He does look dishevelled and even confused. He seems barely able to string a sentence together and when placed next to Sunak or even Hancock it is apparent he lacks confidence, coherence and even sharpness.

I don't know what is wrong with him, although rumours abound and there might be a corona after-effect but his leadership doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

I have to disagree. I have friends who went to Harrow and Westminster and friends who went to the girls public schools. They are nothing special and it wasn't difficult to get in, they are just prestigious brands, although you need to show academic ability. I would opine that Durham serves the function of your listed schools as the northern version of them. Certainly they do not have a Geordie accent.

No one from Durham has a Geordie accent.

Yup, Durham School is most definitely minor: it was never that good academically, as I've pointed out several times.

In my day the bright kids whose parents didn't want to send them to the local state grammar school to mix with the likes of me would go to somewhere like RGS in Newcastle.

Durham School has never, ever, ever been the northern equivalent of those named "public" schools and, as I've said several times, it had lower academic standards than the 2 local state grammar schools.

And NO-ONE from Durham has EVER had any class of a Geordie accent (for my sins I'm married to a Geordie...).

Still a handful get the train from Durham to Newcastle each morning. Well I presume so, I haven't caught it since lockdown.

Doh_! Of course, they are Mackems.

In 2019 last time Exams were properly sat the local Comp had 80% of A level students getting A or B compared to 60% at Durham

While Durham School just pipped another comp and the Catholic school it is not even the best private school. Durham High school for girls which has a similar number of pupils had better A levels.

As I mentioned if you child has behavioural issues or struggles to relate to and interact with others, perhaps he will be bullied in a normal school, then Durham School is where to send your little Dominic. The freak will fit right in there

Vixen to the line shooting 0 from 2 .....

Dominic Cummings isn't even mentioned in its distinguished alumni list. I see what you mean: seems to be composed of sporting types, rugby and cricket players. Cummings himself went on to study Ancient History at Exeter (another Uni teeming with ex-public school) a totally useless subject for running the country as is Johnson's Classics. At least people like Hancock did PPE which is relevant to his job.

Don't be fooled by Cummings' flat cap and dressed down image though.

Plebs would say that.

What?

Ancient History and Classics are prerequisites for running the country!

Well, their administration will soon be ancient history after their classic balls-ups.

What do you mean 'plebs' would say that?

Being a major private school has nothing to do with how difficult academically it is to get in and everything to do with the kinds of people you network with while you're there, and the cachet of going to that school.

As you point out, it's all about the branding, but being an old Etonian or Harrovian significantly enhances your chances of being PM.

That their minor school was actually a 'good' school.

Getting in to a 'top' school isn't about difficulty, it's about money and influence.

Boris Johnson 'called Scottish devolution disaster'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54965585

Boris decided that the EU was the enemy he would use as a tool to get power.
With a disaster of no deal Brexit he has moved on to a new enemy.

Who next? will he have Wessex and Mercia fighting over the last potato!

From Sky News

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick says devolution has been "misused" in Scotland by the SNP 'to drive a wedge between people who are ultimately part of the same country'.

And you can sod off with that one too!

Very much this! 'S been like that pretty much all my life (I'm in my early 60s) - even some of the staff at Durham School wouldn't send their lads there, but to one of the then state grammars (the 2 comps Lothian refers to).

To get into Durham School you have to pass an entrance exam. I'll tell you what are 'minor public schools' and they would be the ones my father - who was a real snob - sent my brothers from another marriage to. You won't have heard of them unless you live in Greater Manchester or Staffordshire and he was only an area manager for Plessey in those days. Has to be said though that they did all right as a result, gaining electronics type degrees and graduating eventually from Sandhurst to get high up in the army by passing ever more exams. I myself went to the local - supposedly Direct Grant, although I don't think anyone paid anything - grammar school.

I had heard of Durham school and I recall now that it was well-known for beefy sporting types who get into prestigious unis on the strength of their performance on the playing fields. Dominic Cummings looks like he is good at sprinting! :D

He has to face the 1922 committee and explain why his Brexit plans are driving a divided kingdom.

No, you just need to pay a fee. If you want an academic scholarship you have to sit an exam but not otherwise.

The fees look quite steep to me. Surely no wealthy parent would send their kid there without a view of their little Dom eventually getting a place at a redbrick uni?

Dominic Cummings has gone but don't imagine he is cloth cap and braces for a second.

ETA: This seems to hint that most pupils get a scholarship because of academic ability, as Johnson did at Eton.

I'm Wessex born and bred and I'm fed up with being dictated to by the bureaucrats up in London. I vote to leave the UK, close our borders to the immigrant Londoners (and of course all other foreigners, especially the Mercians) and reclaim our sovereignty. King Athelstan is buried a couple of miles from here, I'm sure he must have a descendant living near by we could put in charge. What could possibly go wrong?

One of John Steinbeck's lesser known works is a book titled The Short Reign of Pippin IV.

It is a delightful exercise which begins with a premise much like the above highlighted. Well worth a read. A bit on the lighthearted side compared to much of Steinbeck, but not without his usual social reflection.

I mean, it's happening to Kent, so why not?

Side note, if you don't follow Donald the Unready you might want to check him out.

Bit harsh.

I just worked out my old school fees as if had just finished there now, having arrived in Primary 3 and left in 6th Year. £97,467.

From being the Garden of England...

“If England is a garden, we ought to have more manure.” - Noel Coward.

It wasn’t the sort of PPE that’s relevant to his current job.

As I said before, but I'll say it again more plainly: I was at primary school with kids who could not pass Durham's equivalent of the 11+ to get into the local state grammar school (the one I went to) and were sent to Durham School as they could pass the one entry requirement, which is the size of their parents' bank balance - no entry exams, 'cos the little Herberts couldn't have passed them anyway. And some of the parents didn't want their precious little Sebastians associating with lower middle class scum like me (parents are physios? How uncouth!), let alone the bairns who came from the surrounding pit villages, but were bright enough to get in. Yes, that sort of snobbery was (still is for all I know) rampant in Durham then. And the state grammars still got more bairns into universities...

I know exactly where Cummings grew up (go south on the old Great North Road, past where the Cock of the North used to be, but don't go as far as Sunderland Bridge; if you hit Croxdale, you've definitely gone too far): next to no-one from Durham City was "belt and braces", 'cos it's always been a pretty middle class city, dominated by the cathedral, the university, hospitals and county council...

Durham City has quite a bit of the Oxbridge 'Town and Gown' about it.
Most of the centre is student accommodation and pubs and bars catering to them. Surrounding the centre are council and housing association estates.
There is quite a lot of poverty and unemployment in the area.

Yes you are right, sorry. I was having a dig at Dominic who famously advertised for an unusual set of people, weirdos, misfits, true wild cards". Not everyone at Durham School is like him. However, Durham does tend to attract sporty people and people who would struggle in mainstream education. Academically the local comps are better/ just as good.

So after a couple of weeks ago explaining how they just couldn't go spending money feeding children the government announces this:

Defence funding boost 'extends British influence'

Of course the figures are being disputed but even so its a lot of money, which will probably be spent on cntracts every bit as iffy as those for PPE.

Seems everyone wants it to be spent on 'Cyber'.

I suppose that's the best way to make sure it gets funnelled to a company owned by your brother in law/wife/uncle/ pal from Eton etc.

It's also easier for the funds to disappear without actual result.