Peter Hitchens

Peter Hitchens lost faith as a teenager. But eventually finding atheism barren, he came by a logical process to his current affiliation to an unmodernised belief in Christianity.

Hitchens describes his return from the far political left. Familiar with British left-wing politics, it was travelling in the Communist bloc that first undermined and replaced his leftism.

He became convinced of certain propositions. That modern western social democratic politics is a form of false religion in which people try to substitute a social conscience for an individual one. That utopianism is actively dangerous. That liberty and law are attainable human objectives which are also the good by-products of Christian faith.

There are few subjects these days that cause parents more stress than the education of their children. In his new book, Peter Hitchens describes the misjudgements made by politicians over the years that have led to the increase of class distinction and privilege in our education system.

Given that the cost of private secondary education is now in the region of £50,000 a year and the cream of Comprehensive Schools are now oversubscribed, parents are spending thousands on private tutoring and fee-paying prep schools.

So, what alternatives - if any - are there? Peter Hitchens argues that in trying to bring about an educational system which is egalitarian, the politicians have created a system which is the exact opposite. And what's more, it is a system riddled with anomalies. This is an in-depth look at the British education system and what will happen if things don't change radically.