AT YOUR average middle class dinner party these days, the conversation invariably turns to the abysmal state of Britain's education system.
As the wine flows, late 30 and early 40 somethings will passionately argue over cause and effect. But they'll all agree that "the school fees" are a killer. And however they rationalise their choice, those who have made the commitment will reason that just about anybody who can will send their kids to the private sector.
Time was when the smart sets of Hampstead and Islington (or Wandsworth for that matter) would idle the night away, savouring the prospect of a killing in Margaret Thatcher's "property owning democracy". But after the high came the inevitable low. Many found themselves over mortgaged, stuck with properties they couldn't sell.
Worse still, for some the expected profits became negative equity. Insecurity suddenly bedevilled the job market. After Thatcher's demolition job on the trade unions came the tyranny of the short term contract.
Things are slowly improving. One poll this week found a significant number of former Tory voters now confident of an improvement in their personal fortunes. Homes are still being repossessed at a rate of just under 1,000 per week. But there are signs elsewhere of a recovery (albeit patchy) in the housing market.
John Major might be whistling in the wind when he predicts an emerging "feelgood factor" sufficient to win the Conservatives a fifth term. But with low interest rates, inflation seemingly under control, and tax cuts to come, it already seems foolish to talk of a Canadian style "wipe out" for the Tories come the general election.
Yet the trauma has been real enough. At its peak Middle England has (albeit briefly) applauded Arthur Scargill, reviled ministerial attacks on single mothers, and registered its angst at government "neglect" of state provided health and education. Indeed it may prove an enduring state of concern. For those Hampstead Islington Wandsworth sets, like the rest of the country, have been horrified to discover that wealth - far from cascading down from generation to generation - is likely to be consumed by the cost of care for elderly parents. And (while the rest of the country will snort that they at least can afford the choice) the school fees really are crippling. It's not uncommon for families to find themselves paying around £12,000/£13,000 to send three kids to the equivalent of the average grammar school in Northern Ireland.
After almost 17 years in power, you might think education a surefire loser for the Conservative Party. However, we should not confuse disillusion with the performance of this government with wholesale rejection of the ideas which have underpinned the party's four electoral triumphs. And a measure of just how far the Tories have changed agendas and attitudes may be found in the relatively muted Labour response to the latest report from the Office for Standards in Education.
Some children of the 1960s still immediately reject the charge that the problems in education relate directly to the "fashionable theories" which came into their own from that time. But on display again this week is the tension between old socialist instincts, and the discipline and responsibility - almost evangelical in character and tone - demanded by Mr Tony Blair's "New Labour".
Of course there is always a case for greater resources. This week's report by the chief inspector had plenty to say about schools plainly lacking in basic provision of books and equipment (one in 12 secondary schools, and one in 17 primaries). This column a while back - featured a teacher who exhausted her school's supply of paper trying to copy essential material for her class.
But Mr Chris Woodhead had still more to say about the failure of some 40 per cent of schools to make proper use of resources - not to mention the unsatisfactory nature of one third of lessons for eight to 11 year olds; the unacceptably low expectations harboured for pupils by some 15,000 teachers deemed unfit for the job; and the inexplicable differences in the performances of schools operating in similar socio economic conditions across the country.
According to the chief inspector, half of all primary schools and four out of 10 secondaries in England are falling below acceptable standards. Confirming concern about levels of basic numeracy and literacy. Mr Woodhead said the teaching of reading was "mediocre or poor in many junior schools. Too little use was made of phonies (which involves sounding out letters), while number work was too often neglected.
While poor teachers represented only 4 per cent of the total, Mr Woodhead repeated his earlier estimate that some 15,000 should be sacked if they couldn't be retrained. Those teaching seven to 11 year olds, he said, often had insufficient knowledge of their subjects - and throughout the primary years greater use should be made of "whole class" teaching alongside the individual teaching which accounts for three quarters of the primary school day.
Two thirds of the outstanding schools identified by the report were selective, and a third of the secondaries had "opted out" of local authority control. While stopping short of a demand for a wholesale return to traditional teaching methods, the report called for greater use of streaming according to ability.
Tories welcomed the implicit repudiation of "progressive" education methods developed over the past 25 years - while the Education Secretary, Ms Gillian Shephard, immediately announced new league tables for primary schools. These will enable parents to identify those schools failing to give their pupils a firm grounding in "the three Rs".
Ms Shephard denied this amounted to a new 11 plus. But while her proposals were condemned by the main teachers' unions, David Blunkett of Labour confined himself to an attack on the government's record. Some "New Labour" supporters suspect the party leadership - eager to avoid a showdown with the teaching unions is secretly delighted that the government is getting on with the job.
The point will not be lost on Mr Major. As the battle of the soundbite rages, he will continue to deride a "New Labour" party which makes much of its commitment to reform while opposing his government every step along the way.