Shadow Minister Grieve Backs Grammar Schools
The London Evening Standard is reporting that Dominic Grieve, the shadow Attorney General, has gone over the top into no-mans-land over grammar schools. The key phrase in an otherwise on message interview with his local paper is"We must also ensure that if further grammar or secondary schools are needed they can be supplied within the county."Cameroonie policy is no new grammar schools. This could be sticky for Grieve. The grassroots are not wearing this policy change, although bizarrely ConservativeHome.Com "the unofficial home of the grassroots" says it is officially burying the subject today. Suspect they will be digging it up again tomorrow...
UPDATE : Sticky for Team Cameron it turns out. The Etonians appear to be for turning.
29 comments:
It simply isn't possible to be localist and centralist at the same time. Much better to allow the LEAs to decide how they want to run their schools than to say "no new x schools ever".
When Lambeth voters realise that their schools are much worse than those in Bucks they might decide to elect a new administration.
I think there are going to be a few bodies piled up in No-Mans-Land by the time this war comes to an end.
Dominic may need to find a working pager so his party can keep him informed. Obviously his current pager just isn't working.
He is not in the Shadow Cabinet!
Am I right in thinking that this furore has got nothing to do with schools? If so, then it is probably the maddest thing that the Tories have done in years! Perhaps now that an election victory is in sight, some are letting their personal ambitions come to the fore. If this is the case, then it is shameful.
some Tory MP's struggle to grasp the concept that we are really not interested in their views currently, we are interested in them not providing straws for a drowning nulab administration to cling to. Or their beeboid chums to blow out of proportion.
Welcome on board Andy
Is this in a daily local paper or a weekly? I may be wrong but I'd be surprised if Beaconsfield had a daily paper. If it's a weekly the interview will likely have been written up before Brady's resignation at the weekend and hence Grieve may be able to get off the hook by claiming his comments predated the hard line stance.
With Martha today on WAO Willets was saying nothing inconsistent with Dave's stance.
Hope/believe Grieve is respected enough to be undamaged.
Did Grieve go to Eton? If so he's OK members of the Eton Mafia don't get sacked by Dave, only Grammar school types. No wonder the latest poll shows Labour on the way back!!
This govt claims they want 50% of school leavers to go to university. Major started it, and the current opposition endorses the idea. We are already up to 45%.
So if grammar schools were re-introduced for the top 15-20% of state-school children, that suggests that the top 30% of the secondary modern children will go to university. Sec mod schools were never set up to do that. Would they be in the future?
Grammar schools were and are very good. But they are only part of secondary education. Those supporting their new expansion have to have a coherent idea of the impact of various types of schools on tertiary education. Have you been impressed with their analysis?
Why oh why didn't they wait for their policy research committee to report before sounding off on this issue? Discourteous, wrong-headed and asking for trouble; which is what they have now got.
I think Grieve should be sacked.
We in the Labour Party don't want Grammar schools and Grieve is definitely 'off message'.
Pull him into line, Dave and just you remember who is pulling the strings here.
Regarding this latest development: Expect the party leadership to follow Con Home's good example
bof2bs - not sure you're right there. Willets said local authorities could make local decisions. Of course, everywhere is local so potentially a new grammar school could be built anywhere.
Furious back pedalling aplenty here.
I think that Dave has ran out of bullets. Lol. I wander what William Hague, Ian Duncan-Smith and Michael Howard are thinking what I'm thinking.
If nothing else this grammar nonsense has shown Mark Field, Graham Brady and Dominic Grieve to be vintage muppets, best left to moulder in the dunce's corner as far away from positions of authority as possible. With any luck their constituencies will realise a mistake has been made and replace them.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
There has to be no critcism of the Conservative Party. Stop NOW!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Word verification: nlupypm
Cameron capitulates and leaves Osborne's authority in tatters after his "we'll block new grammar schools" confirmation yesterday.
Sabotage from within the party.
Looks like it's not just Letwin that's a plant.
Brown still having an easy ride of it.
Oh dear.
Is Osborne going to be sacked for not sticking to his brief and going against the party line.
The Tories are such comedians - we shall have a lot of good laughs with this crowd....at least it helps not to take Cameron seriously, and Letwin is a bit like Norman Wisdom.....and Willetts does a good Stan Laurel impression....
This is a Ship of Fools
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 5:28 PM, May 31, 2007
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
i disagree, this policy wrangle is more horrific than "Return of The Living Dead"
worth every penny of the entrance fee
Anonymous at 3.42 - "He's not in the Shadow Cabinet". Clearly, he jolly well should be, since he seems to be able to change Tory policy more effectively than the hopelessly out of date George Osborne.
And Anonymous at 4.37 - I believe Grieve IS one of the many Old Etonians - oh, and what do we see, he's still in post, while oiky grammar school kid Brady had to leave! Hurray for the New Tory Party!
Grieve went to Westminster not Eton.
You Tories really don't have a clue when it comes to education, education, education.
I think you should copy new Labour's policy and have a fight.
You know it makes sense!
Gary
Did I really read "Leave it to the LEA's"? I thought the one of the key points of an "Academy" which Cameron supports was bypassing these bastions of socialist bureaucracy and getting the money straight to the classrooms. Sorry to be boring and input facts and data but headteachers in today's secondary schools are lucky if they get £2500 per pupil year of the £5500 we taxpayers provide! If these County Hall officials are adding so much value the heads will be rushing to hire them rather than extra teachers or classroom kit. If you believe that you must still believe in WMD's.
Ditch Grammar schools you know it makes sense.
There is simply so much that can be done to improve our state schools without it even costing a penny more to anyone.
Like for example putting any long term seriously disruptive pupil in a mental home ASAP. Heavily punishing parents for the bad behavior of their offspring, with no ifs and no buts. Giving parents the duty permission right and responsibility to sort out their own kidds or put them in the said mental home themselves. Then make them and the kidds future income pay for it.
As we should all know privatising all educational establishments would be the best thing. However if the Tory Party no longer has the balls to do that, scrapping grammar schools is the second best thing they can do and a great start.
The state has no place owning and therefore running anything but the armed forces. The sooner the Tory party or any government party stops sucking middle class arse the better for the education of everyone.
Pre-school education is already organised on the simple basis of giving extra cash to poor parents. This cash can be used in any private school they wish to attend. This is in my opinion the only good, worthwhile and workable thing Gordon Brown has done in ten years.
Post a Comment