Is it just me, or is David Willetts largely right in the great Tory grammar school row? Ah yes, it would appear to be just me who thinks so. That is if the Conservative blogosphere is anything to go by.
I have just bumped into Mr Willetts, who appears remarkably calm for a man responsible for The Greatest Cameron Sell-out (so far). And so he should be.
This really might be Cameron’s Clause 4 moment. That was Labour’s out-moded expression of its gut instincts which the party accepted had not been implemented when it was last in power and would not be when it next got into government. In that case, why cling to dogma when the world has moved on?
The greatest domestic issue this country faces is the backwards slide of social mobility. Serious progress will not be made if the Tory party dances around the totem pole of grammar schools when it has no chance of reintroducing them on a scale big enough to make a difference to the huge numbers of bright poor children let down by the current genetic and financial lottery .
Remember he has NOT advocated the abolition of existing grammar schools. Instead he favours using Labour’s legislation to engineer an explosion of provision and diversity, and a loosening of the grip of the local authorities who micro-manage state education to death. Coaxing charitable foundations, business and even livery companies (still responsible for the financial affairs of schools such as St. Paul’s for Girls in London) to help accelerate the city academies programme and consider new ventures could unleash a wave of enthusiasm for educational reform and improvement. If enough diversity of provision is created, after that who knows what else is possible? Vouchers? Maybe. Bright teachers triggering funding to start their own school in a poor area let down by failing comprehensives? Quite possibly. A sensible degree of selection? In time, I hope so.
I suspect that Labour’s Lord Adonis knew exactly what he was doing when he designed the legislation: that Labour would be too cowardly to follow his reforms to their logical conclusion. The David Willetts approach, if he and David Cameron are serious, will achieve much more than fantasising about a ‘Grammar School in Every Town Bill (2009)
Iain Martin is deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph.
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