Markus Andrews

Gavin Williamson is facing calls to keep all schools in England closed for the first two weeks of January after the government backtracked on policy unveiled just days ago, announcing all primaries in London would now be shut for the start of the new term.Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the country’s largest education union, accused ministers of a “reckless” attitude in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis and schools, adding: “What is right for London is right for the rest of the country”. On Saturday the National Education Union (NEU) will also hold an emergency executive meeting to discuss the latest situation, and is expected to issue urgent advice to schools on the proposed reopening in some parts of the country on 4 January.Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Dr Bousted, who said she had written to Boris Johnson before Christmas, stressed it was clear the government “have to do something to break the chain of rising level of infection in our community”. She said: “If we don’t do that, the NHS will become overwhelmed. The danger is that by opening schools as levels of infection are rising so high and are already so high amongst pupils, then we’re not going to break that chain. “So we said all schools should be closed for the first two weeks and we regret to have to say that… but our fear is if we don’t do something now, they are going to have to be closed for a much longer period later on this month.”Criticising ministers’ approach to the crisis and schools, she went on: “I also find the government’s recklessness in this regard, both with educational professionals’ health, but also with community health, and the questions increasingly around children’s health, inexplicable.”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 weekdayHer remarks came after the education secretary announced that all primary and secondary schools will be closed for face-to-face teaching in the capital until the middle of the month following an emergency Cabinet Office meeting that was convened on New Year’s Day.The government had initially said 50 education authorities in southern England would have their primary schools closed until at least 18 January – except for vulnerable children and those of key workers – but Mr Williamson faced legal action from several London boroughs with high cases who were being asked to reopen schools.Announcing the U-turn on Friday evening, Mr Williamson described moving further parts of the capital to remote education “really is a last resort and a temporary solution”.“As infection rates rise across the country, and particularly in London, we must make this move to protect our country and the NHS,” he said. “We will continue to keep the list of local authorities under review, and reopen classrooms as soon as we possibly can.”Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green said the last-minute nature of the government’s London schools decision had caused “huge stress” for pupils, families and staff.She said: “This is yet another government U-turn creating chaos for parents just two days before the start of term.”Gavin Williamson’s incompetent handling of the return of schools and colleges is creating huge stress for parents, pupils, and school and college staff and damaging children’s education.”This U-turn was needed to provide consistency in London. However, Gavin Williamson must still clarify why some schools in Tier 4 are closing and what the criteria for reopening will be.” More

Struggling families are set to face a series of hits to their finances in the coming weeks and months thanks to the expiry of government coronavirus support, Labour has warned.The government’s eviction ban will come to an end on 11 January, with 29 January also the deadline for self-employed people to access grants. This will be followed by the deadline for mortgage holiday applications on 31 January.Meanwhile universal credit claimants will lose the temporary boost to their social security payments on 6 April. The government’s furlough scheme is scheduled to come to an end on 30 April.The government has repeatedly extended many of these deadlines, an approach Labour has characterised as “chaotic” and “last-minute”.But there is pressure from some Tory MPs on the chancellor Rishi Sunak to cut spending and let the grants expire.Though the opposition has stopped short of calling for all the deadlines to be extended or relaxed, Labour wants the temporary £20-a-week pandemic boost to universal credit kept in place.They point out that families in the UK entered the pandemic with one of the lowest rates of savings in the developed world, making it harder to weather the crisis.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“The irresponsible decisions taken by the Conservatives over the last decade left many UK households without a penny in the bank going into this crisis,” said Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s shadow chancellor.“When Covid hit, they had nothing to fall back on – and now some are teetering on the brink of financial ruin as several Covid support cliff-edges loom.“The Chancellor’s chaotic, last-minute approach to this crisis plunged the UK into the worst downturn of any major economy, but it seems he hasn’t learned any lessons.
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On the day Britain left the EU, Dover fell silent. Aside from the occasional meandering vehicle, the town’s port remained vacant. Ferries drifted soundlessly across the still, gleaming sea and into the mists that obscured the continent.  Even the winds that frequently batter the coast appeared to let up in deference to the symbolism of it all. With decades’ old agreements torn up and replaced by a trade deal agreed just days beforehand, the scene couldn’t be further from the chaos some had predicted in the months before – or even the disruption of a week prior. On the clifftop above, a pre-recorded message to tourists from a talking telescope played on loop with a robotic twang. “Dover, with its history going back more than 4,000 years, is the busiest passenger ferryport in the world”, it said, free from the context of the scene below. “Set in and around the valley of the river Dour, and its famous white cliffs, Dover has always been in the frontline of history.”The town has found itself on that frontline yet again in the Brexit debate. It wasn’t among the biggest leave-voting constituencies – although a significant 62 per cent voted to get out of the EU – but as a major thoroughfare for freight, and a potent symbol of the nation and its borders, it has remained a talking point throughout the debate. Over the past half decade, groups from both sides have been compelled to turn up to project statements onto the blank canvas of the cliffs, be they tabloid newspapers declaring “See EU Later” or pro-remain pressure groups shining promises to return onto the chalk. On the bright afternoon of 1 January, however, the cliffs are mostly occupied by dog walkers and bird watchers taking in the serenity of a day that had the potential to play host to unprecedented chaos.“It’s rather lovely actually because normally there’s a lot of noise coming from there”, said Michael Hutchison, who joined friend Ros Newington for a walk along the cliffs. “Especially with all the lorries over the last week or so”, she adds, a reference to the disruption across Kent caused by the Covid-related closure of the border by French officials, “It’s been horrid.” Both in their 60s, they had voted to remain but were glad a deal had been brokered. Despite their pragmatism however, they were not convinced by the quiet of the day. “It’s a calm before the storm”, said Ms Newington.Back when Britain leaving the EU without a trade agreement remained possible, the predictions for the coming weeks and months were dire. Trucks would pile up along motorways, food supplies would be obstructed, and the nation’s economy would take a significant hit as disruption caused havoc to trade. A taste of the predicted stasis was felt when France closed off borders with the UK to limit the spread of a new strain of Covid-19 – with travellers now forced to take a test before crossing the channel.  Introduced on the 21st, the backlog of hauliers was mostly cleared by Boxing Day, even with very few proving to be positive for the virus on the way out. More

Gavin Williamson has been forced into another humiliating policy reversal after the government bowed to pressure and agreed to keep all London primary schools closed for the start of the new term.  The education secretary has confirmed a blanket approach to schools after announcing just days ago that only a select number would remain closed after the Christmas holidays.Labour said the education secretary’s “incompetent” handling of the return of schools had caused “huge stress” to pupils, parents and staff, amid calls for more clarity about the criteria for reopening.An emergency Cabinet Office meeting was convened on New Year’s Day to take the latest decision, which overrules a previous government announcement this week.The government had initially said 50 education authorities in southern England would have their primary schools closed until at least 18 January, other than to teach vulnerable children and those of key workers.But several London boroughs with high cases were left off the list, and nine local authority leaders sent a joint letter to Mr Williamson warning that they were prepared to take legal action.The leaders of the boroughs of Islington, Camden, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham, Greenwich, Haringey and Harrow all signed the letter.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 weekdaySome councils even suggested they were prepared to defy the government and support schools that wanted to close against government advice.Richard Watts, leader of Islington Council – which was threatened with legal action by the government last month after it proposed switching to online teaching – said it was “unacceptable” that the decision had been taken so late.Caroline Kerr, the leader of Kingston Council in southwest London, said: “We are dismayed at the way the government has handled this situation and recognise that this has caused a great deal of worry for parents and carers, children, and for teachers and school staff in our borough.”Confirming the news, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, said: “The government have finally seen sense and U-turned. All primary schools across London will be treated the same.”This is the right decision – and I want to thank education minister Nick Gibb for our constructive conversations over the past two days.”In a statement on Friday night Mr Williamson said moving further parts of London to remote education “really is a last resort and a temporary solution”.He added: “As infection rates rise across the country, and particularly in London, we must make this move to protect our country and the NHS. We will continue to keep the list of local authorities under review, and reopen classrooms as soon as we possibly can.”The leaders of the boroughs to have written to the government had said they were “struggling to understand the rationale” behind the government’s policy.Around a million pupils aged between four and 11 will now be learning remotely from Monday, when schools were originally expected to return.The closures could go beyond 18 January, which is the date Boris Johnson has said the decision to teach children at home will be reviewed.Tottenham MP David Lammy said the change in policy was “welcome but so utterly predictable”.”It has caused unnecessary anxiety for students, parents and students,” he said.”We cannot continue to be behind the curve like this. If school leaders behaved like this Ofsted would describe them as failing.”Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Just at the moment when we need some decisive leadership, the government is at sixes and sevens.”There is no clear rationale for why some schools are being closed and others are not and why primaries and special schools are being treated differently to secondaries.
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John Shipton does not mince his words. The father of Julian Assange says he believes the US wants to extradite his son and “break him” in revenge for having helped expose what he says were war crimes.If he is sent to the US and convicted of computer hacking and espionage, he faces a sentence of up to 175 years imprisonment in a high security jail in Colorado, likely held in a single cell for 23 hours a day under so-called Special Administrative Measures.“Just to give you some idea what that means – you’re in a small cell, eight feet by ten feet. A concrete wall, a steel door that has a hole in the door. You’re not allowed to speak to each other. Every half an hour, the guard comes along and looks in the peephole,” he says.“The prisoners, in order to communicate with each other, anybody, yell out. bellow, because these are steel doors. So you get this cacophony of screaming in the hallway as people try and communicate with each other. Some of them have been there 10 years, and their minds are cracked. So consequently, they just scream, just to hear their own echoes off the wall.”He adds: “This hellish cacophony is only broken by the guards coming along every half an hour to look in. The reason they do inspect is to stop you from committing suicide. So you’re made to continue to suffer the insufferable. It is vile beyond words. Anyway, that’s what they would do to Julian.”Shipton, 76, speaks to The Independent from Australia, days before a court in London is to decide whether his 49-year-old son, the founder of WikiLeaks, should be extradited to the US to face charges of hacking a Pentagon computer and 17 indictments under the 1917 Espionage Act. The act, passed at a time when the US was at war, does not allow a defendant to argue they were acting in the public interest.His description of what he believes would await his son were he sent to the “SuperMax” prison at Florence, Colorado, where the inmates include “Unabomber“ Theodore Kaczynski, the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and 1993 World Trade Centre bomber Ramzi Yousef, echoes testimony from former staff and lawyers, and was presented as evidence during Assange’s hearing.John Shipton, father of Julian Assange, says case against his son intended to cover up war crimesShipton, who attended many of the hearings in London, is clear in his opinion of why the US wants to gets his son.“Julian has the reputation as a speaker of the truth. And WikiLeaks revealed war crimes, and crimes against humanity,” he says. “The persecution of Julian is to destroy the capacity of Julian to speak the truth about what’s happened over the last 20 years or so, and the destruction of the Middle East.”Shipton points to the work of Australian academic Dr Gideon Polya and others, who have estimated the US-led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan led to millions of deaths. He also says millions of people were turned into migrants or refugees as a result of the conflicts.“The persecution of Julian is founded upon disguising their intentions,” he says.Shipton and Assange’s mother, Christine Hawkins, parted before his son was born. Assange took his last name from his stepfather, Brett Assange. Shipton was not present when Assange was growing up, but says he was in regular contact with him from the age of around 24.Had Assange shown an interest in challenging the powerful by that point?“We only ever spoke about how to analyse, or how to get at what is actually happening in the world, you know, what is actuality,” he says. “And then, after the Desert Storm destruction of Iraq, then things intensified.”He adds: “He doesn’t hate the US, by the way. The nature of his work is very similar to the nature of the US. They have the First Amendment, they have a constitution, they have the Bill of Rights.“And they have the belief that the ferment generated by free speech will produce a wealth of ideas. That’s the great side of the US, of course, the other side of the coin is its foreign policy.”Shipton says neither Assange nor WikiLeaks hacked anything. Rather, the site acted as a publisher for materials provided by whistleblowers. It also allowed anyone to analyse and comment on the material, he says. More

What will politics be like in 2021? Not quite same old, same old. Brexit will fade, at long last. It’s in the interests of most of the parties to “draw a line under it”, as the cliche goes, given the trouble it’s (mostly) caused the politicians, and the fact the public is heartily bored by it. It will now be Labour’s turn to be divided, as we saw in the recent Commons vote on the free trade deal. At every level Labour voters, members and MPs who were Remainers, or at least some of them, will morph into Rejoiners, and demand a commitment to go back into the EU. Keir Starmer will hope to unite the party under a vague commitment to build on the “base” of the current deal to build a “closer” partnership with the EU, but no more. Even if Brexit turns disastrous – and there will inevitably be some chaos, closures and job losses, it’s unlikely to stimulate any great appetite among the voters for another great national debate on Europe.  As a political virus, Brexit will, though, mutate in unpredictable ways. It will, for example, start to figure even more prominently in the argument about Scottish independence, or “Scexit” as it may yet come to be known. After all, most of the arguments about sovereignty and taking back control deployed by the SNP have quite a Brexity feel to them, just as the case against trade barriers and being better together have an echo of the Remain campaign. In any case, Nicola Sturgeon seems set to win a landslide victory and one explicitly seeking a mandate for a second independence referendum. If London just says “no”, there will indeed be a bitterly divisive constitutional crisis, and one that probably can’t be resolved by the Supreme Court. As in Ireland a century ago, there will be many in Scotland who will question the legitimacy of the Westminster government, and will seek ways to resist, though through peaceful political protest, resistance and disobedience. Most of the English, it has to be said, would have no objection to Scotland going its own way; the dispute would be with the militantly Unionist government that refuses to even talk to Sturgeon.   More

Emmanuel Macron says that Brexit was ‘built on lies and false promises’ in his New Year messageBoris Johnson hailed the UK’s exit from the EU’s single market and customs union as “amazing moment” in his new year message. “We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.”It comes as French president Emmanuel Macron attacked the “lies and false promises” which led to Brexit in his own new year message. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said Europe should “keep a light on” – claiming Scotland will be “back soon” inside the EU.Around 300 trucks had passed through the Eurotunnel at Folkestone by midday on Friday, but the Road Haulage Association said firms were anticipating “invisible chaos” in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Tory grandee Lord Heseltine vowed to fight to re-join the EU. “The battle starts again.”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 weekdayShow latest update
1609512175Around 300 trucks through Eurotunnel in ‘smooth’ startRoads in Kent were quiet on Friday, and the first ferries sailed in and out of the port of Dover uneventfully. Around 300 trucks have passed through the Eurotunnel at Folkestone since the end of the Brexit transition period.The Port of Dover told the PA news agency that “everything is running smoothly”. Tudor Price, deputy chief of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, praised the agencies involved in preparations at the border. “I think any potential bottleneck or short-term chaos has been averted,” he said.
