Theresa May has picked the first defining fight of her leadership—and it is the same one that David Cameron chose. But, as I say in The Sun today, she has picked the opposite side from him: in favour of, not against, more grammar schools.
Cameron’s opposition to more grammar schools infuriated many Tories, particularly those who were grammar school educated. They objected to a privileged public school boy telling them that they couldn’t be more of the schools that had done so much for them.
May, by backing grammars, is sending out a very different message. She is showing these Tories that she’s one of them, a grammar school girl. As one Number 10 source puts it, ‘It is a bit of red—or blue—meat for the party’. Though, the proposals are far more sophisticated than just a simple return to the 11 plus.
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