Grammars: they're not coming back because they're 'good'. It's 'social engineering'.

The statistical argument for bringing back grammar schools has been exploded by left, right and centre, by Newsnight, by universities, by everyone.

So why would the Tories insist on bringing them back?

Because they don't care about the statistics or the evidence. This is about social engineering - the very crime that they accused Labour of and which the media lapped up.


This is about changing people's mentality. Exactly as honest Tories say that they destroyed social housing because in their terms it 'bred socialism', they want to complete the job of destroying comprehensive or non-selective education.

They want people - that's kids, parents, teachers, schools - to be pitted against each other in a rat race right from the beginning of our lives. They want us to see ourselves as competition units, fighting each other, not co-operating with each other. They want us to be constantly aware of who's 'better', who's 'worse' in a permanent league table of tests, exams, scores, ratings, 'better' and 'worse' schools to go to. They want us to be in a permanent state of being segregated along social, cultural, and economic lines.

So, they don't give a stuff as to whether grammar schools will 'help' some 'poor people' or not. Even Newsnight has shown this objective is bogus. If they (or any other government) was serious about changing whether people's chances in a capitalist society depended a bit more on merit than it is now, they would abolish private education, inherited wealth and tax havens. Of course they're not going to do that, because they don't really believe in chances based on merit. That's just bogus.

This is about social engineering. The media love that phrase when it can be thrown at Labour. They won't touch it when it comes to grammar schools. You won't see the media stuffing microphones into Tories' faces saying, 'So the statistics don't add up, you must be doing it for ideological reasons...grammars - it's all about social engineering, isn't it?'