George osborne

Thanks for that Chris an remember the Clipper bit now you mention it ,they done food in the pub as well always busy on match day.

Yes Brian that is the part I agreed with, you are what you make yourself. But coming from a wealthy family certainly opens a lot of doors in the UK today.
An example I will give you during my life time involved my older brother.
My brother is the smarter of the two of us. He passed the 11+ and that meant he could go to Grammar school. My Dad was still alive at that time and he along with my mum went to an open day at the local grammar school. A very famous school in N Ireland, BRA, Belfast Royal Academy.
Anyway after the open day Dad asked about getting Dougie enrolled at the school, he was told there would be no point as BRA would not be the right school for my brother. Basically what they were saying was because we lived on a council estate we were not the right kind of people. Well it was there loss, my brother went on to win every major honor there is in the world of accountancy, became the youngest ever director of finance at BP N Ireland, moved to Ross Frozen food group and took that company to being one of the biggest players in that market.
So as you say Brian it is what you make of yourself.
One thing that sticks in my throat about my brother was he said to me many years ago, When are you going to get a proper job and stop this Galavanting away to sea. He just did not get it!!!! It was not until he retired and started cruising that he said to me, I finally get it!!! At first I did not know what he was on about and must have looked blank. He said Lewis I get it now!!! what do you get Dougie, the pull of the sea, I love it now he understood. Still I was never a star like him at school, it was not until I left school I thought I had better buckle down and get an education, night school same as many and eventually gained my City & Guilds also my HNC. A few years ended up with a combined C/Engs ticket so two lads from the back streets of Belfast did not do so bad at the end of the day. Some on here may think I can be argumentative, keep your fingers crossed my brother does not want to join the forum, otherwise you will all be doing this :smashPC: lol

##interesting scenario lewis ......only disagree on one thing.....if you are from a wealthy family yes the door may open ..but if you are not upto that job ...others will see you out soon enough ..there is no room in companies to carry anyone today ....it is all to tight in business the times have gone where rank brings a future if the company is a big profit maker it is public and is run for the share holders who today give no quarter to anyone there will always be freeloaders but not for long unless you are in politics ...and as recently shown yoiu can be dumped very quickly from that place .....the only place i never hear of people been dumped is in council offices ...the paper pushers who create nothing have jobs for life ..and pensions to make a person blush at the thought of it...just my view ..to quote a term from my old mate from the isle of wight....come back KT we are missing your input regards cappy

Cappy I agree in the private sector your short comings will find you out. But sadly in politics the oldboy network still carries a lot of weight.
Take Boris Johnson & David Cameron, two idiots who have acheived the highest of office in the land they have lead the country to brink of destruction. Theresa May is another one the UK will have to live with until she is ousted by her own. Then you will have Corbyn and co who will probably complete the ruin.
Sorry but Boris & David I suspect were never the best of mates at Eton and they have carried there dislike for each other to the extent they have split the nation down the middle. Cameron who thought we would never vote out of the EU and Boris who now thinks oh merde wahat have I done. Two upper class twits have screwed the nation. As you did say Cappy if people like them had been in the private sector they would have been binned years ago. Call Tony Blair what you want but he sure does know how to make money. I suspect he could be on any board of any company he wanted to be on.

lewis the old boy network works no more prevelent than mcdonnel corbyn and abbott ....ooo the thought of a menage la trois is mind boggling.....but as cameron and boris are voted in so are the three ...old boys cant be in unless voted for by the public ...cappy

Cappy , Putin, elected Donald Trump lol. well so the democrats are saying.

The old boy network went on during most on this sites early life in all walks of life. I saw It in the armed forces where entry into the likes of Dartmouth depended on your back ground it occurred in the likes of Port Talbot where to get he prestigious and well payed job of a crane driver it helped 95 percent of the way if your father was in the docks or a crane driver It helps politicians getting a seat going on his fathers name. It helped in the passenger ship companies to have an insider working for you. It helped in the maritime union of Australia if you had connections within the movement. It happens everywhere and anywhere. I have personally gone seeking someone's patronage when work was hard to get. It is a factor in life. One side is the same as the other when it comes to the old boy system, you might say everything is fair In love and war. JWS.

john you were a ships master nobody got you that job ...regards cappy

In Blue funnel and no doubt like a lot of other shipping companies and certainly in the Police , if one had wisdom,strength& beauty. It helped thier professional and personal development.

That was. Not my original target Cappy. Other avenues were closed due to not having what I saw as the right connections. As Brian quite correctly says the sea and in particular the. British Merchant Navy was a great leveller and open for advancement to all. Saying that the large passenger ship companies were very selective on who they chose, your background and what your father did for a living carried a lot of points. The same as Brian I saw a lot of snobs when up for tickets. It tickled my humour that when some of these blowhards failed and I passed did no end for my self confidence . Cheers JWS. Ps. Today is a different ball game. I was brought up at sea with the usual older master usually in his 60s, and was master as he was not as athletic as he once was. I was quite happy with this and preferred a mates job and hands on rather than sitting in a cabin most of the day. I turned down permanent masters jobs twice with two different companies and was only when shipping started To change with putting very young masters in charge with only a Whisp of sea time that my. Attitude changed. I would no longer go back to sea with the present conditions than fly to the moon. Cheers once more JWS