‘Did you get hold of Murgatroyd?’ he asked without preamble, and before she opened her mouth to reply he stormed on regardless. ‘I’ve had Peter Maxwell from the council bending my ear,’ he said. ‘He’s apparently had Murgatroyd’s PA on the phone complaining that we’re running some sort of anti-academy campaign. What the hell’s all that about?’ Laura shrugged. ‘Considering I haven’t written a word yet, I don’t see how he can have jumped to that conclusion.’ ‘Did you get an interview with Murgatroyd?’ ‘No, I couldn’t get near him. There was a minor protest going on outside the school – governors and a few parents. They’d got wind of his visit somehow. And then when the kids started coming out they thought it was a good idea to join in. I don’t imagine any of the students have the foggiest notion what becoming an academy means, but they joined in the fun anyway. Then the police turned up and it all got a bit heavy.’ ‘Aye, well you can write that up for tomorrow morning anyway,’ Grant said.
