Markus Andrews

Speaking in parliament, Labour’s Wes Streeting slammed the government for “having to be dragged to do the right thing” over free school meals in the past and last year’s exam results controversy – which initially saw tens of thousands of grades initially downgraded by an algorithm before a government U-turn.Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, earlier said his record during the coronavirus pandemic had been “shambolic”, as her party said there had been a “litany of government mistakes” over children and education.“We cannot praise staff in schools and school leaders in one breath and then in the other defend the leadership they have been subjected to under this secretary of state for education,” Mr Streeting told parliament on Monday evening.“If the prime minister had any judgment, he would have sacked the secretary of state, and if the secretary of state had any shame, he would have resigned.”Labour reiterated the call for Mr Williamson to go in a statement on Tuesday, saying there had been a “series of failures” – including over free school meals and laptop provision.“Despite being shamed into providing free school meals over the summer and Christmas holidays the government is again refusing to provide support for children now over February half-term,” the party said. It also accused the government of “failure to keep children learning either in school or from home” with pupils still lacking devices. The DfE and Downing Street has been approached for comment.Labour’s Ms Green called for Gavin Williamson to resign for the first time last week, after images of food parcels handed out to families were heavily criticised. Mr Williamson said he was “absolutely disgusted” after seeing a picture of a meagre food parcel delivered to a disabled mother-of-two.The education secretary also said companies will be “named and shamed” if they fail to deliver against food standards, and has urged schools to cancel contracts where necessary. The party used an opposition day debate in the Commons on Monday afternoon to say that eligible families should be guaranteed to receive the full value of free school meals throughout the year, including during the holidays.Downing Street accused Labour of pulling a “political stunt” over planned debates on Universal Credit and free school meals.“MPs are being told to abstain because today is not the day when we will be announcing our next steps on the £20 Universal Credit uplift,” the prime minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said.She added: “This is an Opposition day debate. It is them making families up and down the country concerned they will not be able to get the food they might need during the February half-term, when that is not true.”Labour is pulling a political stunt because they know that children who could go hungry during the February half-term will not go hungry because of the policy that is in place.” More

Ministers have rejected calls for a rethink to rescue visa-free tours by musicians of the EU – insisting “taking back control” of borders must come first.
Answering an urgent question in the Commons, Caroline Dinenage insisted talks would resume only if Brussels “changes its mind” about how to resolve the stalemate
She claimed it would have enabled “visa-free short stays for all EU citizens” – even while admitting it would have covered only a “very small number of paid activities”.“That is just simply not compatible with our manifesto commitment to taking back control of our borders,” she told MPs.
Under pressure, Ms Dinenage did agree to consider publishing all correspondence to reveal exactly what happened in the failed negotiations.But she made clear the government’s aim now was to work with individual EU members states – “to find ways to make life easier” for musicians – rather than reopen talks in Brussels.
Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThat would only happen if the EU agreed to the UK proposal under so-called ‘mode 4’ exemptions, which the EU argues is for specialists, providing contracted services, not performers.
Its far more ambitious proposal would have removed the threat of work visas – for 90 days, not just 30 – for a carved-out list of “paid activities”, including music tours.
Despite Brexit, EU citizens can come to the UK as tourists for up to six months anyway, the standard period for foreign visitors exempt from visas.
Nevertheless, Ms Dinenage told the Commons the EU offer would have opened the door to “permanent visa-free short stays for all EU citizens” – breaching the Tory promise to voters.She also claimed the EU’s proposals would not have “covered support staff or technicians”, although it is believed the UK refused to even open talks on that.
Pete Wishart, the SNP MP who secured the urgent question, referred to his days touring in Europe with the band Runrig.
“Touring Europe means everything to our artists and musicians. The thrill of that first tour, crammed into the Transit van with all your gear, four to a room in a cheap hotel in Paris, Rotterdam or Hamburg. Using what’s left of the fee for a post-gig beer,” he said.
