Jumping on an opportunity

I was sent something by a colleague this week, which I felt the need to share with you…

Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted that he is ‘terrified’ by the prospect of trying to find a good state secondary school for his children in central London.

However, an opportunist press release from Westminster City Council said it would be ‘delighted’ if the PM, his wife Samantha and their children would visit their local secondary schools to see the ‘exciting curriculum and opportunities available to pupils’ (If only local government could always be this nimble).


In a letter to Mr Cameron, quoted in the release, Cllr Nickie Aiken, Westminster's cabinet member for children and young people, said: ‘I was sorry to read of your concerns regarding central London secondary schools in a recent newspaper interview.
‘I would like to assure you that Westminster has a number of outstanding primary and secondary schools. This is not merely in our parents’ and pupils’ opinion, but officially recognised by Ofsted.

‘We acknowledge that there is still room for improvement and will continue to build on our success to date.’

Hats off to the Westminster PR team, then (my colleague informs me that it wins lots of awards), although I’m not sure whether its efforts redressed any balance in the media.

As apolitical as I am these days, I guess this says more about our PM.