by gavin williamson and borisjohnson with litigation if they tried to close their schools a week earlyat seems cover the evidence already piling up then that any sense of relaxation over christmas, however small, was going to lead to this spike injanuary and so to lead to this spike injanuary and so at the risk of being right after the event, it is notjust me it's huge numbers of people with expertise telling the government to be far more cautious in december which would have made what they are doing now in january, which would have made what they are doing now injanuary, and the situation injanuary doing now injanuary, and the situation in january but just a little bit less bad than the catastrophe that we are now in. little bit less bad than the catastrophe that we are now inm go to the daily telegraph that has a picture of poor shots giving a speech. i don't think there's any other photographs for the pages. p.m. says 13 million other photographs for the pages. p. m. says 13 million jabs other photographs for the pages. p.m. says 13 millionjabs will mean vulnerable or protected by m

, poor old gavin williamson, poor old gavin williamson to resign. that we are living through comes to — period that we are living through comes to be told, it will probably not he _ comes to be told, it will probably not he very— comes to be told, it will probably not be very kind to gavin williamson and the _ not be very kind to gavin williamson and the education department. anna, ou are and the education department. anna, you are looking _ and the education department. anna, you are looking straightfaced - and the education department. fifi�*uas, you are looking straightfaced on that one. what do you think? fin that one. what do you think? on gavin that one. what do you think? 0'1 gavin williamson? well, i think he got neck people are calling for him to resign pretty much every other day as david says... —— people are... day as david says... -- people are... ., , �* day as david says... -- people are... ., ,�* ,, , day as david says... -- people are... ., ,�* ,, are... he doesn't speak very often, he aoes are... he doesn't speak very often, he goes

they say teachers are demanding the closure of every school in the country after gavin williamson cavedto shut all primaries in london. that government u—turn on schools is also front and center on tomorrow's guardian. the paper says it's down to growing pressure over the coronavirus and the ever growing pressure on the nhs. the express says ‘brexit britain to bounce back‘ as the prime minister pledges to ‘rebuild' with thousands more police, nurses and teachers. and the daily mirror looks back at new years eve and what they call the ‘raving mad reckless revellers‘ who partied on despite warnings from the government. so let's begin... thank you both forjoining us this evening. happy new year also to you both. let's start with the guardian, you first of alljason schools obviously very much front and centre of these front pages, and the guardian here talking about the pressure growing on number ten to do a u—turn on all schools in the country. this is a very difficult one. nobody wants to disrupt education further. it's come you know it's a badly disrupted already. it has consequences for

gavin williamson is due to outline a package of support for young people after students in england wereold this year's gcse and a—level exams would be scrapped. first here is our political correspondence. ina correspondence. in a capital with soaring infection rates, mps recalled today for an extraordinary setting. the prime minister just extraordinary setting. the prime ministerjust a few days ago didn't foresee this lockdown happening this fast. how long are we in this for? one in 30 people in the capital have been infected by the virus in the past week. inside, there was ceremony but few to see it happen. a handful of mps present in parliament. a new year, a new variant, and so tighter restrictions. i now call the prime minister to make restrictions. i now call the prime ministerto make a restrictions. i now call the prime minister to make a statement. restrictions. i now call the prime minister to make a statementm restrictions. i now call the prime minister to make a statement. it is inescapable that the facts are changing and we must change our response. so we have no choice but t

today when gavin williamson speaks, how much detail can students, parents and teachers expect?full picture about how exams will work this summer. we know that those who have gcses and a—level exams scheduled for the summer a—level exams scheduled for the summer will not sit them as normal but we don't yet know how grades will be allocated. as you said, pa rents, will be allocated. as you said, parents, teachers and students will be eagerly awaiting what gavin williamson says. i think today we will hear more of a focus on how stu d e nts will hear more of a focus on how students will be supported through remote learning in the immediate term. gavin williamson has said ahead of his statement it is vital we support our young people at home including making sure all students have the best possible remote education and those due to take exams can still progress to their next stage. i think the education secretary, and the qualifications regulator, 0fqual, will be keen to avoid a repeat of the situation last summer avoid a repeat of the situation last summer where the algorithm that

