If Cameron wants an ‘all-out war’ on mediocre schools, why did he get rid of Gove?

It is odd to hear David Cameron promise an ‘all-out war on mediocrity’ in education. An admirable sentiment, but it’s hard to reconcile with the fact that he demoted the very person who was working so successfully for that precise aim. Here’s what he intends to say in a speech later today:

‘So this party is clear. Just enough is not good enough. That means no more sink schools – and no more ‘bog standard’ schools either. We’re waging an all-out war on mediocrity, and our aim is this: the best start in life for every child, wherever they’re from – no excuses.’

When a politician says ‘this is clear’ it’s a sign that he is not, really, clear. The question behind the the confusion is a simple one: how serious is David Cameron about school reform? He knows that it’s perhaps the toughest battle in politics, a battle that defeated Thatcher and then Blair.