Labour have committed to scrap public schools after an “abolish Eton” motion passed overwhelmingly.
It means the election manifesto will have to commit to “integrate all private schools into the state sector”.
This would include withdrawal of charitable status and “all other public subsidies and tax privileges”, including business rate exemption.
(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
The policy, which came from the grassroots, passed overwhemingly on conference floor and was endorsed by the Education Secretary Angela Rayner.
In he speech she said Labour will make “the whole education system fairer through the integration of private schools”.
It went further than the party’s plan to close the tax loopholes used by the elite private schools.
The motion, which was supported by Corbyn campaign group Momentum, adds universities would have to admit the same proportion of private school students as in the wider population, currently 7%.
Earlier this week John McDonnell threw his weight behind the campaign saying independent schools, no longer “need to exist”.
Laura Parker, Momentum’s National Coordinator, said: “This is a huge step forward in dismantling the privilege of a tiny, Eton educated elite who are running our country into the ground.
“Every child deserves a world class education, not only those who are able pay for it, and I’ll be proud to campaign on this manifesto pledge at the next election.”
During the schools debate, Tom Barringer, of the Tottenham Constituency Labour Party, suggested abolishing Eton College.
He criticised Conservative politicians and Eton alumni, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, before adding: “What if we went into the next general election saying, with Labour in power, we will abolish Eton?
“I think that would get Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10, I think that’d get John McDonnell into number 11 and get Angela Rayner into the Department for Education, and that’s exactly what we should do.”