they say teachers are demanding the closure of every school in the country after gavin williamson caved shut all primaries in london. that government u—turn on schools is also front and centre on tomorrow‘s guardian. the paper says it‘s down to growing pressure over the coronavirus and the ever growing pressure on the nhs. the express says ‘brexit britain to bounce back‘ as the prime minister pledges to ‘rebuild‘ with thousands more police, nurses and teachers. and the daily mirror looks back at new year‘s eve and what they call the ‘raving mad reckless revellers‘ who partied on despite warnings from the government. so let‘s begin. thank you both again forjoining us. let‘s go straight to the guardian front page. jason, number ten you turn on schools as pressure grows. number ten has done a u—turn so it seems on london schools at least, primary schools across london will close as opposed to in some burros. pressure now to extend that to all primary schools. is that pressure fear do you think? yes, i think it is. -- fear do you think? yes, i think it is. —— pressure fair. primary schools

we know what gavin williamson thinks about food. he has been talking also about food. food. he has been talking also about exams-— about exams. he has been asked by mps on the — about exams. he has been asked by mps on the education _ about exams. he has been asked by mps on the education committee, l about exams. he has been asked by mps on the education committee, a j mps on the education committee, a cross—party group scrutinising the work of the department for education. he had written to fall, the exams regulator, this morning, launching a consultation into alternatives for gcse, a—level and as—level students. we know there's exams will not happen but he has opened the door to some form of external testing, says gavin williamson, perview external testing, says gavin williamson, per view to backing up teachers and giving them something upon which to base those grades. so he had said in the education committee today that ultimately it is going to be about trusting the judgment of teachers, in direct contrast to last yea r�*s judgment of teachers, in direct contrast

comes up tomorrow what gavin williamson comes up with.o be expecting answers and he better try to come up with some. anand what is the best way to measure 17 and 18—year—olds get justice next august? it is hard? we are dealing with two biases, an algorithm will always have bias built into it and we saw that in the outcomes last year. but having your own teacher giving you a great is a recipe for bias as well. we need to find a way to mediate between those two and there are two interesting suggestions in this article in the times. the first is getting loads of teachers out of retirement to check the grades that teachers have given schoolkids but there is another suggestion also interesting from john suggestion also interesting from jotheremy who suggestion also interesting from john jeremy who is a professor of education at ucl, he says a proportion of what that is graded by teacher should be put on a website and made public so that we can get to see what sort of work is being... i think the point there is a gives teachers good reason to t

in this discussion is what on earth the department for education and gavin williamson is doing. overwhelmed, we know that the staff are tired and worried. i don't think it is fair to add more to their plate. i don't think it is fair to add more pressure on to the vulnerable nhs at the moment because we have seen just in the last few days, those long queues of ambulances. we have seen and heard on many bbc programmes just how worried so many of the people who work in critical care and the nhs are about the current situation. thank you very much for your time. the latest official figures here in the uk show there were 57,725 new coronavirus infections, recorded in the latest 24—hour period. the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is now 48,849. there were 445 deaths reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, but today's figures don't include scotland. it means that on average in the past week, 584 deaths were announced every day, taking the total across the uk, to 74,570. we arejust we are just hearing that a shadow c

it stops with gavin williamson himself.e if we could see the advice that the government has given, and frankly, the decision that was made in london to keep some burros across the road, which were going to have to remain open. it made no sense for the beginning. it didn't make sense in terms of the case numbers, in terms of children moving across burros to go to schools, it just didn't moving across burros to go to schools, itjust didn't make any sense. i would very much like to know how these decisions are made and what advice we can get, because it seems to be incomprehensible. call for clarity? clarity and consistency and firmness, and telling people important things. on a friday evening, those had teachers and teachers in the boroughs closed have to switch from remote learning over the weekend. as i said before, you don't get this and scotland or northern ireland or wales. why is that we repeatedly get it in england? there's no need for it. do you think, there are some people saying it's time to rethink of recalling par

