Grammar schools select on ability and not wealth

LABOUR has declared grammar school education as elitist, stating in order to reach that pinnacle private tutoring must be used, excluding “disadvantaged” families.

In 1960 I was “lucky” enough to be selected for a place at grammar school. I was “lucky” enough to pass an exam called the “11-plus”. I lived with my parents in a rented two-bed flat in a pit village in County Durham. My father had been a pit man but left to drive buses. My mother was an auxiliary nurse. Hardly upper echelons of society. Private tutors? Really?

Looking back, I didn’t appreciate the opportunity. School uniform was expensive and my parents had to buy it on tick. They were proud of my achievement and now I see the opportunity I was given.

Labour is doing all it can to halt progress, jealous of anyone bettering themselves. Their idea is we all must progress at the speed of the slowest. Paul Spears, Prudhoe, Northumb