Fiona Miller

The Tomlinson report gives you an opportunity to focus again on what goes on in the classroom. Don't fudge it in the forthcoming white paper by keeping A-levels and GCSEs. Make school choice fairer for all parents by finally ending selection at 11 and introducing the model set of admission criteria which Charles Clarke hinted at in his response to the education select committee. Remind your friend the chancellor that we are still not spending enough of the nation's wealth on education. Schools need more money, especially those that are dealing with children with impoverished, challenging home lives. They can't all go to city academies - indeed, there is evidence that some of them are being thrown out of your flagships in alarming numbers. You have to walk the tightrope between ideologues in No 10, the public and your party, many of whose members are actively involved as parents, governors and teachers in trying to drag up standards in state schools. I know it's unfashionable in New Labour circles but we see our schools at the heart of our communities, vehicles for social cohesion as well as social mobility. We know what works and what doesn't work. I hope you will listen to us.