Her stance has been welcomed and widely publicized by the Alliance Against Birmingham Academies, which is supported by all the classroom teachers’ and support staff’s unions.

It certainly inspired the parents at West Heath primary school who occupied the playground on the last day of term, with placards quoting Councillor Jones’ promise that “Staying with current arrangements will remain an option for all schools.”

Michael Gove claims that the private academy takeover of primary schools is the solution to under-performing schools. This is wrong on two counts. First, the evidence proves that academies perform no better than comparable local authority schools. Second, among the Birmingham schools he is targeting are high performing schools like Moor Green primary (well above the national attainment threshold and at or above the national progress threshold). So either Gove is refusing to face the evidence, or he has another agenda – dismantling the local authority school system and opening the door in the future to private companies running state-funded schools for profit.

The new stance taken by the Council, if it leads to a city-wide campaign to defend our schools, could send Gove packing. There is an alternative which has been proved to work and which Brigid Jones is calling for – schools staying together within the local authority system and supporting each other as needed.