Brighton MP accuses ‘pointy elbowed, middle class parents’ of scuppering new school

A row has broken out after Brighton MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle blamed “pointy elbowed” middle class parents for scuppering plans for a new school.

The comment, made during a conversation about new homes planned in Whitehawk on Twitter, provoked a furious response from many parents who fit his description of “liberal middle class” who had campaigned in favour of the new school on the Brighton General site.

The plans were pulled after projections for increasing pupil numbers were revised downwards and other schools agreed to increase their intake for years where there were not enough places, either temporarily or permanently.

Although most parents were in favour of a new school, changes to catchments which were planned to take effect when it opened were opposed, particularly in areas like Fiveways which is currently in the catchment for both Dorothy Stringer and Varndean but under some proposals would have been split in two and each half joined with other, more distant, unpopular schools.

The row started when Mr Lloyd-Moyle replied to a Whitehawk resident who said if the plans to build hundreds of new homes there go ahead, the area would need a new school, by saying: “I agree with the new school I was devastated when it didn’t go through but I’m afraid liberal middle class parents got their way.”

This provoked an angry response from several parents. One said their understanding was that heads feared the new school would have taken kids away from existing but more unpopular schools.

Mr Lloyd-Moyle replied: “The chattering classes pushed that line and in the end convinced heads to undermine the project, which would have seen Longhill and BACA get more students and resources in long run, despite this they are doing well and have my 100% in the amazing work they do.”

Parent Kieran Barnard, one of those who campaigned against catchment changes which could have seen his children sent miles away to school instead of 200m to either Stringer or Varndean, also replied to the original tweet calling it “factually incorrect”.

In response, Mr Russell-Moyle said: “Touched on the middle class nerve there did I? Failure to build new school, transform catchment system to enable more local schools and ensure that every school had balanced free school meal numbers was generational opportunity lost. Despite this BACA and Longhil are on the up.

He elaborated to another parent who said there had been a lot of support for the school in Hanover: “‘Liberal middle class’ in Hanover were good allies and I can’t blame them but others were not and it was scuppered by manipulation of numbers and bulge classes to protect the central catchment above all else.”

And to another parent who brought up the concept of parental choice he said: “Our moral duty to ensure all kids get best education and not that parents meet their little whims. I’m not a fan of parent choice, above all else it’s a balance.”

He added: “Most were in favour in Hannover (somewhere I didn’t mention but clearly identifies as typical liberal middle class) but some areas (who are maybe less liberal but more wealthy) were not and their pointy elbow with central catchment headteachers pressure won out.”

However, fellow party member Cllr Emma Daniel, who as ward councillor for ‘liberal, middle class’ Hanover and Elm Grove represents some of the parents concerned, disagreed.

She said: “I don’t agree with this tweet at all. I wasn’t directly involved but was campaigning for the views of parents to be heard by colleagues.

“The new school was mostly scuppered by the continual delays and lack of control that local authorities have to open them ourselves, making it enormously difficult to achieve.

“The emergency consultation on temporary catchments was purely to try to resolve the uncertainty that had faced parents the year before. The option of expansion from the two most oversubscribed schools came up during that consultation which the council was pleased to accept.”