Britain’s two-tier schooling has barely featured on the hustings. Yet nothing could be more fundamental to the common good than ensuring that all children have the same opportunities

The future of Britain’s private schools may be hanging in the electoral balance. Should Labour triumph in next week’s general election they are committed to bringing to an end the privileges enjoyed by fee-paying children – public schools spend three times more per pupil than state schools: much of this is on lower teacher ratios and bigger classrooms, the rest on lavish facilities such as science laboratories, state-of-the-art theatres and Olympic-size swimming pools. Under a Boris Johnson-led Conservative government, on the other hand, the 600-year-old public school system would continue to flourish, unhindered by the state.

At its Brighton conference in September Labour went so far as to commit itself to the abolition of fee-paying schools, confiscating their assets and redistributing them for the benefit of less fortunate children. In its election manifesto, this pledge is much watered down; there is merely the expression of a desire to “integrate” private schools into a national education service. No timescale for this integration is promised. Instead, a newly-formed Social Mobility Commission will be established to advise the government on how integration would be best achieved. The manifesto also commits a Labour government to pressing ahead with ending the tax benefits enjoyed by private schools, worth more than £2 billion a year. Private school fees would be subject to VAT and other “tax loopholes” for the “elite private schools” would be closed.