He then claimed that the Labour leader’s reply was “the first time in four months that he’s said it”. We use cookies to improve experience and deliver personalised advertising. Yet even that concession doesn’t help the Prime Minister very much. Labour leader says publication of exit strategy essential to show public ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. Coronavirus: Schools should be among first to reopen when lockdown eases, Keir Starmer suggests. By the end of that month, the language from the Labour leader was more full-throated. We have been clear that all decisions will be guided by the scientific advice and data. Sir Keir Starmer has warned Boris Johnson it is his duty to ensure schools in England reopen in September. At Prime Minister’s Questions on 23 June, Sir Keir told Mr Johnson: “On schools, I do think that it is safe for some children to return. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Gavin Williamson was slammed by teachers last week for a “panicked and chaotic” reassurance issued to students on the eve of results day last week when he announced a “triple-lock” for results. It also showed respondents wanting to see the government prioritise schools over other venues when considering what to open – when asked, 60% said that they would prefer pubs and restaurants close in September so that schools can open. But even then, when the Labour leader was making those statements in late June and early July, that was the government’s position too. Keir Starmer has declared that he expects “all children back at school next month” – “no ifs, no buts, no equivocation” – and that the Prime Minister has a “moral responsibility to make sure that it happens”. A-Level pupils across the country received estimated grades on Thursday following the cancellation of the usual end-of-year exams when schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under the current system, institutions are required to pay up-front for appeals and can only claim back the money if successful. Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate? On 2 July, the government published guidelines on how schools should prepare to welcome all children back. No ifs, no buts, no equivocation. Reopening schools should be one of the first things that happens when we reach any end to the coronavirus lockdown, Labour leader Keir Starmer said today. If you watch the exchange, you’ll hear some consternation from the opposition benches, which may be what prompts the Prime Minister to add: “he’s never said it to me in the House of Commons”, allowing for the possibility that Sir Keir made statements to that effect elsewhere. Will he now say, ‘School is safe’?”. Keir was born on September 2, 1962. We will support that, and my offer to work with the Prime Minister on that stands.”, On 29 June, the Labour leader told BBC Radio 4: “Well of course it’s safe for some children to be back in school and they are back in school, and they’ve been in school throughout the pandemic.”, He added: “Even the Prime Minister isn’t saying all children could be back in school today because he hasn’t made the plan for that.”. While declining to set out a “rival plan”, he insisted he had “concerns” that the closures of schools across the UK were worsening inequalities between children who have resources and those in overcrowded accommodation. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day, A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced, During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown, Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time, ‘Stay Safe’ – Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures, Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown, There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops, Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day, Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. Create a commenting name to join the debate, There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts, There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. “I also think that mass community testing and tracing is almost certainly going to be part of the answer here. There is no issue on this”, the Prime Minister responded: “…that is the first time in four months that he has said it, so I am delighted to have extracted it from him over this despatch box. According to analysis of the official figures released by Ofqual, those students with a grade C or above were downgraded from teacher estimations by over 10% among children from the most disadvantaged background. In fact, it has exacerbated existing inequalities in our country,” he said. And then I genuinely would hope we could build consensus around it and if we think it’s the right strategy, the Labour Party would support it. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Labour has called on the government to waive fees for schools and colleges appealing grades. The detail about Victoria’s age is not public. Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB QC MP (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and former lawyer who has served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since 2020.He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015.Ideologically, he identifies as a socialist and has been described as being on the soft left within the Labour Party. The Education Secretary promised that pupils would have three options: accept their predicted grades, resit their exam in the autumn, or use a mock exam result for the basis of an appeal. He said it was “blatantly obvious when the Scottish government was forced to U-turn early last week that the UK government was going to need to take drastic action”, and accused the Tories of having instead “turned a blind eye”. We believe, she is around the same as her husband. Figures show that 39.1% had their result moderated down. The independent regulatory body has recognised this, saying: “Independent schools tended to submit a greater percentage of their qualification entries, at both GCSE and A-Level (11.9%).” This compares to 5.4% to 8.6% for other school types. But after Ofqual published guidance for the appeals process on Saturday, the body announced later in the day that it would be reviewing its own criteria for appeals – suggesting that Williamson’s last-minute mock results plan could be scrapped. Starmer wrote: “So, let me send a very clear message to the Prime Minister: I don’t just want all children back at school next month, I expect them back at school. Victoria Starmer could be around 54 years of age now. Despite our differences, I want the government to succeed in defeating the virus. Health minister’s incorrect herd immunity claims, Johnson’s questionable universal credit claim, We shouldn’t rely on official cases per capita to compare local outbreaks, 29 June, the Labour leader told BBC Radio 4, 2 July, the government published guidelines. This policy is being reviewed by the Ofqual board and further information will be published in due course.”, Commenting on the exams, Labour’s Kate Green said: “The Tories’ results fiasco is turning from tragedy to farce, and the chaos and incompetence is completely unacceptable when so many students and families have been devastated by it.”, The Shadow Education Secretary added: “A credible appeals system should have been the government’s first priority, but three days later there is absolutely no clarity on how young people can challenge their unfair grades.”. Ed Miliband has declared that “businesses desperately need clarity” on post-Brexit arrangements as a new report has found…, Mark Drakeford has launched the ‘Welsh Labour Together’ online conference with a Q&A session with members this evening.…, 35 Labour MPs including seven opposition frontbenchers have broken the party whip today by voting against the covert…. In a letter to Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary who is deputising for Boris Johnson in his absence, Sir Keir said that the lockdown has “exacerbated existing inequalities” across the country. One of the reasons we support today’s announcement is that it will make it more possible, and easier, to get children back to school more quickly. His age is 58 years now.

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