Political

Gove’s exam plans are about him, not about children

Whatever you think of Michael Gove’s views on education, he’s not a dumb person. A successful journalist and politician, he’s not stupid. Misguided and wrong at times, yes, but not dumb.

Which is what makes his education plans so revealing. It’s not exactly hard to work out that if you want to get a policy through a coalition government, you need to win over at least some people in the other coalition party. Nor is it hard to work out that bouncing big policy plans on them, which run against what they’ve called for in the past, isn’t the way to do it.

So why would Gove and his inner advisers cook up in secret plans, kept even from those in the Liberal Democrats he normally works closely and constructively with?

If he really wants to see the plans implemented this side of 2015, that’s not the way to go.

But if he wants to steal the headlines, have the story all about him and win some plaudits from Tory backbenchers for antagonising Liberal Democrats? Then it’s a spot-on plan that has worked to near perfection.

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