The Education Secretary blasts the X Factor boss
 

King Simon got Lucky
yes but back then, it was less Population




Don't go getting MP Gove Angry.

http://media.skynews.com/media/image...-1-522x293.jpg


[Education Secretary Michael Gove has
blasted X Factor boss Simon Cowell as
"irresponsible and stupid" for suggesting
that young people do not need to bother with education.
The Cabinet minister told the TV mogul he should
"encourage" teenagers at school, rather than "rubbish" learning.
Mr Gove made the comments after the talent
show boss advised that "the secret is to
be useless at school and then get lucky".

Cowell admitted that he did not work hard
at school, leaving at 16 without any qualifications.

"I was useless. The secret is to be useless at school and then get lucky,"
he told US radio station z100.
The remark appeared to be light-hearted and
an agent at Cowell's production company, Syco,
said: "This was quite clearly a joke made in a humorous
radio interview and has been taken completely out of context."

But Mr Gove warned that "only a fraction of kids get lucky".]


http://news.sky.com/story/1169226/si...t-lucky-remark

I think Michael Gove is spot on in his response to Cowell. They were rather silly comments for Cowell to make.

Bang On Right Joey

It was obviously a joke http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/2095c354.gif

Sure
but 1 its true
and 2 some kids will not see it as a joke




Life In The Fast Lane

It was an off the cuff remark on an American radio show, not a party political broadcast.
Gove is a rude obnoxious fool.

You'd have thought someone as media-savvy as Cowell would have learned by now when to keep his ridiculous remarks to himself.

lmao

They're both right? Cowell is 100% correct - there are only three ways to end up with "serious" money. Being born into it, being brought into it by someone you know, or being entrepreneurial with a hefty dose of dumb luck (the vast majority of entrepreneurs amount to precisely zilch, and it has almost nothing to do with how hard they work or how good their ideas are). At the end of the day, all three amount to dumb luck. Lucky by birth, lucky by being in the right place at the right time, etc.

But Mr Gove warned that "only a fraction of kids get lucky".

Indeed. Also correct. Hence, the world? A fraction of kids "get lucky" and end up with the sort of money and influence that Cowell has. The rest of the world makes do with a relative pittance on different levels. Yes, you could abandon education completely and end up surviving on less than £15000 a year, or you could stick in and become a doctor on £60k... maybe more with a few decades experience... and live very comfortably. But let's face it - Cowell could piss 60k up the wall in 5 minutes and it would be like any of the rest of us dropping 10p in the street.

You don't get to be a Simon Cowell by "working hard at school, kids" or with good ol' fashioned grit and determination. You get there with simple luck. He's only being honest.

Exactly, it was a ridiculous statement to make.

Does everyone have to be serious now, check every comment in case you incur the wrath of Gove?

we busted out of class had to get away from those fools
we learnt more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school

no one needs school 90% you learn is a waste of time that your never need use or even remember. the other 10% could of been learnt in a few months not years.
all for a bit paper to say hey look at me arnt i clever lol but they cant walk down the street in straight line still lol

Or... you could study hard, get good qualifications and end up in a decently paid job that you like.

Well at least we now know that this incompetent, unrepresentative, out of touch, near universally despised, systematically education destroying wanker has no concept of humour either. Perhaps he ought to you know, focus on reversing some of the catastrophic and detrimental measures he's put in place before he goes around acting as if he has any real authority and knowledge, not just an assigned job title, to talk about ****ing education. At least he can take pleasure in the fact that he's a Grade A *****.

I'm not a fan of Gove, Jack... but I do see where he's coming from. Lots of young people look up to Simon Cowell because of X Factor and all that... he should have chosen his words more carefully, he's in the media, he knows what happens when thoughtless comments are made.

Brilliant post, totally agree!

There are not a huge number of kids who are capable of the educational attainment to become a doctor though. By tripling uni fees ethically I think they should only take AAB students otherwise it feels like young people being funneled into debt.
Thinking long term how is that going to be beneficial?
Where are the alternatives for the less academically gifted children? It's not luck they need it's a flipping miracle!

A little bit optimistic given the number of unemployed graduates...

but yeah, Cowell's a tit. Again.

Cowell is not a tit, he is as entitled to free speech as anyone, nobody in the media should have to feel they are a governmental mouthpeice.
Gove has no right to comment and abuse the personal opinions of anyone, in the media or otherwise....It's bad enough they exert so much control over what is broadcast and published without attempting to manipulate the views of individuals...
Let's see him try that with Brand :laugh:

I said try to get good qualifications, that doesn't necessarily mean get a degree. It seems to be the norm now for people to be pushed toward university when so many would be better getting a trade. My builder doesn't have a degree and he makes more than I do.

Bill Gates dropped out of college, don't hear him recommending it as a career path.

Hey Shauny... haven't posted to you for aaaaaages.

If people advocate free speech, then I guess Cowell had every right to make his thoughtless comment. And by the very same token, Gove had every right to have his say too.

"I was useless, the secret is to be useless then get lucky"
That was a self depreciating remark on a radio show in the US, in no universe should it be harnessed and held up as gospel.
Why Mr Gove chose to flail aroud hysterically about this comment I don't know.
You would think he had enough on revamping the failing education system so the youth of today had faith in that for their future.

I wasn't aware of anyone "flailing around hysterically". That isn't what actually happened, is it. Obviously people who are against this government will take every opportunity to be mortally offended. The truth is, Cowell - supposed media mogul and PR expert - said something thoughtless. If he hadn't said it, Gove wouldn't have had anything to say in reply.

Cowell made a general comment, Gove made a personal attack on an individual for their view.
There's a slight difference, but I see that you're getting at.

It's not Mr Cowells job to placate Mr Gove and to spout tory rhetoric is it?
We leave that to the likes of Gove et al, nobody in government would ever do or say anything remotely embarrassing or damage public perception in any way would they?