What a pity that Prince Charles did not try to send his sons to state grammar schools instead of to Eton, a school everyone associates with money and privilege. Yes, I can see the difficulties, but it would have been a beautiful way of skewering the socialist hypocrites who claim to be the friends of the poor. In one action, he could have put the Crown clearly on the side of the people against a bone-headed and unfeeling government – which is where the Monarchy should always be. And he could have given enormous help to a cause that will, in my view, one day triumph – the noble battle (now raging for almost 50 years) to make good education available once again to the sons and daughters of the poor... Modern politics is great at producing such statistics. But no figures show how many girls and boys, talented and hardworking, turn away sadly from school and learning every year. They do so because the only schools they can get into are chaotic, ill-disciplined places where it is dangerous to be seen as academically bright, and where hope and encouragement are absent. There are other schools. But they are for the children of the well-off, the privileged and the sharp-elbowed (like the cunning Labour and Tory front-benchers, so skilled in working the system to their advantage). Talent counts for little or nothing in their secret, winding selection process. It makes me furious to think about it.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 22:36:53 +0000