labour has accused the education secretary gavin williamson of not being up to the job.me minister branded "disgraceful". when gavin williamson appeared in the commons for his regular round of questions, labour went on the attack. the utterly inadequate school food parcels we saw last week were an absolute scandal, a scandal that was, however, entirely in line with the government's own guidance. so, why has it taken the secretary of state until the third week of term to initiate a a voucher system? as the honourable lady will know if she had taken the time to read our guidance, actually, those food parcels didn't meet the expectations or the guidance that we have set out and they are not acceptable, and we have made that clear. gavin williamson said the national voucher scheme was now open to all schools in england. a conservative mp pointed out that a hotline had been set up by the government for people to report inadequate food parcels. i'm absolutely certain that - most schools are providing good quality parcels for children. so, please, can my right- honourable frien

i to gavin williamson yesterday?” did. lam to gavin williamson yesterday?” did.to be more clear. and whether that is through more formal assessments of things like that, there needs to be more clarity for schools so we have the same approach to different schools and everyone is doing the same thing. what he is saying yes it will be done to teachers to assess that there will be some sort of standardisation in that process. isn't that the fairest way, given that teachers probably know you better than anyone else? that teachers probably know you better than anyone else ?” that teachers probably know you better than anyone else? i think so, but now we are spending less time at school it will be done over zoom which makes it harder for teachers to know where you are at and separately to that it feels like it forgets about the students that feel they could do better in exams, sol think i can do better in exams than lam doing think i can do better in exams than i am doing currently but if feel lost because i don't know howl prove that to my teachers. with a limited time

labour has accused the government of treating btec students as an "afterthought" gavin williamson says whether to cancel their exams. today, the house of commons was recalled from recess for the second time, to debate and retrospectively vote on the lockdown measures layer tonight. damian grammaticus has more. in a capital with soaring infection rates, mps recalled today for an extraordinary sitting. the prime ministerjust a few days ago did not foresee this lockdown happening this fast. how long are we in this for, prime minister? but in the capital, one in 30 people have been infected by the virus in just the past week. inside there was ceremony, but few to see it happen, a handful of mps present in parliament. a new year, a new variant and so tighter restrictions. i now call the prime minister to make a statement, borisjohnson. it is inescapable that the facts are changing and we must change our response and so we have no choice but to return to a national lockdown in england with similar measures being adopted by the devolved administrations. so we can control this new variant unti

gavin williamson is spelling out a personal aspiration. minister, scientists, head teachers of schools and the virus. what will the pandemic looked like in two and a half weeks' time? that combination will define when schools are opened. in terms of vaccinations for teachers, there is a campaign going, a petition going, for this, teachers and other school staff, tas and so on, did he have anything to say? he sa s on, did he have anything to say? he: says he would like school staff, teachers and support staff to be considered in the next set of prioritisation is for who gets the vaccine. that is a bit of a way off at the moment because what is happening at the moment is that the jcvi, thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation, a group of scientific experts, has come up with that list of nine priority groups for phase one who should be getting it. at the moment, it is only the top half of that nine so people in care homes, care home workers, front line nhs staff, the over 80s and over 70s. the discussions amongst the scientists abou

the education secretary gavin williamson said thatest was a lastt. priority is to keep as many children as possible in school, there must be a balance between pressures on the nhs our correspondent has given us the details. >> the government said two days ago, primary schools from monday and most of london andth some of surrounding areas, needed to primary school children would not be able to go in on monday, but now all of the london boroughs. tamer ft out. -- 10 were left out. there was not any sense as to which areas had high virus rates. very quickly people were questioning how these ons were reached and why there is not consistency across london. the government has been challenged by council leaders and the mayor of london. since his evening, there has been an announcement of a reversal. all of the prima l schools acrodon will be closed for least two weeks to try to get the rates are high in thesee areas. for at least two weeks,s that more time that children will have to spend a home and more time that parents will have to find childcare. theepp

the education secretary gavin williamson will make a statement in the commons later.f term at the earliest. but children of key workers and those who are vulnerable can still go to school. in scotland, schools will stay closed to the majority of pupils until at least the start of february. meanwhile in wales, children aren‘t expected to return to the classroom until the 18th january, although some people believe that should be extended further. and in northern ireland it‘s expected schools will be shut to most students until the middle of next month. we‘re joined now by our political correspondent jonathan blake. so many people will be watching very closely because there are a lot of changes going on at the moment. we are expecting to hear from the education later today. after all the uncertainty about the return to school in england this week, stu d e nts school in england this week, students with gcse and a—level results looming in the summer we‘ll have to wait a little longer to find out how great will be awarded and what they will be doing other than sitting exams

