Following the resignation yesterday of Graham Brady from his front bench over the row, Cameron desperately tried to demonstrate support for Grammar Schools.
Is that what he meant last week when he said that selection was deeply unpopular with parents and that it was wrong to separate children into "sheep and goats" (his words, not mine!) at the age of 11....?
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph today accuses the Tory leadership of 'blundering and fumbling' into what it calls the 'grammar school war'.
In today's leader, the Telegraph says the Grammar School debate has become David Cameron's most difficult period since he became Tory leader.
The Telegraph goes on:
The resignation of Graham Brady from the Tory front bench scotches David Cameron's weekend claim that the 'row about grammar schools is over'. In fact, it is entering a new, and dangerous, phase.If Cameron thinks his ideological attack on Grammar Schools will produce a 'Clause 4' moment, he is mistaken.
Mr Brady's departure may well embolden others to follow his lead and speak out on an issue that for so many traditional Conservatives is an article of faith. Mr Cameron has insisted that this confrontation is not a "Clause 4 moment". Well, that may have been the case, but it is fast becoming one.
It is now evident that Mr Willetts blundered into this row - and that Mr Cameron and his aides fumbled their initial response. By allowing the debate to focus on what they are against rather than what they are for, they left the public confused and large elements of the party seething. All unintentionally.
The difference is that grassroots Labour members voted 9-1 to dump the outdated Clause 4.
You only have to look at the reaction to the Grammar School war in Lincolnshire to appreciate that Grassroots Tories would never vote to abolish Grammar Schools...
2 comments:
The Tory diehards who want to open new Grammar Schools are on a hiding to nothing with no place to go.
Simple. The new Grammar Schools are City Academies. Tory and Labour policy on opening City Academies is now identical (a point Phil skates over). All eyes are on Labour's Faith Task Force starting business in July to see who will be running them and which foreign interests (barred from directly donating to political parties) will be writing the cheques.
Watch this space.
Brynley:
I'm delighted that the Tories (or at least Cameron and Willets !!!) have caved in on Grammar Schools and are now promoting Labour's Academies as the way forward.
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