Why is the Royal Academy of Music punishing private school pupils? Privilege goes with the left-wing, they shouldn't pretend to be against it: PETER HITCHENS

By PETER HITCHENS, COLUMNIST AND COMMENTATOR Published: 09:06, 23 April 2026 | Updated: 09:06, 23 April 2026 When I lived in Moscow in the old Soviet Union, I lived next door to the Brezhnev family and the Andropov family in a block full of KGB veterans. We had 14ft ceilings, oak parquet floors, chandeliers, beautiful views, but we all paid the same rent as someone who lived in a tiny flat in the east of Moscow. Privilege goes with left wing people. Let's have enough of this talk of blaming people who go to private schools or use private facilities for being bad. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.