Chancellor Philip Hammond pledges £200million in Autumn Statement to fund PM’s grammar school revolution

PHILIP Hammond pledged £200million to bankroll Theresa May’s grammar schools revolution yesterday.

It means £50m a year will be spent expanding grammars across England from next year.

The Chancellor told MPs the new funding would boost the number of good school places on offer.

But the move to splash the cash on a policy not included in the Tory manifesto infuriated critics yesterday.

Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said: “The education sector is reaching breaking point, and the Chancellor’s only announcement was to give more money to a handful of schools.

“This budget demonstrated exactly what that this Government is all about – a country for the few at the expense of the many.”

Teaching unions described the investment which leaves out regular state schools and academies as “disappointing”.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said: “Capital investment in grammar schools is the wrong priority, and a distraction from the most important issues in education.”

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell accused the Government of overseeing the “biggest real-terms cuts” for four decades.

He said: “How can a Government seriously talk about supporting a 21st century economy when they are planning to pour tens of millions into the failed 20th century policy of grammar schools?”

A consultation on the proposals is due to close next month.