‘The coalition government was engulfed in a vitriolic public row over education on Saturday as the Liberal Democrat schools minister accused his boss, Tory education secretary Michael Gove, of a “blatant” attempt to politicise the independent schools inspection body, Ofsted.
The intervention by David Laws, a close ally of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, came after it emerged that Gove had sacked Labour peer Baroness Sally Morgan as chair of the schools inspectorate.
A source close to Laws issued a statement expressing the minister’s fury at Gove’s move and making clear that the Lib Dems would do all in their power to block actions that they believed would jeopardise Ofsted’s independence.
The source said: “David is absolutely furious at the blatant attempts by the Tories to politicise Ofsted. The decision to get rid of Sally Morgan had absolutely nothing to do with her abilities, or even education policy, and everything to do with Michael Gove’s desire to get his own people on board.’
Read more: Angry Lib Dems accuse Michael Gove of bid to politicise education
