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Privy sealed? Michael Gove mocked for 'getting stuck in Commons toilet'
Privy sealed? Michael Gove mocked for 'getting stuck in Commons toilet'
(about 5 hours later)
Michael Gove has been mocked by Labour for apparently getting stuck in a toilet on the first day of his new job as chief whip.
Michael Gove has been mocked by Labour for apparently getting stuck in a toilet on the first day of his new job as chief whip. The senior Tory, demoted from his role as education secretary on Tuesday, also got off to a bad start by losing his first government vote.
The senior Conservative, who was demoted from his role as education secretary on Tuesday, also got off to a bad start by losing the first government vote in the House of Commons.
His mishap was highlighted by Angela Eagle, shadow leader of the Commons, who told MPs: "Mr Gove hasn't had the most auspicious of starts. Yesterday, he not only lost his first vote but he managed to get stuck in the toilet in the wrong lobby. We know all about the former education secretary's love of free schools. I wonder if he is keen to allow the emergence of lots of free Tory MPs who don't have to submit to his authority."
His mishap was highlighted by Angela Eagle, the shadow leader of the Commons, who told MPs: "I'd like to welcome Mr Gove ... he hasn't had the most auspicious of starts. Yesterday, he not only lost his first vote but he managed to get stuck in the toilet in the wrong lobby and he nearly broke his own whip.
William Hague, the new leader of the Commons, said: "Knowledge of who is in the toilets in whatever lobby is a very important piece of information for any chief whip."
"We know all about the former education secretary's love of free schools, independent of any central authority. I wonder if he is keen to allow the emergence of lots of free Tory MPs who don't have to submit to his authority."
In a reference to the Game of Thrones television series, she added: "Apparently when the prime minister asked the chief whip to take up his new role, he asked him to become the 'Hand of the King'.
"Now, I'm no Game of Throne expert but isn't it the case that so far the Hands of the King have been variously beheaded, knifed and shot with a harpoon – and all by their own side?"
William Hague, the new leader of the Commons, defended his colleague, who was not present in the chamber, against the Labour mockery.
"You made fun of what he was doing yesterday – knowledge of who is in the toilets in whatever lobby is a very important piece of information for any chief whip.
"I take this as evidence he was carrying out his duties very assiduously."
Earlier, Nick Clegg said he thought the removal of Gove as education secretary would be an opportunity to "turn the page on what I think had become a really destructive relationship between the Department for Education and many, many teachers across the country".
The deputy prime minister told his weekly LBC radio call-in listeners: "Many … felt quite offended by the way in which Michael Gove and his team appeared to brand all teachers as a 'blob', [to say that] all teachers somehow weren't doing a proper job, all teachers were resistant to change, all teachers were resistant to reform.
"I thought that was a divide-and-rule approach to teaching which doesn't get the best out of teachers … That's why I would like to think that with a change of personnel we can now turn the page and instead of denigrating teachers, we can celebrate what many, many teachers across the country do."
