The Old School Ties That Bind

There was much hand-wringing yesterday as the results of a report commissioned by the Prime Minister were published. It seems that far from being a land founded on the guiding principles of liberty, egality and fraternity, Britain is increasingly controlled by a minority that has a hereditary grip on society.

For example, if your parents paid for your education at an independent school while additionally paying tax to support the education of others, you are likely to do the same.

Moreover, if you are born into a household that bears a disproportionate tax burden, then you too are likely to pay higher tax throughout your working life. Conversely, if you are born into a household that is a beneficiary of social welfare schemes, you too are likely to become a beneficiary of such schemes.

It seems like the dynastic poor have the entire system rigged!

The real worry here is not the curse that the middle classes are passing from generation, however, but the way in which this curse is becoming yet more severe. If your parents attended university free of charge, you are disproportionately likely to incur serious personal debt attempting to obtain a similar education.

If you have a public school education, you are also likely to face an elevated risk of suicide as a consequence of your increased likelihood of entering the notoriously self-destructive health professions.

The bad news just keeps coming.

We could, of course, look to the government to alleviate the misery experienced by many middle class households. Perhaps parents could be weaned off their dependency on private education by improving public sector education?

Perhaps, but the resources required to effect such a change make it more likely that the government will opt for an alternative policy of alleviating the burden of professional affluence by a staged programme of economic attrition and increased taxation. While tough choices may be ahead for Britain's politicians (memoirs or directorship? House of lords or television pundit?) they are hard at work ensuring that deciding between two alternative jobs is a worry that no Briton need face in the future.

We cannot hope ever to be as lucky as those who inherited the path of truancy from their fathers and forefathers, but it is not beyond belief that we may one day be able to say that Income Support is available to all, regardless of educational background.