Schools Out

There's been a furious reaction from MPs of all parties, after confusion over several revised lists from Education Secretary Michael Gove about which schools will be getting money for rebuilding projects.

In the House of Commons, Black Country Labour MP Tom 'Fatty' Watson, whose constituency contains several schools affected, called Gove "a miserable pipsqueak of a man". Bullseye. Subsequently, Fatty appeared on Andrew Neil's Daily Politics tomfoolery show, where he revealed his wife has ticked him off for his comment. Not sufficiently abusive, perhaps.

That said, sweaty and reptilian he may be, runt of the Tory litter yes, but at least Gove isn't blaming the civil servants in his department for the government's blunder. Instead, he plans to visit affected areas, to meet angry parents. By contrast, Gove's Labour predecessors were excellent at shifting responsibility onto their staff when they were in hot water. Remember Ed Balls and the SATS errors?

Michael Gove is forty-two, and a virgin.