Sniping knocked the gloss off glory

9th June 2000, 1:00am
THANK you for your comprehensive coverage of our superb Office for Standards in Education report (TES, May 26). It’s a tremendous boost for our hard-working education staff to see their efforts recognised in this way.

Sadly, the morale-boosting effect was punctured somewhat by the snide comments attributed to Graham Lane on the front page. His suggestion that Michael Portillo was just there to get his face in the paper may just be a tad off-targt - apparently he is already quite famous.

Michael Portillo was actually there at our invitation as a local MP. It’s a pity that the most senior national figure in local government-run education can’t resist cheap point-scoring rather than congratulating one of the few LEAs that are up to the job.

Merrick Cockell

Leader of the council

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The Town Hall

Kensington, London W8