In the Guardian today there is a report of the debate in parliament ahead of an attempt by Labour to keep the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Tories of course are saying they think it could be better targeted to less well off students. They would say that wouldn't they, as their proposal is to reduce the cost to the government by 90%, and even then they have no discernible plans how this would work. Considering that you get £30 per week if your family income is less than £20000 a year , its difficult to discern how little income a family would have to be in order to receive a slice of the new coalition cake, the ingredients of which are unknown, let alone its shape, texture and taste, however, nothing will make it easier to swallow.
However what caught the eye was a remark during the debate by Andy Burnham the shadow education secretary.
In the debate Gove reacted angrily when Burnham quoted an article by his wife, the Times journalist Sarah Vine, to show the Tories were out of touch.
She wrote last week: "Like all angst-ridden working mothers I live in terror of upsetting my cleaner." Burnham, MP for Leigh in Greater Manchester, said: "Now, I can tell you, angst-ridden mums in Leigh talk of little else. I do sympathise with Mrs Gove's predicament. But I wonder if the secretary of state might pass on a bit of advice to all the wives of cabinet colleagues who fret about the same curses of modern living.
"Can I respectfully suggest that the best way to stay on the right side of the cleaner might not be to clean the oven oneself, but instead to press one's other half not to remove the cleaner's kids' EMA."
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