boris johnson and gavin williamson have both _ boris johnson and gavin williamson have both said they to be the first — have both said they want schools to be the first thing that reopens when lockdown _ be the first thing that reopens when lockdown measures can be eased. i think— lockdown measures can be eased. i think everybody recognizes that keeping — think everybody recognizes that keeping schools closed is bad for children— keeping schools closed is bad for children in— keeping schools closed is bad for children in so many ways. the children's_ children in so many ways. the children's commissioner is quoted in the sun— children's commissioner is quoted in the sun is— children's commissioner is quoted in the sun is talking about the significant inequalities that are widening during the pandemic because children— widening during the pandemic because children and more disadvantaged areas _ children and more disadvantaged areas are — children and more disadvantaged areas are unlikely to have access to the right— areas are unlikely to have access to the right technology for learning,

gavin williamson.es if they don't do enough to show their products are not linked to forced labour in the country's xinjiang province. there is growing evidence that more than a million uighur muslims are being held in forced labour camps. the foreign secretary said businesses must make sure products from the camps were not ending up on british shelves. mps welcomed the measures, but dominic raab faced cross—party anger that they didn't go further. internment camps, arbitrary detention, political re—education, forced labour, torture, and forced sterilisation. all on an industrial scale. it is truly horrific. barbarism we had hoped lost to another era being practised today as we speak in one of the leading members of the international community. mr speaker, we have a moral duty to respond. labour accused him of tinkering round the edges. the government had trailed long—awaited sanctions in the media on officials responsible for appalling human rights abuses in xinjiang. we have waited months. he briefed

the education secretary, gavin williamson, said the move was a "last resort". said: 0ur education correspondent dan johnson has been giving us the details behind the move. well, this announcement dates back all the way to last year. actually, only two days that the government said from monday, primary schools in most of london and some of the surrounding areas— essex, kent — needed to close for two weeks, that primary school children wouldn't be able to go in on monday. but not all the london boroughs — ten were left out, and it wasn't even consistent in terms of which ones. it was a bit of a patchwork the government painted across the capital, and there wasn't even any sense between which areas had high virus rates and which weren't. so, very quickly, people were questioning how have these decisions been reached, why is there not consistency across london. and the government's been challenged by council leaders, by london's mayor, and this evening, it's announced a reversal, another u—turn. and from monday, all the primary schools across london will be closed

the education secretary, gavin williamson, said moving to remote learning was a "last resort".nt is ‘creating chaos' days before the start of team. danny thorpe is the leader of greenwich council, which was threatened with legal action for wanting to shut schools early for christmas. he spoke to earlier and gave me his reaction. 0ur officials have been in contact and we understand official confirmation is coming our way shortly. it would appear that this is indeed the direction of travel. it was only a few weeks ago that you got a letter from the government threatening legal action if you stayed open —— if you didn't stay open? and i think it's important to recognise our numbers continue to rocket. 0n recognise our numbers continue to rocket. on that day when we received that legal direction, or infection levels of 254 per hundred thousand have gone above 800. so, i think we think this is the right decision. if the decision that notjust we welcome, but i know that schools, pupils, families across london will welcome tonight. the tears for pa rents, welcome tonight. the tears fo

gavin williamson had been telling everyone that, yes, we will get all the schools reopened. 0nly thatls reopened. only 2041 was a go, he was false into a bit of an embarrassing u—turn when he said most london schools would be open, he was ordered to say that all the primary schools will have to close. —— only 24 hours ago. it looks like also primary school around the school will close. i know teachers will want to teach their students, they will feel frustrated by this. it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow, there will be a lot of uncertainty around with the militant wing of the union in favour of not returning to school and a lot of not returning to school and a lot of teachers feeling they want to help the children. shyama perera, we look at the telegraph, they are saying we must not value michael children's features, time out of the classroom must be kept to an absolute minimum. there is no easy answer on this. the balance of their feature and the nation's health. i think what you have got here is to cogent arguments which is the union argument in the observer saying

