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The Morning Star 2026 Conference
The Tories stick their middle fingers to the education system
Teacher ROBERT POOLE reflects on a week so turbulent in Westminster it's provided a brief respite from unwanted interference in the education system — now if only Ofsted would go on an indefinite strike too...
There have been eight education secretaries since 2014 (from left to right) Michael Gove, Nicky Morgan, Justine Greening, Damian Hinds, Gavin Williamson, Nadhim Zahawi, Michelle Donelan and James Cleverly

AT time of writing, though this may change by the time this is printed, we have had three education secretaries in three days — that makes eight since 2014. In fact, when I started writing this we were on education secretary number seven, Michelle Donelan, but such is the speed at which politics happens these days my original article was defunct before the metaphorical ink was dry.

Alas, you will not get to hear many of my thoughts on the two-day minister, a former marketing executive for World Wrestling Entertainment — her qualification being that she was used to working with overpaid fakes mired in scandal and so would fit in well with Johnson and his band of bootlickers and toadies.

After being in the job for less than two days Donelan clearly saw which way the wind was turning and jumped ship. I’m looking for a wrestling pun here but feel like I’d be grasping.

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