Yet at some point, as we now know all too well, the process stalled – or even went into reverse. “England stands out [as one of] a handful of nations where social background determines reading skills,” concluded a damning OECD report this month on literacy and numeracy. That was followed by a warning from the Coalition’s social mobility tsar, Alan Milburn, that the middle class is being frozen out of advancement almost as much as the working class. Then there is the fact – famously or infamously according to taste – that the occupants of No 10, Lambeth Palace and City Hall are all from that school near Slough.