TOM Hanley's letter of March 2 is one of the most ‘politically dishonest’ letters I have read in a long time.

The socialist George Orwell would have described the language used as double speak, deliberately distorting the meaning of words.

He talks about the ‘short term interests of the market’; he’s worried that parents might actually chose successful schools rather than schools that persistently under perform. He talks of the ‘erratic performance’ of some academies. I remember a time when some comprehensives in Bolton got 80% A-C pass rates and others less than 20%.

The national curriculum entitled children to same level of education but that is not the same as achieving the same results or levels or quality. Children from disadvantaged areas were left in Labour’s words, to fester in ‘bog standard comps’.

Conservatives and to their credit New Labour understand that schools are there for the benefit of pupils and parents, more diversity and choice is an essential part of driving up standards, most teachers are sick to death of being told exactly what to do by one state bureaucracy or another; they want the freedom to teach and parents the freedom to chose. That is what is really bugging Tom Hanley.

Cllr Martyn Cox

Westhoughton North and Chew Moor