Boris Johnson news – live: Gavin Williamson accused of ‘repeated incompetence’ after day of GCSE results chaos, as government ‘risks major misstep’ with PHE closure
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Gavin Williamson was accused of “repeated incompetence” after a day in which both he and the Department for Education apparently contradicted themselves on when GCSE students official results would be released. The exam board later clarified that students would have them by Thursday.
The education secretary also refused to say whether he had offered his resignation to Boris Johnson, after the government was forced into a painful U-turn on Monday in allowing students to use teachers’ suggested grades, rather than those awarded by a government algorithm based on schools’ performance history.
While reports suggested that Mr Williamson’s offer to resign had been refused by the prime minister, his public comments appeared to lay blame at the feet of civil servants, telling LBC that Ofqual “didn’t deliver the system that we had been reassured and believed that would be in place”.
It came as headteachers union ASCL called for an urgent independent review of the exams grading fiasco, with general secretary Geoff Barton claiming it was necessary because ”public confidence has been badly shaken”.
Meanwhile, the government faced further criticism for its decision to replace Public Health England (PHE) during a pandemic, with independent health think-tank, the Nuffield Trust, warning of a “major misstep”.
Health secretary Matt Hancock raised further eyebrows as he unveiled its replacement body, the National Institute for Health Protection, by insisting that “one of the big learnings” of the coronavirus crisis has been the need for private intervention in the health sector.
Citing the partnership between the government, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University in creating a vaccine candidate, he claimed the idea of a “divide” between the public and private sectors was now “for the birds”, adding: ”So my message to everyone in the private sector is – join us in the mission.”
Read below to see how we reported on the day's events as they unfolded:
Welsh education minister apologises to students over exams fiasco
Kirsty Williams apologised "directly and unreservedly" for the effect the country's controversial A-level grading system had on students, saying anxieties over the decision to use statistical models to award results had worsened the "anguish" students were already experiencing due to the pandemic.
Appearing via video before the Welsh Parliament's recalled Children, Young People and Education Committee, Ms Williams said: "For our young people, just like everyone else, the last few months have been and continue to be a stressful time.
"Many of us will know people who've been ill or have lost someone. I certainly do. And it's been a time of anguish for people right across the country.
"And I am sorry that for some of our young people, the results process has made that worse. That was not the intention of anyone. Not me, not Qualifications Wales, not teachers, not (exam board) WJEC.
"But it is right that I apologise directly and unreservedly to our young people."
Public Health England 'appears to have been found guilty without trial'
Richard Murray, the chief executive of the think The King’s Fund, said PHE “appears to have been found guilty without a trial” and said it was unclear what problem ministers were hoping to solve by redistributing the body’s responsibilities.
“Undoubtedly, there are questions to be answered about England’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis, but the middle of a pandemic is not the time to dismantle England’s public health agency,” he said.
"History is littered with reorganisations of the health system that are costly, time consuming and demoralising for staff.
"It is risky to undertake such a shakeup whilst the nation is still grappling with Covid-19, ahead of an anticipated winter spike in demand for health services and with the looming threat of a second wave of the virus."
Blame game erupts over A-level fiasco as Gavin Williamson dodges resignation calls
A blame game erupted on Tuesday over the exam results fiasco as the government pointed the finger at regulators and headteachers called for an independent enquiry, our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson four times refused to say whether he had confidence in Sally Collier, the head of exams regulator Ofqual – which was behind the botched algorithm.
But headteachers said ministers themselves should have been on top of the situation and called for an immediate review of the episode.
The education secretary himself dodged questions on breakfast television about whether he should resign, as some Conservatives such as former minister Sir Nicholas Soames have suggested.
Mr Williamson rounded on his civil servants, saying that Ofqual "didn't deliver" and arguing that its assurances were not matched by "robustness".
Following the government's arguably inevitable U-turn on exam results, our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has compiled this list of all of government's about-turns so far during the pandemic.
Dover MP calls for action as unaccompanied migrant children to 'housed in detention centre'
Any new children arriving on small boats unaccompanied in Kent are now to remain in the care of Border Force's Intake Unit in Dover until they can be transferred into the care of another local authority - which the Home Office insisted was a "processing unit" rather than a "detention centre" - after Kent County Council said it had run out of resources to look after them.
Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said Kent looks after "three times" the number of children than is advised as safe, and called for other local authorities to help.
"This is a political failure, pure and simple," said Bella Sankey, director of Detention Action. "The government must urgently U-turn and ensure that vulnerable children are immediately taken into care rather than detained in prison-like facilities.
"Instead of ensuring that unaccompanied child refugees are provided with essential support when they arrive in the UK, the Home Secretary has spent the last few weeks trashing the UK's proud record of helping the world's most vulnerable and trying to turn this situation into a Trumpian culture war."
Harassment complaints procedure 'absolutely not' designed to target Alex Salmond, top civil servant says
Including former Scottish Government ministers in a harassment complaints procedure was "absolutely not" designed to target Alex Salmond, Scotland's most senior civil servant has said.
Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans said she told Nicola Sturgeon concerns had been raised about the former first minister two months before a formal investigation - which was later ruled unlawful - was started by the Scottish Government.
Giving evidence under oath at Holyrood, Ms Evans rejected the idea a complaints procedure introduced in 2018 was "designed to get Alex Salmond" when asked by Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints member Alex Cole-Hamilton.
The Liberal Democrat MSP said: "Was this targeted policy, which only applied to harassment complaints against former ministers, engineered to fit any complaint that been arrived at through the Scottish Government?
"Was this designed to get Alex Salmond?"
She replied: "No, absolutely not."
PA
EU warns post-Brexit trade agreement must be agreed by 'October at the latest'
The EU wants an "ambitious and fair partnership with the UK" in a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the bloc, an EU Commission spokesperson has said, but a deal must be agreed by the end of October for it to be ratified in time.
Downing Street has said this week that it remains confident a deal can be reached in September.
The comments come ahead of the latest round of negotiations between the UK and the EU, which are due to begin on Tuesday evening and continue until Friday.
Asked whether the EU is confident a deal can be achieved in September, an EU Commission spokesman said: "The important thing to note - and I would point you first of all back to what Michel Barnier himself said in London at the end of the last round of negotiations - that, first of all, we want a deal, we want to have an ambitious and fair partnership with the UK, and that we must come to an agreement in October at the latest."
He added: "This week and over the coming weeks we will remain constructive, we will remain engaged and respectful with the UK negotiating team in order to reach a deal."
Earlier this week, a No 10 spokesman said UK negotiators "will continue to plug the gaps where any differences remain".
He added: "There are many issues that will be discussed during this week's round, not least level playing field, fisheries, trading goods and services, amongst others."
Gavin Williamson 'offered to resign' after exam results U-turn, reports suggest
The education secretary tendered his resignation after the government was forced into yet another chaotic U-turn on Monday, but Boris Johnson did not accept it, according to The i newspaper.
On Tuesday morning, Gavin Williamson repeatedly refused to say whether he had offered to resign over the fiasco, and instead appeared to lay blame at the feet of civil servants, saying Ofqual "didn’t deliver the system that we had been reassured and believed that would be in place".
Halifax MP condemns 'chill out or I'll choke you out' arrest video
A police officer has been removed from frontline duties after footage showed him holding an Asian man in a headlock and telling him to "chill out or I'll choke you out".
The video of the Halifax arrest has been referred to the police watchdog, West Yorkshire Police said.
Halifax MP Holly Lynch tweeted:
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