we will do our best for our people is that we have not been helped by gavin williamson.pils are sitting btec exams at the moment, is that right also? it would be a very hard decision to stop exams that students have expected to set this week. i think an example can be more socially distant thunder can be more control that situation. it is a hard decision so i think the btec local ahead. dr mary bousted, good to talk to you. the new measures were introduced after rapidly growing cases of coronavirus and increasing pressure on hospitals. so, will these tough restrictions be enough to tackle the drastic rise in infections across england in the last week? from the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group to the government, also known as nervtag. good to have you with us, professor. that is the question, i suppose, will these new measures work? are they enough? i think they will definitely save tens of thousands of lives, but i think we could be going a lot further and learning from the previous lockdown and what we saw in the previous lockdown is a rates and

on schools, the education secretary, gavin williamson, will make a statement to mps and is expected topport package for young people following the closure of schools and colleges. it comes as fears for the spread of the virus continue. yesterday the number of new daily confirmed cases of covid in the uk topped 60,000 for the first time. and it is thought one in 50 people in england had the virus last week, rising to one in 30 in london. mps will vote retrospectively on new measures to control the virus in england, which include a stay—at—home order and the closure of schools to most pupils. the prime minister will make a ministerial statement in the commons before mps debate. and we'll bring you all the latest on the uk vaccine roll—out. some 1.3 million people have now been vaccinated in the uk, including nearly a quarter of over 80s in england, according to the government. stay with us for more on all these latest developments. 0urfirst report from sean dilly looks at the impact on schools. gavin williamson is expected to tell mps that education remains a national priority, despite t

gavin williamson gave us a clue about what he hopes might happen.me to get ready and parents _ children the time to get ready and parents enough notice to be able to get everything ready. so we will be hoping _ get everything ready. so we will be hoping to— get everything ready. so we will be hoping to give everyone two weeks' notice _ hoping to give everyone two weeks' notice in _ hoping to give everyone two weeks' notice in order for them to be ready to return _ notice in order for them to be ready to return back to school. now, in england, schools should be going back in normal circumstances on the 22nd of february, so if you count back two weeks that means you would probably have to have a decision made by the government on the week of the 8th of february, which is about two and a half weeks away from now. i use that word aspiration because that is what gavin williamson hopes. it is not just down to him, there are other government departments and the prime minister and scientists involved and of course what is happening with the pandemic. there

leaders of nine london local authorities had written to the uk education secretary gavin williamson urgingrethink the decision. a new era begins, as the brexit transition period ends and the uk completes its formal separation from the european union. borisjohnson said the uk had "freedom in our hands" and the ability to do things "differently and better". now the long brexit process was over. but opponents of leaving the eu maintain the country will be worse off. now, rebecca morelle looks back on how scientific endeavour reached new heights over the past twelve months — in review 2020: the year in science. it was the year that would put science to the ultimate test, battling a pandemic that swept across the globe. as cities locked down, the air became cleaner, but not for long, and the impacts of climate change are still accelerating. away from earth, we entered a new era for space flight with the first private mission to carry astronauts into space. and there was a surprise discovery on venus, with scientists asking if they had found signs of life. and in 2020, an expedition to one of th

— there's no intention to close them and we have not seen any contrary advice to that. thank gavin williamsonn parliament with me, david cornock. still to come — new covid rules for scotland. back to question time now, where borisjohnson said lockdown measures are "starting to show signs of some effect", but he refused to rule out extra restrictions in england. the prime minister said measures were kept under "constant review" after keir starmer said he thought it was obvious more restrictions were needed. and isn't this the situation that every time there's a big decision to take, the prime minister gets there late? the next big decision is obvious, the current restrictions are not strong enough to control the virus. stronger restrictions are needed. and there is no point in members opposite shaking their heads, in a week or two the prime minister is likely to be asking members to vote for this. so can the prime minister tell us, when infection rates are much higher than last march, when hospital admissions are much higher than last march, with death rates much higher than last march, why on

