Michael Gove pulls out of Sandwell trip
Friday 23rd July 2010, 5:00PM BST.
Education secretary Michael Gove has pulled out of a promised visit to Sandwell to discuss scrapping £138 million worth of rebuilding projects for local schools, the Express & Star can reveal.
He promised to visit the borough to apologise for a blunder which saw schools told their rebuilding or refurbishing schemes were safe, when in fact nine had been axed.
Bosses at Sandwell Council have now been asked to make the journey to Westminster after being told the MP could not commit to the planned August 5 visit.
Leader of the Labour-run authority, Councillor Darren Cooper, said he would take a delegation of council officers, school representatives and the deputy council leader, Councillor Steve Eling, for a meeting with Mr Gove on August 5.
He said: “If the mountain can’t come to Sandwell, then Sandwell will go to the mountain.”
“Obviously I am still pushing for him to come to Sandwell.”
He added: “It is extremely disappointing because he said in Parliament that he will visit Sandwell and apologise personally to all the headteachers.
“I will be trying to impress on him that they want an apology and an explanation on how this decision was made.
“If we look at all the evidence and take the politics out of it, we have been treated shabbily.”
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And who is going to pay for this trip?
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What a coward!
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What did anyone expect? Sandwell is outside the M25, where the Londoner’s map states that ‘Here be dragons’.
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What a spineless incompetent fool this excuse for a man is! The people of Sandwell should be heard, get some busses and arrive en-mass, make these uncaring politicians hear you’re anger. They won’t give a damn but at least they should know.
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Coward. When is our great country going to ever get decent, honest politicians ?
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Coward. When are we going to see decent, honest politicians in our once great country ?
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HE’S TO SCARED. TO COME TO THE MIDLANDS IN CASE THE LOCALS HAVE A GO AT HIM’
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I find the indignation of the Sandwell Councillors about the scrapping of their £138 million schools’ building programmes very difficult to understand unless, of course, they have fallen into this condition since 1st May 2010.
Surely the buildings in question have been deteriorating over a number of years so why was nothing done about them in the previous 13 years of the Labour Government when money was being spent like confetti?
As I understand it the cuts in public expenditure are necessary to reduce the public debt caused by the financial incompetency of the last government.
It hardly seems fair for the Sandwell Councillors to vent their ire on the new coalition government.
Keith Harris
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Ah yes Keith – the last government is to blame for everything. Some of us don’t believe this hype and remember a little talked about happening where some banks seemed to get into problems and needed a few quid to buy biscuits.
Also regardless of the background this is about an incompetent minister that got his facts all wrong and told people that the money to fix their schools was still going to be there. Suddenly it’s ripped away from them. Damn right he should explain and his cowardice is indicative of this joke of a coalition.
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