When Reform Scotland was set up, I feared for their prospects. Although Scotland was birthplace of the Enlightenment, its new parliament has failing strikingly to produce any new ideas. It has instead proved a reactionary force, priding itself in banning things before England does and using powers to reject reform introduced by Blair in England. So what chance do new ideas have? But Reform Scotland has today produced a proposal that has set debate aflame: why not give a £10,000 schools voucher to parents from poor backgrounds?
It’s the subject of a BBC Radio Scotland phone in, which shows the paucity of the arguments on the other side. One is that private schools are just for the rich, who want their kids to mix with other posh kids. Pre-welfare state, this was true: in the 1950s private schools were no better educationally than state schools.
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