Clegg: Education division is 'not a coalition crisis'

Nick Clegg has said that his stance on education is not a "surprise" and said that is not "a coalition crisis."

Speaking to Sky News the Deputy Prime Minister said: "It's not some great coalition crisis as it's been described, it's just a perfectly sincere difference of opinion.

"And it's about as we move to giving schools more autonomy do we at the same time ask them to respect some basic quality standards so that parents can be reassured that their children are going to be taught by qualified teachers, are going to be taught the national curriculum.

"Of course there are tensions and pinch points, we're not identical parties. No-one should be surprised about this and it's not a political crisis when some of those differences are articulated in public."