Simon Cowell hits back at Gove over ‘stupid’ row
By politics.co.uk staff
Simon Cowell has called education secretary Michael Gove "stupid" for not seeing the "positive side" of his suggestion that schoolchildren should be lazy.
The music mogul and X Factor creator hit back at the "crazy" education secretary for writing off all those who do not get good exam results while at school.
It follows comments from Cowell last month in which he revealed the "secret" is to "be useless at school and then get lucky".
Gove took issue with that, criticising Cowell for having made an "irresponsible and stupid" statement.
"Teachers strive every day to ensure children understand the importance of learning, hard work and discipline," Gove said.
"Simon Cowell's comments undermine their efforts.
"The truth is that only a tiny fraction of people get lucky. For everybody else, it’s all about hard work and that starts with hard work at school. Celebrities like Mr Cowell should encourage education, not rubbish it."
Now Cowell has responded to Gove's criticisms by complaining that the education secretary, who is responsible for cultivating the minds of young people in England and Wales, "didn't bother to call".
"He didn't want to hear my side of the story and, stupidly, he didn't see the positive side of what I was trying to say which is that not everybody who leaves school is going to get great qualifications, or maybe they just don't have that kind of brain," Cowell said.
"But that doesn't mean that they should be ruled out, or not given a chance… so, if anything, I thought he was irresponsible, because he was basically saying, if you're not qualified we're not going to back you, and it's like, how crazy are you for saying that?"
Cowell reportedly left Windsor Technical College with two O-levels. He is now worth over £200 million.
