CMD has a long list of incredibly bad choices of people to keep close to him and he has suspect judgement IMHO.

He may actually just be that daft he has not realised just how hated Gove is. he is this generations Portillio

Gove is not a credible risk to his leadership[ but possibly arrogant enough to think he is] but GO is.

They are big fans of capitalism

Shame they don’t act like it, then.

Loved the bird from the defence minister claiming that new job has nothing to do with her gender. Let’s hope she understands her brief better than the reason for her appointment.

Indeed thm. I was pissing myself yesterday listening to Dave explain, in his usual face-smashingly patronising plummy way (like he’s talking to a retarded 3 year old) how this showed how inclusive and representative of our great nation his new cabinet was. Yeah… right. We’ve spent four and a half years being ruled by a cabal of Eton and Bullingdon Club, White, over-privaledged, Upper middle class, male, London-centric mafia. And then less than a year before an election, with the last queens speech containing no legislation of any consequence, he appoints a couple of token women. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it – he may have pointed it out – but one of them even has a northern regional accent. Whatever next?

He must think we’ve all just fallen out of a ****ing tree. The condescending ****!!!!

There’s now 5 MP’s working at the Department of (or is it for?) Education and they all went to private schools.

Very inclusive.

Initially I saw this as capitulation, but I’ve been reading some interesting counter arguments on this – that it could be quite an intelligent move,

Argument is that much of the ‘radical reform’ is already done, (it was always going to be front loaded in the electoral cycle) and a disproportionate amount of the oppositions effort over the past years has been spent on attacking the people involved rather than the policies themselves, (good example being Gove)

by removing the controversial characters from the pubic arena, its the equivalent of pulling back your troops from the Seelowe Heights just before the Russian artillery bombardment – there’s just no-one left to attack – its easy for Labour to jump up and down attacking Gove, but bloody difficult to attack Liz Truss or Penny Mordant, who have little baggage and are pretty uncontroversial – which of course means that Labour have to start talking about policies… and thats where their weaknesses really show up.

Not entirely convinced, but I can see an element of truth in it!

ninfan, you are quite correct here. Nothing will change in education the only difference is the new person will be less abrasive and make conciliatory noises whilst carrying on Goves work

ninfan I think you are falling for a bit of spin tbh.

Basically polling showed he was toxic so they knew they had to get rid. It had nothing to do with planning and was forced on them it was not their plan to do this but they may have then chosen folk for the reasons you suggest.

That is how they will spin it but the reality is he is an albatross around the parties neck and as despised as portillo was.

An interesting article on a point we picked up on yesterday

A tale of two careers – Michae Gove and Iain Duncan Smith

Both men are passionate and sincere reformers, determined in their own way, to give greater opportunities for the poor. One, in his own terms, has succeeded, and done exactly what he and Cameron promised in the Conservative manifesto.

The other has failed, leaving the Treasury, the National Audit Office and Major Projects Authority exasperated.

Mr Woppit – Member

They are big fans of capitalism

Shame they don’t act like it, then.

You don’t appear to understand what capitalism is. Or more likely being deliberately disingenuous.

Both men are passionate and sincere reformers, determined in their own way, to give greater opportunities for the poor

Its a work of fiction then?

they could not give a flying **** for the poor

Gove did what he thought was right without giving the slightest hint of a toss about what people thought of him for doing so.

That’s a bad quality in someone who is supposed to represent other people.

Binners – we have a precedent with blairs babes!

TBF, to CMD, he is in a no-win situation. Backed into a corner about upper class, white men but equally doomed if he introduces a northern lass into the mix – “3am is no conducive to Rumpey Pumpey” or words to that effect.

At the end of the day, delivery counts more than sex/race etc but if we need some kind of positive discrimination to get to a better place then so be it. Both main parties are guilty of an element of tokenism IMO and it was funny also to hear the Labour Shadow Minster for Woman (again words to that effect) on the Beeb news last night – so is that a real job?

FWIW, both IDS and MG say “some” very important messages but both fail to execute. It is absurd IMO to dismiss this as purely ideological. But perhaps they need some trading in change management. So MG alienated teachers, what’s new? The entrenched self interest in the profession (as in health) is so strong that this will always happen and is a genuine obstacle to progress. As Toby Young (yes, I know) MG took on the blob and the blob ultimately won, as it generally does.

Still unforgivable to have Gove on Today from now on…..

It is absurd IMO to dismiss this as purely ideological.

Why? I would have thought that almost everyone[ except the right who think it is “common sense” or something] would have accepted that both IDS and Gove are ideologically driven rather data led. FFS they are politicians what proof do you need that they are ideologically driven if not this? To some degree i could cut IDS some slack as he does seem to really GAS about this issue but it is still from a right wing perspective as he is an elected right wing politician.

So MG alienated teachers, what’s new? The entrenched self interest in the profession (as in health) is so strong that this will always happen and is a genuine obstacle to progress.

Their self interest is a cheap slur when in reality what they do is to care about the profession they have dedicated their lives to whilst wanting the best outcomes for the people they serve. To suggest otherwise is to make an ideological point designed to insult and caricature public sector workers as self serving and its a cheap right wing tactic to denigrate the professions thus and it is tabloid level of cheap insult

If we were to ask the public who acts out of self interest

1. Teachers and health professionals
2. Politicians
And follow it up by asking who you respected most and then asking who was most ideologically led what would you say the result would be ?
Tricky eh ?

In general folk can be resistant to change but can you imagine a FTSE company putting a politician with no experience of the field in charge of their company ? would their ideas [ why let an non expert run the service?] get some resistance? They resisted Gove because his ideas were shit and for no other reason. Parents distrusted him as well and ultimately the Tories knew this.
IDS is resisted by everyone including the treasury as they only sign of monthly on his “vanity project” as you would no doubt call it were you to disagree with it.

As Toby Young (yes, I know) MG took on the blob and the blob ultimately won, as it generally does.

I am not sure that referring to the profession in a disparaging manner is helpful.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/shortcuts/2013/oct/02/michael-gove-referring-to-the-blob

Is the education secretary a closet sci-fi fan? Or is he resorting to infantile name-calling of his opponents in the education establishment?

binnersAnd from now on, children will only be allowed to read the books that I’ve got on my shelf in the front room

Would you really want your kids going round to Gove’s place to borrow books….

shudders

Well he’s made a good start in his new job.

Michael Gove got stuck in the toilet on his first day as chief whip

http://www.itv.com/news/2014-07-17/michael-gove-got-stuck-in-the-toilet-on-his-first-day-as-chief-whip-says-labour-mp/

well I laughed.

Michael Gove is voted the most unpopular politician in Britain

It will fuel the belief that the minister was downgraded for becoming “toxic” to voters, but also beg a question whether he is the right person to front the Tory pre-election campaign.

Mr Gove’s ratings are worse than other big hitters

3 possibilities

part of a PR campaign to reinvent himself as a bumbling loveable borris johnson type?

or was he up to something more embarrassing, coke, hookers?

or maybe just having a good cry?

I did think of the bumbling “haha oh how we all laughed” loveable Boris type scenario.