the education secretary gavin williamson has outlined the government's plans for changes to educationnt's skills forjobs white paper will give employers a bigger role in designing courses and to improve access to flexible student finance but colleges say they'll need much more funding to deliver the plan. here is mr williamson giving details of the white paper a short while ago. madame deputy speaker, this house needs no reminding that this country stands at a critical point in its history. we have some enormous challenges ahead. there is an urgent need to rebuild an economy injured by the covid—i9 pandemic. we have already outlined in unprecedented support package to offerjobs and retraining to those who have lost theirs due to covid—i9. but beyond covid—i9, we must also forge a new identity as an independent trading nation. both of these challenges have exposed our need for a strong and flourishing technical education sector, to fire up the jobs of the future. this white paper is our blueprint for that future. it is going to play a pivotal role in creating jobs and rebuilding our ec

some other papers that we have prominent members of the tory party distancing themselves from gavin williamsonss is the year we are going to have very big elections in which the government is going to be judged and if we fail our children and we also feel her teachers, that will not be good for the government. so, they need to get a grip on this and decide what the policy is in implementing it, rather than stopping and starting and quick u—turns. the climate crisis facing the world has not gone away despite a lot of the attention being focused on the pandemic and this interview, she does not give a lot of interviews but her feelings of the state of the road at the moment. i really like, i'm shocked that she is 18 inches young adult now, i often forget that she is a really good face for people with autism because she is very straightforward speaking, she knows her mind and when she talks about what you can do for her birthday, she does this do the best you can for the environment and she is not someone for the environment and she is not someone who is preaching to the point where you must follow

the education secretary gavin williamson has made it clear that all schools in london and parts of the and the south—east. so they are basing their decisions on sound science, aren't they? well, there seems to be variance in their own decision—making. if you recall, it wasn't too many weeks ago that the government were threatening to take legal action. we were supporting local authorities at the time who were asking for the ability to, the option to close their schools in order to stem the flow and the rise of what has now emerged as a new variant and at that time the government responded by threatening with legal action. a few weeks later they have completely reversed that position and seem to be saying the opposite. what we are asking for the government to do is to come out and provide us with the information and the evidence that we require so that we can be assured that they are indeed following the science and notjust the latest headline. but you say your ambition is for schools to remain open and for there to be continuity of learning. the government has said it is ok at the mome

meanwhile england's education secretary gavin williamson said he certainly hoped schools in england couldbefore easter — something downing street refused to be drawn on. the roll—out of the vaccination programme continues, with 65 new centres opened today. almost five million people have now been vaccinated, as our medical editor fergus walsh reports. life in lockdown has become the new normal. most classrooms stand idle. shops, pubs and sports centres are locked up. holidays, a distant dream. protecting lives comes at a heavy price, in ruined livelihoods and loneliness. and it seems there is no clear end in sight. i think it's too early to say when we'll be able to lift some of the restrictions. we are seeing the contagiousness of the new variant that we saw arrived just before christmas. there's no doubt it does spread very fast indeed. it's not more totally but it is much more contagious. its not more deadly, but it is more contagious. labour, too, can't say when measures should be eased. we need to look at the infection rates. the admission rates and the pressure on the nhs and tragic

the education secretary for england, gavin williamson, has said he wants secondary school closures to reopening amid the surge in covid cases, stating he's "absolutely confident" there'll be no further delay. mr williamson also said there was "absolutely no reason" for schools not to be ready to mass test pupils for covid—19, after strong criticism of the plans from teaching unions. here's our education correspondent dan johnson. charlie and louis are five years old and facing more time at home. how long before it's the walls they're climbing? they'd only just got used to the idea of the holidays ending. do you want to go back to school? yeah. what would it be like if you couldn't? it would be kind of boring! yeah, it would be strange and boring. it's strange and potentially tricky for parents in this part of hertfordshire. my other son is two and a half, so it's really difficult when you've just got one ipad and it is all on there and then the little one wants to see what's going on. problems keeping up with the e—mail, especially with having multiple number of kids. you know, you ha

we've asked that written to gavin williamson to ask him to close our primary schools in line with thereas, but what we have also done is written to schools directly ourselves, and ask them to, or advised them, but we think the right decision is for them to move to remote learning on monday, and only be open for children of key workers and our most vulnerable children as well. and this is birmingham, whether city council has it will support any primary school had teachers who decide to shift to learning from home, and this morning, local leaders in liverpool are calling for another national lockdown. they argue the current tiered system in england isn't working. we feel that to curb this virus, particularly with the new strain, it is really important that we tackle it head on, proactive rather than reactive, when things get really bad, not a lockdown would help to resolve that. the government's default position is that schools in england should remain open wherever possible. but with some local authorities saying that schools should close and the biggest teaching union telling its memb

