Lord Harris of High Cross - Tottenham's only Peer - dies 19/10/06

Tottenham's only peer in the House of Lords, Lord Ralph Harris of High Cross has died. Commenting on the death of the leading economist and adviser to Margaret Thatcher, the Chairman of Tottenham Conservatives, Justin Hinchcliffe said:

"Lord Harris was born into a working class family on a council estate in Tottenham during the depression. But he was lucky to have benefited from a great education at Tottenham Grammar School, sadly abolished by Labour many years ago. That great school prepared him for a place at Cambridge University and a career in the highest reaches of his profession. Lord Harris was one of so many bright young working class kids who were given a leg-up by Tottenham Grammar School.

Justin Hinchcliffe continued: "It is a sad thought that, nearly 70 years after Ralph Harris first attended Tottenham Grammar - and after 9 years of 'Education, Education, Education' from New Labour, there is no school in Tottenham today which could offer half as decent an education as Tottenham could offer in those days. The comprehensive system has failed thousands of local children who could have made it into our great universities but have to settle for a 3rd division institution or none at all. The greatest beneficiaries of the grammar system were always bright working class kids - it gave a public school standard education to kids whose parents couldn't afford to pay for one. It is no surprise that research shows that upward social mobility for working class children is now lower and slower than it was before WWII.

He added "I think now would be a good time for your paper to canvass the views of readers and local residents on the subject 'Should Tottenham get a grammar school again'? It would be a fitting memorial to Lord Harris to create a new one."

Ends.