Private schools are divisive, unfair and plain wrong. No political party is ever going to put a stop to them, so what is to be done?

The obvious answer is to improve the state system so people will be less inclined to waste their money on private. But improving state schools is not easy and the solution is not to bring back grammar schools which were also divisive and unfair. No…the answer is to invest in; well run, secular, comprehensive schools. It’s a novel idea but this is the best chance of giving every child an equal chance regardless of wealth, class, religion or innate IQ.

This isn’t enough though, we also need to accept the obvious advantages of private schools and recognise the greater effort that state schools pupils require to achieve the same results. Universities need to positively discriminate in favour of state schools pupils to rebalance the fairness equation. Employers should look to state schools for their high fliers and elitist ghettos like politics and city institutions need to break the stranglehold on top private schools filling their seats.

For too long the UK has been afflicted by division based on privilege and demography and the private school system lies at the heart of the problem. It is now time for change.