But he called on the government to continue to negotiate with the EU where issues are outstanding, such as financial services. “There are still a lot of areas, a lot of industries that have yet to really have a satisfactory agreement in place.” More

And a senior member of her government said that the removal of pro-European Scotland from the EU on the same terms as England and Wales meant that independence was now “the only alternative”.Scotland’s parliament at Holyrood voted by an overwhelming 92-30 majority earlier this week to refuse legislative consent to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement struck by Boris Johnson as a framework for the UK’s future relationship with the EU.As the UK’s formal transition out of the EU took place at 11pm on New Year’s Eve, the Scottish first minister tweeted a picture of the words Europe and Scotland attached by a love heart.The image was projected onto the side of the European Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels.Ms Sturgeon accompanied it with the message: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.”She later retweeted a Scotland Is Now video which sent out a promise to Europeans: “As long as Scotland’s still here, you are always welcome.”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 weekdayScotland voted by 62 per cent to 38 per cent to Remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, and calls for independence from the UK have been fuelled by the argument that it is being taken out of the 27-nation bloc against its will.Writing on the Politico website, Ms Sturgeon said she was “committed to a legal, constitutional route to becoming an independent state”.And she added: “As an independent member of the European Union, Scotland would be a partner and a bridge-builder — not just a bridge to building a stronger economy and fairer society, but a bridge to aid understanding between the EU and UK.”More and more people in Scotland believe our aspirations can best be met by continuing to contribute to the shared endeavour and solidarity that the EU represents. “Because of Brexit, we can now only do this as an independent member state in our own right. We have been inside the European Union family of nations for nearly 50 years. We didn’t want to leave and we hope to join you again soon as an equal partner as we face the opportunities and challenges of the future together.”Scotland’s constitution secretary Mike Russell said that the agreement of separate arrangements for Northern Ireland and Gibraltar made clear that it would have been possible for the UK government also to negotiate different terms for Scotland. Edinburgh’s demand in 2016 for Scotland to remain in the EU single market after Brexit was ignored by Westminster.Mr Russell tweeted on Thursday evening: “The NI & Gibraltar deals make clear that the December 2016 Scottish Government proposals could have produced a Scottish deal but were never pursued in EU negotiations by UK.“Consequently the UK has itself created the circumstances in which independence is the only alternative for Scotland.”MSPs at Holyrood voted on Wednesday for a motion rejecting Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal on the grounds it would to say the deal would “cause severe damage to Scotland’s environmental, economic and social interests”.A Scottish Government report modelled that GDP would be 6.1 per cent lower north of the border by 2030, compared to remaining a member of the EU.But Conservatives accused Sturgeon’s administration of spreading “propaganda” about the agreement on taxpayer-funded official channels.Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he had written to civil service chiefs seeking an apology for the “bad deal for Scotland” video shared on social media.Mr Ross said: “This video is a work of shameless propaganda and it’s incredible that a politically neutral civil service would think it is in any way appropriate.“For taxpayers to be bankrolling a work of one-sided nationalist distortion is not on.“The government is supposed to represent everyone in Scotland.”A small group of protesters demonstrated in favour of EU membership outside Holyrood as the Brexit transition period came to an end.Morag Williamson, from the Yes for EU group, said: “We are very sad and very angry at the same time.“We don’t want to leave the family of Europe – but we are being dragged out against our will.” More