John Claughton, a master at Eton from 1984 to 2001, apologised in a letter to The Times that the school had not done its job in trying to remove the ‘sense of privilege, entitlement and omniscience’ from Tory politicians like the former PM Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Kwasi Kwarteng – saying that they had damaged the ‘very fabric of the country’. And let’s not forget David Cameron and George Osborne who brought the country to its knees with their policy of austerity, or Nigel Farage who brought us Brexit.
I don’t doubt John Claughton’s sincerity but I feel he misses the point entirely. Why would any parent pay fees of £46,000 a year to send a son to Eton just to gain good exam results? There are hundreds of excellent and unfortunately elitist comprehensive schools in England that could achieve exactly the same results.
It is the job of these public schools to make these boys feel exceptional, special, different from the rest of us – and, unfortunately for wider society, they do an excellent job of it. As author Robert Verkaik explains in Posh Boys: “They are not part of any big society; they are the few who have been programmed to ignore the interests of the many.”
In her 2015 book Boarding School Syndrome, psychoanalyst Joy Schaverien describes a condition now sufficiently recognised to merit therapy groups and an emergent academic literature. The symptoms are wide ranging but include emotional detachment and dissociation, cynicism, exceptionalism, offensive arrogance, cliquism, emotional misdirection.
The author Paul Watkins, in his memoir Stand before your God, remembers at Eton the huge amount of energy in the time of Cameron and Johnson that went into ‘teasing and ignoring people’. He says of his experiences: “I felt a harshness I had never felt before.”
Here’s what another public schoolboy, Richard Beard, had to say about his experiences: “In our isolation we learned that we were special. Everyone else was less special and often stupid – school was where we went to learn to despise other people.”
JIM CURRAN
Downpatrick, Co Down
Even the dogs in the street know
So, our eminent Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris, has claimed that he does not know what it is that the DUP wants because they have not told him, while his party colleague, Michael Gove, at the same time has said that all the demands of the DUP have effectively been catered for in the Windsor Framework. Well, maybe Michael would like to talk to Chris and inform him what it is that the DUP have not told him and how the Windsor Framework has delivered on these demands.
Maybe the pair of them might then just like to tell the rest of us what exactly is going on and where we are at in this farcical comedy drama which is having such a serious impact on all of the people in these six counties. One thing for certain is that Jeffrey Donaldson will not be telling us any time soon, because the reins of power are no longer in the hands of the puppet leader and are currently being held by ex-leaders Arlene Foster and Peter Robinson. Yes, the two people who were given control of the whimsical committee which was to study the Framework in order to determine whether or not it had dealt with the DUP demands.
Jeffrey’s tenure of the leadership will only remain valid for so long as he does what he is told to do, and Jeffrey wants to seem to be in charge so badly that he is prepared to play this role. In the meantime, the DUP – a minority party in the Assembly – are being allowed to act like a ringmaster in the circus. The British and Irish governments, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, must act quickly and decisively and put the DUP in the same place as the electorate here have put them – playing second fiddle to Sinn Féin who are now the largest party in the Assembly.
As the old adage goes, even the dogs in the street know that this is the sole issue preventing the DUP from going back into a government where Sinn Féin would rule the roost and hold the position of First Minister.
SEAN SEELEY
Craigavon, Co Armagh
Realignment of politics
An interesting piece from Alex Kane on the future of political unionism (June 16) but realignment is already underway. Having spent four years as an elected member on Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, I am aware of which unionist councillors are more liberal-leaning and which are more traditionally hardline. There is no doubt in my mind that the general trend at ABC – and replicated across other councils – is that the more traditional unionists have tended to survive at the expense of their more moderate colleagues.
Regardless of all the talk of unionist unity, the three main political groups in Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin, DUP/UUP and Alliance, have already reinforced their position.
In a political vacuum this type of realignment is also being replicated in the health service. Medical consultants are aware of the location of future centres of excellence and are voting with their feet. This has been demonstrated by the recent announcement that stroke services are being moved from Daisy Hill to Craigavon Area Hospital and by the service retention issues at the South West Acute Hospital in Fermanagh. This is Bengoa via the
back door.
It is often said that society moves quicker than politicians and this is exemplified in modern Northern Ireland.
BRIAN POPE
Alliance Party
Everyone should object to Irish signs at Olympia
There is currently a consultation as to whether to include Irish language signs at Olympia Leisure Centre. I go to Olympia for swimming. It is in a Protestant area with a George Best statue. No-one is going to read signs in Irish. This is either an attempt to antagonise or get one over the people living there. Or it stems from a blind belief that everyone on the island of Ireland must have some connection to Irish culture. This is not necessarily true nor is it necessary to be true to support a united Ireland.
I would object to an Orange march down the Falls Road. I object to Irish language signs at Olympia. I think everyone should.
DOMINIC GALLAGHER
Belfast BT9
