Express & Star

E&S Comment: Disloyalty will not win Tories voters

As the dust settles on David Cameron's reshuffle and the removal of Michael Gove as Education Secretary, there are cheers of jubilation from within the teaching unions and shock among large parts of middle England.

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The quandary for the Prime Minister is one of these groups contains what we might call natural Tory voters. The other does not.

Why, then, has he appeased people who never vote for him in a million years at the expense of his core support?

For all his abrasive nature, few could have doubted Mr Gove's commitment, vision and determination to press through change in our education system. Those are qualities Mr Cameron is clearly lacking. The decision to move him smacks of cowardice – a basic trait of his premiership.

Mr Gove should be grateful he lasted this long. Normally Mr Cameron caves in at the first sign of real resistance.

The reshuffle looks as though it was designed as a public relations exercise without a thought for the people who were doing the real work of government.

We know nothing yet about Nicky Morgan's qualities as an education secretary and she has just 10 months to prove herself before the election.

The disloyalty shown to Mr Gove in particular, as well as other extremely capable ministers like Owen Paterson, could be seen as gesture politics in the run-up to that election.

One of the few things Mr Cameron got right until this week was leaving Secretaries of State in post for a long time, unlike a certain Labour predecessor who liked to change them as often as his socks.

Letting George Osborne sort out the economy without interference is the best thing Mr Cameron could have done for this country.

The suggestion is that Mr Gove was axed because he was toxic for the opinion polls. That makes the decision to make him some form of 'minister for TV', promoting the Tories in broadcasts, all the more ludicrous.

The re-shuffle says that with 10 months to a General Election the leader of the Conservatives is prepared to jettison talented, loyal ministers in pursuit of political correctness and some fleeting headlines.

And yet, as far as statesmen and party leaders go, David Cameron is still the best of an extremely limited talent pool for Prime Minister. That says everything you need to know about the state of politics in this country today.

Who is looking after mum and dad?

One of the most heartbreaking decisions anyone can make is to have to put their parents into care.

The guilt is often overwhelming. Here were the people who brought us into this world, fed and clothed us as well as protected us when we were crying and vulnerable.

But medical advances that give us the chance of a longer life come at a price.

Frailty of the body and mind mean more and more of us will face the decision to entrust our nearest and dearest to the care of professionals.

It is therefore not only welcome but essential that care homes are held up to the same system of special measures taken to improve failing hospitals.

Caring for the elderly cannot be seen as a low-skilled profession.

It must be held up to the same standards that we expect of those who tend to the sick and injured.

Those whose relatives are in the care of someone else need to be able to know that they are being treated with dignity, respect and compassion in their final years.

The caring profession is an essential part of a society that must adapt to an ageing population.

Homes that fail to meet rigorous standards have no place taking money to provide that care.

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