Schools White Paper

I welcome what the Prime Minister described yesterday as a pivotal moment, and what some may describe as an about-turn. The Minister has promised to give extended opportunities to talented pupils, to encourage setting and grouping by ability, and to create genuine centres of excellence. I hope that those include centres of academic excellence. Why has not she gone the whole hog and simply introduced academic selection, which in Northern Ireland has served pupils well and has raised standards higher than in any other region of the United Kingdom? Is she bound by political ideology and Cabinet in-fighting? Will she regret in a year’s time that she has not gone further?