Inside Politics: Grant Shapps sparks holiday chaos by adding France to quarantine list

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Teenagers won’t remember the silly old sitcom Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. But it hasn’t stopped Gen X-ers and Boomers – outraged on behalf of England’s cheated A-level pupils – from comparing Gavin Williamson to Frank Spencer. Like hapless Frank, our education secretary stands in the midst of chaos without appearing to know what to do about it. Transport secretary Grant Shapps has angered airlines and holidaymakers by adding France and the Netherlands to the quarantine list – so that should take some attention off the exam results fiasco. Any more government whoopsies on the carpet before Boris Johnson heads off on holiday?

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:

Pupils were hold a socially-distanced protest outside Downing Street at lunchtime over the exam results mess – with student groups calling for grades based on the statistical model to be scrapped and Gavin Williamson to be sacked. Transport secretary Grant Shapps will be explaining why he is adding France and the Netherlands to the quarantine list with so little warning. And there will be a weekly briefing by the Independent SAGE group of scientists.

Daily briefing

SLAVE TO THE ALGORITHM: Pupils, parents, teachers and college leaders have all demanded a review of the algorithm-moderated A-level results – and say all fees for the deluge of expected appeals should be waived. Almost 40 per cent of grades were lower than teachers predicted. Private schools received double the improvement in A* and A grades compared with state comprehensives. Ofqual figures also show poorer pupils saw their grades downgraded more than those from middle income or wealthy backgrounds. Not a good look for the “levelling-up”-obsessed Tories. Boris Johnson insisted the grades were “robust”. Describing those losing out as “outliers”, Gavin Williamson suggested a “high performing child in a low performing school” could always appeal. Keir Starmer stated the blindingly obvious: “Something has obviously gone horribly wrong with this year’s exam results.”

OUT OF LE BLEU: Well, at least travellers are getting a bit of notice this time. People arriving or coming back to the UK from France will be forced to quarantine for 14 days from Saturday at 4am. Grant Shapps said the changes – which also applies to people travelling from the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba – were necessary to control infections. France warned there would be “reciprocal measures” across the Channel while Airlines UK described it as “another devastating blow”. With up to half a million British tourists thought to be in France, expect a mad mass dash back today. The PM will be relieved he booked at staycation in Scotland. Before heading off on holiday at the weekend, Johnson flew to Northern Ireland to greet taoiseach Micheál Martin with an elbow bump, saying he wanted the relationship with the Republic of Ireland to blossom “in all sorts of ways”.

HAPPY OCCASIONS: The travel safety list isn’t all that’s changing on Saturday. Johnson has announced that small wedding receptions, social-distanced indoor performances, bowling alleys and casinos will all be able to restart tomorrow in England after lockdown easing was delayed for two weeks. There are also less happy changes. His government is bringing in tougher penalties for rule breakers. Fines for mask refuseniks could now reach up to £3,200 and illegal rave organisers face a £10,000 fine. In other corona-related developments, people living in the east London borough of Newham are the lucky so-and-sos who will join the Isle of Wight in trying out the revised contact-tracing app. The latest NHS Test and Trace figures show the centralised call centre operation failed to reach almost 40 per cent of contacts in England last week.

FOLLOW MY LEADER: If the past week has offered any lesson for the Westminster government, it might be to start paying closer attention to Scottish politics. First minister Nicola Sturgeon said her administration would extend the ban on landlords evicting renters until March 2021. With the temporary ban on evictions in England and Wales due to end of 23 August, Shelter and other housing charities called on ministers down south to follow Scotland’s lead. Meanwhile, Johnson is set to endear himself to the Scottish people by branding schemes north of the border paid for by the UK government with a Union flag, according to The Telegraph. It’ll be used to replace EU flags on bridges or roads funded by Brussels. Douglas Ross, the new Scottish Tory leader, said the party should be “unashamed of our investment in Scotland”. Shameless stuff.

ANOTHER HAIR-BRAINED SCHEME: The government of the United States of America has proposed changing the definition of a showerhead after Donald Trump complained his hair wasn’t getting the right kind of water pressure. “So, showerheads – you take a shower, the water doesn’t come out … So what do you do? You take a shower longer? Because my hair – I don’t know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect.” In a more predictably horrible development, Trump has tried to stoke “birther” theories about Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris. The Democrat was born in Oakland, California in 1964 to a Jamaican father and Indian mother. Referring to an article about the legal status of Harris’s parents at the time of her birth, Trump said: “I just heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements … they’re saying that she doesn’t qualify because she wasn’t born in this country.”

NEW ERA, OR NEW FIG LEAF? US and world officials have largely welcomed a landmark agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The plan is set to see Israel’s annexation of occupied West Bank territories suspended, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming it has ushered in a “new era” for the region. However, Palestinian officials have condemned the plan – arguing that it normalises occupation of Palestinian territories. Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawi said on Twitter: “The UAE has come out in the open on its secret dealings / normalisation with Israel. Please don’t do us a favour. We are nobody’s fig leaf!” The Iranian government said the deal was a “dagger” in the backs of the “Palestinian people and all Muslims”.

On the record

“Let’s be in no doubt about it, the exam results that we’ve got today are robust, they’re good, they’re dependable for employers.”

Gavin Williamson won’t back down on moderated A-level grades.

From the Twitterati

“Feeling pretty angry ... Most A-level students in Greater Manchester go to sixth form colleges and FE colleges. Many have been downgraded today because the government created a system which is inherently biased against those institutions. How can that possibly be fair?”

Labour mayor Andy Burnham thinks the downgrading is unjust…

“I’m hearing that the UK has been downgraded.”

…while writer Steve Lawrence thinks it speaks to the national malaise.

Essential reading

Roya Shahidi, The Independent: I am furious that the government has failed A-level students like me

Andrew Feinberg, The Independent: Trump insiders says Kamala Harris is the president’s nightmare

Stephen Bush, New Statesman: Britain’s governments are trying to return to a world that doesn’t exist

Joshua Benton, The Atlantic: The Wikipedia war over Kamala Harris’s race

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