LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron’s education minister on Friday condemned the concentration of privilege in the government, saying it was “ridiculous” that so many of the premier’s inner circle went to the elite Eton school.
Education Secretary Michael Gove, a member of Cameron’s Conservative party who himself attended a private school in Scotland, said the situation was unique among developed nations.
Cameron was educated at Eton, as were his chief of staff Ed Llewellyn, the head of his policy unit Jo Johnson, government policy minister Oliver Letwin and Rupert Harrison, chief economic advisor to finance minister George Osborne.
More than half of Cameron’s cabinet are privately educated, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, compared to just 6.5 percent of the British population as a whole.
“It doesn’t make me feel personally uncomfortable because I like each of the individuals concerned, but it’s ridiculous,” said Gove, a member of Cameron’s Conservative party, in an interview with the Financial Times.
“I don’t know where you can find some such similar situation in a developed economy.”
AFP
