Read the original article at The Daily Mail

Senior Tories Declare Their Support

Senior Conservatives and grassroots activists have declared their support for a new generation of grammar schools.

Last week, it emerged Theresa May was considering whether a fresh wave of selective schools could help boost social mobility.

She would need to overturn a ban on creating grammars brought in by Tony Blair in 1998.

Today the largest group of Conservative organisations and politicians has come out in favour of the idea, rebuffing claims that the Prime Minister does not have her party’s support.

The coalition of support has been formed by the Bow Group think-tank, whose board includes former Cabinet member Lord Tebbit, and MPs Dominic Grieve, Sir Gerald Howarth, John Redwood and Adam Afriyie. Historian David Starkey and philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, who also sit on the board, support the plan as well.

The group is joined by campaign organisations Conservative Voice, Conservative Grassroots, Conservatives For Liberty and The Freedom Association, as well as think-tanks Parliament Street, ResPublica and the Centre for Policy Studies.

Bow Group Chairman Ben Harris-Quinney said any Tory MP considering blocking the plans ‘should consider their position as elected representatives very carefully’.

Windsor MP Mr Afriyie said that creating new grammar schools and allowing existing ones to expand would ‘help to rebuild a more socially mobile Britain’.