A REPORT on the UK education system by a group of Conservative MPs has sparked fresh controversy because of its reference to white privilege.

White-working class pupils have been let down by decades of neglect in the English education system, according to the report published on Tuesday.

MPs on the Conservative-dominated Commons education committee, claim that schools could be breaking the law by promoting “divisive” terminology such as “white privilege,” which suggests white pupils are at an advantage, but is the “opposite” of how much disadvantage white children actually experience.

They also rejected the government’s view that poverty is only to blame for this outcome.

The report, called “The Forgotten: How White Working-class Pupils Have Been Let Down, and How to Change It”, goes on to claim that “an industry” has emerged to support disadvantaged non-white pupils but the equivalent is not available to 53% of white pupils on free school meals, who underperform at every level of the education system from early years through to higher education.

The MPs say terms such as ‘white privilege’ – defined as white people benefiting from particular advantages in society – may have contributed towards the systemic neglect of white disadvantaged communities in England.

The government, they claim, has been guilty of “muddled thinking” and “sweeping the problem under the carpet”.

Following the reports publication, it faced backlash and accused of starting a “culture war” from MPs including the committee’s own member Kim Johnson – a Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside – who said she disowned the report and had submitted her own alternative version. It was voted down by the Conservative majority.

She told The Guardian: “I’m not happy with quite a lot of information contained in it. I’m not happy about the whole section on white privilege. The inquiry cherrypicked data. I think they were trying to create a bit of a culture war.”

Asked whether she had considered resigning from the committee, she said it had crossed her mind but she wanted to improve educational attainment for all working-class children in disadvantaged communities, adding: “You have to be in it to win it.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, questioned why the committee had chosen to enter into a debate about the term white privilege.

He said: “This does not seem helpful and is likely to divert attention from the rest of the report. We have to do better for all disadvantaged pupils – from all ethnic backgrounds … Many communities suffer from multigenerational poverty, insecure employment and lack of opportunity, and it is extremely hard to raise attainment when children and families experience such factors.”