Labour Selection Policies Hit Special Needs Children Hardest

Liberal Democrat Disability Spokesman and member of the Education and Skills Select Committee, Paul Holmes MP, questioned the Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP, today over the failure to practise inclusion for children with Special Educational Needs, including disabilities.

"Any analysis of the intake of the schools at the top of the league table shows that they are united in taking fewer children with special educational needs and fewer children who qualify for free school meals than national or local averages indicate they should.

"Such overt or covert selection policies are an inevitable consequence of New Labour policies emphasising choice, choice, choice in a cut-throat free market of competing schools and league tables."