This blog rarely strays in to controversial areas – which is where I might have been going wrong – so here goes.
So… Ralph Miliband.
Like most people. I have not read his works and I do not have even a decent grasp of the larger arguments and their history. But it is generally accepted that Ralph was a communist and I understand what communists believe, namely an equitable society where everyone is afforded the same chances, rights and means.
This is all very worthy on paper but of course but as history teaches us, it always fails. Fails because the people in power are unable to resist. They are unable apply such egalitarianism when it comes to themselves and their own. Witness the staggering wealth of the communists leaders anywhere in the world today or in history whilst their people starve/d.
Do as I say, not as I do – is a mantra that will always plague the left. Shirley Williams as Home Secretary, abolished grammar schools for the secondary modern and yet somehow squared sending her own daughter to the selective fee paying Latymer. Tony Blair rides rough shod over boundaries to get his kids in to the London Oratory. Ditto, Clegg. Diane Abbott. Ruth Kelly…
And Ralph Miliband too who could not resist the need to give his eldest son a leg up when the need arose.
Everyone knows that the Oxbridge degree is the degree that keeps on giving. It is the badge of honour degree that will open doors for a lifetime and so places at either Oxford or Cambridge are incredibly valuable, indeed, life changing?
David Miliband was assisted by the Inner London Education Authority to gain his place at Oxford – a scheme specifically set up to assist children from comprehensive schools in to the hallowed halls. And very good too. But he was also assisted by his dad when he only managed a grade D in one of his A levels. Physics, I believe. His dad, the eminent Marxist made the call, the place was awarded and the rest is history. David is now a multi-millionaire worldwide figure.
And good for Ralph Miliband, helping out his kid. I would do the same but the difference being, I am not a communist. I accept that the world is not fair. We are not all born the same and the differences between us cannot be ironed out by politicians in Whitehall, the Kremlin…
And David went on to get a First class degree, so he was worth his place? Maybe. He is certainly very able. I went to a comprehensive school also but I was never in the league to bother Oxbridge with my application – but what about the kid who might have sat next to me who did apply and was not successful. What about the kid whose place David took? Presumably someone missed out? And whatever happened to him or her?
And how does this sit with the notion of fairness which is everything that underpins the politics of the left.
As I say, all very worthy and altruistic – but it goes against human nature when it comes to our own.