Comments on: On Michael Gove

By: Hal Berstram

Hal Berstram — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:55:32 +0000

A pedant writes: if you were indeed a betting man you would know that this statement is contingent on the odds being offered.

Paddy Power (for example) has Boris at 6/1 to be next Tory leader… at those odds I’d be putting my money down now.

By: ejh

ejh — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:40:46 +0000

Any one of of these new academies or Free Schools could blow up in his face

Yes, but what happens if nobody cares? One of the characteristics of scorched-earth freemarketism is that you can always blame the failures on the same people who your policy was designed to scapegoat.

It’s quite a familiar pattern: we can see large segments of public policy in the UK or US (or elsewhere) which have been consistent failures over the past couple of generatons, which have made problems much worse, but which respond to that failure by intensifying themselves. I’m thinking of prison policy, drugs policy, welfare policy and so on. In each instance you cast the problem in moral terms, people who need to be blamed and punished, and hence when the policy does not suceeed you obviously need to step up the punishment further. It simply feeds on itself.

although if I were a betting man (which I’m not) my money would be down on Boris Johnson

A pedant writes: if you were indeed a betting man you would know that this statement is contingent on the odds being offered.

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:24:10 +0000

In looks, Gove always makes me think of Gollum. His grammar’s better, of course.

By: Jason Holdcroft

Jason Holdcroft — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:31:01 +0000

In my former homeland of the south east there was a derelict house on a main road which I think belonged to somebody called Michael Critchley, and he had a large sign up right next to the road which said something rambling about somebody in the Tory Party and was frequently vandalised, and later it had added to it the stencil, “Gove vandals keep off”. Had I known at the time that the gnome-like one would become so prominent then I might have made more effort to record the details for posterity but back then I paid even less attention to Conservatives than I do now.

By: Chris Brooke

Chris Brooke — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:06:35 +0000

Jamie K has more:
http://bloodandtreasure.typepad.com/blood_treasure/2012/07/with-much-to-be-modest-about.html

By: CMcM

CMcM — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:49:39 +0000

Chris: yeah, but no, but... ...actually, it may depends on how far the backwoodsmen and women are up for a Kulturkampf again that scourge of modern society.... the school governor.. As a candidate for this year's Enemy Within, I'm not sure school governors make quite such a good bogeyman as the NUM. Philip Hammond is the sanest Tory Minster on the telly I reckon, not Gove. It depends if, post Cameron, the Tories want a return to the glory days of Michael Howard or to remain on speaking terms with the rest of the country.

By: Philip

Philip — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 14:27:38 +0000

And there’s always the Boris factor: the apparent law of politics that looking, acting and talking like a gibbering fuckwit may not necessarily stand in one’s way.

By: Chris Brooke

Chris Brooke — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:54:56 +0000

CMcM: I agree with most of this. Obviously I was leaving a lot of highly relevant political stuff out, and you’re right that Gove would have to face a challenge from the Coalition-sceptical Right. But I think two of the risks you pick out–that free schools may backfire, and his closeness to the Murdoch gang–aren’t likely to be especially damaging to his career ambitions. The Tories are too keen on the new schools to be especially bothered if lots of them turn out to be an expensive waste of money, and I can’t yet see the party turning on Murdoch en bloc.

By: Hal Berstram

Hal Berstram — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:53:09 +0000

Interesting… very interesting.

I think there’s something in this, although if I were a betting man (which I’m not) my money would be down on Boris Johnson to win the leadership in 2015. Mainly because Johnson is completely unassociated with the current govt – and also appears popular with a lot of voters. And in the current Tory party, those two attributes are trading at a premium.

But in terms of current cabinet ministers, I’d agree Mickey Gove has probably the best shot. Although in the event of the Tory party taking a rabid right-wing turn (always easy for them), Liam Fox has to be in there as a wild card shot… although they might go for one of the fresh right wingers like my MP Priti Patel, Gawd ‘elp us.

You’re right to discount the Standpoint quote: remember Mrs T in 1970 or thereabouts? “We’ll never see a female PM in my lifetime”. Ho ho.

By: CMcM

CMcM — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:23:15 +0000

The case against. he isn’t associated with economic policy That's true. But he is leaving quite a lot of little, local landmines scattered around the educational world. Any one of of these new academies or Free Schools could blow up in his face (consider Beccles). Starting new schools of any stripe is hard: stuff goes wrong all the time. & if this happens to even a minority of Free Schools each report on each problem will inevitably contain Gove's name. Also, after Cameron, sure the backwoodsmen and women are going to want someone from outside the Notting Hlil Mafia? & someone not quite so obviously a loyal fan of the wounded Murdoch? So simply 'looking odd' in a potential future when the PM also 'looks odd' many not quite be enough to crack it for Mr.Gove.