Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 January 1997.
Michael Ancram
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office
12:00,
30 January 1997
I note what the hon. Gentleman says. I should be grateful if he would let me know of specific instances of the avoidance of selection. The purpose of the Northern Ireland education system is to produce choice and part of that is to have a selective system so that parents can put their children forward for selection in the transfer test, as about 70 per cent. do. It is important to recognise that it is not only Northern Ireland parents who recognise the value of selective education. The hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman), who sits on the Opposition front bench, also recognises it for her children.
The first bench on either side of the House of Commons, reserved for ministers and leaders of the principal political parties.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
