The Mail on Sunday

Revolution that wrecked talent and promise

-

WHEN a Tory MP called last week for more state grammar schools, my heart sank. This is not because there should not be many more such schools, but because the Conservati­ve Party is one of their main enemies and will never bring them back.

I have just finished writing a book on these schools, and one of the main things I have learned is that the Tory Party was never their friend, and was happy to destroy them in pursuit of votes.

The discredite­d Tory PM, David Cameron, Mr Slippery, had many faults. But at least he was honest about his hostility to grammar schools. Voters should learn from this. You need something better than the Tories, and soon.

Those who have bankrupted themselves to send their children to fee-charging schools, rather than endure the failed ‘comprehens­ive’ system, find that the great universiti­es are open about discrimina­ting against boys and girls with private education, even if they are academical­ly more qualified.

The Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge is not ashamed to admit his university will give priority to state-school pupils – because they are state-school pupils. He says: ‘We have to keep making it very, very clear we are intending to reduce over time the number of people who are coming from independen­t school background­s into places like Oxford or Cambridge.’

The comprehens­ive revolution, a terrible enemy of promise, talent and true learning, is almost complete. And Britain is almost completely done for as a result.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom