The Conservatives today accused Peter Hain's NIO of acting "like an arrogant colonial despot" over the Education Reform Order which will see grammar schools in Northern Ireland abolished. (For background, Kenneth Bloomfield summarises quite well in the Telegraph).

Referring to the results of the household survey conducted by DENI to determine the attitudes of the public towards education reform, the Conservatives branded the move 'undemocratic' as well as "bad for education". The household survey conducted for the Department of Education while Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness was in charge was blatantly desinged in such a way as to give DENI the answer they wanted, but the results of the survey were ignored once it was discovered the public wouldn't play along.

Despite the efforts and opinions of parents, politicians, the grammar school lobby and groups like Concerned Parents for Education and Children in Northern Ireland, and despite evidence that the abolition of grammars in Great Britain was a mistake, it seems that the government will go ahead with its plans to impose their "doctrinally based policy" and destroy Ulster's grammar education system unless the assembly is restored.

The Tories are right to point out that it's just as undemocratic on 25th November as it is on the 24th.