@anonomous8719]

That’s the same with anything these days - it’s not what you know, it’s who you know these days.

[@himoffthequakeroatbox4320]

Which of course has the added "advantage" of being self-perpetuating.

[@sarahbarrett1247]

and completely knocks this fallacy that if you only worked hard enough you would scrape yourself out of the poverty you have gottten yourself into.

[@Freemouse159]

The one before... "High level education"... Nothing you can't KZbin. Networking though...

[@hoodwinker7932]

"The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever being one" Billy Connolly

[@joelk3187]

“The best leader is someone who doesn’t want to be one”

[@fishfinners505]

“Those often best suited to power are those who never desire it”

[@1RAGEACE]

Socrates further back. History is cycles; same shit, different date,

[@jackscott4772]

There should be a bit of nuance acknowledged here though, many people may have an ambition in politics with the specific aim of creating a more inclusive society. What should be shunned is people who enter politics for monetary purposes, and those who only see politics as a tool to benefit themselves individually and their friends/family.

[@EdJonesVideos]

I was expecting this report to be a lot less measured than it was, so thank you. I'm writing this now from an Oxford college - I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to disclose but I've both studied at Oxford and worked at a different college. Here's what I would say. Oxford is an enormous institution: sometimes tourists ask us where 'the University' is and there's no good answer to that question. Within that system, there were plenty of people with more money than sense. I saw this especially as an undergrad: often they went to elite private schools in England, they already had a network, and they felt right at home when they arrived. The rest of us - the majority - were just book nerds, to be honest. To get into the university as an undergrad, you need to either know the system inside-out and have twenty mock interviews and get your personal statement ghostwritten by the right people -- or, you need to show that you really love your subject and you want to learn more about it. My friends from that time were from all over, but many (like me) came from places like the South Wales Valleys, or the Docklands, or Manchester - a world away. We felt like fish out of water. Now many of my friends from that time are doing really interesting research, or they're training to be doctors, or they're working in conservation. Many of them spent their time at the University volunteering their time to good causes, but more than anything they were just so bright and so interesting. For me, that's Oxford. I don't think an Oxford history or PPE degree is the right qualification to become PM. But for these guys - Johnson, May, Osborne, Rees-Mogg, Truss, Sunak - it doesn't matter. It's the people they choose to meet; the circles they hang around in. I never met any of these sorts when I was an undergrad, really. The university is so enormous that you don't have to.

[@thelostboy9884]

Insightful post. Thanks. I never went to university, because, frankly, I was thick as shit, but your testimony chimes with what I suspect is actually going on; a manifestation of will and self-actualization, rather than class prerogatives. I also get the impression that the above article and the general anti-Oxbridge sentiments being expressed are rooted in the politics of envy and revenge. Further, if you look at the academic qualifications of many a denizen at commie-pinko organisations, like The Guardian and the BBC, you'll find just as many Oxbridge alumni. Congratulations on your success. .

[@timlester4510]

When I was Exeter, full of people who had failed the interview to get into Oxbridge, the network for the upper class was already in place. They all knew each other from Deb balls in London. I remember overhearing some Sloaney girl ask if her friend was referring to the Dorset Tufnells or the Gloucestershire Tufnells. It is not an uncommon name; but to her there could only possibly have been TWO families of that name worth knowing. And Exeter was not big enough to get away from the endless succession of people dressing like their parents. I did meet some smart people there, though.

[@Anon-xd3cf]

Do Oxford teach students to use filler words and sounds? Everyone from Oxford ehh like uhhh fills pauses with ehhh like filler ehhh ehh words and ehh sounds.

[@jphenry3404]

@@Anon-xd3cf They're just random students giving ad-lib answers, nothing prepared or rehearsed. And listening to a lot of politicians and such they do exactly the same. And for sure you do it do in daily conversation, as we all do in some way.

[@aluisious]

@@jphenry3404 the commenter doesn't seem to realize that we all have the same squishy stuff inside our skulls, and the vast majority of that is dedicated to being able to see colors and shapes, remembering voices, etc. As if there was a different tier of human going to Oxford that simply spat out nice paragraphs when prompted.

[@tmanchu]

From my humble experience it takes a little bit of suffering to have empathy for others. And empathy is a requirement for leadership. You can’t teach hunger or pain. A lot of these posh kids have little experience in perseverance. Even the schools others fight so hard to get into are usually guaranteed at birth. This makes them despise anyone who reminds them of their privilege and makes them double down by calling everyone else lazy. They are too disconnected from reality to be useful to anyone outside their kind. It’s not about a single university but the mindset that perpetuates unearned privilege and the structures that elevate entitled but incompetent individuals.

[@JNelson_]

This is such a well thought out comment, and perfectly surmises where the pull yourself up by your bootstraps rhetoric comes from.

[@digbycrankshaft7572]

And leads to the galloping hypocrisy you see displayed by these creatures whenever they open their mouths

[@talavb9301]

Disclaimer, I'm writing this comment from my student dormitory in Oxford. The vast majority of students here couldn't reasonably be described as posh. The general trend of student politics is largely left-leaning to left-wing, and the vast majority of people I know are studying on a loan. Many are first-generation university. This business of school places or Oxbridge admissions being guaranteed at birth may have been true a few decades ago, and in certain colleges. But it's quite frankly not the case now. People looking down on others for being rich is far more common here than people looking down on people for being poor. To suppose that the people here don't know anything of hunger or pain and have no empathy or experience of perseverance is ignorant at best, extremely prejudicial at worst. Does the average student know as much about hunger as the average homeless person? No. But that's true of most people with homes.

[@himoffthequakeroatbox4320]

@@talavb9301 He never said "all". But the fact is that a small number in key places can have an undue influence which is largely self-perpetuating. I assume you've heard of the Bullingdon club, or are you going to claim it's a myth? I assume you're good at sport, because reading comprehension certainly isn't your strong point.

[@II-kd1gi]

inferiority complex…go to a therapist, you need it

[@p.h.3987]

I used to work in a very British institution for one year and I was shocked of the Oxbridge-class of people running and determining issues. They were ALL completely detached from normal people, so much you would never find in Germany ever anywhere. We do have a much greater diversity in terms of backgrounds, roots, experiences, education. I have come to cherish this in London.

[@gerryburntwood9617]

Which is why Germans are smarter and have more caring politics!

[@rogueuniversities6866]

Speaking of Germany (which changed the law after a German court tried to protect kids from genital mutilation, making it legal to mutilate them depending on their gender), I remember speaking to some Germans. At some point, a group of people were sat around a camp fire, telling war stories. An older man spoke. He spoke of World War 2, of the Nazis, and of course, of Hitler, He sat with an unlit cigarette in his mouth the whole time. As he spoke, the truth being obvious as he conversed with those around them, it was then, after the fire was put out and the smoke cleared, that people realised, the Holocaust never happened.

[@thelostboy9884]

Maybe you weren't given the job at your "very British institution" because of your inability to string a coherent sentence together.

[@thelostboy9884]

@@gerryburntwood9617 Yes, Germans are renowned for their caring politics. And shit-eating porn.

[@gerryburntwood9617]

@@thelostboy9884 you sad little boy!

[@TihetrisWeathersby]

Being from a high level university doesn't make you a great politician

[@jamessteel9016]

Or person in general.

[@boop4801]

Maybe not, but sadly seems a prerequisite to be a successful one. All that networking in public schools and then university ends up paying dividends.

[@PTMarcoBryant]

It’s makes you a self righteous scum bag. I doubt he went to Kelloggs Oxford lol 😂

[@K-E-N-07]

Does mean that you're very clever though

[@andrewalexander1086]

@@boop4801 rubbish

[@ive3336]

As someone who went to both 'voted worst secondary school in North West' and went to one of the 'best' 6th forms. The difference was only the students and not the quality of teachers. In the rough school the teachers couldnt get a word in because there were a few kids who would ruin it for everyone, most had shit going on at home or didn't have much push from their family were as in the 'posh' school was full of kids who wouldnt say boo to a goose leading to classes without distraction and inevitably covering more content leading to better grades. (plus somewhat of a stable environment at home) I'd say this is the main reason we have the gap in education.

