North of England must grab grammar schools with both hands or its IQ looks set to go south
Sun columnist says unless the whole of the country unites of Theresa May's education revolution, the North-South divide is likely to grow bigger than ever
I FEAR the North-South divide is going to grow. This time it won’t be defined by wealth but by IQ.
It’s clear that the South of England is grabbing the excellent idea of more grammar schools with both hands.
Already councils running Windsor And Maidenhead, Central Bedfordshire, Thurrock, Essex, Northamptonshire, Kent and Sutton in Surrey have plans to create schools that select by ability.
Those of you who did well in geography will notice there is one area missing from that list. It’s called the North.
You don’t hear a word of support from the councils on Merseyside or Manchester. Hopeless twerps like mayoral hopefuls Andy Burnham (Manchester) and the awful
Steve Rotheram (Liverpool) would die in a ditch to stop your bright kids going to a grammar.
The stats are painful. For every 12 jobs created in the South this past decade just one was made in the rest of country.
The South pays a majority of the nation’s income taxes and the North receives a disproportionate payment in benefits.
Places such as Blackpool, Rochdale and Barrow-in-Furness are losing residents by the day. They are heading south, where London alone will be home to ten million people within the next eight years.
If your local council doesn’t embrace the grammar school revolution can I urge you and your family to move to an area which does.
My bet is this is a big vote winner for Mrs May among the minorities.
Asian families are intensely ambitious for their offspring and I am sure they would cut their traditional Labour ties to give their kids a chance.
Instead of Go West Young Man, take my advice and Come South Young Man or woman. When Wigan is deserted, perhaps the council will change its mind.
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Car firm facing another probe
I’VE just had it confirmed that the Department of Work and Pensions IS investigating overcharging by the crooks who run car rental firm Enterprise.
This comes on top of my revelation that Enterprise is having to pay back tens of thousands for defrauding HMRC by charging for petrol fill- ups which civil servants had already replaced.
If Enterprise will trick a big customer like the Government, what will they do to you?
I’m still pursuing Hertz for duping me at Montpellier airport and hope to sign up a senior barrister for the county court action against them in the next couple of weeks.
All these car renters are running a racket against the driver. On that basis I wrote to Nick Timothy, who is described as Theresa May’s joint chief of staff, 16 days ago urging the PM to appoint a Secretary of State for the Consumer to protect us from global charlatans such as Hertz and FedEx.
Haven’t heard a peep from him.
He is either idle or incompetent.
No10 talk a lot about fighting for ordinary people but in reality they wouldn’t know a member of the working class if they fell over them outside Scott’s in Mayfair.
ON Friday I published a photo showing how the dolts at Affinity Water only painted the top half of the word “Disabled” on a road as they have an absurd rule which means they don’t have to make good anything they don’t damage.
Well look at this photo. The words “Keep Clear” have only the P and R painted after a section of pathway near Marriott’s Way, Norwich, has been made good.
I don’t know which utility sanctioned this but there is a word containing P and R which applies to their decision management.
Don’t you agree?
- SECOND-HAND motor dealers are seeing a surge in prices as Keith Vaz is said to be paying good money for 22-year-old escorts.
Time remainers Union Jack it in
THE Remainers have lost it. Totally lost it.
For more years than I care to remember Union Jacks have been waved furiously as the crowd lustily sings Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem in the closing stages of Last Night of The Proms.
It’s great fun. A few minutes of patriotism then down the pub. This year was different.
Remainers, desperate they had not only lost the vote but that the economy had strengthened not weakened since June 23, “invaded” the Albert Hall and waved their
EU flags, so catching the television audience. Their stunt wreaked of desperation.
It made you wonder if they would actually prefer to be run from Brussels rather than the UK. In some odd way they hate our country and hate the people in it.
Delighted to report they were defeated, as cleverly the BBC kept showing the massive crowds in Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow. It was all Union Jacks, Saltires and Dragons.
The game is up for Remainers. The Priory beckons. I always thought they were nutters. Saturday night proved it.
THANK you Kelv. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
Reader Marc Pastakia received his annual renewals for car and home insurance, checked them both with where he found savings of £90 on the motor and £500 on the house.
With his car he reverted to Hastings and they matched it. On his home he didn’t bother with John Lewis at £700 and instead took the £200 quote from Hastings.
With average gas and electric savings on aspokesmansaid running at £391, most families could save almost £1,000 annually by changing all their suppliers.
Do send your saving stories to [email protected].
I KNOW where all the junior doctors must be working at the weekends. They are on stand-by in the BBC Radio 2 studio as 87-year-old Brian Matthew presents his Saturday morning show Sounds of the 60s.
I caught his show for the first time on Saturday – apparently he’s been doing it for 26 years – and he does not sound well.
Mr Matthew’s voice is worse than most of the acts he plays and they’ve been dead for years. I presume the production staff got the job not because of their knowledge about Herman’s Hermits or The Hollies but because they had been trained in the kiss of life.
Monty's mutts are the best in show
WHENEVER I catch Gardeners’ World on BBC2 I always want to see rather more of Monty Don’s two glorious golden retrievers Nigel and Nell and hear rather less about his penstemons and petunias.
Personally I don’t know my aster from my elbow.
In his new book Monty reveals how Nigel gets more Christmas cards than the family does.
I’m not surprised. Consolidated viewing figures show as BBC producers have left in more shots of the dogs the audience has leaped by 350,000. So here’s my answer. Let’s have 29 minutes of the dogs and one minute of the petunias. The show will grow and grow.
I LEARN the gay community were not surprised at the collapse of the Hiddleswift romance.
Rightly or wrongly, they always viewed the handsome and engaging Tom Hiddleston – a single man in his mid-30s never previously linked with the ladies – as one of their own. Surely not.
Punnies
BUTCHERS in Chalkwell Park, Southend – Meat by the Park. Tile warehouse in Cardiff – Tactile.
Number-plate spotted on an old hearse in Newlyn, Cornwall – YME.
Tree Surgeon in West Moors, Dorset – Tree Musketeers.
Coffee shop in Cardiff – Field of Beans. Plumbing van in Hornchurch, Essex – Don’t sleep with a drip all night.
Electrical contractors van, Wimbledon, South West London – Watts Up. Roofers in Kendal, Cumbria – Slates and Ladders.
Pub in Margate, Kent – Ale Caesar. A driving instructor in Donaghadee, County Down – Acert2pass.
Sandwich shop in Radcliffe, Manchester – Avasarni.
Tea shop in Market Lavington, Wilts – St. Arbucks.
Simply puntabulous. Keep them coming to [email protected].