THE one thing everyone thought they knew about our new prime minister is that she is cautious. We constantly hear that she wants to look at the evidence, consult everyone, deliberate and delay.

Her first moves in Downing Street seemed to confirm that. She paused the vital new nuclear project at Hinkley Point and she stalled over triggering our exit from the EU.

So when she announced that the government wants to bring back grammar schools, reversing the consensus of the last 30 years, it’s fair to say it took most people by surprise. It was a move that defied expectations but also defied the evidence.

When challenged to name a single supportive educational expert by Jeremy Corbyn at prime minister’s questions, she came up blank.

I know experts might not be in vogue right now, but this really matters. All the evidence suggests that grammar schools help neither those who pass the 11+ nor those who miss the cut. The poorest are hit hardest as rich families game the system by paying for expensive private tuition to help their children pass the entrance exams.

Of course there are plenty of people who went to grammars in the 60s and 70s and went on to capitalise on a boom in white collar professional jobs. But some thrive whatever the system - it could have terrible consequences for the country to base the return of selection at 11 years old on individual anecdote.

In Barrow people will remember the old boys and girls grammar schools. The schools may hold fond memories for some, but for others the system they represented evokes resentment. Too many children were written off at the age of 11 and had to put up with low-quality education and low expectations. I don’t want us to return to a system of segregation and underperformance in education.

It was just a few months ago that the government were coming forward with plans to force all schools to become academies, now we are apparently returning to the 1950s. Our children deserve better than this lurch from one bad policy to another.

But be clear: I am not satisfied with the status quo either. It remains the case that there is a stubborn attainment gap in education that is holding young people back and stopping our country from reaching its potential. The gap between the richest students and the poorest persists.

But Barrow and other whole areas are losing out too. Barrovian children are as bright and gifted as anywhere, yet for generations fewer of our young people have left school with adequate numeracy and literacy compared to the national average. Also, far fewer local school leavers go on to the top universities than other areas.

I am determined to do whatever I can to help bring people together to address this generations-old problem. That’s why I backed the ambitious move to save Chetwynde and turn it into a free school open to all; it’s why I set up the Furness Future Leaders Academy summer school for local children. But more must be done.

Our great schools and education professionals work their socks off for local children, but they need back-up from government. We need proper investment and more incentives to motivate and support teachers. We need high-quality affordable childcare to prepare children for school so they are not playing catch-up from day one. And we should not give up on the idea that all children can do well and go back to a system of splitting children into successes and failures at an early age.

We must be bold on education, in fact we need more imaginative new ideas. But by arguing for a return to the failed policies of yesteryear, the new prime minister is letting down the next generation.