[@aluisious]

Could be. There are people who say it's funding but we've had decades of foreign grad students who literally went to school with a slate running circles around kids who had every material advantage.

[@alal2192]

What do you do now? R u in uni? What uni?

[@scapingby]

Correct. The working class used to have discipline and principles, and in many ways tried to emulate the social middle class or elite, by the Queen's example. Now, we've got a working class that look like shit, eat shit, and live way beyond their means. the example they set their kids is that education can fuck off because benefits and the state pension have you covered.

[@brinjoness3386]

I went to normal/ free junior schools in Yorkshire, America and Australia. I also went to 1 of the most expensive high schools in Australia. And we still had kids with problems at home. (Dad stole a billion, dad beat mum because he us a drunk) And while the parents at that school spend 50 thousand a year to send their children there, the school still receives government funding. That is wrong. And the dad stole a billion example is pretty accurate. 🤪

[@jillybe1873]

We need grammar schools

[@kenmay1572]

Throw in Eton and you get the perfect storm

[@minuteman4394]

You are correct sir

[@obi-ron]

Absolutely correct. The mindset is molded at an early age and is supported by the elitist elements who are afraid of any change that will leave them in a position where their offspring have to conform to social norms rather than standing back and sneering at the real creators of their wealth, the people who work to make things better for everyone. And no, I'm not a socialist or communist

[@peterharvey8240]

@@minuteman4394 Too right.

[@steveparker8065]

I'm glad we still have a ruling class to pay for - who lord it over us while we sweat and toil just to pay our ever-increasing bills. So glad we didn't evolve beyond a monarchy and are still treated like serfs. Makes me proud to be an illiterate peasant, happy to vote for the continued inequity. If my poverty and suffering can enrich the life of an aristocrat then so be it, I'd happily vote them into office...

[@jazzoj5]

Sadly that mentality is deeply embedded in British culture and the Gentry have convinced a significant portion of the working class to vote for them, on the premise that they would drive out the dreaded immigrants, who are apparently the source of all their problems.

[@wombleingfree]

It’s not Oxbridge it’s the Victorian private schools where they are taught that only being part of an antiquated elite is of worth. These schools philosophies are unchanged for centuries and aim to produce administrators for the long-dead British Empire, and as this doesn’t exist any more they foist the same tone-deaf, arrogant, destructive and useless social experiments on the populace as they would have during The Raj, with the same disregard for actual peoples lives. Soulless, deluded school boys.

[@steveparker8065]

@@jazzoj5 Yep agreed, those immigrants who crashed our economy, failed to protect care home residents during the pandemic, allowed the energy companies to get away with extortion, spend billions via cronyism, and bled the country dry via privatisation. When they say immigrants it's usually their own fault but immigrants are easy to blame as they are on the lowest ladder in the social hierarchy. Reports show most immigrants contribute far more during their lifetime than they take out of the system. It's the wealthy corporate elites, bankers and politicians sticking their hands in our pockets.

[@imogenjenkinson6907]

I can't tell of ur being sarcastic

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@imogenjenkinson6907 Try irony....

[@shelbyvillerules9962]

It’s also worth noting how so many people in government attended boarding schools growing up. Studies have shown that entering that kind of environment at a young age can seriously affect a persons mental health and negatively influence their behaviour when it comes to things like empathy, forming close bonds and relationships, and being open and honest when it comes to their emotions.

[@Mr_Phage]

Couldn't agree more, it creates border-line sociopaths. But I think this is by design, to create the 'ruling elite' so craved by Britain's aristocracy.

[@creedbel8328]

That can't be right

[@shelbyvillerules9962]

@@creedbel8328 Go and look up Boarding School Syndrome.

[@aluisious]

It it the kind of environment that makes some twat dress up like an 18th century dandy and fall asleep on the bench in Parliament?

[@alal2192]

@@creedbel8328 wym

[@charliebryce3783]

I personally think it's not the university, but Public School. Being torn away from parents at a young age is traumatic. So they soon learn to deny their feelings to survive, which means they lack empathy and are power hungry

[@psammiad]

Except not everyone who went to a public school is like that.

[@geraiswaiya2347]

Doesn't apply to Liz Truss or Theresa May, though - or even to David Cameron

[@freesimorgh]

I agree. Boarding schools are more of a problem than Oxford University. Oxford has given the world so much and it's not at all fair to blame it for the greedy politicians.

[@charliemartin9869]

What a wonderfully useless sweeping generalisation.

[@normanchristie4524]

I doubt it. It shows complacence on the part of the university. Having read 'Chums' it illustrates how these posh boys and girls could play the system. It is an other illustratiin of the class system in Britain particularly England.

[@WhoOneIs]

The UK is a sinking ship, but it’s okay because the captain is a Oxford University graduate, and the last 30 captains have also come from that institution. The key thing isn’t the direction of the ship or even not hitting an iceberg. It’s the captain’s class and where they studied. The Oxford educated captain is allowed to hit an iceberg. It’s their privilege.

[@aluisious]

It won't even be the UK soon. Scotland will leave and you have to wonder how long Wales is going to stick around after that. What a decline, from having the greatest empire in history back to being England.

[@KatytheNightOwl]

@@aluisious I really believe that Wales would be independent of England if it could. That's the sentiment I hear a lot here anyway - I can't blame them, being treated so poorly by those in charge in London 😢 But then, those Elite treat everyone else but their own the same way! 😡

[@minuteman4394]

I have a nephew who teaches at one of the more important feeder schools for Oxbridge and the stories he tells me about the attitude and contempt of most of the pupils and teachers of the classics who think they are of a superior race to the other tutors there and ignore them most of the timeIs quite stunning and this school has turned out more than its share of politicians to a very high level in government. With that in mind is it any wonder that that they give not a thought for us plebs and see government as no more than a huge trough to fill ones pockets and spend their time making sure they are safe in what they do behind closed doors and damn the rest of us.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

The classics is a waste

[@meera6024]

Wow I was just speaking to my friend about this! The problem in the political elite that lies with a sense of privilege that stems from a private and then Oxbridge education. Thank you for highlighting what is a very important issue

[@vishmaster09]

A lot of people in my school went to Oxford but they were people who did well in exams coming from state schools and have decent jobs on £50k but not a crazy high income. Being intelligent and going to a good university isn't always the same as having rich parents who are donors for political parties

[@macsmiffy2197]

He didn’t mention the massive number of MPs/PMs who have also read PPE at Oxford, more Labour than Tory, since it started post WW1.

[@SwillMith16]

As someone from Oxford, I would like to clarify the problem is people who go to Oxford, not people from Oxford. We all live on council estates

[@conalcorbally3001]

I think part of the problem are the debating societies in these institutions, private schools, universities. They teach them, praise them even, to vigorously defend a position that they themselves do not believe in. And then we are surprised when these people lie so casually in adulthood. PMQs isn't about the truth, it's just a continuation of their debating societies for these people. They value public speaking skills over the truth.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

Debating societies at non fee paying schools are likely better.

[@mindcache5650]

That PPE course has a lot to answer for.

[@elainekerslake6865]

PPE course is like doing half an economics degree plus bullshit lectures on politics given by lecturers who knock out the same stuff every year. As for Philosophy.....I doubt that any students even get to to end of a text book having understood it.. none of them ever become the next Bertrand Russell. Bertie Wooster maybe.

[@zo7034]

It appears the issue isn't directly the university itself. Its what comes before. You need good grades to get into Oxford, you get those from public schools due to the divide between public and state schooling quality. And as that girl said in the middle, she could freely apply, but she was told not to by friends and family. That needs to change, people should always encourage their friends and family to apply to Oxford, Cambridge etc.

[@paddycrawshaw9221]

It is exactly the type of lazy stereotypical commentary on this video that puts off state school kids. Oxford is a wonderful place to study. The college system is very inclusive and meritocratic.

