Wales Office "education minister" silent on GCSE spat

Last week the deputy prime minister announced that the first Liberal Democrat minister in the Wales Office would focus on education.

Lady Randerson would, Nick Clegg told us, be "concentrating in particular on the education system in Wales and making sure that, while that's devolved, that London and Cardiff work together for the benefit of children in Wales."

Five days later, how's it going? The education ministers in Wales and England are at loggerheads, accusing each other of playing politics over our children's futures in a spat over the grades awarded at GCSE level.

Enter the Baroness - herself a former teacher - in a spirit of peace? Er, perhaps not. The Wales Office has declined my bid for an interview with the new minister.

A spokeswoman said: "Education is a devolved area, but we are monitoring this issue closely, particularly for the cross-border implications."

It's not immediately clear what this "monitoring" involves - TV, radio, maybe twitter? - but it looks unlikely to defuse the row between Leighton Andrews and Michael Gove.