Education and Inspections Bill

I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron), the Leader of the Opposition, on recognising that this is a special Bill that deserves our support for all the right reasons, as well as some very good reasons that are more political. I also congratulate the Secretary of State and her Ministers on producing a Bill that has depth and vision and which deserves support right across the House. When I decided to become a teacher, the first class that I faced before I did my postgraduate certificate was in a secondary modern school. I was horrified at the poverty of aspiration in the people in that school, from the teachers and parents to the children. That experience motivated me strongly to believe that we had to do something about the problem. During the course of that year, I passed a term at Leeds grammar school, and a more traditional and excellent school one could not find anywhere in the 1960s. I am glad to say that, because my first full-time education was in Scotland, I am a Scottish-registered teacher. I recognised within about five minutes an enormous difference between the approach to education in Scotland and, in particular, the approach in England in the 1960s. During my 16-year education career, I also learned an enormous amount—as a governor of schools in the old Inner London Education Authority—about education at all levels and for those of all ages. I realised how privileged I had been in my own education; I also realised what I wanted for my children and for other people’s children. When I look at the Bill, I recognise something a little bit special: it has vision. When I think back to Kenneth Baker’s great Education Act 1988—I sat for many hours on the Standing Committee of what was known as the Gerbil—I also recognise that that was a landmark education Bill, and I suspect that this will be one too. I regret that there is still such animosity towards grammar schools. We heard a moving speech from my hon. Friend the Member for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea) on the subject.