[@carolinehutchinson7250]

@@paddycrawshaw9221 I experienced the same kind of discouragement before applying. I personally found my college to be very welcoming and supportive, and looking back I realise that they subtly tried to steer us state school kids on a less overwhelming path through our studies. At the same time, there was a widespread assumption that students had more money at their disposal than many of us actually did. I never joined the Oxford Union, because it was too expensive (and didn't seem like a place where I would fit in) - many of the people I studied with reacted to this with disbelief. It was the same story with college events that cost upwards of 100 pounds. These are probably the places where those all-important connections are forged, although I suspect that public schools play a major role too. Hopefully things have changed, but it was also frequently assumed that we read Latin (which I'd never studied), and French to a reasonably high level. I used to go around asking other students, so I suppose that's a kind of networking.

[@MsPeabody1231]

People didn't notice she also said other students dropped out due to the cost. I went to university in the 90s and deliberately chose only to apply to Northern universities due to the cost. My richer peers applied to any they liked. There has been research that has been conducted that if you are Northern and aren't from a wealthy family you are unlikely to apply for a university in the Southern part of England due to the costs involved.

[@srinivaschillara4023]

" That needs to change, people should always encourage their friends and family to apply to Oxford, Cambridge " possibly not for engineering... but then you did put an "etc." at the end.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

@@carolinehutchinson7250 True, but I think this is changing too. I graduated this year from Magdalen so my experience is very recent. What with the cost of living crisis this year I was struggling to make rent and food. I also had to be diagnosed with ADHD and get treatment privately (because the NHS would have had me wait until my degree was over). My college paid for everything and was very generous, which was a huge weight off my shoulders. Every year the system became easier to navigate and more sensitive to students’ difficulties too. And the college system was a lifesaver for my mental health, because just knowing that there were professors keeping track of me and checking in on me (and advocating for me when I was too anxious to do it for myself) made all the difference. That said, one of the big problems with Oxford is how different everyone’s experiences there can be. My college was rich and had resources to help. A lot of people in poorer colleges simply didn’t have the cushioning that I did.

[@davidmacaart953]

Give the Lettuce a shot, it can’t do any worse than what we have.

[@obi-ron]

I have to disagree, a cabbage would be much more down to earth and less likely to be raised in a greenhouse environment 😆

[@jodders619]

One of the most depressing aspects of this is the Labour party. At one time many in the Labour Party were drawn from the ranks of the working class which would have given us leaders much more in the mold of Mick Lynch or Sharon Graham than Tony Blair or Keir Starmer. This old tie network of elitists in many ways captured the Labour Party and made it yet another party of the established status quo, I suspect the point being was to dampen any kind of reformist revolutionary fervour. Don't get me wrong there are still MP's with Labour from more working class backgrounds: Angela Raynor, Clive Lewis and such. However I also believe that with a media owned by the wealthy, that advocates for the wealthy the allowable range of what is considered acceptable (by the organs of the media) becomes limited. So for instance you end up with people criticising Corbyn on him not fitting a particular aesthetic when he was first elected as leader. Whatever your view of his politics surely policy and beliefs matter far more than aesthetics. Yet we continue to discuss future PM's in terms of 'so and so LOOKS Priministerial' as though anyone not fitting the cookie cutter template can be deposited back into their pigeon hole and left to feed the whippets.

[@MsPeabody1231]

I actually don't look at that. I look at whether the MPs in their own party will and do respect them. Gordon Brown was respected Jeremy Corbyn wasn't. John Major wasn't respected and but Boris Johnson ensured he was by clearing out those who didn't respect him.

[@jodders619]

@@MsPeabody1231 So in your analysis where has that got us as a country?

[@williamfrancis5367]

The Labour Party has always been an alliance of middle intelligencia and working class trade unionists. The problem is there aren't that many working class trade unionists, its all middle class public sector professionals: nurses, doctors, teachers, medical technicians administrators, etc. An important feeder of working class talent into the Labour Party was cut off, and with heavy industry gone, trade unions struggled to gain a foothold in the retail and hospitality sectors. As for Corbyn, people who do paid appearances on Iranian state television and wrote for the morning star, generally aren't the sort of people who have the background or connections necessary to lead a broadchurch party. The fact he went on pro-hezbollah TV and called on the west stop stop arming Ukraine, a few months ago, is sufficient evidence that he couldn't lead Attlee's Party.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

@@williamfrancis5367 Yes. One of the biggest repercussions of the Tories’ anti-union policies over the decades is how it’s practically disabled their political opponents. It should have been seen as a far more nefarious act of class warfare than people think.

[@drakedouay1286]

Crazy to think that in the last fifty years we have had eleven Prime Ministers and all but two of them (John Major and Gordon Brown) went to Oxford. Three of the last five (Cameron, Truss and Sunak) studied PPE, so were obviously interested in becoming career politicians. Is there another democracy in the world that has such a narrow pathway to leadership?

[@momodoumboob3615]

Perhaps none

[@jillybe1873]

France has a special university for politicians. Very elite. But very competent

[@sarahbarrett1247]

North Korea, maybe 🤔

[@buffinairwin8508]

Atleast in UK u have PMs who had education or went to University.... In India it's pretty bad..🌚🙃

[@hanawana]

@@sarahbarrett1247 ^^ not a democracy

[@tomrees4812]

Some of the ablest people I’ve known never even went to university whereas others with degrees are very good at rationalising but probably struggle to change a lightbulb.

[@hithere9393]

Unfortunately, working class people overwhelmingly voted for these people every single time. There's a culture in Britain of working class people bowing down to the aristoctracy. British people hear a posh accent and immediately assume intelligence and superiority.

[@PTMarcoBryant]

Humans are just not intelligent creatures! And they are flawed creatures too. Rishi is party first meaning all the gash he can bang! Boris has how many babies becaue that’s all they do bunch of sexer dossers who think a suit can polish a turd

[@smith549371]

Theres not a choice, there is not really any class mobility in the system and these types get a huge leg up and massive encouragement. Normal people don't stand a chance. You can only vote for those in front of you and they all seem to be the same type

[@jxmint4458]

I don't think it's solely that. Labour abandoned the working class and openly chastised then in favour for supporting woke ideology and identity politics instead. Working class has been political homeless for ages and the Conservatives took advantage of that. Brexit is a great example.

[@mvnkycheez]

@@jxmint4458 Define "woke"

[@smith549371]

@@mvnkycheez virtue signalling, divisory faux do-gooders touting cultural marxist agendas and identity politics to pit the masses against eachother with arguments that distract from the true issues or enemies of truth, peace and progress.

[@indricotherium4802]

The hardest thing to try impressing the English with is evidence. It really spolis things.

[@blindstagehand]

As soon as I realised my mistake, I rapidly reported this on official channels, and informed the Cabinet Secretary. As Home Secretary I hold myself to the highest standards and my resignation is the right thing to do. The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes. Pretending we haven't made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can't see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious polities. I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility: I resign. She even made a spelling mistake, or is 'polities' a thing, or is this the mistake she's talking about?

[@Dreyno]

@@blindstagehand It is a thing but I’m not sure it isn’t a mistake.

[@superflatjellyfish]

Why ruin a good story with facts

[@junaidmuhammed5740]

​@@blindstagehand She was so contrite, she wouldn't say anything about the " mistake"

[@GuinessOriginal]

You should try Americans who the British are trying so hard to emulate

[@PaddyWV]

My Dad went to Oxford University. Ended up a downtrodden Marketing Manager for an Airline. Some folk end up still being ordinary. What we should be doing is valuing and supporting Vocational training as equally as a University Education. As I believe happens in the the Scandinavian Countries.

[@nicolaiqbal6823]

Totally agree!

[@rogeredmunds5806]

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately, our version of capitalism thinks paying dividends to shareholders is more important than investment in training and long-term viability. Short-term greed has been the legacy of 1979's General Election. We were led to believe Britain was the "sick man of Europe" at the time. Now we definitely are.

