Malthouse’s letter from 1988 derided comprehensives

THE new Education Secretary suggested people who went to comprehensives were poorly educated and Labour MPS are “in the main thick”, whereas Tory MPS are “highly educated” in a letter written to his student newspaper.

Kit Malthouse said a fellow student’s “ill-phrased, ponderous letter” was “obviously written by someone with a less than adequate education”, which “probably” meant they went to a “comprehensive” school.

In the letter in 1988 to Newcastle University’s newspaper, The Courier, seen by The Daily Telegraph, he said that Labour MPS are “in the main thick, with a generally lower IQ than other MPS”, whereas Tory MPS are “highly-educated, intelligent professionals, with experience in the real world”.

Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “After 12 years of a Conservative government that has failed children in state schools, these are unfortunate comments to come to light.

“Parents of state-school pupils will want reassurances that the new Secretary of State doesn’t still hold these views, and that he will be stretching every sinew so that every child can get a brilliant state education.”