Screenwriter Andrew Davies has added his support to Alan Bennett’s call for the abolition of all private schools.
“It’s a good idea,” said the ex-grammar school boy at a Selfridges party celebrating the end of Davies’s hit ITV drama, Mr Selfridge.
“Of course, you’d lose some of the more eccentric schools, which would never exist if you just had the state school system. But then it’s the eccentric ones where the teachers are most likely to be shagging the students.”
However, the social historian Lindy Woodhead — whose book Shopping, Seduction & Mr Selfridge inspired the TV series — spoke up in favour of private education.
“I don’t think all public schools should be closed. People should have the choice to send their children there. Of course, in an ideal world, children would also have the choice to go to a local grammar. I was a grammar school girl and I adored it.”
Woodhead also revealed a secret about Davies. Despite having penned the department store drama, he is not actually a great fan of shopping. “I think his wife or his assistant do it for him. He’s too busy writing to bother with shops.”
