EX-BREXIT Secretary Dominic Raab will kick-start his pitch for the Tory leadership by setting out his vision for a “second chance society”.
In a major speech to the Tory think tank Onward Mr Raab will lay out radical new policies to tackle inequality and halt Britain’s decline in social mobility.
In a sign of the detailed planning he is already putting into a future leadership challenge he will call for radical new policies such as paying high-performing teachers bumper salaries to teach in Britain’s roughest schools.
He says the policy should be a priority, saying: “If there’s one change I’d like to see, having sat on the Education Select Committee between 2013 and 2014, it’s to pay teachers more for teaching in our tougher schools.”
The speech will be seen as a clear pitch for the Tory leadership, with Theresa May expected to stand down later this year.
Mr Raab catapulted to become one of the favourites to replace her after his short stint in the Cabinet last year.
He will also call for a major expansion of vocational programmes for children post-14 who don’t want to go to university.
The emphasis on vocational skills was a mantle of Tony Blair’s latter years in power but was overlooked by subsequent governments.
He will say: “My experience taught me that no one-off meritocratic process will ever be perfect, so we need to build layer upon layer of opportunity, I’m talking about a ‘second chance society’, for those who miss out on their shot, whether that’s because of bad luck, a bad day, or they just happen to blossom later in life.
“We’ve got to make sure that our young people get a genuine opportunity to fulfil their potential.”