The debate over selective education as it is sometimes called has been raging for as long as I can remember. As someone who was educated under a completely comprehensive system in Rotherham in what was referred to at the time as the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire I never had any close experience of what the grammar school system was like.

My view is that if a child’s parents are well off and want their school to go to a grammar school they can move into an area which has them. This is an option denied to poorer parents. Of course it may be that parents do not want their child to go to a grammar school but they should at least have the choice. I do not believe ideology should stop parents from having the choice. We should find out more about the government’s plans to extend choice in education later today.