How to Report on a Controversy in Modern Britain

A certain newspaper carried on a certain date a very interesting story on its front page, to which I will not refer you or link for reasons which will become clear. The report was about a leading politician. But I won���t name him or her because I have heard that he or she thinks that this story threatens the privacy of one of his or her children, whose sex I will also not reveal. I���d better not say which party he or she belongs to since they���re all the same, so this matters less than you might think) or how leading he or she is, either. No clues here.

The story said that this politician (let us call her or him X) , was considering sending the child (whom we shall call Y) to a leading private school (which I will call Z) in a large city somewhere in South-East England (which I shall call A).

Now, the thing about X (who lives in A) , is that X has said in the past that X hoped to send X���s children to state school. X has in fact sent several of X���s children (I won���t say how many, in case it identifies X) to a state primary school (which I shall call B) and a number of children (whom I shall call D) to a state secondary school (which I shall call C) . Both of these schools (B and C) are in the city of A.  So is the independent school called Z. For reasons I can���t explain, because they would reveal important details about both Y and B ,Y cannot go to C. But D can go to C. And Y can go to Z, though no decision has yet been taken. 

X was careful, very sensibly, to qualify this. State schools in A, especially secondaries, are of, shall we say, variable quality, especially for children of one of the two sexes (let us call this sex E, a sex which includes child Y).  X has made sympathetic remarks about other parents who have been scared off by poor state secondary schools, especially (but not exclusively) in the city of A . Really the issue is about whether X���s decision to consider independent school Z for child Y reflects in any way on the success (or failure) of the school policies of X���s party (which, like all the parties, claims to be sorting out the state sector and making it wonderful) .

I hope you are following me, because I am not sure I am following myself. But I am sure you will agree that this ABC and XYZ method of reporting these matters, not to mention the almost total failure of the rest of the media to follow the original story in the unnamed paper with any vigour or verve,  is far superior to the way in which the media used to report the educational choices of leading politicians whose public pronouncements differed (or seemed to differ) in various ways from their private policies, notably Anthony Blair, who spurned Labour���s beloved local comprehensives for a highly selective Roman Catholic school miles from his home, or Harriet Harman, who spurned Labour���s beloved local comprehensives in favour of a grammar school,  or Diane Abbott, who spurned Labour���s beloved local comprehensives in favour of an independent school.

I���d ask anyone commenting on this posting not to engage in speculation about the identity of X or Y, or about the name of the city or the names of any of the schools involved.