This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2014/jun/04/theresa-may-michael-gove-who-is-right

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Theresa May v Michael Gove: who is right? Theresa May v Michael Gove: who is right?
(about 3 hours later)
The newspapers have had fun with a contrived photo opportunity showing Nick Clegg and Vince Cable having a pint together in a pub, demonstrating that the two Lib Dems remain pals despite an attempted leadership coup on St Vince's behalf. Alas, no coalition photocall was arranged where it was most needed: Theresa May and Michael Gove sharing a pina colada with two straws in the saloon bar of The Stab in the Back.The newspapers have had fun with a contrived photo opportunity showing Nick Clegg and Vince Cable having a pint together in a pub, demonstrating that the two Lib Dems remain pals despite an attempted leadership coup on St Vince's behalf. Alas, no coalition photocall was arranged where it was most needed: Theresa May and Michael Gove sharing a pina colada with two straws in the saloon bar of The Stab in the Back.
We have endured weeks of "Lib Dems at war" and "Labour's circular firing squad" as Fleet Street's finest gear up to try to win the 2015 general election for David Cameron despite the PM's best efforts. So it's a handy corrective to be reminded that ambitious ministers fight within parties as well as between them – and that there is not much harm it unless the prime minister of the day is shown not to be in charge. We have endured weeks of "Lib Dems at war" and "Labour's circular firing squad" as Fleet Street's finest gear up to try to win the 2015 general election for David Cameron despite the PM's best efforts. So it's a handy corrective to be reminded that ambitious ministers fight within parties as well as between them – and that there is not much harm unless the prime minister of the day is shown not to be in charge.
So full marks to No 10 for forcing the home secretary and the education secretary to issue a joint statement early on Wednesday – as Radio 4's Today programme gleefully mopped up the very public row – saying they are "working together" to resolve the problems of alleged Islamist extremism in Birmingham schools, which went viral in March after the "Trojan horse" allegations first got national attention. So full marks to No 10 for forcing the home secretary and education secretary to issue a joint statement early on Wednesday – as Radio 4's Today programme gleefully mopped up the very public row – saying they were "working together" to resolve the problems of alleged Islamist extremism in Birmingham schools, which went viral in March after the "Trojan horse" allegations first got national attention.
Who is right? Gove to suggest that the Home Office is falling down on its duty to combat violent extremism of word and deed in our society, schools included? Or May's briefers who suggest it is the DfE that has failed to tackle allegations about standards of governance in Birmingham schools, which have been around in one form or another since 2008?Who is right? Gove to suggest that the Home Office is falling down on its duty to combat violent extremism of word and deed in our society, schools included? Or May's briefers who suggest it is the DfE that has failed to tackle allegations about standards of governance in Birmingham schools, which have been around in one form or another since 2008?
Worse, that Gove's hardline agenda ("neocon" in the language of thinktank types) was defeated in cabinet committee and would be counter-productive in practice. It did not stop Gove, who is a personal chum of the Camerons, going behind May's back to the PM to push his case. It is what confident ministers sometimes do, but it is risky, so he had better be right. May won't forget and the ex-prisons minister Crispin Blunt has just gone public with the charge. Worse, that Gove's hardline agenda ("neocon" in the language of thinktank types) was defeated in cabinet committee and would be counter-productive in practice. It did not stop Gove, who is a personal chum of the Camerons, going behind May's back to the PM to push his case. It is what confident ministers sometimes do, but it is risky, so he had better be right. May won't forget and the former prisons minister Crispin Blunt has just gone public with the charge.
I no longer cover these goings-on in detail. When I hear from the BBC's Nick Robinson that the Home Office counter-terrorism chief, Charles Farr (isn't he up for the top job at GCHQ?) is "in a relationship" with May's special adviser, the person who apparently briefed the Times against Gove, I struggle to remember exactly who all these people are. Do I miss it? A bit.I no longer cover these goings-on in detail. When I hear from the BBC's Nick Robinson that the Home Office counter-terrorism chief, Charles Farr (isn't he up for the top job at GCHQ?) is "in a relationship" with May's special adviser, the person who apparently briefed the Times against Gove, I struggle to remember exactly who all these people are. Do I miss it? A bit.
