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Education and Inspections Bill

I will come to that in a moment. We believe that we can ensure that academically able children receive a grammar school-type education within the campus of a comprehensive school. To do that, however, we need comprehensive setting, and most comprehensive schools are far from being in that position at the moment. However, teachers and head teachers are far more in favour of that approach than of the upheaval implicit in any return to wholesale selection. To deal with the point raised by the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor), we will protect and safeguard the existing grammar schools and schools that have partial selection. It would be a criminal act to destroy schools that are providing first-class education to thousands of youngsters in this country. That is why we oppose the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Bury, North (Mr. Chaytor) and his colleagues, which propose the end of selection by 2010 unless ballots are held in the areas in which grammar schools exist. I believe that any such ballots would come out in favour of retaining the grammar schools, because they are enormously popular in the areas that have them, even among parents whose children do not attend them.