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To say that David and Victoria Beckham are "too working class" to send their children to private school is abhorrent
Our school motto was Serve and Obey. Former pupils at my alma mater, Haberdashers' Aske's, know exactly who should be obeyed – themselves – and who should crawl home in shame: those who are "too working class".
The former students used this phrase on Mumsnet. Were they examining the deep but hidden tracks of class prejudice in society? Were they being ironic? No, they were insulting Victoria and David Beckham, who they believe are too plebeian to send their children to Haberdashers – or even to "buy their way in". Yes, how dare two stable, self-made, hard-working people dare to give their kids an excellent education?
I'll be frank. I loved Haberdashers'. Habs was rigorous and the teachers were legends – hola Senora Fanning, bonjour Madame Gradon. The wall between the boys' and girls' compounds (which I always imagined being completely symmetrical, like a textbook illustration of a set of ovaries) was sprayed with spermicide and patrolled by snipers. When we left, we filled up The Professions and lo, England had its next generation of bankers, lawyers and doctors.
But given its position deep in Hertfordshire's countryside, I would not pretend that any trace of reality touched us. We didn't experience the sexual bullying, disruption, shortage of resources or social problems that can sometimes be a factor in British schools. We did not even experience the much milder problem of a lack of self-confidence.
Haberdashers', like all institutions of its type, confers a sense of entitlement. Arrogance fills the gap where experience should be; blind confidence, reinforced over centuries of privilege, enables ex-pupils to make demeaning comments. These graduates will soon rule the world, exulting in their own prejudices, consorting only with those of the same type, keeping inequality firmly in place.
