Graham Brady MP: So Welsh Tories have backed grammar schools. It's time for English ones to do so, too.

Graham Brady is  Chairman of the 1922 Committee and MP for Altrincham and Sale West

Michael Howard (Llanelli), John Humphrys (Cardiff), Dylan Thomas (Swansea), Anthony Hopkins (Cowbridge)... all great Welshmen helped on their way by grammar school education. It is little wonder that the Welsh Conservatives have started a debate about how academic selection might help to raise standards in state schools. As we approach the 70th anniversary of the ‘Butler’ Act of 1944, it is an opportune moment to take stock.

The 1944 Act was introduced by a Tory Secretary of State, but under a National Government with all-party support. As Labour’s spokesman John Parker said when the bill was introduced: “We welcome the intention to make secondary education available to the whole people and we think it right and proper that a Bill which will give secondary education to the whole people should be brought in by an all party National Government. We are particularly pleased to see the Tories accepting progressive ideas and I welcome the fact that the two main parties are collaborating in trying to pass this Bill as law. In all our big educational advances there has been a sharing of ideas.” (Hansard 19 January 1944).

Graham Brady MP: It is time to get real on airports policy

Graham Brady is MP for Altrincham and Sale West and Chairman of the 1922 Committee.

There are no easy options when it comes to airport expansion. A fiercely emotive issue, there are few policy debates that have caused more controversy than the future of hub airport capacity in this country.

The choice to me is clear.  The world’s economic centre of gravity is shifting and Britain needs to be connected to the growing markets of the East and South.  If we are not, then we will fall behind our global competitors and lose the growth opportunities we so desperately need. 

Graham Brady MP and Lord Lingfield: To open up educational opportunity for all, we must give schools autonomy and the freedom to select

Graham Brady is the Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale West, and Lord Lingfield is a Conservative peer who was Chairman of the Grant Maintained Schools Trust, and a key advisor to successive Shadow Education Secretaries.

The great divide in the education debate is not between Left and Right, but those who excuse failure and those who do not. To raise standards and extend opportunity, we must challenge under-performance and have the courage to allow innovation and choice.

The Coalition government has taken some steps in the right direction. Rules on school discipline have been improved, the curriculum strengthened, exams made more rigorous and some school choice introduced. The expansion of academy schools and Free Schools is another important step forward.

However, if we are to revolutionise educational opportunity for all, we must first be prepared to ask uncomfortable questions. For instance, why do 68% of state school-educated children in Kingston get five or more good GCSEs, including English and Maths, while in Bristol only 40% achieve this? Why does Buckinghamshire (67%) out-perform Oxfordshire (58%)? Of the top ten Local Education Authorities for getting state school pupils into Britain’s best universities, why is only one outside the South East?

Graham Brady MP: It's time to stop aviation taxes flying out of control

Graham Brady is Conservative MP for Altrincham and Sale West and Chairman of the 1922 Committee.

For many ordinary working families, the ability to take a holiday abroad has become a powerful symbol of increased national prosperity and of a more equal society. No longer is international travel the preserve of a ‘Whicker’s World’ jet set: whether it’s a long-haul trip to Disney or a short hop to a sunny beach, over the last 30 years it has become less a luxury and more an expectation. For many, the ability to take the family away for a decent holiday is the thing that motivates them to work hard for the rest of the year.

As the rising cost of living has started to bite, people have traded long-haul for short or moved to low-cost airlines, but the next turn of the screw will price huge numbers of people out of the market altogether. The reason is simple: not only do Brits already pay among the highest aviation taxes in the world, but there are even more penal charges planned.

Graham Brady MP: Why I am standing for the chairmanship of the 1922 Committee

Graham Brady is one of two candidates standing for the chairmanship of the 1922 Committee next week.

In this Parliament more than ever, the Chairman and Executive of the 1922 will have a critically important role in ensuring that the views and interests of Conservative colleagues are communicated to the Prime Minister. In the new circumstances of coalition government, success or failure will depend absolutely on maintaining the support and consent of back bench members. As David Cameron has acknowledged, consultation and communication with colleagues will be vital.

The 1922 Committee will have an important role in ensuring that the coalition government receives timely and effective input of Conservative thinking into its deliberations on policy. An early priority for the new Executive should be to establish a mechanism for interested colleagues to play their part in this process.

For many years before I became a Member of Parliament in 1997 I served the Conservative Party as a volunteer and an association officer. Since 1997 I have done my bit on the front and back benches, serving on select committees (Education, Treasury, Parliamentary Reform) and in a number of shadow ministerial jobs. As PPS to Michael Howard as the party leader and as Shadow Europe Minister, I worked in some of the most sensitive and confidential settings.

Graham Brady MP: How the financial crisis will mean a more political Europe

Graham Brady is Conservative MP for Altrincham and Sale West and a member of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee. He was Shadow Minister for Europe between 2004 and 2007.

The black humour of the credit crunch has it that the only difference between Ireland and Iceland is one letter and about six months. At Davos, Peter Sutherland, the BP Chairman and former EU Commissioner took a different view – that the thing that stands between the Irish economy and an Icelandic style meltdown is Ireland’s membership of the Euro.

His opinion appears to have traction in Reykjavik where there is talk of a fast-track application to join the currency bloc. But if he is right, why is there increasing talk about the mounting problems that face Ireland and the other PIIGS: Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain within the Eurozone?

The irony is that while signing up to the (relative) discipline of the European Central Bank could restore some confidence and credibility to Iceland’s tiny Nordic economy, the PIIGS, are doing everything in their power to escape those self same fiscal rules.