Tory turmoil as Old Etonion scuppers grammar schools revival
GEORGE Osborne (St Paul's School, London; Davidson College, North Carolina; Magdalen College, Oxford) is, as always, His Master's Voice. So when David Cameron (Eton College; Brasenose College, Oxford) decrees that the Tories have no plans to reintroudce selective education, wee Georgie reinforces the message: a Conservative government would not permit the opening of any new grammar schools.
Mr Cameron is baffled by the row, which eruped when shadow education secretary David Willetts said it was not Tory policy to bring back grammars. Why he had to say this I don't know - until now, no Tories have ever marched on Central Office demanding new grammars, and no Tory education authority has applied to reorganise schools to accommodate new grammars.
It hasn't been party policy for decades. So it wasn't the wisest decision of Willetts to opine on the subject, allowing the sleeping Tory dogs of rank and privilege to bark their disapproval.
Graham Brady has quit the Tory front bench over the decision. He's got four grammars in his Altrincham and Sale constituency where the 11 plus still fluorishes - I should know, I lived there in the days when Fergus Montgomery was MP and my son went to the academically brilliant Tyntesfield primary school, whose aim at the time was to ensure the kids passed the exam and went to either Sale Boys Grammar or Sale Girls Grammar.
Mr Brady has resigned to defend the schools which his voters love. But the over inflated house prices in his part of the metropolitan borough of Sale reveal that paernts are prepared to pay over the odds to ensure their kids go to the best schools.
What's worse? Forking out tens of thousands a year to send the children to private school, or paying top dollar to live near the best state schools in a borough or county?
Tory policy is to defend grammar schools where they exist, but not to open any more. As former Labour Education Secretary Baroness (Estelle) Morris points out, it's a contradiction in terms.
It is, but then isn't most Tory Party policy one long contradiction? It reminds me of "in Europe, but not run by Europe?" A totally meaningless phrase which translates as: we don't like the EU but we're quite happy for our Euro MPs to pick up mega bucks for cavorting between Brussels and Strasbourg.