Are our views always entrenched?

No Aka I just wanted Greatnan to respond to my post. Don't know anything about your rabbit stew but will come and taste it if invited. I used to love rabbit stew.

Can you imagine the furoré if second homes were 'requisitioned'? For a start, as soon as such a proposal was mooted, those homes would be offloaded asap.

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

Were not where.

Nonu cooked all night in an Aga...yummy! Feetle not sure about the decent rabbit bit...please explain? Where you alive and rabbiting during the war then?

moved t'wasnt me either! Did you write something rude about my rabbit stew perhaps? I only went to make a cup of tea.

Why should it go against my left wing principles to enjoy working for a self made man who had provided employment for over 5,000 people? You also live in a tax haven - does that not go against the principles that you used to hold?
I went out with some public school boys precisely because I am not prejudiced - as you say, some of them are very nice.
You have not commented on most of our suggestions - for example, there are many under-used second homes which could be requisitioned.

Feetle ,

move i read your post an it it seemed okay to me, wonder who objected ?

I didn't respond because I wasn't here and I have no idea what message what deleted.

It's difficult to get your hands on decent rabbit these days... I mus thave got through several hutchfuls during the war - lovely!

I'm sorry I broke the guidelines but have no idea what I did wrong, please someone enlighten me.

It appears that it is OK to twist what I say but not for me to challenge why the person who did it failed to respond when asked to.

I didn't swear or anything

Now your"e talking AKA , i love a rabbit stew , but as DD who is coming over tonight for supper , has a pet rabbit i think she would be mortally offended if I had one.

{grin]

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Nor will I mention rabbit stew ..

Aka , yes we do but sometimes a little digression can be fun though , cannot it ? I will not mention prawn cocktails bye the way !!

nonu yes, an improvement on his infamous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in Germany. But we digress I'm afraid.

Well I would never have dreamt of mentioning your previous champagne lifestyle in Monaco, but since you have - didn't you feel at the time that it rather went against your left wing principles? I often wondered about that but never dared to ask- but since you mention it.

My quote shows clearly how you feel about Etonians and how prejudiced this is. The fact the ones you met was rather unfortunate- but why on earth did you stick to them for so long - it would have never attracted me, and I couldn't have stood it 2 minutes- but each to their own.

Again, just because of council estate inhabitants are rather unsavoury, should I come to the conclusion they all are. Of course not. My cousins, nephews and grand nephews and nieces with public school education are very pleasant people, and cover the whole spectrum politically.

I have replied - and said there are lots of great ideas about increasing the social housing pool, but that most of the suggestions were more suitable for older and younger people, and not families. I think I've said it more than once actually- and asked, again, where to suitably house families with children.

Wow greatnan you certainly do have a bee in your bonnet about the "same school" issue don't you? Why does it annoy you so much? Does it really matter? I'm beginning to think that you are getting paranoid about it. Do you really think that GNetters are going to come up with, and effect implementation of, the solution? Just as an aside, my father went to Harrow and I attendedCheltenham Ladies College.

We're certainly learning a lot about you today Greatn

Stansgran I have always loved that phrase from JFK ,

Ask not what your country can do for you , but what you can do for your country ?

P.S. Why do you insist on using the word 'toffs' - it seems to be a ploy to discredit my views by suggesting that I hold an attitude which I don't .

I love the idea that I have never known any public school boys! I have had men friends from Harrow, Marlborough, Winchester and Rugby - they weren't all chinless wonders but it is not normally something of which I would boast. I also dated a Conservative MP - I got very odd looks when I took him to a Mensa dinner. Sorry to dint the stereotype of me as a kid from the back streets of Salford who doesn't know her place! I lived in Monaco for six years and was a member of the British Association and, believe me, you don't get any snobbier than that! (I only joined for the free social events.)
I repeat, as it doesn't seem to have sunk in the first time - I don't object to the cabinet on the grounds that they went to public schools, although I think it does seriously limit the amount of understanding they have of other people's lives) but to the fact that they all went to the SAME public school. How fortuitous that so many men who were in the Bullingham Club turned out to be ideal ministerial material!
I am surprised that you have not yet responded to any of our suggestions, Juragran - what is the point of raising this issue and then ignoring our genuine attempts to address it?

I think there is a network system far far more dangerous than the old boy / old Etonian one. If anyone else has read about the coverup for the dangerous mother and baby unit in Cumbria then it is so obvious that there were jobs for the boys/ girls on all these quangos. This lot of under qualified or inappropriately qualified people who have magicked pensions out of the NHS and others has left me with a feeling of this is why the country is in the state it's in. Every man for himself. I was so envious of Americans who had a president who said Ask not .....But what you......

Thing is, as I said before, it can be difficult to change views if you rarely or never meet people from very different backgrounds. Once you do, it is much harder to dismiss whole groups as 'toffs' or 'scroungers' - because you personally people in both groups and such prejudices have been broken. You'll find that people who are rabidly anti-muslims are usually people who do not know any Muslims. Or people who are so prejudiced against Public school students or ex-students, have never met any. And same for council tenants or people on any kind of benefit. I have to fight against this from both sides. I have many relatives who have been to top Public schools, and some nephews and nieces too. And their political views cover the whole spectrum, funnily enough. My Swiss cousins who were sent to boarding school aged 5 in the UK, are absolutely anti and totally left wing.

I guess that those here with such prejudice against Old Etonians, have never ever been in contact with any educated at Public School. Tony Benn is a great example - it is possible to have attended Eton or any Public School and yet be left wing. I hate this divisive system and would do away with all faith, private and so-called 'Public school' education - but attending does not make them automatically right-wing. And yes, I hate Ye Olde School network - and it is still alive and kicking. But so are so many other organisations which privilege members against others (but I won't go there.... been there, done that, and know what happens if you do..!). Unions in the 60s and 70s could well have been guilty of that too.

And it works the other way too when. DH was brought up in a very narrow way by parents who had little education but he worked hard and became very successful and his views on many things have changed over the years. I think most mature people, whatever their upbringing, would say the same.