Lily Allen and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb in Twitter spat

A WAR of words erupted between Lily Allen and Littlehampton's MP Nick Gibb yesterday, as the popstar launched a broadside at the schools minister for his emphasis on learning facts by rote.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Feb 2016, 12:54 BST
Updated 17th Feb 2016, 06:50 BST
"I left school 15 years ago and Ive not used Pythagorass theorem once or even seen a Bunsen burner," said Lily Allen."I left school 15 years ago and Ive not used Pythagorass theorem once or even seen a Bunsen burner," said Lily Allen.
"I left school 15 years ago and Ive not used Pythagorass theorem once or even seen a Bunsen burner," said Lily Allen.

The singer tweeted Mr Gibb, saying: “I left school 15 years ago and I’ve not used Pythagoras’s theorem once or even seen a Bunsen burner.”

She asked: “Are they teaching children about how mortgages work, national insurance or how to fill out a self assessment tax return yet?”

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Mr Gibb – responsible for school standards and the curriculum as a minister in the Education Department – replied: “Not everyone’s lucky enough to have a job like yours. For many people maths and science are crucial to their career and life chances.”

But Ms Allen was not content with his response, saying: “I know how lucky I am Nick, thank you. You still haven’t answered my question though.”

The popstar, a committed Labour supporter, was responding to a speech Mr Gibb gave at Durham University last week, where he blasted schools for ‘expunging subject content’.

Defending the value of core academic curriculum, the MP bemoaned the tedendency for facts to be ‘relegated to a backseat, so that... comparatively joyless ‘skills’ and ‘processes’ can come to the fore’.

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“It is mistaken to believe you can outsource your memory to Google and still expect to think well”, he told the audience.

Mr Gibb was tested on his knowledge of Pythagoras’s theorem when he appeared on BBC2 programme The Daily Politics earlier this morning.

Getting the answer right, presenter Jo Coburn said: “You swot!”

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