The proof that Labour approves of you buying privilege for your children

It will be interesting to see which of the current Cabinet will still be in post by the time Andy Burnham completes his first reshuffle of the cards he’s been dealt by Keir Starmer.

Rachel Reeves is expected not to be the chancellor after July 20, which might mean a return to the back benches rather than the humiliation of accepting a more junior post. David Lammy could be for the chop, but then, his demise has been so frequently anticipated before (not least by me) that I wouldn’t be surprised if he survives.

Bridget Phillipson? Now, there’s a conundrum for Burnham. She has come under severe criticism in recent months and weeks because of her very class conscious approach to education, not just deliberately pricing some families out of private education via the imposition of VAT on private school fees (a policy that, hilariously, is only possible because of Britain’s status as a non-EU country), but other decisions, including scrapping the state school Latin Excellence Programme and vetoing a new free school in Middlesbrough, co-sponsored by Eton College.

But she can hardly be moved now, not after Kemi Badenoch had a right go at her during last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), at which the Tory leader described the education secretary as “spiteful”. This sort of language was just too much for most Labour MPs who staggered and swooned at Badenoch’s words, clutching pearls and petticoats in theatrical abundance. But whether deliberately or not, Badenoch was doing Phillipson a favour, effectively guaranteeing that Burnham cannot afford to move her, since it would look like he’s capitulating to the opposition.

Also, most Labour MPs and activists actually agree with Badenoch. Yes, Phillipson is being spiteful against wealthy, mostly Tory-voting families – isn’t it great? This is what they came into politics for (well, after their devotion to the EU and to fighting for trans people’s rights to use women’s changing rooms): to promote class warfare and stick it to rich people.