“The dream that when you come back it will be a lavish tour bus, staying in five-star hotels.
“Gone, all gone. Musicians and artists mere collateral in this government’s obsession in ending freedom of movement.”But Ms Dinenage hinted any resolution was years away, saying: “The negotiating team did negotiate an opportunity to come back and review this in the years ahead – so the light at the end of the tunnel is not entirely switched off.”
The stalemate throws the decision onto member states, with some hope that EU capitals will – as France already has – waive the work permit requirement unilaterally. More

It is still unclear whether schools will be able to reopen after half term because of uncertainties around the transmission of Covid-19, one of the government’s top medical advisers has warned.Dr Jenny Harries, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, said it was likely that schools would welcome pupils at different times in different parts of the country because of uneven progress in bringing down infections.”It is highly likely that when we come out of this national lockdown, we will not have consistent patterns of infection in our communities across the country, and therefore, as we had prior to the national lockdown it may well be possible that we need to have some differential application,” she told MPs on the Commons education committee on Tuesday morning.The government moved most pupils to remote learning from home after the start of the national lockdown amid fears that their presence in school was helping to transmit Covid-19 – leaving just vulnerable children and those of key workers attending in person.Ministers said the situation would be reviewed in time for the February half term, but have yet to say for certain when all children will be able to go back.”I know everybody wants very certain planning, and dates for opening and closing – unfortunately that’s not how the virus works,” Dr Harries told the MPs.”It’s highly likely that all countries are going to see changes in mutations and new variants of this virus over the coming months and potentially years. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday”Now, that doesn’t mean that schools are going to have to stay in the position they are now – far from it … but it does mean that it’s difficult to say with certainty at any one point.”Dr Harries said the Department for Education’s half term suggestion was a “perfectly reasonable assumption”. But she added: “What I can’t guarantee that is in this interval between now and February that there wouldn’t be another variant, or we may find some other epidemiological change.”I think these are very sensible time estimates, but they need to be understood is not fixed dates, and that would apply to anything in any department in relation to the pandemic.”Speaking to the same committee, Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said there was a “situation of really quite a lot of uncertainty” about the roles of schools in Covid-19 transmission.”We remain uncertain about the role of schools: the role the role of school children is more clear, and I think we recognise that children of primary school and younger age groups play, as we had thought before, a relatively minor role in transmission of this pandemic – but they do play a role, and it is foolish to think they do not,” he told the committee.
Children of primary school and younger age groups play, as we had thought before, a relatively minor role in transmission of this pandemicProfessor Russell Viner, president Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health”They absolutely play a role, children do transmit this virus and they can bring it back from school to their households. But the role of primary school children and early years appears to be lesser.”What we saw, particularly from October-November onwards was was high rates of viral prevalence of the frequency of the virus, particularly amongst teenagers. And what we see for transmission is a complex interaction of the biology, which is how likely a child or young person is to transmit with social mixing, and then with the environmental controls.”He continued: “We think that children under 12 are probably less susceptible to catch the virus. And clearly if you’re less susceptible to catch the virus, you know that that can dampen your ability to pass it on. “Children and young people are less likely to be symptomatic they’re less likely to have the cough, the fevers, and we think because of that, that will also help reduce transmission to some extent.”But what children and particularly teenagers do is socialise or socially mix a lot more than most adults. So what you have is a balance between the biology and the social mixing. “And we think for teenagers that high level of social mixing, much of which also occurs outside of schools is responsible for teenagers being more involved in transmission than we had previously thought.”
