Jonathan R. Pritchard’s Homepage

I identify myself as a believer in capitalism, free-enterprise and free-market economics. I also have a strong affinity for the Conservative party. However, I don’t agree with a number of Conservative policies, be they ideological or just ill-thought out. Indeed I find that I want to nationalise the railways, increase funding of state schools and take away the tax breaks on independent ones; as well as reform and create a strong NHS.

Education is close to most people’s hearts, be it from our memories of our school days, or the wishes of parents for their children, the human resource of the future, to do well, get ahead and have a strong foundation for the future. It is in this background that David Cameron’s attacks on grammar schools were arguably his most misguided move, apart from WebCameron; it doesn’t look good when an Eton and Oxford-educated man denounces grammar schools which I see as a key proponent of social mobility. The defence of which was a key Conservative policy.

It is no wonder why school standards are falling under a Labour government that prefers comprehensive schools completely forgetting the point that education needs to be universally accessible: giving everyone the chance to make the most if their god given gifts and it needs to be uniform.

The creation and protection of selective schools is not a discriminatory policy for the privileged. It is not an example of ‘the tyranny of the majority’. Grammar schools are a key method for the bright, but deprived, to reach higher grounds. Education has always been a tool out of the vicious cycle of poverty, and frankly, now it is gone or in decline.

There has been so much panic in recent months - that is before Labour’s poor showing in the local elections and the Crewe and Nantwich byelection - the fact that our future economy is going to have a shortfall of well-educated graduates in the labour market. This of course is a direct consequence of poor educational standards in schools.

It is not a huge jump, therefore, to look at the school rankings and notice that the independent schools and the grammar schools dominate the top of these charts. It is not the fault of independent schools who have always been well privately-funded and have maintained standards. It is a loss of our valuable assets in state schools of grammar schools across the country, bar the home counties and a various spattering around the country.

Just like the NHS, education in our schools is mortally important for the country. Just as every NHS Trust needs to be up to standard across the country so does every school. Those that oppose grammar schools speak of the unfair, undue pressure put upon the shoulders of 11-year olds and talk of it’s crippling psychological damage of being labelled a ‘loser’ by themselves or others. They fail to realise in this analysis that there is the 12 and 13-plus exams if they don’t get in the first time round. there is also the case of appeal, which a significant minority win. Finally there is also the choice of school for sixth form.

Why cripple social mobility? Why ruin our children’s chances? This is the state of our politically correct, but ignorant government. In my eyes, David Cameron not only joined the government on this failure of policy but has forsaken the likes of Margraret Thatcher and Edward Heath who are grammar-school educated. It is he, who is clearly discriminatory in his command as Leader of the Opposition; having 13 out of ~20 shadow cabinet ministers from Eton is akin to the problem that the Labour party has with Scots in the cabinet. I’d say Cameron’s cabinet problem is the greater.

How do we pay for all of this? Well the Conservative party say they believe there is at least £7 Billion of waste in the government’s various departments, how about you look at the waste that’s been going on in the NHS computer system which adds up to Billions alone. £50 Million to fix a computer program that was speaking in German. We’ve got to make people accountable again.