gavin williamson will make a statement tomorrow.rage people to self—isolate. it would appear that those decisions are being deferred until the budget in march. so questions about how much extra economic support will be there. michael gove suggested that actually some restrictions will only start to be lifted probably in march itself. also i think some criticisms from conservative mps as well as from conservative mps as well as from labour as well about whether the government ought to have acted either by giving people more warning of what to expect or simply brought in the restrictions sooner, because it was mid—december when the government raised the concerns about the new variant of covid and the possibility that it would be more contagious than the previous one. some say, why suddenly announce these on monday? the government's a nswer these on monday? the government's answer at the moment and i'm sure that will be the answer again from the prime minister in an hour's time is to say, look, it was only yesterday that the chief medi

england's education secretary gavin williamson told mps that the government will "trust in teachers ratherow been cancelled in northern ireland. 0ur education editor branwenjeffreys has been speaking to some of those affected in wolverhampton. set up for exams meant to happen today, this school cancelled them for btec students this morning, joining this year's bonfire of exams. i can confirm that gcses, a—levels and as—level exams will not go ahead this summer. this year, we are going to put our trust in teachers, rather than algorithms. but where were the details, labour asked. the secretary of state says that he will be providing support to teachers to award grades. can he tell me when they will receive the support, what form it will take and confirm that it will be available in all schools? these students came in for the cancelled btec exam. they have two weeks to make their university applications. i'm still going to keep revising because i want to learn the content because i know it's going to help me for the next steps of my life and for university. it's important to know my grades a

but unfortunately, they have given it a low priority and with gavin williamson, we are probably dealingretary for a generation, who is taking reckless decisions and continually putting school leaders in a very difficult position. it is notjust his decision but the government's. the prime minister said only this morning, he has no doubt classrooms are safe and the risk to young people is, quote, very, very small. it may be a small risk to children themselves but it certainly is a risk in terms of transmission to other members of their family and in the communities. if we look at the latest set of data, primary and secondary aged children are the largest groups, in terms of infection rates. how the prime minister can argue that households should not be mixing, which is absolutely right, but it is ok for classrooms with 30 plus children in them sometimes to be mixing and then people going back into the community beggars belief. you obviously feel very strongly about this. what are you saying to your members? are you telling teachers not to go to work tomorrow? in brighton and hove, the cou

they have written to gavin williamson, they have written that it is the only sensible and credible optionof those working in school and to safeguard public health is an immediate, nationwide move to remote education for all pupils in primary, secondary, special schools and colleges. so that is a nasuwt teaching union urging the government to move immediately to remote learning for all schools, colleges and special schools from the start of term, in order to safeguard public health and the health of those working in schools. that is that breaking news from the nasuwt. i hope we will hear from them a little later in the course of bbc news this afternoon. in liverpool, a coronavirus testing centre is offering priority testing to teachers, who have been telling the bbc how important access to testing is to them. i'm really pleased to have a test and get back to work. i think the children benefit from routine and i don't want them missing any more education. i think it's great. don't want them missing any more education. ithink it's great. i think it's really important for the safety of childr

so, we've gotta huge problem facing gavin williamson and i expect tomorrow that we will see some actionown party don't necessarily support the data, including jeremy hunt and bernard jenkins. so i think this will be a story that we will see unfolding tomorrow even as some primary schools are still meant to go back on monday morning. simon, your take on monday morning. simon, your take on it? similar to an's. i think it is always good to have another point of view and amanda spielman saying we must keep this to a minimum, it will have major impact on our children's education, i was reading, you know, there is talk about a—levels or gcses in the summer, is that all going to be skewed because of this? but like and said, this is why the real convex issues. i was asking family and friends involved in education among the biggest push backs i am getting is not necessarily what is the right solution but having clarity over what we do. the chopping and changing makes it immensely difficult for people to plan, whether you are teaching children or whether you are teaching children or whether it is

