Clearly picked last: Gove
Following recent government announcements, doubts have been raised over whether school sport policy should be decided by people who were clearly picked last during PE lessons.
It has been suggested that a political elite comprised largely of visibly overweight, frequently wheezing, prematurely ageing men may not actually be the best people to make sensible decisions on sport in Britain’s schools.
The issue returned to the fore during the recent verbal clash between David Cameron and Ed Milliband over proposals to end the ring-fencing of £162m of funding for School Sport Partnerships – a decision critics fear will hit higher-cost activities such as school swimming particularly hard.
However, according to Mr Cameron only two out of every five school children currently take part in any competitive sport, a situation he described as ‘terrible’. Education secretary Michael Gove has therefore announced that the previous funding will now be incorporated into general school budgets to address this.
Supporters of all the major political parties claim that just because most Members of Parliament have not exercised since the days of National Service does not hinder their abilities in this area.
‘I may have been the final pick every single week during games and then repeatedly tanned on the backside with a cricket bat, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a thing or two about the boat race, the wall game and varsity rugger!’ vociferously insisted one government minister on condition of anonymity.
