Politics

The big question: Social mobility

Is Britain still too elitist?

August 29, 2014
A new report states that people educated at public school and Oxbridge have created a "closed shop at the top"
A new report states that people educated at public school and Oxbridge have created a "closed shop at the top"
Each week, Prospect asks a range of experts, as well as our readers, to come up with answers to the questions defining the political agenda.

This week, a report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission into the social makeup of Britain's leaders in business, media, politics and public service found that elitism was still deeply embedded in British society. Alan Milburn, the Labour former cabinet minister who chairs the commission, concluded that Britain remains a "deeply divided" country.

Elitism is the product of parental choice

This isn't really news, is it? The curious thing about Britain's class system is that it continues to endure in spite of not having had any serious defenders for at least 50 years. I think the reason is that the desire of parents to secure the best possible opportunities for their children is a natural, human impulse that's hard-wired into our DNA. It takes a tremendous effort of political will to prevent parents passing on their advantages and, to date, only totalitarian regimes have achieved it and always at a terrible cost. In a democratic society like ours, the options are limited. We've tried redistributive taxation and that doesn't work. The only viable solution left is to improve our public education system, but, realistically, that's only going to have a limited impact. The bottom line is that if you value human rights, including parents' right to choose what schools to send their children to, there's only so much you can do to increase social mobility. Toby Young is author of What Every Parent Needs to Know: How to Help Your Child Get the Most Out of Primary School

Privilege is part of the problem

The report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Comission shows the clear link between going to private school, Oxbridge and entry to the key institutions that shape public life. Just 7 per cent of young people are educated at a private school, and only 1 per cent of this group have their fees fully paid. Entry is thus largely based not on ability, but ability to pay the fees. While many of our most talented people attend private school and Oxbridge, many do not. These people face barriers such as lacking connections, lacking access to work experience and dealing with institutions that tend to recruit in their own image, believing people that went to the schools and universities they did will always be better than those who did not. The consequence is a loss of talent and diversity, with many understandably concluding that Britain’s key institutions are elitist and “not for people like me.” David Johnston is the Chief Executive of the Social Mobility Foundation

‘Liberal’ attitudes mask a war on the poor

The findings of Milburn’s report are pretty unequivocal. Britain is still ruled largely by those who come from educationally privileged, and therefore affluent, backgrounds. Today's elite combines covertness about privilege with an extraordinary carelessness about the lives of others—this is typified by leaders like Cameron and Clegg, who have prosecuted a ruthless war against the poor, cunningly masked by a modern “liberal” attitude. Among the most pressing reforms needed now is a genuinely fairer education system and more diverse political representation. I particularly like the idea of university-blind job applications. Melissa Benn is a writer and campaigner and founder member of the Local Schools Network

Equality of opportunity is essential

Britain is certainly too elitist.  Upward social mobility is difficult, but so is downward.  The whole system needs freeing up for equality of opportunity to become the reality this century rather than an ideal. Private schools are, of course, highly significant, but we focus too much on them. Middle classes who sharp-elbow themselves into top state schools, without paying a penny for the place while denying it to a genuinely deserving family, are every bit as much of the problem. Let us not forget that elitism is a human, not a capitalist, phenomenon.  Look at the elites in the Soviet Union and China today. Anthony Seldon is Headmaster of Wellington College and founder of The Wellington Academy

Remove the power of elite

Focus on elites is always a distraction. It becomes an obsession with their composition, wealth, family or education. Most elites exist as a result of some resolution of political forces. The correct question is not how open they are or should be, but why  such an oligarchy came into being in the first place. The emergence of an elite usually reflects some hardening of arteries, some closing of political ranks. It is those in power protecting themselves from competition or challenge. The British answer is always to seek a "better" elite. The American answer is—or used to be—to dismantle it, rival it, remove its power. America is right. Simon Jenkins is a journalist and author who has previously edited the Times and the Evening Standard

This week's big question is edited by Serena Kutchinsky and Jeremy Gordon