In the education field Brown is continuing
where Blair left off. In his endorsement of city academies, Brown has called on
Britain’s big business to form partnerships with every primary and secondary school
in order to get the kind of education capitalism needs.
He has even appointed a host of leading
capitalists, including Damon Buffini
, managing partner of Permira, the
get-rich-quick private equity group, to encourage more businesses to get
involved. Brown supported Blair’s drive to give greater autonomy to schools,
including the programme to establish 400 city academies.
One such capitalist interested in getting
his hands of children’s minds is Lord Harris, the carpet magnate. He had a
conversation with Lord Adonis, the minister responsible for the programme.
"I have a very good relationship with
Andrew [Adonis]. He rings me up and says: ‘Do you want this school?’ and I ask
what it’s like and, if it sounds like the sort of place we are interested in, I
say yes." (The Financial Times, 20th
June)
Our filthy-rich Lords could not have put
capitalist education so clearly!
