Gosh, isn’t this tiresome? Why are we still talking as if it were 1982? Can’t everybody see how utterly pointless it is to frame every policy debate in terms of Right and Left as if the ideological purity and fervour of those polar positions were still a living political reality? The most pernicious aspect of this simple-minded formula is that it forces every debate on to tram lines. A policy or a position will not be judged by whether it is socially constructive, fair-minded, compassionate, or economically productive. It is only discussed as a move in an outdated game in which nobody any longer has a clear idea of the rules. Encouraging social mobility can be either Left-wing or Right-wing depending on whether you sell it wrapped in the packaging of Labour egalitarianism or Thatcherite individual aspiration. So how do we judge the Tory education reforms? The fact that they are hated by the teaching unions suggests that they are Right-wing, but what if their effect is to enable more working-class children to do well at school? Isn’t that a Left-wing goal? Either you want more disadvantaged children to succeed or you don’t. We will soon have pretty clear empirical evidence of whether the new system produces that result. If it does, where will that leave the relevance of Right vs Left in this discussion?