Inside Politics: Boris Johnson back at No 10 to take charge of reopening schools

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Monday 24 August 2020 07:59 BST

Protesters demand Williamson be sacked over exams fiasco_m176492.mp4

Eine kleine Covidmusik, anyone? The Germans are combining pop music and disease control by inviting crowds to watch an indoor concert by singer Tim Bendzko (me neither) – kitting out fans with high-tech transmitters and monitoring their rates of contact. Such bold and sophisticated experiments are beyond Boris Johnson’s government at the moment. The PM and Gavin Williamson don’t have the benefit of high-tech transmitters as they prepare to reopen schools. But the education secretary is desperately trying to harmonise parents, teachers and the unions so they’re singing from the same hymn sheet on getting children back in class.

Inside the bubble

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin on what to look out for today:

Pupils in Northern Ireland in years seven, 12 and 14 are set to go back full-time on Monday, with the resumption sure to raise the intensity of the debate over the return of pupils in England in September. Attention will switch to the US later, as the scaled-down Republican convention kicks offs in Charlotte, North Carolina – a week-long effort to convince the American people Trump deserves a second term.

Daily briefing

SCARBOROUGH MARE: Boris Johnson brings his summer holiday to a close with a plea to parents on how “vitally important” it is for children to go back to school. Gavin Williamson insisted England’s schools were “ready for them”. The education secretary defended his own summer break in Scarborough “to see family” after it emerged he went away only days before the A-levels results (and even cancelled a meeting with education leaders). Will he get schools open and save his job? The National Education Union accused the government of failing to have a “plan B” – calling for more clarity on what teachers should do if there’s an outbreak. Meanwhile, the UK’s four chief medical officers issued a statement saying it is definitely safe to return, while Public Health England said the re-opening of schools in June was linked to only 70 cases of coronavirus in children.

APOCALYPSE SOON: The larger crisis looming on the horizon – so huge and familiar we’ve almost forgotten – is a no-deal Brexit. A leaked government document provided a wake-up call on Sunday, revealing that the Navy may be needed to prevent British fishermen clashing with European boats, while the RAF could be required to drop food on the Channel Islands. Troops may also have to be drafted on to the streets if the fallout triggers public unrest and shortages, according to a “reasonable worst-case scenario” paper first seen by The Sun on Sunday. A Cabinet Office task force reportedly gave ministers a Powerpoint presentation due to jitters over preparedness. Meanwhile, the Campaign Against Arms Trade accused the government of “legitimising” Belarus’s dictatorship after it emerged British forces have provided training to the country’s military.

TINKER AND TAILOR: Desperate pleas seem to be in the air at the moment. Travel industry bosses has urged the government to provide “tailored support” for them at the end of the furlough process. Trade body Abta said 39,000 jobs have already been lost and 65 per cent of travel firms have made redundancies or have started consultation. There are fears Greece could be next on Britain’s list of quarantine countries, after local restrictions were put in place in several parts of the country hit by infection spikes. Back home, some of Aberdeen’s lockdown restrictions were lifted at midnight, bringing to an end a ban on indoor gatherings and a five-mile restriction on non-essential travel. Attention will no doubt switch to the possibility of restrictions in Birmingham, where more than 70 unlicensed gatherings – including raves and street parties – were disrupted by police over the weekend.

SEE NO EVIL: Keir Starmer is facing a revolt from many of his own supporters over Labour’s stance on refugees, amid claims the party is “turning a blind eye” to the plight of people crossing the English Channel. The Labour Campaign for Free Movement and Open Labour, a soft-left grouping, have said the party’s current position is unacceptable. An open letter with 300 signatures calls on the leadership to clearly “condemn” the government. Less surprising is a separate petition organised by Momentum calling on Starmer “to end his silence on the scapegoating of refugees and migrants”. Elsewhere, researchers from King’s College London insisted we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the “overt disinformation” used by the Tory party during the last election. The Conservatives used disinformation tactics with a “new level of impunity”, a new report from the university found.

CRUEL, PHONEY, LYING … BOOKWORM? The White House had defended Donald Trump after secret recordings revealed his eldest sister Maryanne Trump Barry said her brother was a liar who “has no principles” – guilty of “phoniness” and “cruelty”. Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows took most issue with her claim he doesn’t read and cheated on his exams. “He reads probably more than anybody I know,” said Meadows. Ahead of the big Republican convention kick-off tonight, Trump announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has authorised the use of plasma to treat coronavirus patients. In other Trump-Covid crossover news, Twitter flagged another tweet by the president for spreading “misleading health claims” – after he implied ballot boxes could spread the coronavirus.

IN THE ROUGH: The EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan has offered a “full and unreserved” apology for attending an indoor golf event in Ireland along with 80 others – in breach of the country’s coronavirus restrictions. Hogan said he understood why it “touched a nerve” in Ireland, but won’t be stepping down. The ongoing political controversy – which has already led to the resignations of agriculture minister Dara Calleary and senator Jerry Buttimer after they was found to have attended the big Oireachtas golf society dinner – means the Irish government is now recalling the Irish parliament early. Will Hogan survive? The Sunday Independent reported that premier Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar (now his deputy) want the EU commissioner to consider his position.

On the record

“Ministers should have spent the summer implementing a national plan to get all children back to school. Instead, the last two weeks have been wasted clearing up a mess.”

Keir Starmer senses another mess on the horizon.

From the Twitterati

“Water rationing, food shortages, power cuts, healthcare crisis. This is what the Conservative government is prepared to do to this country, in the name of ‘patriotism’.”

Lib Dems’ Helen Morgan is appalled by the leaked no-deal dossier…

“Anyone with half a brain saw the risks of compounding Covid & Brexit back in March/April. They could have taken an extension in June – but they were too irresponsible & incompetent.”

…and anti-Brexit campaigner Mike Galsworthy is appalled we passed up the chance to delay.