Mandelson vs Prescott? (again) – Media and blog round up: February 7th 2013
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Gove humiliated over Ebacc
“Michael Gove has had to abandon his plans to scrap GCSEs in core subjects and replace them with examinations modelled on O-levels after opposition from the Liberal Democrats. The Education Secretary will admit defeat in a Commons statement today, telling MPs that GCSEs will stay and be rewritten and restructured. Plans to move to a franchise system, with a single exam board awarded contracts to run all exams in each core subject, have also been abandoned because they fell foul of European Union rules.
“The Education Secretary bowed to overwhelming pressure for a rethink from Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, the exams regulator Ofqual and MPs from all parties. It is understood that he decided to act after being warned by civil servants that one key plank of his reforms – handing each of the core subjects over to just one exam board – could breach European Union rules on public service contracts and be open to judicial review. The dramatic U-turn follows a cacophony of opposition to plans for the new EBacc certificate – which would have been awarded in the five core academic areas of English, maths, the sciences, languages and a humanities subject (history or geography).” – Independent
Mandelson vs Prescott?
“Their rivalry was such that John Prescott once likened Peter Mandelson to a crab. Now it has been reignited after Lord Mandelson was appointed to a prestigious role in the former deputy prime minister’s home city of Hull. Lord Prescott has written an ‘irate’ letter to the local council after being passed over for the post of High Steward in the city where he was an MP for 40 years. Instead, the Labour-controlled council has appointed former business secretary Lord Mandelson to act as the city’s new ambassador.” – Daily Mail
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