Story on me in Sun untrue.I did not attend a prep school.I went to Grammar then for period to De La Salle college to prepare for priesthood

— John McDonnell (@johnmcdonnellMP) June 7, 2017

When John McDonnell was first approached to confirm that he was an old boy of St Joseph’s College he denied it, when told there were pictures of him his memory improved and he admitted it whilst simulataneously trying to spin that it isn’t the same school. That is despite the school listing him as an alumnus. This is unsurprising,* John McDonnell has spent half-a-century covering-up that he was a pupil at a top private fee-paying school.

His official resume says McDonnell attended Great Yarmouth Grammar School, leaving at the age of 17 and boasts of him working in a series of unskilled jobs. It records that he studied for A-levels at night school at Burnley Technical College, and at the age of 23 attended Brunel University, and took a Bachelor of Science degree in Government and Politics. He has for self-serving political reasons covered up his attendance at a fee paying school for 50 years…

Presumably for reasons of proletarian credibility his days at the exclusive all boys Catholic preparatory school (a De La Salle Brothers’ college), now co-educational and it has always been known as St Joseph’s College with the school motto Fides Labore Et Tenacitate (“Faith, Work and Tenacity”) were missing from his CV. His defenders claim he would not have chosen to go to the school, well given he had chosen to become a priest he did make the choice to go to the Senior School. It is strange that he thinks it even necessary to try cover up or explain away his educational past dismissively. Almost as if he is ashamed of his old school.

The De La Salle schools were more commonly known as “Christian Brothers” schools. They are Catholic charity run schools which originally were set up to educate the poor. McDonnell only had the benefit of the privileged education he got because it was a charity. If in government, McDonnell would remove the charitable status of independent schools as well as put VAT on school fees. In doing so he now wants to take away the ability of independent schools to charitably take in poorer pupils like he was once himself. A classic left-wing case of hypocritically taking away the ladder he climbed up. Shame on McDonnell for wanting that and shame on him for trying to deny the truth and generosity of his benefactors…

*McDonnell has form for blatantly lying. He denied being a Marxist to Andrew Marr despite video footage of him boasting he is a Marxist. Guido has spoken to a former school official who says that McDonnell is wrong to claim it was ever called “De La Salle College” it was at the time run by the De La Salle Brothers order and always known as St Joseph’s College.