Neo-conservatives,Neo-liberals,the New Left and Inclusion: Stirring the pot

Layers of policy often conflict with one another. In this paper, different layers of policy - and more importantly the different intellectual stables from which they emerge are explored in relation to inclusion. There are those of the New Right, with its emphasis on individualism, the free market, tradition and the family; and there are those of the new centre-left, which stresses the importance of community and 'stakeholder welfare'. We argue that there are attempts in much recent policy to fuse both kinds of thinking and that expressions about the need for a plural, tolerant, inclusive education system sometimes sit uneasily with policy which foregrounds the benefits of choice, selection and the comparison of schools on the basis of their pupils' attainment. While proclamations from politicians about benefits of inclusion are to be welcomed, the effects of exhortation will be counteracted by policy whose effects are to promote competition.