They both have above- average exam results.The 1,300-plus pupil London Oratory, though, has, according to its latest report from Ofsted, just 7.9 per cent of pupils on free school meals - compared with 22 per cent at Gunnersbury.Both have about one in three pupils whose first language is not English - and the performance of pupils upon intake is above the national average.In her letter outlining her decision on Gunnersbury, Ms Kelly makes it clear that faith schools have been told interviewing should not play a part in the admissions process and they should find another way of gaining the information they need. "The priest is the right person to determine a person's faith." However, he said that the two decisions taken together left government policy unclear.Both are boys' schools for 11- to 18-year-olds with girls in the sixth form and are massively oversubscribed. The interviews are to determine their commitment to the Catholic faith in order to help the school decide which pupils to admit. But it has emerged that Ms Kelly refused permission to Gunnersbury Roman Catholic School, in Hounslow - the neighbouring borough - to do the same thing.Bob Garnett, the vice-president of Confed, the association that represents senior education officers, said last night: "Is there one law for the middle classes and those who know Tony Blair and another law for the rest?"Mr Garnett, who is also director of lifelong learning, leisure and cultural services in Hounslow, said that the authority was "very pleased" with the decision over Gunnersbury because it had objected to the interview process."I don't think anybody should be interviewed," he said. The Independent has already disclosed how Ms Kelly gave the green light to the London Oratory, which is attended by Tony Blair's eldest three children, to carry on interviewing parents - in breach of a government code on school admissions. They aren't private forms, although any writer who believes they are will have no trouble demonstrating his conviction. Extracted from 'The Meaning of Recognition: New Essays 2001-2005' by Clive James, published by Picador, priced £14.99.
To order at the special price of £13.99 (p&p free), call Independent Books Direct on 08700 798 897. Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, has been accused of double standards after refusing one Catholic school permission to interview parents on the same day as she gave the go ahead to another. There was a day, admittedly, when I sought the limelight for its own sake. But I was young at the time, and there were far fewer crazy people doing the same thing.
A brief way of putting it, and perhaps a fitting conclusion, is that I care enough about writing poems and essays to want other people to read them. But I still prefer to think that if I had only myself to promote, and not a body of work, I would have no excuse for being in the limelight. I would like to think that my book of collected poems, The Book of My Enemy, would have paid its way unassisted. But it didn't hurt to recite a poem on air to Richard and Judy, and another poem to Posh Spice and David Bowie on Parkinson. So it could be said that I am against the celebrity culture for everyone except myself.