ABSTRACT
A system of private education is not peculiar to Britain, but it is the country where the system has traditionally been most influential. The existence of such a sector provides us with a good opportunity to examine the concerns and priorities of the Labour Party's education programme. Private education, and the public schools in particular, have constituted a classic affront to the moral, social and political values of the Party. The Labour Party has clearly traditionally been an enemy of the private sector of education, but its capacity and willingness to express its hostility in a practical form have differed in different periods. A further memo, a month later was designed to summarize and crystallize the Party's general position on private education. The Labour Party is seen both as a policy-maker with the power to implement policies and as a pressure group with power only to influence.
