Letter: Not a charity

ONE CAN have a "sensible, open mind" and still consider it outrageous that independent schools are treated as charitable institutions with all the attendant advantages ("Public schools warn Labour", 10 May) .

The public schools still turn out a large number of self-important, arrogant "leaders" and are, as ever, socially divisive, helping to perpetuate a sense of class that still bedevils this country. If they were deprived of their charitable status - a completely outdated anomaly - perhaps more parents would become interested in the state system, a significant factor in high standards. How democratic really is this country? The people's schools should be tops, not those bastions of privilege and self-congratulation - the public schools.

Dr P Tucker

Cambridge