Without wanting to reactivate anti-royalist sentiments and any reaction to that - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20757376.This is a woman who has selflessly dedicated herself to this country for 60 years, no retirement possible. And her loyal ministers can think of no better reward than to invite her to sit through a Cabinet Meeting.
I recommend following @Queen_UK on Twitter for a bit of piss-taking on this and other royal matters. Very funny. [leaps over back of settee to join other grans in the dust]
Ed Miliband went to state primary and comprehensive schools and then to Oxford. He spent a year at Harvard (2002 - 2003) not as a student but as a visiting scholar, teaching courses on economics and politics. Ed Balls did go to fee-paying Nottingham High School and Oxford; then he went to Harvard on a scholarship. Not that I am a special fan of either of these men, but I like to get the facts right - hopefully Wiki as given me the correct ones.
How many Labour, ANY? Does Cambridge come into it or Russell Group Uni's. Ofcourse there is is always Harpersons connections.
I don't know the answer but I do find there is a slight hypocrisy when the shadow front bench all forget how stupid they look when they don't acknowledge a good few of them have had private education and attended brilliant universities themselves. For goodness sake Miliband is the worst with his 'I went to a state school' rubbish. Didn't Miliband and Balls go to top American Universities?
I truly don't know the answer as I can't be bothered to find out but I hate class snobbery, sorry.
As for the Queen attending Cabinet isn't the story there this has not been done since Victoria. I think it is the historical point that is at the heart of the story rather than anything else.
DH has done a quick cogs-whirring bit of arithmetic and says this proportion (4/22) is just slightly better than the parliamentary Tory part as a whole (16%). Labour front bench slightly more than a third female. Same % as the PLP.
BBC - R4 reporting on this "The PM has long been committed to getting more women around the cabinet table and tomorrow...." Excuse me? W-hat????? How come there are 18 men and 4 women currently then? Why is he failing so dismally, I'd like to know, if he has this long commitment? There are also 9 attenders (who attend but are not official cabinet members) male and 1 attender female -(tokenethnicasianwoman Varsi). Someone on Twitter said 20 of them were old Etonians. Which does tend to exclude adult women. (Do they let girls in these days?) I must go away and check if it is true.
I heard on the radio that the cabinet has bought the present with their own money, not ours.
Can't you just imagine them picking out their smartest clothes and buffing up their shoes. They will all be sitting there pretending they agree about everything. . No, I'm not having a go at the present lot, I think they would all be the same whichever lot were in.
Apparently she has been invited to attend as an observer - although Prince Philip declined - can't imagine him keeping quiet if they start talking -bulls**t- reasoned arguments.