Labour’s tightly choreographed pledge card event featured a parade of activists and sympathisers rolled out to endorse Keir’s ‘first steps’. As always with such events, there’s more spin than substance…

“Great teachers transformed my life” said Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, as she advocated for “education of opportunity” while bashing private schools. Firing up the class war she crowed: “all of our children deserve what has been the privilege of too few, and we’ll pay for it by ending tax breaks for private schools, and we’ll invest that money in a better start for all of our young people”.

Phillipson then immediately introduced an LSE masters student, Tito, to “talk about the difference teachers made to her life and the difference Labour wants to make to every life” – as if to exemplify Labour’s regressive attacks on private schools. Tito explained she aimed to ‘one day’ be part of a Labour government, having been inspired by teachers at Queen Elizabeth Girls’ School in Barnet (a non-selective state school). Tito spoke well and no doubt has a career in politics ahead…

However, awkwardly for Phillipson, a quick check of the receipts shows that Tito also attended fee-paying St Margaret’s Hampstead, which praised her for being included on a list of high achieving students. Good job there was no VAT on that…