Labour’s new policy: abolish private schools

Here we go. As the debate continues within the Labour party as to which Brexit policy will win the party the most seats at a general election, the mainstream domestic policy agenda is progressing nicely. This evening, Labour delegates approved a motion for a Labour government to seemingly abolish private schools. The motion is to ‘integrate’ private schools into the state sector. Rather than knock them down, the idea appears to be that a school such as Eton would become part of the state system. However, Mr S’s Labour mole says there is a grey area as to the exact details as the motion passed is clumsily worded.

Set aside the small matter that private schools educate 15pc of sixthformers (ie, the ones who apply to university) when 7pc is a figure for the whole system. Set aside how on earth the state sector could afford to pay the 600,000-odd pupils who would suddenly be requiring council money to finance their education.