For hair-tearing, home-schooling parents, it wasn’t quite a champagne moment, but it was at least cause to uncork a half-decent bottle of reserva. Boris Johnson had just announced plans, barring any snags, to reopen schools in March. On top of that, he was putting aside a £300 million kitty to fund summer schools. A whole … Read more
For Boris Johnson this was his darkest hour. A moment for sombre reflection, as haunting as the sounds of muffled drums and Chopin’s funeral march. The grim news that had broken just moments before – that the death toll from the pandemic had surpassed 100,000 Britons – had left the Prime Minister visibly shaken. His … Read more
How grand, how admirable it sounded back in June when the European Union set up a Covid-19 vaccine-buying programme to pool the purchase power of all member states. This pan-European approach would, it was claimed, ‘ensure fair and equitable access for all across the EU’. Under the terms of the programme, individual countries were forbidden … Read more
How grand, how admirable it sounded back in June when the European Union set up a Covid-19 vaccine-buying programme to pool the purchase power of all member states. This pan-European approach would, it was claimed, ‘ensure fair and equitable access for all across the EU’. Under the terms of the programme, individual countries were forbidden … Read more
The future of an entire generation is on the line today. And that is not an exaggeration, writes former Education Secretary Alan Johnson (pictured) The future of an entire generation is on the line today. And that is not an exaggeration. We have been worrying about foreign holidays, football matches and music festivals, and while these … Read more
For Boris Johnson this was his darkest hour. A moment for sombre reflection, as haunting as the sounds of muffled drums and Chopin’s funeral march. The grim news that had broken just moments before – that the death toll from the pandemic had surpassed 100,000 Britons – had left the Prime Minister visibly shaken. His … Read more
There’s a huge debt I owe to a municipal refuse van. It was while working as a binman for a London borough as a teenager in the 1980s that I was forced to re-evaluate my life. I’ll never forget trudging home, often cold and soaking wet having worked in all kinds of weather, exhausted from … Read more
Over the past few months, a climate of fear has been brewing at the heart of Government. Behind closed doors in Whitehall and Westminster, ministers are said to be gripped by a sense of panic. But this has nothing to do with the pandemic, or with viral mutations arriving here from the favelas of Rio … Read more
Over the past few months, a climate of fear has been brewing at the heart of Government. Behind closed doors in Whitehall and Westminster, ministers are said to be gripped by a sense of panic. But this has nothing to do with the pandemic, or with viral mutations arriving here from the favelas of Rio … Read more
The devastating way that pupils’ attainment levels and ability to study have plummeted because of school closures is laid bare today. One in three parents say that their children’s sense of educational fulfilment has been damaged, with the poorest being worst affected. Approximately half say their ability to concentrate has suffered in lockdown while more … Read more