this evening we heard from essex, kent and birmingham, an unseemly tussle with greenwich and gavin williamsonek. the numbers, whether this part number coming up all of this talk of tiers and lockdowns, it cannot be both. how can schools be safe when he warns that the nation as a whole is becoming more perilous? it does not add up so i fully expect to ep —— to hear of another u—turn and he says hear of another u—turn and he says he is following science and adapting to the situations but as keir starmer and others have said, why not do this now when the numbers are staring you in the face? but it is a completed process and there is a ripple effect for all of those pa rents, ripple effect for all of those parents, teachers and children affected. it is a mess, i want to say it is like no other week we have seen but that is probably not true, u nfortu nately. seen but that is probably not true, unfortunately. the times, we are being warned by the prime minister to expect tougher restrictions and i wonder whether there is any hint about whether this means more areas moving into the already establis

the education secretary, gavin williamson, has asked the exams watchdog to explore whether a—level, ass summer's exams were cancelled. the minister said the tests would help to determine fair grades. mr williamson also promised not to use an algorithm to rank students, following criticism about their use last year. the uk's major supermarkets have warned the government that an urgent intervention is needed to prevent more disruption to northern ireland's food supplies. since the uk separated from the eu, there've been new checks and paperwork on food products being shipped over the irish sea, which have caused delays. for over a week now, shoppers in northern ireland have seen shortages in some supermarkets. here's our ireland correspondent, emma vardy. 0vernight, the way we get food into northern ireland from great britain has hugely changed, and shoppers are noticing. i thought i would give everyone a quick update on local supermarkets in northern ireland. i spent an hour today driving round, looking for somewhere just to get fruit and veg. so i've just done a quick shop in my local

the education secretary gavin williamson will make a statement in the house of commons tomorrow.ly resisted, but while schools and colleges in england are now closed to most students, ministers say they expect education to continue remotely. we wanted to keep schools open as much as possible, but the message from the chief medical 0fficers yesterday was clear, and therefore with a heavy heart but with clear evidence we had to act. there are particular challenges for children in the most disadvantaged circumstances who find it more difficult sometimes to secure the remote learning that inevitably all children will have to have at the moment. making sure that remote learning technology is available is something the government says it is working hard to achieve, but some parents are angry. last time we made it work by splitting the days in two. one of us worked from six in the morning until one or two in the afternoon, and the other one then took over, and vice versa. there is nothing easy about working and home—schooling. in fact, it is nearly impossible. i think to call it an inco

there may be pressure on gavin williamson to make another statement to clear for williamson to make another williamson to make another statement to clear for his position. williamson to make another statement to clearfor his position. and because the prime entry recall and cova, mps are doing their return. notjust cova, mps are doing their return. not just schools cova, mps are doing their return. notjust schools but parliament cova, mps are doing their return. not just schools but parliament as well, so there may not be an opportunity to have that level of scrutiny from other mp5. but you would expect a government minister to make this very clear, to coin a phrase, the clock is ticking. we thought we put that went to bed! it is on the schools return. i think the pressure to claire for this not just in london where it is known that schools will remain closed but other schools throughout the tier 4 covering 75% of the english population. you very much. there are growing concerns about a new variant of the coronavirus after more analysis confirmed it has a much quicker rate of transmission th

and there is gavin williamson, so let's listen in...re is gavin williamson, so let's listen in. . ._ let's listen in... good morning, everyone. _ let's listen in... good morning, everyone. i— let's listen in... good morning, everyone. i am _ let's listen in... good morning, everyone, i am the _ let's listen in... good morning, everyone, i am the permanent| everyone, i am the permanent secretary in the department for education. . ~ secretary in the department for education. ., ,, , ., ., , education. thank you. could i 'ust ask ou, education. thank you. could i 'ust ask you, secretary i education. thank you. could i 'ust ask you, secretary of i education. thank you. could i 'ust ask you, secretary of state, h education. thank you. could ijust ask you, secretary of state, to . education. thank you. could i just l ask you, secretary of state, to give an update on the food boxes issue? as i understand it, schools have an option to use either local vouchers or will have a national voucher scheme as they have had previously in the first lockd