[@_caseyjames]

@@rogeredmunds5806 spot on

[@richardswaby6339]

A Marketing manager for an airline is ordinary?

[@digbycrankshaft7572]

@@richardswaby6339 compared to the exalted and usually unearned positions some of these bell ends attain I suppose it is rather mundane.

[@woges5093]

Confidence has nothing to do with competence. In the context of the last 12 years of governance discuss.

[@jodders619]

"Ignorance begets confidence far more readily than knowledge" -Einstein

[@Gmackematix]

The Oxford college I went to was described in the prospectus as "friendly and northern". I don't think anyone from there will be PM any time soon.

[@gregorarmstrong2478]

yeah becasue its northen. I would never want someone northern in office. God no

[@MsPeabody1231]

Shame.

[@VARMOT123]

@@gregorarmstrong2478 what ?

[@gerryg1056]

Yeah, the girl at 1:22 had it right, it's all about the networking. Just like going to public school, it's not so much about the education as it is about the networking. An expensive education doesn't necessarily produce an intelligent person, just a lot of very well off people who know each other. I mean, if you give an idiot an expensive eduaction you end up with an idiot who's had an expensive education.

[@davidw4639]

Or Jacob Rees Mogg as he's more commonly known

[@matthewcoombs3282]

Cameron, Rees Moog, Johnson. If Eton College had been a comp, it would have been put in special measures years ago.

[@gangstagamegangstagame4467]

Kwasi Kwarteng went to Eton

[@timlester4510]

@@gangstagamegangstagame4467 Another ALL STAR!

[@obi-ron]

Does Eton have an SEN advisor? Probably sorely needed.

[@michaeloshea5505]

It's Hogwarts without the magic.

[@andyv123]

I’ve looked down on Oxford university given the likes of Boris, Rees-Mogg, Gove, Truss and Kwarteng. Especially considering Truss and Kwarteng studied some economics and yet came up with that dreadful mini budget!

[@karlheven8328]

Keir Starmer was not mentioned but as much as you may like him, he was also at Oxford!

[@californiadreamin8423]

I’ve driven through Oxford and flown over Oxford but unlike Rees-Mogg I know that eating happy fish has limited benefits.

[@leslie-annmills-gomez8763]

But he seems more relatable

[@junaidmuhammed5740]

Karl, it doesn't show

[@matthewshaw8122]

At least Keir Starmer did his three year undergrad degree at Leeds first, he only went to Oxford for postgrad.

[@gerryburntwood9617]

Starmer is a narcissistic monster, a traitor to the many and an ardent zionist tool!

[@Cashback13]

The problem isn't just the Oxford thing but who the parties knowingly elect as their leader (even if it is by membership vote) cause without that they wouldn't get a chance to be PM.

[@rnsc8342]

It doesnt work here either way. When Labour MPs members failed to rule out the totally unsuited Corbyn, the left wing membership proceeded to elect him over 3 credible leaders. The Conservatives have just had an election where the members voted for the right wing press candidate and economic crisis, over the establishment and City's choice. And followed that up by making a decision to avoid letting the members have any choice but the City's man. The result is a PM forced to hold his enemies close and give them cabinet jobs, or non jobs , they cant do. They also turned down the centre option where they might have got someone more capable and better with members , public, and commons.

[@grtcara8386]

What about Corbyn you lot put him in so what does that say about you lot

[@aluisious]

They're not smart enough to have a better idea, so they just did what people did before. I guarantee you that if you pulled a bunch of kids out of a public engineering school somewhere totally random, let's say...New Zealand (I literally just spun a globe enough times for it not to be Antarctica), they'd put down better IQ test scores than members of Parliament.

[@edwardbyard6540]

I'm from Oxford, and a lot of my friends were at Oxford colleges. I had an Oxford life without any of the work; I went to a lot of "bops" (parties) and met a lot of the children of MPs and business leaders. What I saw made me wince; it really is a different class of people in some colleges and especially at the Union. Some of the people are frankly awful. They think they're entitled and sadly the end up in Westminster as the video said. So many Oxford students are "normal" but there are so many "Ra" types. I've seen them dump their cases on the college porters and ask for them to be take to their rooms as if it were Brideshead Revisited. It is just a different world. Don't get me started on the Piers Gav society..... There needs to be some rules put in place for who can be an MP: minimum 5 years living in an area before you can stand, no 2nd jobs, and some life experience etc etc. So many people simply shouldn't be MPs.

[@markwelch3564]

That's already on us though. We just need to stop voting for these idiots, and they go away!

[@martinduran9523]

Parties? PARTIES????? THEY'RE CALLED WORK EVENTS, EDWARD!!!!

[@martinduran9523]

Hehe sorry, I couldn't resist.

[@martinduran9523]

But yeah, I agree with you. You would think that political parties would put people in charge who were better, and who would make good decisions for the sake of appeasing the masses, but no. And even though the government is dominated by Eton and oxford educated, upper class, privileged twats, it's not even like Labour is a whole lot better. They don't care about the working classes like they should do, and they're so disgusting in terms of policy that it's hard to prefer them over the conservatives.

[@synkkamaan1331]

"I can assure you that I will never be prime minister." Spoken like a true politician.

[@kevincrouch3956]

I'd say the ETON/OXFORD combo is the ultimate disaster...

[@debasishraychawdhuri]

It is hard for me to imagine Boris Johnson winning any debate. The thing is that you don't even have to debate well to stay in the club. The networking does not depend on how well you speak.

[@dougblease5170]

Great piece. It’s not necessarily the link between Eton-Oxford-Downing Street; but all that comes before Downing Street. All the bias towards Eton to Oxford grads in networking and employment, on the assumption that they must be stellar by virtue of the place they attended (whether paid for, or then ‘accepted to’) I’ve felt it myself when interviewing staff. An Oxford grad almost gets a by to the next level as we expect/ assume that person to be automatically capable. It’s not true. The best staff often arrive with little formal further education and out perform everyone. We need to care less about the commodity of the place which education was delivered and more about the application, aptitude and integrity of the human before us.

[@mauricerose3082]

"The University of Oxford's foundation date is unknown. It is known that teaching at Oxford existed in some form as early as 1096, but it is unclear when the university came into being. The scholar Theobald of Étampes lectured at Oxford in the early 1100s. It grew quickly from 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris."

[@jackmathieson1903]

It's not about education, it's about who you know (and how rich your parents are)

[@12presspart]

yes ny mum used to say its about the old school tie that was over 60 years ago you think we would have moved beyond that but we havnt you can see it in our involvement in the iraq war,Afganistan britexit increasing food banks and fuel poverty and now trying to get even more involved in the ukraine war no wonder with this lot we are in such a mess

[@smacbot]

I really appreciate how this video talked about the use of antiquated or funny language - we really have a problem in the UK, as so many seem to believe that if you have a cut glass accent and use unusual language (mogg, johnson etc) that you are somehow better than someone who speaks with a regional accent. And its proving itself over and over to not be true, rich and privileged people can't be trusted by virtue of their privilege, and the toffs in downing street and parliament are showing that

[@RW-nr6bh]

Whether you liked his policies or not, I always thought the interesting thing with John Major is that he didn't have this Oxford Union background. He also was willing to go into the middle of Luton, stand on a soapbox with a considerable number of hostile people in the crowd and stand there to talk. That wasn't something you would ever see a prime minister do now. The whole discourse is all framed to allow these Oxfordy types to flourish. I'm not convinced that a lot of these people would ever stand up in a true debate. Nobody ever seemed to hit BoZo Johnson with any punching questions, or reacted properly when he tried to baffle with bullshit, florid language or steer the conversation off course, with the exception possibly of Eddie Mair. I remember that time when pigs had to be slaughtered and destroyed and BoZo made ridiculous comments about they would die anyway and asked the interviewer if he'd ever had a bacon sandwich. At this point he should have had it pointed out to him that there is a vast difference between slaughtering for consumption and slaughtering for destruction, but he was left unchallenged on that. I also think sometimes people get too bogged down in arguing or debating points which really don't deserve the additional oxygen to be expanded on; sometimes I feel people need to be more like Mark Lamarr who, instead of arguing the point, responded to Shaba Ranks stating that homosexuals should be crucified with the simple but memorable comeback "That's absolute crap and you know it".

[@shetlandsheep3081]

Jacob was regarded as a joke at the Oxford Union. Noone ever thought he would be taken at all seriously outside that playgrounf!!! . So I dont blame my uni, I blame those who gave him opportunity once he left. Esp as some Oxford undergrads incl me helped to ensure he didnt get elected president of the Union like his Dad, instead getting votes out for his very able female opponent Melanie Johnson; the day he lost that election was sweet.

[@markwelch3564]

May we soon recreate that moment of Jacob losing an election on the national stage!

[@nicolaiqbal6823]

What I want to know is not how intelligent but how emotionally well adjusted the dragon school/eton/oxford people turn out?

[@leplessis8179]

You forgot Summerfields. Where they once had a swimming mistress who could not herself swim. I kid you not, tis' true.

[@junaidmuhammed5740]

Same as every other posh you-can't-get-in without connections place, one must assume.

[@icyx9268]

they are neither

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

Oh God. The number of people I know who went through that exact pipeline. Perhaps not that many, but far more than you’d expect for such a specific combination.

[@Jimmie16]

It also produces a never ending stream of traitors.

[@adriancarlton-oatley9736]

Isn't that a Cambridge speciality?

[@JM-jd7yp]

It is and always has been public schools which creates a divided society. Oxford and Cambridge are just the club after public school. It costs £45k per year at Eton. This Establishment iis filled with old Etonians who perpetuate the cycle. Until this corrupt system is replaced with those of real talent from whatever background our nation will continue to be divided and poorly led. The next Einstein may come from your local council estate but our system will never recognise or support them. It is a tragedy.

[@shaungreenwood4052]

I've tried to take my self away from politics as its so easy to become filled with rage But it's issues like this that puts it into perspective and the answer isn't stepping away from politics but understanding. And not allowing my self to get angry. But damn it's hard.

[@BigHenFor]

Anger is a call to action, but not a plan for action. "Don't get mad, get even." Put that energy into calm, considered, and strategic action to improve your life and those around you. Play the long game, and plan to leave the world better than you found it.

[@TehCrushinatorz]

This video brought you in part by our friends at Cambridge University.

[@PoliticsJOE]

Hey, we didn’t get in to Cambridge either

[@bigboyrambo2009]

@@PoliticsJOE Indian prime minister, Israeli deputy prime minister, Indian home secretary, African trade secretary, African foreign secretary, Iraqi kurd chairman and a Pakistani mayor.

[@corner559]

Cambridge wouldn't even exist if it weren't for Oxford.

[@TehCrushinatorz]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXzYeYyFbrmAa6M

[@MrLaking123]

they come out of oxford how to lie and do it well

[@marvin19966]

you are pretty boy yes

[@bigbadthesailor5173]

I think there is an even more specific problem; the PPE (politics philosopy economics) course.

[@fuckbankers]

Interesting course

[@1984sebb]

Nothing wrong with the people in top positions coming from the best academic institutions. I prefer my politicians to have been members of the legendary Bullingdon Club. I mean, why would I want politicians from inner-city slums who always have massive chips on their shoulders. I adore the relaxed, aristocratic charm of Jacob Rees Mogg.

[@spenx09]

There also shouldn't be deprived schools, but I guess that's not even an option 😔

[@kh2945]

I’d apply to any of the oxbridge colleges; don’t care about anyone regardless of their class. It doesn’t intimidate me!

[@lastofthebrownies]

I read the Simon Kuper book on the subject. Fascinating and shocking in equal measure. I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

[@henghistbluetooth7882]

According to the political class there are 4 schools, 2 universities, 1 profession, 1 industry and 1 city. Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Westminster. Oxford and Cambridge. The law. Banking. London. This is why they can’t comprehend let alone engage with the modern world. I work in software development. Whenever I talk to these people about policy I have to use terms that were too simplistic for my GCSE in computing from 30 years ago. Yet they have an incomprehensible belief they are smarter than everyone else. And I have never seen any evidence of that on any level.

[@blacktarroses3108]

When you feel the brunt of the decisions made by some of our Oxford educated politicians, you can't help but think their parents should probably ask for their money back.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

Most Oxford students don’t attend on their parents’ money.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

And yet Oxford hasn’t voted for a Conservative MP or even city councillor in decades. In the last council elections in my Oxford constituency, there wasn’t even a Tory candidate on the ballot, because they have effectively given up on getting students to vote for them. I went to one of the more right-wing colleges in Oxford (I’ve just graduated) but even there, the general attitude towards Tories was far from complimentary. The problem is the posh old boys network. Whether they end up at Oxford or go elsewhere (Durham and Edinburgh are now ending up dominated by those types), the outcomes will be the same. Privilege and wealth maintain themselves, and once people get to that point they will do anything they can not to share. That’s why it’s so hard to dismantle a class system. The purpose of the upper class is to perpetuate itself. One thing we could do, though, is stop voting for the Tories, who are nothing more or less than the political wing of the upper class.

[@potemkin8606]

It will take time but British people will one day understand that a degree in classics, history or modern languages does not qualify a person to make complicated macroeconomic decisions.

[@obi-ron]

Don't be so closed minded. Without these degrees how can anyone repeat the classic blunders of history or swear at the staff they've imported from countries that aren't allowed to come without here without special dispensation?

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

Neither does a degree in Economics.

[@MrRooibos123]

Oxford is trying to admit more people from state schools and runs an access programme called UNIQ (which is a free summer school which my friend did and found very useful). Having spoken to admissions tutors, one of the biggest problems they have is self-selection, where people who are perfectly capable of getting in don't apply because they don't think they're good enough. Schools like Eton and Harrow encourage nearly all their students to apply, regardless of their academic merits, so get a much higher number of students in.

[@paddycrawshaw9221]

This video is part of the problem.

[@marvin19966]

@@paddycrawshaw9221 You are not in the video, love

[@satisfiedatheist8762]

@@marvin19966 what does that even mean?

[@PinPointEnts]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought you can only pick up to 3 Universities and if you don't get in then you do clearing? I guess people might feel it's a wasted space.

[@MrRooibos123]

@@PinPointEnts So you get to pick 5 universities and you have to put Oxford/Cambridge as your first choice. You then have to narrow it down to a firm and insurance choice, but by the time you narrow it down, you'll have either been accepted or rejected from Oxbridge. So it's only really a problem if you want to apply to other super competitive universities like the LSE or UCL which require you to put them top.

[@trumpeterjones6638]

Those that study PPE (Politics, Philosophy & Economics) only have to study all three in their first year. In the second and third year they only need to do 2 outof the 3. Economics is often dropped as the maths is too hard when they are used to essay writing.

[@MsPeabody1231]

There as all the recent graduates in my own family do economics to get a BSc. I will be telling my nephews with Firsts that they are more academically capable than the PM. 😀

[@shahjahonsaidmurodov2086]

Incredible!

[@04mdsimps]

5 of the last 6 prime ministers were on jeffrey epsteins flight logs

[@California265]

😳😮🙄

[@mvnkycheez]

🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

[@andymurday4538]

Who? Or are you just making shit up?

[@junaidmuhammed5740]

Not Theresa, no way

[@DGoldy303]

Name them?

[@retinapeg1846]

I had this while at UCL. Coming from a state school it wad really hard to find friends.

[@chriscottrell1446]

Its not just the same uni - four of the last five PMs Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak, did Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) - May did Geography. Now PPE at Oxford is admirable in many ways, but this is far too small a knowledge and talent pool for the premiership to be exclusively drawn from. How, for example are we going to sort out our STEM shortages if we our exclusively governed by PPE grads ? But even that, doesn't cover the problem - it feels like this social network dominates the UK's entire establishment; not just who is PM.

