Disability whisper must be silenced
WHILE no one wishes to prolong last week's debate over the motion of no confidence in Education, it has left a bitter aftertaste that is proving hard to swallow. It has nothing to do with education, or at least nothing to do with the 11-plus and selection. At its heart is the treatment of Deputy Marc Leadbeater and the reasons given for not inviting him back on the committee.
It is a confused picture that does not reflect well on the States.
Firstly, because Deputy Leadbeater has paid the price for taking what he saw as the right course in the interests of the committee. It was a principled step that did not seek to destroy the committee but instead to gain it a fresh mandate from the States.
It was a route that many deputies, including the chief minister, advised all of its members to take.
Initially, Education seemed sympathetic. Its deputy minister, while refusing to resign himself, said it was regrettable that his colleague had been pressured into the move and he would be greatly missed.
So much so, it seems, that Deputy Leadbeater was then promised the board's backing should it survive the day.
It made sense. After all, Deputy Leadbeater was no more or less at fault than any of his colleagues.
Quiet conversations put paid to that suggestion and, following advice from 'a senior deputy' that Education would seem weak if it accepted him back, the offer was withdrawn.
All of that was bad enough, but matters took a more serious turn when Deputy Leadbeater learned that a campaign of whispers was used to undermine him because he has a disabled son and was supposedly struggling to cope.
That he did not share this view and has managed perfectly well for 19 years was disregarded and the damage was done.
It is not Deputy Neil Inder's fault that he was elected unopposed, but it is unacceptable if a deputy's standing has been damaged through ill-informed gossip.
A States that made much of approving the disability strategy should not be so easily diverted by rumour and innuendo.
That needs to be addressed, regardless of what view people take of selection and the natural desire to move on.
