Theresa may

With her first major speech since standing on the steps of No. 10, Theresa May has set out plans to radically reform the education system. Introduced by new Education Secretary Justine Greening, May outlined overhauls to the grammar school system, offering expansion to existing ones and giving state schools the opportunity to select. Her policy ambitions also touched on allowing faith schools to be filled entirely on grounds of religion. And she wants to make private schools justify their charitable status. But how revolutionary are these plans? And are selective schools really the way to go?

Theresa May spoke for almost half an hour before she actually mentioned the 'G' word: Grammar schools. But before she did so, the Prime Minister repeatedly uttered another word nearly a dozen times: meritocracy. May said she wanted Britain to become 'the great meritocracy of the world' and she said schools were the place to kick start that change. Her speech was a sometimes-reheated version of her first Downing Street address, but her message was clear: this is a bold shake-up of Britain's education system. The PM said grammar schools would be encouraged to grow and she vowed as well to kick over the obstacles in the way of new grammar schools opening. Yet it seems May spent longer justifying her policy than actually clarifying it.

Theresa May made it clear when she became Prime Minister that she wanted to be defined by more than just Brexit. With the launch of her Government's policy on grammar schools this morning, today is the day she puts her money where her mouth is. After snippets of detail slowly saw the light of day this week, Theresa May's plans for selective schools are appearing to be much more radical and dramatic than many will have imagined. As well as the opening of new grammar schools, the PM will say that hundreds of comprehensive schools will be allowed to convert to a system of selecting their intake (so long as they pick a certain number from poorer backgrounds).

There were two striking things about today’s urgent question on grammar schools. The first was that MPs were told far less by Education Secretary Justine Greening than the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs was told by the Prime Minister last night. As James revealed yesterday, Theresa May explained the policymaking process for new grammars to her MPs, but today Greening would merely say that: ‘We are looking at a range of options, and I expect any new proposals to focus on what we can do to help everyone go as far as their individual talents and capacity for hard work can take them.

Theresa May has told Tory MPs she won't 'turn back the clock' on grammar schools. But she also didn't rule out some expansion in the system of selective schools. How those two thoughts reconcile with each together will become clearer when the Government reveals its plans for school reform soon (this being Theresa May, we won't be expecting a running commentary). Yet even the scant details which have emerged so far have provoked a predictably mixed reaction. Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said the plans were 'shambolic'. You can listen to her criticism here: And Alan Milburn, who chairs the government’s social mobility commission, is perhaps the most outspoken voice this morning. In the Guardian, he says that these plans would be 'disastrous'.

Why has ‘trust’ became such a dominant issue in British politics in the early 21st century? Is it the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Or the arrogant ineptitude that led to the financial crisis and the bank bailouts? Or the parliamentary expenses scandal? Or is it, more than the above, the failure of successive governments to meet their immigration targets? Trust in politics will fall to dangerously low levels if-immigration continues as is following this year’s referendum. This is why the government has acknowledged that some control over EU immigration must be part of the Brexit deal. The extent of these restrictions will be key to our agreement with the rest of the EU. The relationship between the Brexit vote and immigration is complex.