The estimable Mr Kwarteng, expounding his wisdom

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/vi...t-culture-video

This man is hypocrisy on a stick

Chris Skidmore was born in 1981 and educated at an independent school before taking a double first at Oxford in 2002. He then worked for David Willetts and Michael Gove as an "adviser". He was elected as an MP in 2010. Even more than the rest of this sorry crew he has absolutely no idea about working: he has never done it. But that does not stop him sitting on the health committee, specialising in health care reform.....

And that brings us to the final member of this gilded group: Elizabeth Truss

She is not very strong on logic. She was born in 1975 and was educated in state schools in Paisley and Leeds. She got A-levels in ordinary and advanced maths and then studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Merton College Oxford. This must count as failure because after living in Canada for a year she compares their "competitive" education system favourably with her own "trendy" education in Leeds. Just think what this poor woman could have achieved if she had only had the opportunity...

She did at least get a job when she graduated in 1996: she joined shell as a "commercial manager" (another job you obviously don't need to know anything to get, apparently: remember she was 21 at this point) and then moved to Cable and Wireless as "economics director". Somewhere along the line she qualfied as a management accountant.

She became deputy director of a tory think tank called "Reform" in 2008: so she obviously does not like working either: she only did anything remotely related to working for 12 years and for most of that time she appears to have been in posts where she was training (at least I hope so, despite her job titles). She was elected as a local councillor in 2006, so she was not giving her all to her job, at least from then: she was chair of her local conservative association from 1998-2000 and she fought parliamentary elections in 2001 and 2005

She was elected to parliament in 2010 too

I conclude these bastards are true to themselves: when they talk about the british worker they mean Me! Me! Me!

Next up: Priti Patel

Priti Patel was born in 1972 and her educational background is not as fancy as Dr Kwarteng's. She went to a comprehensive then studied economics at Keele. Then she went to Essex University, though I do not know what she studied.

She graduated, and you might imagine, given her pronouncements on lazy british workers, that she then got a job. Well she did: she was taken on by Andrew Lansley who was then head of the Conservative research department and she worked at conservative central office till 1995. From 1995-1997 she worked in the press office of James Goldsmith's Referendum Party (which, incidentally, sank like a stone: perhaps implying she wasn't very good?) After the 1997 election she rejoined the tories (they had changed their policy on europe so that was not necessarily unprincipled) and again worked in the press office for William Hague, dealing with media relations in London and the south east

She got into a bit of bother over comments about racism in the tory party in 2003 and left politics for while. She got a job with a firm called Weber Shandwick, a public affairs consultancy advising big companies: though what she had to tell them is not exactly tangible: connections matter though, I am sure. I don't think she liked working much, because she also stood for parliament in 2005, and also lost. She got elected in 2010, though

So far as I can see she also has never actually worked in a real job for any length of time: so very well qualified to lecture those who do ....

Then there is Dominic Raab. Mr Raab was born in 1974 and he was educated at Challoner's Grammar school, which is, I believe, a selective state school. He then studied law at Oxford before getting a masters degree at Cambridge. He then got a real job as a business lawyer with Linklaters: one of the biggest business law firms in the world. They do a lot of work for the banks......

From Wiki

In 2000 he became a civil servant at the Foreign Office, which according to Tory belief means he did not work at all: the civil service don't, you know. Then from 2006 - 2010 he worked in parliament serving as chief of staff for David Davis and Shadow Justice chief, Dominic Grieve

During the period when he was actually doing a job he spent a whole summer at the university of Birzeit, working with a palestinian negotiator evaluating world bank projects on the West Bank

He, too, was elected to parliament in 2010. He, too, has no experience whatsoever of work as that term is normally understood.

A group of 5 up and coming tory MP's have concluded that the Prime Minister needs to tackle the fact that the british worker is lazy. Their views are laid out in a book called "Britain Unchained" and are reported here:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/ta...=internalSearch

These are 5 of the bright young things in the tory party; So I had a wee look at their credentials

Kwasi Kwarteng was born in 1975 and he attended Eton, on something called a King's scholarship: there are 14 of them a year, apparently. They have to pass an exam: but in case you imagine that this eliminates the need for wealth it should be noted that the remission of fees is means tested and is normally a 10% discount. Fees this year are £10,327 per "half". You might think that means £20,654 a year: but you would be wrong. There are three "halfs" in a year so it is £30,981 a year: less 10%. That is my total yearly wage, more or less: and I earn far more than the average in this country.

After Eton he went to Cambridge University, where he studied classics and history. Just the sort of qualification you would expect from someone who is gung ho for enterprise and hard work: or not. Then on to Harvard, on something called a Kennedy scholarship: again you have to show academic excellence because there are only 6-8 of these per year and competition is apparently fierce. But I have never heard of this: the "national competiton" is hardly "open". Nor is it wholly based on intellectual ability: though that is one of the things taken into account. Others include "personal and communication skills" and "capacity for future influence and leadership".

Dr Kwarteng then took a PhD at Cambridge. His subject was history

Now as far as I know one leaves Eton at 18. A degree takes 3 years in england, I believe. A Kennedy scholarship lasts a year. A PhD normally takes 3 years. So this man does not seem to have had a job of any description until he was 25. He then became a "financial analyst". It is not in the least obvious what fitted him for that role on the basis of his study up to that date. So one might expect, when he got that job, that he would be training hard to learn his craft. Maybe he was. As I reckon it up he did that till 2005, so a good 5 years and with such gifts as he has I am sure that he learned all he needed to know in that period: it is not like people in that trade had no idea what they were doing and helped to trash the economy, or anything.

In 2005 he stood for election to parliament, though he didnt win first time out. It is amazing to me that anyone with a full time job has the time it takes to campaign for election: perhaps his employer was generous with time? Or maybe he is just super hardworking and did his full time job and campaigned the rest of the day? Well not entirely, I think. He was chairman of The Bow Group from 2005-6 and that is a tory think tank: though to be fair I do not think the duties of ordinary members are onerous: it is more of a networking opportunity. But the chairman must put in some time, surely?

Anyway, he was also a candidate for the London Assembly in 2008 and he got his parliamentary seat in 2010 when the sitting MP got embroiled in the expenses scandal.

So just when has this bastard done a hand's turn? All I can see is a bloke who is extremely privileged and has time to further his own career while ostensibly at work.