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Boris Johnson will be pleased that Donald Trump has not been re-elected for a second term as president, the former head of the civil service has said.Mark Sedwill, who was forced out as cabinet secretary by Johnson last year but received the consolation of a peerage and a £250,000 payoff, said it was “mistaken” to believe the prime minister had been hoping for a Trump victory over Joe Biden Writing in the Daily Mail on Mr Trump’s final full day in office, Lord Sedwill said there was “relief” in Western capitals that “normal diplomatic relationships will be restored” under Mr Biden after four years when US leadership went missing.“Based on my time working for Boris Johnson in Downing Street, I believe those who have said he would have preferred a second Trump term are mistaken,” said Lord Sedwill. “That would not have been to the benefit of British or European security, to transatlantic trade, let alone the environmental agenda to which the prime minister is so committed.”But Downing Street refused to say whether the PM was glad at the handover of power in Washington.Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister always has a strong relationship with whoever is in the White House. That was the case with President Trump and it will be the case with President Biden.”Mr Johnson faces a struggle to overcome the distrust of the incoming president, who has previously described the prime minister as “a physical and emotional clone” of Trump.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayDespite having described Mr Trump as “out of his mind” and unfit for the presidency prior to his 2016 election victory, Mr Johnson changed his tune sharply once the reality TV star was installed in the White House, describing him as having “many, many good qualities” and suggesting he could win the Nobel Peace Prize.His efforts were rewarded by the president hailing him as “Britain Trump” and becoming one of the few leaders of friendly nations to back his Brexit project.It was not until after the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters that the PM allowed himself a note of criticism, saying the president was “completely wrong” to encourage the rioters and cast doubt on the results of last year’s election.On the eve of Mr Biden’s inauguration, Lord Sedwill – who was also national security adviser under Mr Johnson and Theresa May – warned that the arrival of the new administration would not all be plain sailing for the UK.Despite intensive lobbying from London for an early post-Brexit trade deal with the US, Mr Biden’s priorities in his first months in office will be domestic, as he seeks to control the Covid pandemic and “restore harmony and dignity to American politics”, said Sedwill.And internationally, the incoming president’s agenda will be dominated by China and not the “special relationship” with the UK.The Biden team is “deeply unhappy” over last month’s EU investment agreement with Beijing, and might reduce Washington’s commitment to military defence of Europe, warned Sedwill.“Might President Biden or a future president take at face value EU talk of ‘strategic autonomy’ outside of the traditional Nato umbrella, and leave them, and us in Britain, to handle the threats to European security ourselves?” he asked.“Despite repeated demands from Washington, the EU’s defence expenditure is only half Britain’s rate and a third of America’s, fragmented across 27 countries, despite an ever-growing threat in our own neighbourhood from Russia and instability to Europe’s south and east. We need our continental partners to invest more in effective security and defence.”Lord Sedwill stressed the need for Western allies in the UK, EU and US to put the “frictions” of recent years – including Brexit – behind them and work together on a “consistent coherent and comprehensive consensus” on China. The UK’s presidency of the G7 in 2021 will give Mr Johnson an opportunity to shape that consensus, he said.“The key is for the western democracies to put the frictions of the past few years behind us, remember that what unites us far outweighs our differences, and recognise that if we present a united front we can ensure our values and interests prevail in the 21st century just as they did in the 20th,” he wrote.“With Brexit accomplished and the Biden administration ready to re-engage, this is the moment for ‘global Britain’ to step up to that challenge.” More

Downing Street has denied that Boris Johnson takes “power naps” during the working day.The firm rebuttal came after a report in The Times that it was not uncommon for the prime minister to “shut the door and have a kip”.The report sparked speculation over whether Mr Johnson was suffering from broken sleep at night since the birth of his youngest child Wilfred last April.But the PM’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said that the claim was “untrue”.She told reporters at a daily Westminster media briefing: “He doesn’t have a nap during the day when he is at Downing Street.“His day is jam-packed from early in the morning to late in the night. There is no gap for anything like that.”Ms Stratton declined to comment on whether the PM’s nights were disrupted by Wilfred.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe claim emerged in a report for Times Radio on how Mr Johnson’s working day compares with those of his predecessors at No 10.It quoted an unnamed “Downing Street insider who knows the prime minister well” as saying: ”It would not be entirely uncommon in the diary for him to shut the door and have a kip for half an hour or so -— a power executive business nap to get him ready for the rest of the day.”The report said that Mr Johnson was an early riser, going jogging at 6am in Buckingham Palace’s gardens before getting down to work.But it said that he routinely turns up 10 minutes late for meetings, with one official saying: “He keeps his own time.” According to the report, Mr Johnson often spends more than 12 hours in his office before retiring to his flat above No 11, where he can expect to have at least two red boxes of paperwork to read before going to bed. More

A study suggesting the UK now has the highest Covid-19 death rate in the world has been dismissed as “not accurate” by a Cabinet minister.
