His parents, as he said in last month's speech, didn't ferry him to music or tennis lessons. "In those days, there was far more just messing about, cycling around with your friends. At primary school, we all had similar family experiences." That was why selection at 11 could work. Now, he says, home backgrounds are more diverse and "parents are more focused on doing what's best for their children, and I don't blame them for that". But it's middle-class parents like him and his wife who can afford to do most: they sent their teenage children to Godolphin and Latymer and St Paul's, two of the poshest schools in London. His view, it seems, is that parents shouldn't decide their children's education according to some political agenda but, as citizens, they should campaign and be willing to pay for better local schools.