Davis: Britain ‘dominated by public school boys’
by Liz Stephens
Public school boys “run Britain” according to former shadow home secretary David Davis.
In a thinly-veiled swipe at Eton-educated David Cameron, the one-time leadership rival told a meeting on grammer schools the only winners from the death of the selective education system were the public school boys who now “dominate” Britain.
Mr Davis, who went to grammar school, insisted only a return to selective education could “rescue the next generation of the underprivileged’.
He called the demise of the grammar school a “failed revolution” which had “handicapped the intellectual capacity of the country”.
Mr Davis has avoided voicing criticism of the Tory leadership since quitting the shadow cabinet last year to campaign on civil liberties.
His decision to reopen the lethal issue of grammar schools, which triggered a rebellion by Tory backbenchers early in Mr Cameron’s leadership, will be seen as an open declaration of war.
Right-wing MPs remain angry at Mr Cameron’s decision to drop his party’s long-standing commitment to academic selection.
Mr Davis also hinted that he was also planning to speak out on other issues in future, such as the need for public spending cuts.
“I think the public are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for”, he said.
“They want to hear us debate these issues such as education, public spending and defence sensibly and intelligently, and that’s what I intend to do.”
