With the NHS in no danger of collapse, and lower hospitalisation and death rates, test-and-trace, not lockdowns, must take the strain.
Plus: Any Questions, Cross Question, why Williamson and Gibb should go – and why Johnson’s masks policy isn’t a U-turn.
With a ten-year background working in the education sector, I know that teachers are some of the most dedicated people you will ever meet.
Plus: incompetence, resignations, non-resignations, reputations, my holiday, Any Questions and Finkelstein’s book.
It is now open season on the Education Secretary, as it will continue to be until he resigns, is moved – or is sacked.
These are the same elected representatives the whom we insisted should “step back and trust the professionals”.
Johnson will almost certainly decide to tough it out. But he will have a big problem if school returns prove tricky.
The Education Secretary says that Ofqal were frequently asked to confirm that results would not be unfair.
“The critical thing is that as many young people as possible at least start at their destination of choice.”
Many will now be asking whether Williamson is in a position to lead the crucial return to school in only a few weeks time.
My modest proposal is this: let’s do a major programme of controlled trials to test these ideas, and see what, if anything, makes a difference.
Voters will support a balanced narrative about Britain’s past in our schools, but they will want children to feel mostly pride in our past.
The Chancellor is groping his way, knowing well that the future is unknowable, trying to hold on to as much of the past as he can.
The power of online tuition to help them is immense. With thought and imagination, it is possible to take Eton into every home.