Sir John Major and social mobility: Pearce and Dorries

Former prime minister Sir John Major said the influence that the privately educated, middle-class elite have on public life was "shocking", while he blamed "the collapse in social mobility" on the failures of the last Labour government.

His speech to the South Norfolk Conservative Association's annual dinner at the weekend followed his intervention a few weeks before on the energy market.

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries and Nick Pearce of the left-leaning think tank, the IPPR, looked at Sir John's comments as they debated social mobility, and the role of private and grammar schools.

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