Tuesday 25 June 2013

"Minister resigned following a row over his defence of a school which faced closure under his own policy."

Welsh Education Minister Leighton Andrews, that is, reports the BBC.

Of course, such behaviour - suddenly deciding to oppose government policy that previously received apparently universal support when it became "a constituency issue" isn't unknown outside Wales.

I have distinct recollections of various Ministers in the 1997 - 2010 administration somehow managing to overlook the "collective responsibility" idea and joining various "Save Our XXXXX" campaigns with increasing frequency in the run up to May 2010 and being called out as something beginning with "H" for it; but I can't recall any instance of a Minister in office being called out for opposing his/her own policy and actually acknowledging that their position has become untenable and resigning.

4 comments:

Graeme said...

if only schools were not under governmental control......

Graeme said...

expanding.....should schools be under government control? What role should government play in schools apart from, as with the private schools, which do not require their teachers to have gone through teacher-training, relevant degrees etc...., simply setting standards of achievement?

Mark Wadsworth said...

G, exactly, give parents vouchers and it will sort itself out. But you're getting off the topic.

Bayard said...

"and actually acknowledging that their position has become untenable and resigning."

Yes, that's because he's a Minister in the Welsh Assembly and not Westminster. Obviously the Welsh pols haven't been around long enough to realise that as a Minister, you are two completely separate persons. One is the Minister, bound by collective responsibility and the other is the MP, bound by the need to get re-elected. Neither person is responsible for the other's actions, unless he chooses to be. This disconnect is also noticeable when the ministerial persona changes or becomes a shadow or its former self.