Andrew Neil on why a narrow elite runs Britain

Earlier this week I mentioned that Andrew Neil has a programme on BBC Two this evening (starting at 9 p.m.) asking why it is that the British political system is increasingly dominated by people who were privately educated.

He has also written an article on the subject for the BBC website:

The decline of the unions has clearly cut off one working-class route to Westminster. So has the decline of an affluent, aspiring working class, which seemed to disappear with the end of the Industrial Age.

But our education system must have something to do with it as well. Almost uniquely, Britain has developed a largely egalitarian non-selective state school system alongside an aggressive highly-selective private system. Perhaps it should be no surprise that the top jobs are once again falling into the lap of the latter.