Elitists Do It Without The Rest Of You

People tell me that the problem with independent schools is that they are elitist. Under Conservative policies of the past, that might have been true, but when it did away with the Assisted Places Scheme, the Labour government ensured that these schools would go from being elitist to being plutocratic. I know which one I would prefer.

Our current Labour masters have made an odd priority of education. Whereas the old policy was to make the best in education available to all, they have concentrated their attention on making it available only to the wealthy. If the old Socialist ideal was to provide a ladder and a net, Labour have increased the capacity of the net by lowering the attainment standard for good grades and done away with the ladder completely by ensuring that even a university education is now available only to those with significant private means. Why would you need a ladder when you have a greasy pole?

Conservatives are natural plutocrats, but they had the good grace to disguise this with fig-leaf policies that offered opportunity to all. Labour politicians are plutocrats by accident (they are happy for the rich to govern just as long as they pay generously for the privilege) and are determined to provide a level playing field for social benefits such as education and healthcare, however low the level of that field.

All of which makes it interesting to note that when Gordon Brown wanted a gun for hire, he chose Damian McBride, who is an alumnus of Peterhouse, Cambridge: that university's smallest college and one whose reputation is certainly not for egalitarianism or inclusivity. One may decry the use to which Mr. McBride turned that education, but it seems to have been no barrier to advancement under an administration that seems eager enough to deny elitist trappings to today's children.

It's nice when equal opportunity extends even to those with an Oxbridge education, isn't it?