The long line of Labour parents who work system

Last updated at 16:05 08 January 2007


The row over Ruth Kelly’s decision to send her child to private school is the latest in a long line to hit New Labour.

Left-wing MP Diane Abbott was accused of hypocrisy three years ago when it emerged she sent her son James to the £10,000-a-year City of London school.

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• 'Kelly: Why I went private'

The backbencher admitted her choice to spurn poorly performing local comprehensives near her Hackney home in favour of the elite institution was “indefensible”.

“I know I’ve delivered myself on a plate to my enemies and there is absolutely no doubt my career is on the line,” said the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, who had criticised the

Prime Minister and Harriet Harman for sending their children to selective schools.

Former foreign office minister Baroness Symons sent her son James to £10,000-a-year St Paul’s in south-west London. She and husband, Phil Bassett,

now the Lord Chancellor’s special adviser, were open about their decision and received minimal flak.

Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer was up-front about his choice to send his daughter and two eldest sons to feepaying schools in north London.

However, party activists blocked the barrister from fighting a Labour seat when he unabashedly admitted his children were not educated by the state.

Baroness Morgan, former Director of Government Relations at No10, endured an uncomfortable few days during Labour’s party conference in 2002 when

the private schooling of her son was revealed in several newspapers.

Other senior Labour figures have come under fire for sending their children to highly selective grantmaintained schools.

Mr Blair and his ministers have repeatedly ruled out more selective schools but several have been happy to make full use of those already existing.

The Prime Minister and his wife sent their children across London to the Oratory, a grant-maintained selective Roman Catholic school in Fulham.

Leader of the Opposition at the time, Mr Blair was accused of taking advantage of freedom of choice in education for his children and denying

it to others. He sparked further controversy in 2002 when it emerged that he had bought private tuition for his sons Euan and Nicky.

Constitutional affairs minister Harriet Harman revealed in 1996 she had sent her elder son Harry to the Oratory. She later sent her second son

Joe to a selective grammar in Bromley.

The Peckham MP faced accusations of hypocrisy but insisted that her choice made no difference to Labour’s education policy.

Former Treasury minister Paul Boateng, now High Commissioner to South Africa, was pilloried when it emerged he sent his daughter Charlotte to grant-maintained Watford Grammar School for Girls.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson also raised concerns in the summer when he helped a boy from his constituency get into an independent school because there were no “suitable” state schools.

Mr Johnson, MP for Kingston Upon Hull West and Hessle, said the boy’s mother had asked for his help. He defended his decision by arguing that he was not “fighting a class war”.

Sue Nye, Gordon Brown’s long-serving personal assistant, and former BBC chairman Gavyn Davies moved from Islington to Tory-controlled Wandsworth to place their three children in selective schools.

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