Thatcher knew grammars were poison. Theresa May is playing a risky game | Simon Jenkins

The Tories need to stop obsessing about selective education. Going backwards is not an option

Every few years Tory leaders have a nostalgic dream. It might be of a rerun of the British empire or a return to conscription or just Listen with Mother. But now Theresa May is hearing the old refrain, “Bring back the grammars.” The dream could become nightmare, unless she asks herself a simple question. Why did Margaret Thatcher never, in over a decade, rescind Labour’s 1965 edict introduci...