But a couple of points are always worth making. Special advisers who get into public rows that generate headlines with their fingerprints on them, let alone get named, are usually not going to be around for long. Ask Alastair Campbell or his less nuanced rival in the Brown camp, Charlie Whelan, first sacked in the prisoner exchange that toppled Peter Mandelson in 1998. Ask Dominic Cummings, Gove's own clever-but-volatile special adviser at education, no longer in post. Ask Adam Smith, Jeremy Hunt's over-keen gofer in the Murdoch clan's BSkyB bid fiasco. But a couple of points are always worth making. Special advisers who get into public rows that generate headlines with their fingerprints on them, let alone get named, are usually not going to be around for long.
Ask Alastair Campbell or his less nuanced rival in the Brown camp, Charlie Whelan, first sacked in the prisoner exchange that toppled Peter Mandelson in 1998. Ask Dominic Cummings, Gove's own clever-but-volatile special adviser at education, no longer in post. Ask Adam Smith, Jeremy Hunt's over-keen gofer in the Murdoch clan's BSkyB bid fiasco.
It happens that Hunt got out from the BSkyB rubble to take over at health. Liam Fox fell from the defence job when his man, Adam Werrity, got rumbled. Gove and May are the bosses. They risk being tarnished. Which of them is most culpable here, we wonder. On the evidence of media reports and my personal knowledge of both ministers I would say that May has more right on her side, that she is the grownup in the fight. She didn't start it, but is happy to finish it.It happens that Hunt got out from the BSkyB rubble to take over at health. Liam Fox fell from the defence job when his man, Adam Werrity, got rumbled. Gove and May are the bosses. They risk being tarnished. Which of them is most culpable here, we wonder. On the evidence of media reports and my personal knowledge of both ministers I would say that May has more right on her side, that she is the grownup in the fight. She didn't start it, but is happy to finish it.
What's more, Tory voters seem to think so too since she is often tipped – again this week – as Cameron's most likely successor. On balance she has been a solid home secretary in a difficult job (in this building hundreds of officials are working on policies that may end your career, as Jack Straw once put it) and did herself no harm reading the riot act to the Police Federation the other day.What's more, Tory voters seem to think so too since she is often tipped – again this week – as Cameron's most likely successor. On balance she has been a solid home secretary in a difficult job (in this building hundreds of officials are working on policies that may end your career, as Jack Straw once put it) and did herself no harm reading the riot act to the Police Federation the other day.
That is a lot riskier than most of what Gove does. A journalist by background (he briefed the Times by the look of it, prompting the leaking of May's letter of complaint), he is keen on headlines. Like many over-excitable journalists – Campbell included – he mistakes headlines for achievements. Academies are one obvious example of how policy is easier to promulgate than make a reality on the ground.That is a lot riskier than most of what Gove does. A journalist by background (he briefed the Times by the look of it, prompting the leaking of May's letter of complaint), he is keen on headlines. Like many over-excitable journalists – Campbell included – he mistakes headlines for achievements. Academies are one obvious example of how policy is easier to promulgate than make a reality on the ground.
That doesn't prevent him winning admiring plaudits from fellow Tory MPs as a man with big ideas who drives them forward for the benefit of the better-educated workforce this country needs. Thinktankers, people much like Gove and in thrall to clever ideas too, like him and don't seem to mind the cost of implementing his largely evidence-free plans.That doesn't prevent him winning admiring plaudits from fellow Tory MPs as a man with big ideas who drives them forward for the benefit of the better-educated workforce this country needs. Thinktankers, people much like Gove and in thrall to clever ideas too, like him and don't seem to mind the cost of implementing his largely evidence-free plans.
