...from an excellent 24 hours in London.
Last night was the Young Members' Dinner at the club. It was brilliant; marvellous food, marvellous company and marvellous location. The scrumptious meal was served with unlimited club wine and port at no extra cost.
The after dinner speaker was Simon Clegg, the Chief Executive of the British Olympic Association. His speech was most interesting. He talked about the process of winning the 2012 Olympic Games, how the BOA is run and what his role is.
We retired to the bar after the speeches, before a group of us went on to Embassy in Mayfair (the club attached to this restaurant). One of the group was an active member so we were swiftly escorted into the VIP suite. The same chap kindly bought the drinks. In places where champagne is upwards of £330 a bottle, I'm quite happy for someone else to buy!
Now I'm home, I've got a rather large mountain of boxes and the like to unpack and sort. Oh the joys of commuting between different ends of the country...
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21 comments:
"The problem I have with the possibility of an Etonian (and in fact Blair) being Prime Minister is that many of the people I meet who have been educated in public schools are massively out of touch. This is to say not only out of touch with how the poorer people in this country live but seemed to be astonished when I outline the exact nature of the problems faced by the rest of the world."
Works on so many levels 8)
"The scrumptious meal was served with unlimited club wine and port at no extra cost"
It's still Lent old boy!
Dave - how am I "massively out of touch" this time?!
Along with the boxes Sam, I dare say, if you are anything like me you have a rather large hangoover! It was a marvellous night though, one of the best I have had for a very long time, same place next year old boy!
One point of interest by the way, in repsonse to Dave's article. Tony Blair did not go to Eton he went to Fettes, in Edinburgh.
Flipping heck... free champa's at that price!!! WOoooooo
I hope it wasn't as embarassing as St P?!?
PRITCHARDS!
I never said he did Tim, good england old boy.
"Do explain how you think I am "massively out of touch"..."
How do you describe what a tree looks like to a man that has been blind from birth?
Now now Dave, don't pick on Sam for being public school educated, he only went to one for his A levels - he was in state education before that, so it's not really fair to take him up on that.
Dave - no need for the sarcasm. I still fail to see why you think people who have been educated at a public school are out of touch. Examples, please.
Royston - true, I did only go to a public school for sixth form. Therefore, I am in a position to answer for both the state and private sectors. I still fail to see how people who have been privately educated are more "out of touch" than those who went to state schools. Do you consider yourself "out of touch", Royston?
I'm not sure - I've never been in state education, having been to pre-prep school, prep school and then a public school. I would like to think that I'm not 'out of touch', but deep down, I feel that perhaps I am. I think Uni has helped me to meet more people from different backgrounds, and not being a ghastly tory-boy has helped quite a lot (as people seem to assume that I am rather right wing because of the way I dress, and my accent - something I really am not!). Also, trying to live on a relativly small budget each week has, I feel, given me a small insight into how those less well off than me live.
Oh please, living on a student loan isn't that bad. It just means a few less of life's little luxuries.
Perhaps you should go somewhere like Uganda and experience first hand what it is like to have absolutely nothing. They need all the help they can get. What you consider to be a "relatively small budget" is still enormous compared to what most of the world have.
I'm not "astonished when someone outlines the exact nature of the problems faced by the rest of the world". I have seen some of the problems people face and I do my best to help.
I STILL don't see how privately educated people are "out of touch".
And you never will.
Was that a lame effort of trying to say you are intouch by talking about Uganda.
You are very out of touch Sam.
When you have spoke to me it seems you have lived a very sheltered life and dont understand problems that people are age face.
Can I just ask if you were a MP how long do you think you have before you would have to resign after those comments about people who can’t afford to go to school? But yet they don’t deserve EMA
There is more to life than argueing about this crap!
Chill dudes!
I would like to apologise for my comments yesterday as I think I took it a bit too far as I let my emotions get in the way of my opinion.
Well this debate continues in force! All very exciting...
Dave - saying "you never will" doesn't prove your point. You can't say privately educated people are out of touch without saying why you think that is the case. More info please!
Anonymous - No it wasn't an effort to prove I am "in touch", it was just an example of how living on a student loan (in my opinion) doesn't give an "insight into how those less well off" live, because a student loan is enormous compared to what most people in the world live on. I can't comment on our conversations because I have no idea who you are - if you reveal your identity then I might be able to respond.
Other Anonymous Person - yes, there is far more to life than whether someone is "out of touch", but I'm still keen to know why I'm considered to be out of touch. 18 comments later and I still haven't been given an answer!
I've had this discussion with someone else Sam, I'm sorry but in this case I'd just like to leave it as me stating an opinion and not explaining it because I don't feel with any amount of explanation will you understand me. This however is not your fault.
I guess I am out of touch with particular patches that make up the quilt which is modern Britain, having spent all my life in private eduacation. However, in my defence, coming from a small market town in Wales, I would never have come across the relativly diverse peoples that attended my schools had I gone to the local state schools.
I don't think you can tar Sam with the same brush to be honest - there must be other reason that he is out of touch than his attending boarding school for two years ;)
Take a chill pill...
Si
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