Privately educated MPs, actors and sports stars dominate society, says Gove And the stranglehold has not abated, Mr Gove suggested. Evidence shows that in sport, where famous names are often in their teens, twenties and thirties, there are many cricketers, rugby players and Olympians who were privately educated. "Of those members of England's first 15 born in England, more than half were privately educated," Mr Gove told the conference. And again, half the UK's gold medallists at the last Olympics were privately educated, compared with seven per cent of the population. It's not just in sport that the new young stars all have old school ties. It's in Hollywood, Broadway and on our TV screens. Actors Hugh Laurie, Dominic West and Damian Lewis all went to Eton, while Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch and Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens were educated at Harrow and Tonbridge respectively, Mr Gove said. In addition, comedians David Baddiel, Michael McIntyre and Jack Whitehall and Coldplay's Chris Martin and Tom Chaplin of Keane all attended private school. Mr Gove said he was not criticising private schools or individuals who have attended them. But he added: "The sheer scale, the breadth and the depth, of private school dominance of our society points to a deep problem in our country - one we all acknowledge but have still failed to tackle with anything like the radicalism required. We live in a profoundly unequal society. More than almost any developed nation, ours is a country in which your parentage dictates your progress. Those who are born poor are more likely to stay poor and those who inherit privilege are more likely to pass on privilege in England than in any comparable country. For those of us who believe in social justice, this stratification and segregation are morally indefensible. And for those of us who want to see greater economic efficiency, it is a pointless squandering of our greatest asset - our children - to have so many from poorer backgrounds manifestly not achieving their potential. He said: "When more Etonians make it to Oxbridge than boys and girls on benefit, then we know we are not making the most of all our nation's talents. When hundreds of primary schools allow children to leave not able to read, write or add up properly, we know we are indulging in a form of national self-harm so profound as to be disabling.