Summer 2016 was a time of political surprises. On 23 June, the result of the EU referendum produced a vote for Brexit that took many people, including prime minister David Cameron, by surprise. He hastily handed in his resignation. This was followed on 13 July by the appointment of Theresa May, previously home secretary, to the position of prime minister. Then in early August came the announcement that she was planning to reintroduce grammar schools into the state education system.
For some people this was a rather shocking proposal. In 1997, Tony Blair, the then prime minister, had banned the building of more grammar schools. The announcement was justified as follows by a 10 Downing Street spokesperson:
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