So Gove, who is famously courteous in private conversation, is vulnerable to policy explosions as much as May is. What's more, he has an ally in Cameron, who must view his home secretary's manoeuvres with suspicion as potential leadership plans. May is not a bit like Margaret Thatcher (for one thing she is a keen supporter of feminist causes). She's much more pragmatic, less messianic. To my mind, she is credible, but in an exposed position. So Gove, who is famously courteous in private conversation, is vulnerable to policy explosions as much as May is. What's more, he has an ally in Cameron, who must view his home secretary's manoeuvres with suspicion as potential leadership plans.
That's the politics. What about the issue as it affects mostly British Muslim kids who live in red-brick terraced Victorian houses on the north side of inner city Birmingham and deserve a good start in life? In the wake of the Trojan horse tale – eagerly picked up by Tory reporters such as Andrew ("Sexed Up") Gilligan, the mayor of London's cycling tsar – Gove sent Ofsted inspectors in to unearth any evidence of improper manipulation of staff, discipline or curriculum. May is not a bit like Margaret Thatcher (for one thing she is a keen supporter of feminist causes). She's much more pragmatic, less messianic. To my mind, she is credible, but in an exposed position.
Its much-delayed report is due soon. But the Guardian on Wednesday carries a sharply worded letter from the educational tough guy – and ex-Birmingham schools chief – Tim Brighouse and others which suggests Ofsted's arm has been twisted in a Gove-ite direction. Ofsted's Sir Michael Wilshaw, recently on the receiving end of nasty Gove-ite briefing himself, says his inspectors have done a very professional job. That's the politics. What about the issue as it affects mostly British Muslim kids who live in red-brick terraced Victorian houses on the north side of inner city Birmingham and deserve a good start in life?
But delays and partisan briefings on which of 21 schools are deemed unsatisfactory (most of them, we are told) do not make for much public confidence in the process. When the Guardian's Richard Adams visited Park View – one of those in the line of fire – he found much to be proud of. The suspicion must be that schools recently judged by Ofsted to be good are now being downgraded to fit a political agenda. In the wake of the Trojan horse tale – eagerly picked up by Tory reporters such as Andrew ("Sexed Up") Gilligan, the mayor of London's cycling tsar – Gove sent Ofsted inspectors in to unearth any evidence of improper manipulation of staff, discipline or curriculum.
Its much delayed report is due soon. But the Guardian on Wednesday carries a sharply worded letter from the educational tough guy – and former Birmingham schools chief – Tim Brighouse and others, which suggests Ofsted's arm has been twisted in a Gove-ite direction. Ofsted's Sir Michael Wilshaw, recently on the receiving end of nasty Gove-ite briefing himself, says his inspectors have done a very professional job.
But delays and partisan briefings on which of 21 schools are deemed unsatisfactory (most of them, we are told) do not make for much public confidence in the process.
When the Guardian's Richard Adams visited Park View, one of those in the line of fire, he found much to be proud of. The suspicion must be that schools recently judged by Ofsted to be good are now being downgraded to fit a political agenda.
Either that or Gove is right to suggest that too many people in authority have been pandering or sidestepping awkward cultural issues for fear of causing offence. I haven't been an education correspondent since 1969 (at the Reading Evening Post since you ask) and don't know enough to pass judgment.Either that or Gove is right to suggest that too many people in authority have been pandering or sidestepping awkward cultural issues for fear of causing offence. I haven't been an education correspondent since 1969 (at the Reading Evening Post since you ask) and don't know enough to pass judgment.
But Birmingham's schools have been a problem for much of the intervening period as Britain's "second city" has ceded ground to Manchester. It is fighting back (Jaguar and Land Rover's renewed success are a symbol of enduring manufacturing prowess), but it needs high-performing schools to thrive as well as good community relations. That matters to us all – in leafy suburb as well as inner city.But Birmingham's schools have been a problem for much of the intervening period as Britain's "second city" has ceded ground to Manchester. It is fighting back (Jaguar and Land Rover's renewed success are a symbol of enduring manufacturing prowess), but it needs high-performing schools to thrive as well as good community relations. That matters to us all – in leafy suburb as well as inner city.