“To tackle the root causes of violence, we are funding 20 Violence Reduction Units across England and Wales which have reached over 271,000 vulnerable young people in their fourth year of funding alone, through early intervention programmes to help protect them from serious violence. Source link
“Threatening people with fines and prison for the way they look or smell, or for seeking shelter in doorways, will push them further away from help. We urge the Home Secretary to listen to his colleagues, as well as MPs from across the House, and drop these measures.” Source link
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has been criticised after she said she would “punch” a rude school inspector if she was a teacher. She was accused of “making light of violence in schools” after making the remark at a conference. Keegan said she had been “shocked” to hear about the experience of one school following an inspection by the Ofsted watchdog. According to Schools Week, the cabinet minister told the Association of School and College Leaders: “I thought, ‘God, if I’d met these people, I’d have actually punched them.’ They were really rude. “You expect people to be rude to you when you’re a politician. But when you’re trying to run a school and change lives you don’t expect somebody to come in and not be respectful.” Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “I can’t believe I have to say this, but the education secretary should focus on reforming Ofsted, not on punching working people. “An extraordinary comment from a secretary of state painfully out of her depth.” Mike Short, head of education at the Unison …
The Department for Education has published new statutory guidance for schools, which will come into effect in August, to help boost attendance. Source link
Gillian Keegan made quite a bold claim about the economy this morning, when she said it was looking “more hopeful” – even though we just tipped in a technical recession. The education secretary was speaking to Times Radio four days after the Office for National Statistics revealed the UK economy shrunk in the latter half of 2023. But, Keegan still defended PM Rishi Sunak and the government by saying “the plan is working”. Host Kate McCann asked the minister on Monday: “Jake Berry, who’s a former chairman of the Conservative Party, said it’s time for Rishi Sunak to take a step back and think again that you are, you know, going in the wrong direction. “What do you make of his remarks?” The education secretary replied: “It’s been difficult times for the last couple of years and it is difficult times at the moment. You know, we know the impacts of inflation. “We know that there’s a war going on in Ukraine. “We know that there’s obviously the conflict in the Middle East as well. …
11. Richard Tice and Isabel Oakeshott The Reform Party is seriously spooking the Tories. And that means Richard Tice, its leader, gets a prominent spot. He doesn’t have the same political potency as his party’s founder Nigel Farage, but the GB News regular is becoming more and more interesting to SW1 as Reform’s polling improves. Oakeshott, a former Sunday Times political editor, has an uncanny ability to make the political weather too. Since last Valentine’s Day, her controversial lockdown files exclusive, in which she leaked a load of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s 100,000 WhatsApp messages to the Telegraph after helping Hancock write his memoirs, dominated the news agenda for weeks. 12. Wes Streeting and Joe Dancey Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting — a close ally of Starmer, and one of the party’s strongest media performers — could find his other half sitting with him on the green benches if all goes well for Labour at the next general election. His communications and public affairs adviser partner Joe Dancey is standing in the new Stockton …
A brutal Labour Party advert has exposed the Tory chaos over plans to provide free childcare to parents. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the flagship policy in last year’s Budget. He promised that from this September, the government would pay for 30 hours a week childcare for all youngsters aged nine months and above whose parents are in work. In the Labour ad, posted on X (formerly Twitter) Hunt says: “Today I announce that in eligible households where all adults are working at least 16 hours, we will introduce 30 hours of free childcare, not just for three and four-year-olds, but for every single child over the age of nine months.” It then cuts to education secretary Gillian Keegan on Sky News this morning casting doubt on whether the policy will be implemented. Asked by presenter Trevor Phillips if she can guarantee the free childcare will be provided, she says: “You know, what you can’t do Trevor, which I think you probably know, is guaranteeing something in the future that you’re not in control of all …
A government minister has insisted that the alleged alkali attack on a mother and her two young daughters in Clapham last week is “not really about asylum”. Police are still hunting for Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, the suspect in the case, three days after it took place. The mother is reported to have suffered “life-changing injuries” and she and the children remain in hospital. It has been reported that Ezedi, who is from Afghanistan, twice unsuccessfully tried to claim asylum in the UK and has also been convicted of sexual offences. He was eventually allowed to stay in this country after converting to Christianity. The case has re-ignited the debate about the UK’s asylum system, with former immigration minister Robert Jenrick among those demanding answers. On ‘Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips’ on Sky News this morning, education secretary Gillian Keegan was asked: “Many people are asking this question: ’How is it possible that someone turned down twice for asylum, when then commits a sexual offence – or more than one sexual offence – is granted refugee …
Education secretary Gillian Keegan clashed with a Sky News presenter as she repeatedly refused to guarantee the government will meet its promise to expand the number of free childcare places. The minister told Trevor Phillips to “let me finish” during the tense exchange this morning. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Budget last year that working parents of all children above nine months old would be able to access 30 hours of free childcare from September. But Rishi Sunak admitted last week that there were “practical issues” which had placed a question mark over the viability of the policy. On ‘Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips’ this morning, Keegan added to the confusion by failing to confirm that the new system will be in place by the autumn. The presenter said: “The providers say you’re going to need something like 100,000 extra staff over the next two years to meet that pledge. “Can you guarantee that this September, every parent to whom you’ve made that promise … will find a place?” Keegan replied: “What we’re doing …
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has been chastised by the Commons speaker for giving lengthy answers that may have been a “ploy” to stop scrutiny from MPs. Lindsay Hoyle told the education secretary to be “punchy” with her responses as she fielded questions in the house. As Keegan was discussing exams in the aftermath of the crumbling school buildings crisis, the speaker said: “We’re having this problem every time. If it’s (topical questions), they’re meant to be short and punchy. I’ve got to get these members in and all you’re doing is stopping the members not getting in, and if that’s the ploy, it’s not going to work.” At the height of the problem last year, Keegan became notorious after she said she had done a “fucking good job” over the scandal. The minister also claimed that others “have been sat on their arse” while she has been dealing with the crisis. Source link