[@Billywoo12]

The issue isn’t Oxford or Eton, or any other institution. The issue is when tribes recruit from tribes to create an echo chamber. This happens to companies, schools…. The best know what diversity really means and how to maximise its effectiveness.

[@javiermifsud4001]

While I agree with the thesis of this video, I have to point out that Rishi has quite a lot of evidence of being clever. He was chancellor during the pandemic. Also Keir Starmer went to Oxford as well. This vid failed to mention that….

[@sarahbarrett1247]

Really? You think his performance over the pandemic shows intelligence? I think his actions were those of a desperate person who had to act because his fellow Oxfordian f***ed up so badly we had the worst deaths per capita at one stage. The fact that we almost had Dominic Raab as PM because the Eton Mess almost killed himself with his own incompetence shows that no one person in the CONservative Party has more than above average intelligence.

[@yinoveryang4246]

Being “Chancellor during the pandemic” was a very difficult situation indeed. “Furlough” of EIGHTY PERCENT of people’s salaries, this is so far from being an intelligent decision - it’s equivalent to leading the entire country off the cliffs of Dover like lemmings.

[@user-ub3fr1um4f]

The one with ginger hair i can relate to so much. I didnt go to oxford uni but i knew a girl who did and she invited me to a halloween party that was going on there and they could smell the poor on me and it was one of the most uncomfortable nights ive ever had. I feel sorry I know how hard it is and what they're going through having that everyday must be so shit man

[@JesterEric]

Churchill, Jim Callaghan and John Major never attended any University

[@aaroninky]

churchill didn't need to. when you're that level of privileged you can even skip the oiks at the union. the building does look tawdry next to blenheim palace.

[@lukealadeen7836]

Churchill graduated from Sandhurst which to me is good enough

[@JesterEric]

@@lukealadeen7836 He twice failed the entrance exam

[@aaroninky]

@@lukealadeen7836 standard path for older sons in aristocratic families. probably safe to say the entrance standards were generous, to say the least. privilege, again.

[@stevenb427]

It's never been what you know. It's always been who you know. Wakey wakey ⏰

[@mauricerose3082]

"The Social Structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of Social Class, which continues to affect British Society today. British Society, like its European neighbours, and most Societies in World History, was Traditionally (before the Industrial Revolution) divided Hierarchically within a System that involved the Hereditary Transmission of Occupation, Social Status, and Political Influence. Since the advent of Industrialisation, this System has been in a constant state of revision, and new factors other than birth (for example, Education) are now a greater part of creating identity in Britain." "A Social Class is a grouping of people into a set of Hierarchical Social Categories, the most common being the Upper, Middle, and Lower Classes."

[@Anonymous-sq6gm]

And that's why fraternity and equality is the need of the hour.

[@attackpatterndelta8949]

I’d like our next PM to have attained a Law degree via a correspondence course from the University of American Samoa. #UnnecessaryBetterCallSaulReference

[@sarahbarrett1247]

That's why the NHS sucks: if Breaking Bad was based in England it would have been a lot shorter 😁

[@IrfanAli-qp1gm]

If the lettuce had gone to Oxford Uni it too could have been Prime Minister.

[@Maidez09]

How much of this is due to the chosen field of education rather than university? I mean, Chancellors of the Exchequer with a classical studies background….?

[@BigHenFor]

Political decisions are about building consensus with whom you find yourself with. You don't have much choice in the matter. The idea that one should actually employ someone with practical experience in the field as a minister is unlikely as the moon being cheese, until very recently. We're a class ridden society, who haven't yet outgrown the habit. And the education system is being degraded. It's the funniest thing, but if the UK had adopted the German postwar constitition the British gave it, and had a stronger emphasis on competence, we might be in a better position. But some societies learn things the hard way.

[@SueLyons1]

01:25 'networking' 😔 05:50 'a centuries old.tradition that funnels you into a position of power' 😔

[@entropybentwhistle]

Eton should shoulder some blame too.

[@kenlandon6130]

6:00 No, medieval languages isn't the only thing you can study at oxford, and you need pretty high predicted (and afterwards actual) a levels (As or A*s) to even be considered. That's literally bare minimum to even have a shot at an interview.

[@himoffthequakeroatbox4320]

He never said it was. Also, if you already know your results when applying that means you can afford to piss about for a year.

[@commandingofficer4693]

What do you mean by that? You don’t know your A Levels when you apply, you have predicted grades.

[@kenlandon6130]

@@commandingofficer4693 i corrected the error

[@jonathangoll2918]

I was public-school educated, but had a bad time and failed during my Oxford course. Many years later, I discovered that the reason was I had a condition not known then, dyspraxia. Being left-wing, and a Labour Party activist, I am appalled by the unwisdom of some Oxford graduate politicians, but another factor is far more to blame than those mentioned in the video. Most Oxford-graduate politicians have taken one particular course, PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). I read this too. And the disaster is the Economics, and in all fairness to Oxford this disaster seems to have involved the majority of Economics courses in the UK and the USA. In all other courses, scientific or literary, there is a culture in which the undergraduate is encouraged to learn how to check the facts taught against reality. The scientists go to their labs; the historians to the great volumes of State Papers in the College libraries. But the economists don't seem to have been encouraged to compare the theory they're taught with the (easily available) figures of national statistics. So, although my lecturers realised this weakness, the leading national textbook of my day stated - in the 1970s - that you couldn't have high unemployment and high inflation. And I looked out of the window... And this seems to be going on still. At the time of the Credit Crunch, University of Manchester students rose in rebellion. Not only did their lecturers not predict the Crunch, but they didn't seem interested in it! Sinister forces may be involved. To achieve prominence, lecturers in any subject have to get their research published. And I'm told that the right-wing 'freshwater" (I.e. around the Great Lakes in the US, like Chicago) universities have a stranglehold on the Economics academic journals. It's a great pity. I don't think most aspiring students realize that Oxford has one of the soundest - and most socialist - structures anywhere. The Colleges are collectives, and the senior staff elect each other. Therefore, big capitalist finance does not dominate the University, giving it a real independence.

[@BigHenFor]

Thank you for your insight, and following Gary Stevenson of Gary's Economics, and he noted the navel gazing tendency in some academic economists, when he took his masters in Economics at Oxford. He thinks it may be a combination of class, and a lack of feedback within the profession when public facing economists get predictions consistently wrong. There are no consequences for doing so. As for the influence of American journals on economic thought, it comes across as unhealthy. Together with the evidrnce that our politics is being suborned by thinktanks funded by a covert alliance of british and american plutocrats, it is unsurprising that money can shape academic output too. I do hope academia can regain its independence, and regain the public's trust.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

I agree. I studied history and politics at Oxford and most of the politics course revolved around facts and evidence, which actively dismantled many right wing ideas. Meanwhile, history was, of course, about people and the ways in which actions and policies have repercussions on everything and everybody else. It was a course on how things interconnect and on how the world is more complex than pseudo-scientific theories. Nothing was ever simple. The Economics department is very different and it was always very obvious in politics tutorials who came from a Hispol background and who was PPE.

[@paulmaxwell-walters8861]

Big capitalist finance doesn't dominate the University? Considering the uni naming departments after big donors from business I.e. Blavatnik School of Government, Said Business School, even the brand new Reuben College named after David and Simon Reuben and their foundation, I'm not buying that at all.

[@jonathangoll2918]

@@paulmaxwell-walters8861 Like you, I'm uneasy about about these foundations made by wealthy capitalists; but the structure is sounder in Oxford University than in other places. The biggest danger is if these wealthy capitalists provide ongoing funding which is withdrawable, and therefore retain some control.

[@DrBrainSol]

Yes, Minister pointed this out many MANY years ago.

