(posted 7486 days ago)MP tight-lipped over sending son to private school
Angelique Chrisafis
Monday October 27, 2003The Guardian
The Labour MP Diane Abbott last night refused to answer charges that she had betrayed her own politics by sending her son to a private school. The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington was accused by the Mail on Sunday of snubbing the government and abandoning her convictions by sending her son, James, to a £10,000-a-year independent boys' school in central London.The borough of Hackney, where Ms Abbott lives, has been identified as one of five boroughs with the worst education standards in London. The number of state school pupils achieving at least five good GCSE grades rose this year, but is still below the national average of 51%. Responsibility for education has been removed from the local council and handed to the not-for-profit Learning Trust chaired by the former chief inspector of schools, Mike Tomlinson.
The City of London School, which Ms Abbott is said to have chosen for her son, James, 12, requires an entrance exam. It boasts extensive sports facilities and a high ranking in the independent schools' league tables.
Ms Abbott said only: "I am not commenting on this issue."
Last month, she said one of the lessons of the Brent East byelection defeat was that the people of Britain needed "education on the basis of merit, not ability to pay" and properly funded and managed schools.
Previously, she had pointed out the difficulties for Labour voters in watching Tony Blair reject local Islington comprehensives in favour of the grant-maintained London Oratory school.
The debate on politicians who reject their local comprehensives was stoked by the shadow home secretary, Oliver Letwin, last month. He apologised to the Lilian Baylis school in Kennington, south London, after telling a party conference fringe meeting that he would rather beg on the street than send his children to their local school.
Fiona Millar, the former adviser to Cherie Blair, recently argued that parents who removed their children from the state system created sink schools in inner cities.