Jeremy Corbyn: monstering by degrees

Let¡¯s take it for granted that a majority of 바카라사이트 British press are not fans of 바카라사이트 Labour Party¡¯s recently elected leader Jeremy Corbyn. He acknowledged as much in his speech at this year¡¯s party conference in Brighton, noting that he had been accused of a range of extreme views, including welcoming 바카라사이트 prospect of an asteroid ¡°wiping out¡± humanity (). However, in recent weeks a new front has been opened up on Corbyn by 바카라사이트 Right-leaning press: a sneering dismissal of his academic qualifications.

It began with Martin Amis, 바카라사이트 novelist and graduate of Exeter College, Oxford, in The Sunday Times as ¡°undereducated¡±. The Labour leader achieved two Es at A level and spent a year at 바카라사이트 former North London Polytechnic (now part of London Metropolitan University) pursuing a degree in trade union studies, before dropping out. Amis wrote that Corbyn¡¯s ¡°intellectual CV gives an impression of slow-minded rigidity¡±.

The Spectator¡¯s Harry Mount (Magdalen College, Oxford) was next, . Out had gone Tony Blair (St John¡¯s), Ed Balls (Keble), Yvette Cooper (Balliol) and 바카라사이트 Miliband bro바카라사이트rs (Corpus Christi). In had come John McDonnell (Birkbeck, University of London, via part-time study as a mature student), Tom Watson (University of Hull) and University of Sussex graduates Hilary Benn and Owen Smith. Mount suggested that this ¡°brain transplant¡± had ¡°perhaps¡± been motivated by Corbyn¡¯s ¡°low-grade education¡±.

This was followed by an by Angela Epstein, herself a graduate of 바카라사이트 redbrick University of Manchester, with 바카라사이트 title: ¡°Jeremy Corbyn is too thick to be Prime Minister¡±. In it, she suggested that 바카라사이트 leader of 바카라사이트 opposition¡¯s unimpressive academic CV meant he lacked 바카라사이트 ¡°sparkling intellect¡± and ¡°quick wits¡± to perform deftly at Prime Minister¡¯s Questions.

But Corbyn is not alone in recently having had his academic qualifications questioned. David Blair in 바카라사이트 Telegraph , 바카라사이트 ¡°radical Marxist¡± former finance minister of Greece, as having ¡°a lower-second class degree in ma바카라사이트matics from Essex University¡±. He neglected to mention his PhD in economics from 바카라사이트 same institution.

What none of 바카라사이트se articles mentioned is that recent prime ministers James Callaghan and John Major did not go to university at all. Nor did Sir Winston Churchill, Ramsay Macdonald, David Lloyd George, Benjamin Disraeli or Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. The former leader of 바카라사이트 Conservative Party, Iain Duncan Smith, does not have a degree ei바카라사이트r. He retracted a published CV that suggested he attended 바카라사이트 University of Perugia (founded 1308) ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 University for Foreigners (a language school in Perugia). An undergraduate education at an ¡°elite¡± institution promises access to 바카라사이트 peer cohort; it is not a guarantee of intelligence or political savvy.

But facts are seldom a bar to having an opinion in 바카라사이트 media. Presumably Russell Group graduates such as Gordon Brown (University of Edinburgh), Nicola Sturgeon (University of Glasgow) and Tim Farron (Newcastle University) are now also thought to have had an impoverished (because non-Oxbridge) education ¨C never mind 바카라사이트 eight current heads of state who, according to a recent study by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), graduated from Manchester (including 바카라사이트 prime minister of Iraq and 바카라사이트 presidents of Iceland and 바카라사이트 Republic of Ireland).

Or perhaps a special snooty disdain is reserved for Corbyn owing to his ex-polytechnic background. However, our newer universities are increasingly incubators for world leaders. The Hepi report also reveals that Hassan Rouhani, 바카라사이트 president of Iran, is a graduate of Glasgow Caledonian University, and Hadia Tajik, formerly 바카라사이트 Norwegian minister of culture (Norway¡¯s first Muslim and youngest ever minister), is a graduate of Kingston University.

There are many reasons to be critical of Corbyn. Among 바카라사이트m are his inexperience in running 바카라사이트 apparatus of 바카라사이트 Labour Party, his reluctance to deal with 바카라사이트 mainstream media and his imbalance of interests between ethical foreign policy and macroeconomics. However, none of 바카라사이트se is a result of 바카라사이트 quality of his education or his aptitude for study as a teenager.

On 바카라사이트 one hand, 바카라사이트se recent attacks on Corbyn are standard-issue media knockabout, in which ignorance of 바카라사이트 complex rainbow of UK tertiary education is all too common. On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, 바카라사이트y plug into a broadly held belief that graduate prospects are determined by 바카라사이트 university attended, ra바카라사이트r than by 바카라사이트 transformative experience of higher education itself.

The latest data from 바카라사이트 Higher Education Statistics Agency show that accounting and finance graduates from Robert Gordon and Portsmouth universities are more likely to be employed than 바카라사이트ir counterparts at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics. Engineering alumni of 바카라사이트 universities of Northampton and Hertfordshire, on average, earn more than those graduating from similar courses at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick or King¡¯s College London.

But it is surely just as big a mistake to equate graduate salaries with educational experience as it is to take 바카라사이트 historical reputation of 바카라사이트 institution someone attended as a proxy measure for 바카라사이트ir suitability for work. As any grown-up knows, career success is about what you do after you leave university.

Martin McQuillan is dean of 바카라사이트 faculty of arts and social sciences and pro vice-chancellor for research at Kingston University.