Brandon Lewis faced tough questions about the research – after an average of 935 daily deaths over the last week – but insisted it was “too early to make international comparisons”.“We can’t answer that question at the moment, because we are not at the other side of the virus,” the Northern Ireland Secretary told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.Challenged why “ten months into the pandemic” was the wrong time to make such a calculation, Mr Lewis agreed it was “frustrating”, but insisted: “The pandemic is still moving around the world.
He added: “You can’t do a direct comparison of that type with this virus in terms of death rates.”
In a Sky News interview, Mr Lewis said: “It’s not really appropriate, or entirely accurate, to do direct comparisons with other countries around the world at the moment.”The figures, from Oxford University’s Our World In Data platform, showed 16.7 deaths per million in the UK on a seven-day average, ahead of the Czech Republic on 15.7.
Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThey do not attempt to assess overall Covid deaths, or overall ‘excess deaths’ during the pandemic which scientists say will ultimately be the best measure of how countries have performed.
However, the chart does seek to ranks countries by their average Covid death toll over the previous seven days.
The UK was calculated to have overtaken the Czech Republic, which had held the top spot since 11 January, on Sunday night – after the post-Christmas second wave took grip.
Furthermore, the UK has the highest cumulative death toll in Europe and ranks only behind the US, Brazil, India and Mexico globally – all of which have far higher populations.
The clash came as scientists stepped up their push for a public awareness campaign to stress the need for people to still follow restrictions, even after being vaccinated.
People are preparing to meet friends and family as soon as they are vaccinated in the mistaken belief they are “good to go”, a leading government adviser warned.
Surveys pointed to a “day or two before the Armistice” effect, Dr David Halpern said – with people wrongly thinking they and others immediately have Covid-19 protection.
“We definitely do worry that people feel that, the second they have got that vaccination they are good to go,” the Sage adviser told MPs.
“People are going to be over-confident too fast on the vaccine,” Dr Halpern added.
In fact, it was “at least 12 days ,2 weeks” before a jab delivered any immunity – and scientists still do not know if it will prevent transmission, or merely becoming ill. More

People are preparing to meet friends and family as soon as they are vaccinated in the mistaken belief they are “good to go”, a leading government adviser is warning.
Surveys point to a “day or two before the Armistice” effect, Dr David Halpern said – with people wrongly thinking they and others immediately have Covid-19 protection.
“We definitely do worry that people feel that, the second they have got that vaccination, they are good to go,” the Sage adviser told MPs.“People are going to be over-confident, too fast on the vaccine,” Dr Halpern added.In fact, it was “at least 12 days, 2 weeks” before a jab delivered any immunity – and scientists still do not know if it will prevent transmission, or merely becoming ill.The warning came as Sage is urging ministers to begin a public awareness campaign to stress the need to follow restrictions, after the number of people vaccinated topped 4 million.Asked, by the Commons public administration committee, if he feared people will “let their guard down”, Dr Halpern replied: “Absolutely right on that.”
Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayProfessor Stephen Reicher, who also sits on the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group, which feeds into Sage, agreed, saying: “Yes, there are dangers.“Some people think the effect of the vaccine is absolutely immediate. Some people believe that you can’t transmit the disease – and there is a lack of clarity on that from the medical community.”
Dr Halpern said its research suggested people would continue to follow instructions to wash their hands and remain two metres apart from others.
