Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Cameron joins my campaign to end private schools scandal…?

Lincolnshire Tories who spend £2 million a year in taxpayers money to give a few children a private education will no doubt be appalled to know that David Cameron has joined my campaign to end the scandal.

Cameron just told a listener to BBC R4’s You and Yours:

I don’t want to see taxpayers money going to help people out of state schools…
His words come as the ink is barely dry on a new contract between Lincolnshire County Council and Stamford Endowed Schools to squeeze another decade out of the disgraceful scam which is only available to a few children who live in or very close to Stamford.

To add insult to injury, it is unfairly paid for by top-slicing the budget of every local authority secondary school in Lincolnshire.

Stamford's Tory MP Quentin Davies clearly doesn’t agree with Cameron. Quentin went completely OTT when he told the Stamford Mercury that ending the scheme would
threaten disaster for future generations of Stamford’s bright children.
Conservatives including current county council chairman Colin Helstrip, as well as Brian Sumner and even Tory Chief Whip Martin Trollope-Bellew have also publicly campaigned for the scholarship scheme to continue.

Nothing to do, I’m sure, with the fact that only children who live in their council wards are allowed to apply for a place on the scheme.

Here in the Deepings for example, we are charged through our council tax for a scheme to which we have no access: no Deepings child can apply, no matter how talented.

As I’ve said before, I don’t much care what Cameron smoked when he was a public school-boy at Eton. But I look forward to him visiting Lincolnshire to join my campaign to end the Tory school funds scandal.

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