[@callumforster8145]

To be fair, its not just the tories. Staremer went to Oxford, as did the most sucsessful Labour PM Attlee. However, both these examples have then gone to work alongside people of diffrent classes and broke that bubble of the the Oxford education. The examples raised in this video where exclusivly of politicans from the right and prodominetly those of the Conservitive party (with the exeption of Farage), creating an image that this is exclusivly the runnings of the right. I do acsept the claim that the Conservitive party has used this cronyisem and the exclusivity of Oxford to bring about policies that are most harshest on those whos families are excluded and diswaded from Oxford, I mean of course, the working classes. The conections that can be drawnn from Oxford (and can be easiely cermented if a student gose to its funnel schools such as Winchester or Eton) do mean that politicans can go through there whole lives with the same group of people and confections. There have been many acounts from former students that they are mentored to feel like they are better then they got into Oxford. As a student wishing to go to Oxford myself (to study History and Politics) i have watched the seminars on the application prosess and many of the lectures use the phrase "so many fantaic applicants fail to get in", which is clearly an acseptance by the Univsercty that there are those who reach the mertit to get into Univercity but due to factors such as genral capsity, cannot get in. Therfore, its claer that they are trying to reform so that they are not seen at the picical of merit, it just requiers the legistalitors to undrestand this and not hold it to such a high standerd, through policies such as takeing the names off the univercity on applications for jobs. Finaly, there needs to be a dramatic cultural change to alow for an acsessable meritocrasy. we need to step away from the idea that we need to listen to our "betters" becausethey have a posh acsesnt. In my own life, I went to a primary school which was so posh I remember Oxford being mensioned even back then, then moved up north to a more financily insicure school where it was expected that (whenever univsity or colleagee was even mensioned as a possiblity) ,ost people would go to the easist to get into (both in terms of grades and even geographicaly - and Oxford was a 3 hour car jornery so that was seen as off the table). High school had the same expectations genraly, perticularly those who wernt in the top set. Then I went to the best colleage for my area where theres sudenly the same talk of Oxford agine. This is a relife as theres that opertunity iin the north but this expectation is not spred across all coleages and people have to ignore all the low expectations of all the previous insitusions to even have Oxford discsed as a posibilty. It should be discused as a posibilty for everyone as well as actualy being open to everyone. If I get in, I dont want it to be because I decided to keep my southen acsent from when I was 10, I want it to be because of my merit. If I dont, I don't want that to be the end of the road of a potencal carear in politics. Thank you to anyone who has read this whole email.

[@christopherlord3441]

Absolutely! I did PPE at Balliol, just missed both Boris and Ghislaine Maxwell, who in my opinion must have been together at some point, but can confirm that it is a training in bullshit. The Oxford Union is not all bad, but we used to call the ambitious teenagers 'hacks': a term of contempt.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

I just graduated Oxford. We still call them hacks, and there is still a lot of contempt. The culture in Oxford is becoming more American now though, since there are many American students, and it’s a bit jarring to see how much certain people’s lives now revolve around hyper-competitive corporate job seeking and accolades like Union Presidency, which is all taken far too seriously. These academics who were around a generation ago keep telling us how much the student culture has changed. It makes me a bit jealous. Every single Oxford student now feels like they aren’t doing enough. Burnout is an epidemic.

[@christopherlord3441]

@@user-ed7et3pb4o Thanks, that is interesting to hear, though hardly good news. PPE at Balliol was doubly indolent: nobody really expected you to do anything much, though you could if you wanted: but lots of people put a lot more energy into sport, music or whatever other interests they had. One friend of mine spent three years concentrating on picking up women and when he got to Finals took one look at the first paper (General Philosophy I think it was called), realized he couldn't answer a single question, and after five minutes went up to the front to tell the invigilator that he was having a nervous breakdown. They sent him to a doctor who gave him a note so he didn't have to do any of the exams and they gave him a pass degree (without the Hons.). I had some tutorials with him and he had a technique of diverting conversation towards cricket that served him well. Not much danger of burnout.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

@@christopherlord3441That’s a crazy story! To be fair, I also got a lot of practice at diverting tutorial conversation away from the reading I hadn’t done! I could only get away with it with the old generation professors, who either didn’t realise or just enjoyed going off on my very deliberate tangents. I also got my act together after Prelims and stopped underpreparing. But I don’t know anyone who didn’t become basically a recluse in the period before finals, studying every spare minute. Besides which, everyone seems to graduate straight into corporate jobs that they spent all their vacs since first year applying for (I missed the memo on that one). It’s definitely impossible to coast through now, and you’re expected to put tutorial work ahead of other commitments. Rustication - forced or voluntary - is getting pretty common for those who struggle to keep up for whatever reason. PPE still gets flack as being a bit of a joke degree though, as does E&M (‘easy and manageable’, as it’s called). But yeah, a lot of people now get minor adjustments and things during finals (although your friend’s scenario is unimaginable) - the difference is they usually have a doctor’s note, diagnosed anxiety/depression, and medication besides. Even for me personally, I’ve never before been that affected by exams but Finals hit me like a ton of bricks.

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

@@christopherlord3441 Oh another thing just occurred to me, PPE at Balliol somehow escapes the broader PPE mockery, and is known for involving much more work than the average. I don’t know if that was a purposeful move on Balliol’s part to clean up its reputation! One of my close friends was a PPEist at Balliol (and JCR President), and they seemed to keep her very busy doing more essays than we did at Magdalen. So it’s really interesting to hear your account of things. And it is funny that PPE still has a general reputation of being a lazy degree. On the other hand, I did History and Politics, which is the same degree except that the (often-mocked) History replaces philosophy and Econ, and yet somehow people tend to seem more impressed by it. Perhaps we benefit by having such a small cohort that negative stereotypes are less likely to spring up.

[@christopherlord3441]

@@user-ed7et3pb4o You are expected to write a lot at Balliol but the basic idea in PPE is that you are supposed to have ideas of your own rather than just a mountain of memorized stuff. So one of my friends did Mathematical Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics (extremely difficult subjects) and decided that he would prepare for his tutorials while walking across the quad from his room to the tutorial. Got an average second. But what you say about the corporate jobs is the big difference. Those Americans were already there, but they way they networked for their corporate future seemed preposterous. I really think there is no excuse for PPE. It's largely a Balliol invention and it was called 'Modern Greats', meaning that you could do philosophy without Latin and Greek. This led to a peculiar culture of English-language philosophy, which seemed OK at first with Russell and Whitehead, but which degenerated into American professional philosophy, which is totally useless.

[@BOZ_11]

What people don't realise is, that ox/cam students are average Joes, albeit with studious habits and thus a penchant for academic endeavours. They're reading and absorbing the same social media drivel that everyone else is; hypnotised (and thus powerless) by the same media companies, falling for the same crap that everyone else falls for. There is no out of the box thinking coming out of these places. They're just the children, and thus beneficiaries of upper midde, and upper class nepotism; with nose rings and tats

[@digbycrankshaft7572]

A significant proportion are not average Joes. I've met a lot of them and the word average does not spring to mind.

[@BOZ_11]

@@digbycrankshaft7572 says mr average

[@mtsl7780]

@@digbycrankshaft7572 I’ve just started my first year at Cambridge - studying law. I’m from leeds and didn’t go to a private school. Everyone here is “normal”- yes nerdy, but normal. Perhaps it is just my college or the fact that I am not in (and never will be because of the extortionate price) the Cambridge Union. Anyways, that is too say that not everyone here is a dick

[@moreplease998]

@@BOZ_11 I did a physics degree and the average intelligence in the classes was definitely a lot higher than the average intelligence across the country. Most of the people who were more in line with the national average in terms of intellect really struggled. Quite a few dropped out or shifted to other degrees. Not everyone is able to master some of the stuff taught at uni's

[@BOZ_11]

@@moreplease998 high IQ correlates with low eq. I did computer science and most of those guys have an "iq" of 80 in team/interpersonal scenarios. It's a handicap. That trend continued into my career in IT; the stereotype is there for a reason, but there are a few cheery souls who have both, but they're not nearly as common. Physics is very heavy on abstraction, and there are very smart people who don't handle that very well, but there are autistic people who can. I'm looking at all of a person, whereas i get the sense your definition of "intelligence" is a tad more narrow

[@prvg7851]

What’s this he mentioned about the home office & Unis? What is the home office?