“The thing that moves quite dramatically is how often are you going to see other people,” he added.
“People feel, as soon as they have got that vaccination, ‘Fantastic, I’m going to be able to go out’. You hear people on vox pops doing this.”
Professor Reicher also said government blunders in the Covid-19 response would have been avoided if ministers had trusted the public – instead of “blaming” it for rule breaches.
The “dangerous and misleading concept” of ‘lockdown fatigue’ was wrong – because people have, throughout the crisis, been ready to accept even-tougher restrictions.
“There has been a tendency to blame the public….for the difficulties we’re having and for the rise in infections,” he told the committee.He added: “It’s led us to delayed action such that – by the time we have to take action – the situation is even worse and we have to do more, and we have to do it for longer.“On the whole, the public is not a weak link in this pandemic, it actually has been a strong link – and I think a bit more confidence in the public is extremely important and might lead to some better decisions.”
Professor Reicher also pointed to poor government communications, saying 96 per cent of people understood the original ‘stay home’ instruction – but the only 31 per cent understood the ‘stay alert’ message that replaced it. More

Tory MPs are being urged to “vote with their consciences” when Labour attempts to reverse post-Brexit trade deals the UK has made with countries that are committing genocide.Ministers want to reverse key amendments to the Trade Bill, recently passed by the House of Lords, when it returns to the Commons on Tuesday – including one which would force the government to withdraw from any free trade agreement with countries the High Court rules are carrying out any form of genocide.In a joint letter to colleagues on both sides of the political spectrum, shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy and shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry said it was “essential” for MPs to ensure Britain’s stance on “human rights” was “reflected in how we conduct trade negotiations around the world”.  Drawing on the “opportunity” ministers had in Britain’s long-awaited foray into independent trade, the pair said: “We have an opportunity on Tuesday to send a clear message: that as a country our trade policy must be underpinned by our fundamental values, that parliament must play a role in ensuring human rights concerns are addressed, and that – when the most serious violations of human rights occur – we will not turn away.”
Ms Nandy and Ms Thornberry said they were, in particular, “gravely concerned about the situation in Xinjiang”, where there is a “growing body of evidence of systemic human rights abuses being committed by the Chinese government against the Muslim Uighur people”.  Those concerns have been echoed by former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is leading the Tory rebellion campaign in support of the genocide amendment.  In the Commons last week, foreign secretary Dominic Raab dismissed the amendment as “well-meaning” but also “rather ineffective and counter-productive”.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayHowever, Sir Iain said that if the government did not like the proposed amendment, it should come forward with “better” proposals of its own.
“Since the Second World War, we have protested about the concept of genocide but literally nothing has ever been done,” he told reporters on Sunday.  “It’s a cop out,” he added.  With the opposition parties all reportedly in support the amendment, a rebellion of around 40 Conservative MPs could put the government at risk of defeat.
Nusrat Ghani, the Tory MP for Wealden in East Sussex, supports the amendment. She said Britain “must be on the right side of history” and not be “complicit” with genocide.
“This is our first chance outside the EU to show what our values really mean and what global Britain stands for,” she told the PA news agency. “Why would we want to use our newfound freedom to trade with states that commit and profit from genocide?  “Britain is better than that. As we form trade deals with new partners, we must honour our sacrosanct responsibility never to let economic concerns trump ethical ones by dealing with genocidal states.”
The issue is one which MPs – particularly those at the top – are constantly asked about, and which they struggle to keep a consistent line of response to.Appearing to U-turn on the remarks he made last week, Mr Raab on Sunday, when asked about China’s persecution of Uighur Muslims, told BBC’s Andrew Marr: “Frankly, we shouldn’t be engaged in free trade negotiations with countries abusing human rights well below the level of genocide.”MPs will sit on Tuesday afternoon, at around 1.45pm, in the Commons to debate amendments to the Trade Bill. More