It may be undemocratic - but it is egalitarian. Freedland praises the US system, where 90 per cent of the resources for a state school is raised locally. In Britain, the ratio is reversed. But there is a problem. Affluent areas can raise money for good schools and motivated teachers.
Poor areas struggle to keep their schools open.
No - at least not in terms of equality. Freedland does not deny this trade-off. One of the cornerstones of modern political analysis is that people do not like paying taxes. Voters will not elect a party which says it will raise personal taxation. Hence Labour's pledge not to raise income tax or national insurance rates during this parliament, a promise set to be repeated next time around.