[@aidanwatson3499]

Interesting that the most watched videos from the Oxford Union include Jordan Peterson, Tommy Robinson, Steve Bannon, Nigel Farage, Katie Hopkins, Douglas Murray, and Jacob Rees-Mogg. I'm not an advocate for no platforming by any means, and their ideas should be heard and debated in a university setting, but giving them a chance to do an undebated speech and putting it on the distinguished (in the eyes of many) Oxford Union KZbin is actively promoting their views and legitimising them.

[@greggrimer1428]

So you are anti freedom of speech and think that Steve Bannon and Jordan Petersons ideas are not legitimate ideas? Who made you Pope?

[@sarahbarrett1247]

How did anyone actually sit through Katie Hopkins speaking? Any longer than a minute and I'm out. She ends up even disagreeing with herself 😁

[@aidanwatson3499]

@@sarahbarrett1247 781,000 views apparently. Although I will concede that she is the one person on the list who's views were contested in a debate however the videos were uploaded separately so not necessarily apparent in the KZbin video.

[@sarahbarrett1247]

@@aidanwatson3499 No wonder there is so much hate on the internet with so many videos of people spreading so much hate. All those people you mentioned above don't contribute anything positive or of value to life. They just spread their poison and unfortunately too many people believe their lies and vitriol.

[@srinivaschillara4023]

Good point!

[@josephbrennan370]

Will Oxbridge's dominance in politics change over time?

[@jamie306]

Hasn’t changed since Walpole-since they were founded really; as hasn’t the influence of the Ivies, the C9 et al in other places. It won’t. It’s merely a great education in a great place for the studious. That’s all.

[@josephbrennan370]

@@jamie306 it's reminding me of my rejection

[@jillybe1873]

Only with the help of the guillotine I fear.

[@jamesfletcher5906]

"coming from a background thats quite deprived?" I don't know the guy so I can't really talk but I'm pretty sure he went to private school.

[@robertskolimowski7049]

From 6:10 He really put his finger on it👏

[@anthonystar]

i was born in UK and can tell you even there this guy's accent is incomprehensible

[@PoliticsJOE]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland

[@KXTLE]

Surely the students being interviewed that appear to be from more normal/ working backgrounds realise that they have been given their places at Oxford purely for the amusement of the toffs ?

[@leplessis8179]

Not at all true: never the twain ever meet. The so-called 'toffs' are but a tiny minority in Oxford, or Cambridge, or for that matter East Anglia Polytechnic, most students are just pleased to get a place and hope to lean something - sadly, so many of the academics in place to teach them have no comprehension of worldly matters or of how business works - Business Studies lecturers and all. Oh, the tales that I could tell!

[@MrRooibos123]

Most colleges are around 65-70% state school pupils, so although private schools are over-represented, people from state school backgrounds are the majority.

[@OliverDobbs]

I go to Oxford and I can confirm I will be Prime Minister

[@imSatnav]

Never in the field of finance has so much harm been caused to so many by so few.

[@marvin19966]

the lehman brothers would like a word with you

[@TheAllRounderMemes]

I applied there recently, have an entrance exam in less than a week. I hope it pans out, but there is no denying that a lot of Oxbridge graduates don't have a shred of empathy or humility.

[@satisfiedatheist8762]

‘no denying’ - your tutors won’t like baseless assertions. I went to Oxford and can assure you that you are wrong

[@timlester4510]

Be the exception. Good luck. From what I can remember we were taught to be contrarian but empirical in the interview and essays. But then I didn't get in.

[@TheAllRounderMemes]

@@satisfiedatheist8762 if you want said assertion to be based, watch the video?

[@satisfiedatheist8762]

@@TheAllRounderMemes so your assertion is based on this video? I encourage you to source your evidence more broadly

[@TheAllRounderMemes]

@@satisfiedatheist8762 I mean... it's littered over the past 12 years. You don't gotta be patronising, it's pretty obvious that one video alone doesn't explain everything. But it's clearly showing that it's definitely not a coincidence how over the past 12 years, we've had 4 consecutive incompetent upper class bumbling idiots, all from Oxford, who think that they can never be wrong and that they were destined to rule, holding the highest office in the country, turning UK into what is now more like an emergent market economy. Speaking of Oxbridge, Kwasi Kwarteng was from Cambridge. Rishi, let's not forget, was Chancellor during COVID, and look how that turned out, along with him also being part of Partygate and everything. It is logical to infer that there is something fundamentally wrong with the whole system then, given that the best education that not only Britain, but arguably the world has to offer is somehow producing all of this rubbish that is affecting millions of actual people in an actual country. They should be proud ambassadors of Oxford, but instead they are embarrassments, and have displayed that they have little regard for the average person. The country is exhausted. Why should they trust some supposedly smart guy in Westminster, when back home, their measily pensions which were nearly eradicated by that joke of a mini budget leave them the choice between heating and food? Ironically your assurance to me that I am completely wrong is solely based on the fact that you went there yourself, when the state of the government right now imply completely otherwise. I trust your anecdote, it is a pretty good assumption to make that a majority of people there aren't actually arrogant. I mean that's how the world is, some people are good and some are not. But Oxford has tens of thousands of students throughout the entire city, so your experience will differ from others. You were engulfed in its environment for years, thus it's possible the culture there gradually felt more normalized to you, which now makes it harder to evaluate it fairly. It is not wrong to feel a sense of patriotism for a place that provided such valuable experiences in the prime of your youth. That's why I said that there are 'a lot' but not *all* of them can have a sense of entitlement. Many of them never struggled for a moment in their life, having been born into wealth, having the privilege of the best private, posh education, so when they end up excelling enough to get into Oxbridge, many will feel that they can do no wrong. They believe they cannot fail, and they thus are unable to truly empathise with anyone else in their country who weren't born with such talent or privilege, believing that the world is more meritocratic than it actually is. Oxford has still left a definite a net positive impact on the world and on Britain as a whole. For example, the guy who basically 'invented' economics came from there, which I wish to pursue. But like I said, there's 'no denying' that some aspects of its culture has facilitated elitism. Everything is imperfect in one way or another. I only want to go there because I want to receive good education and nothing else.

[@sumbajumba3037]

Rishi was not selected because he went to Oxford. He is only 42 and has tasted success in both academics and career ( both in politics and as an investment banker ). His parents were rich but he too must have worked hard.

[@12presspart]

indeed he is very clever and intelligent you can see the diference between him and johnson/truss but is he prime minister material only time will tell and he is sitting on £700 million the richest prime minister ever I suspect he in the job to increase his wealth further.Britexit has been a total falure when is he going to admit it

[@beltingtokra]

I had an interview at Oxford. We weren't a good fit for each other. And that's fine with me.

[@SmellingTheGrass]

The commons will probably be renamed the "House of Safe Spaces" I suspect by some think tank or other eventually if universities are to be its bastion for future talent

[@digbycrankshaft7572]

There are other places of learning with comparable academic standards. Oxbridge is simply about snobbery prestige and being able to say you went there and if people were honest they would admit that and stop pretending it's all about academic prominence.

[@neilburns8869]

You can't just blame it all on Oxford. There are some good people down that direction. I always remember a story my father told me about when he was serving in the Army and him and a few pals had a night off and went for a drink in this bar in Oxford and in walked Bruce Forsyth and insisted on buying everyone in the place a drink. I guess that's where the phrase a Brucie Bonus comes from?😜

[@RaterProTrickster]

Meanwhile the group that boris and david cameron were apart of made a thing of going to local restaurants and smashing them up for fun. Its not the whole of oxford for sure but a few rotten eggs who unfortunately have the connections (which the oxford union probably facilitates) that allow them to get into power.

[@willhovell9019]

The problem is private schools not Universities and too many Oxbridge graduates dominate the senior Civil Service.