Rachel Reeves’s name has become synonymous with ineptitude. Despite her robotic reassurances to the contrary, it seems like every idea she has backfires – each one more spectacularly than the last. But going slightly more under the radar when it comes to irking a nation is another of Keir’s cabinet, who I think is messing things up just as spectacularly in her role as Education Secretary. In fact, her Marxist moves are so dire that they make Red Rachel look positively pink by comparison.

If the latest speculation is to be believed, Keir Starmer isn’t impressed with Bridget Phillipson either and the MP for Houghton and Sunderland South is rumoured to be on the PM’s chopping block in a forthcoming rumoured cabinet reshuffle. Understandably, it isn’t a demotion that Phillipson will take lightly. And she’s had her MP pals sticking up for her by accusing Starmer of being “sexist” for even letting the thought cross his mind.

Sexist?! Crikey, that’s a stretch and a half. In fact any decision to ditch her would have me give Starmer a rare bit of kudos. This is, after all, the woman at the forefront of the decision to hit private schools with VAT: a nasty attack on aspiration to feed her socialist soul.

In her head this was about spreading the wealth from posh parents who she thinks have more money than they know what to do with. But the reality is the policy has a dreadful impact on those who often work extra jobs or give up other luxuries in order to fund the huge commitment for their children’s futures. Even the government itself estimates up to 100 of these establishments could close, putting huge increased pressure on the state system. These parents should be handed tax breaks and not punished due to a sad politics of envy.

Indeed, she is so proud of her attack on the independent school sector – and all things that sound remotely posh – that her next target is so shameful that it pains me to even recount it. As a Conservative councillor in Middlesbrough – and former deputy mayor – I worked hard to support Eton to bring a sixth form free-of-charge college to the area for the brightest children from the most deprived backgrounds as part of the Levelling Up agenda.

It would have not only given a future to those talented children who needed that bit of extra support, but would also boost our town more widely. The new campus was set to be located in a town centre that, like most across the country, is in a state of decline. Did I mention that as well as providing expertise, Eton would be investing £1m of its own cash into the scheme?

But just like the dogmatic, dim-witted councillors and local Middlesbrough MP – who couldn’t see a win for the town when it slapped them in the face – Phillipson effectively kiboshed the project in one fell swoop. I would imagine because rather than put her prejudice aside just for one second, she panicked as she imagined a bus load of top-hatted and tailed mini Jacob-Rees-Moggs descending on a Labour-run enclave.

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Next up? Free breakfasts for all school children. This is a silly policy that makes absolutely no sense – but one that Phillipson has happily hung her hat on. No right-minded or compassionate person would have a gripe with the poorest children being fed at school, as millions of children are on free school dinners.

But why on God’s Earth should this be spread out to every pupil in the UK? It is parents’ responsibility to feed their children, not schools’. And that’s not even taking into account the amount of money it’s going to cost the Government to administer such a ridiculous scheme.

But perhaps the biggest shocker of all? Even the teachers don’t like her. I can remember that Michael Gove was vilified by the teaching profession almost collectively, despite his key role in academisation reforms which brought education standards in the UK back up to where they should be.

I thereby wrongly presumed his antithesis, Phillipson, would have their undying support. Nope! She can’t even manage that. In fact, a snap poll by the National Association of Head Teachers revealed that over 90% of school leaders expressed concerns about the introduction of her new five-point colour-coded Ofsted rating system.

So, I think you can probably catch my drift… when it comes to Keir’s cabinet, Phillipson is certainly not my fave. And if he gives her the boot (along with her more dangerous ideas), then I’ll do something I never thought imaginable: give Keir Starmer a well-earned round of applause.