SOCIAL media thrives on conflict. Day in, day out, people sign in and lay out their politics with a sense of moral superiority. It's a surprise, then, that the issue of grammar schools hasn't prompted quite the usual frenzy. The Conservative Government looks as though it's on the cusp of lifting a ban on grammar school expansion, which is a pretty significant step. It throws up questions about the delivery of education and who it benefits. It raises the big questions about disadvantage in the system, and whether children from the richest or poorest backgrounds are likely to see the best outcomes. It inevitably leads to an examination of both public and private involvement in education and its impact on society. Fundamentally, it is an opportune battleground for social justice warriors and the right versus the left, but unusually for social media, it doesn't stimulate the expected level of moral jockeying.

A quick search on Twitter throws up a lot of news articles, a few grand statements about more evidence of Britain going to the dogs, and a number of people being quite upfront about not really "getting" what the debate is even about. It also brings up a number of people defending grammar schools, usually because of personal experience; those of a working-class background who feel that access to them literally changed the course of their lives and enabled them to grab opportunities they may not otherwise have had, for example. Even if they might agree in principle that opportunity should be there for all, in a system where that isn't the case, opportunity for some may be better than none.