Keir Starmer has ‘serious questions to answer’ after he met a voice coach at the height of Covid restrictions_Nhy
Sir Keir Starmer has ‘serious questions to answer’ after it emerged he met with a voice coach at the height of Covid restrictions, the Tories said last night.
On Christmas Eve 2020, while London was under ‘Tier 4 restrictions’, the Prime Minister sought the help of Leonie Mellinger to respond to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
The actress and communications skills coach visited Labour’s headquarters to advise Sir Keir, and said she had ‘permission to travel as a key worker’, the Sunday Times revealed yesterday.
But at the time, London was under stringent ‘Stay At Home’ rules following a rapid rise in infections attributed to a new variant of the virus.
People were able to travel for work if they ‘cannot work from home’, but the Tories questioned yesterday whether it was ‘right for other members of the public to get acting lessons during tier 4 restrictions’.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Tory former cabinet minister Richard Holden said Sir Keir has ‘serious questions to answer’.
‘There is a strong public interest into your conduct during the pandemic and it is clear from these revelations that not only have you misled the public but you had a casual disregard for the law at a time when so many people were making such difficult sacrifices all in the service of advancing your own political career.’
It has emerged Keir Starmer met with a voice coach at the height of Covid restrictions
Keir Starmer sought the help of voice coach Leonie Mellinger to respond to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal
A Labour spokesman said: ‘The rules were followed.’
Ms Mellinger was recruited to work with Sir Keir on improving his public speaking in 2017, when he was serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.
It is not the first Covid-controversy Sir Keir has found himself in, after he and his deputy Angela Rayner escaped being fined by police in 2022 over ‘Beergate’.
Durham Constabulary agreed with the pair’s argument that a boozy curry they held indoors with 15 others in April 2021 was a ‘work event’.
READING MORE:
Labour is warned new Ofsted rating system for schools – devised after headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life – has been ‘rushed’ and will only ‘make matters worse’
A new ratings system for schools has been ‘rushed and botched’ and will ‘make matters worse’, critics warned last night.
The redesigned blueprint, unveiled today, is aimed at making inspections by education watchdog Ofsted ‘fairer’ to teachers in the wake of the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry.
It will be launched by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who is expected to insist that it ‘raises the bar on what we expect from schools’.
But last night it was lambasted from all directions – by internal whistle-blowers, three teaching unions, the Tories and even Mrs Perry’s own sister.
It comes after Keir Starmer was forced to defend dropping overall one-word judgements September, insisting it would not ‘confuse parents’.
The £6.2 million redesign has now gone further, doing away completely with the old ratings of ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ for individual categories.
Instead, there will be nine new assessment areas which will each be rated as ‘exemplary’, ‘strong’, ‘secure’, ‘attention needed’ or ‘causing concern’, with green and red colour-coding.
The new format is aimed at providing a more ‘nuanced’ picture for parents, following criticism the one-word judgement was too crude.
It will be launched by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who is expected to insist that it ‘raises the bar on what we expect from schools’
The redesigned blueprint, unveiled today, is aimed at making inspections by education watchdog Ofsted ‘fairer’ to teachers (stock image)
Keir Starmer was forced to defend dropping overall one-word judgements September, insisting it would not ‘confuse parents’
But six of Ofsted’s own staff members have now reportedly said the plans were ‘rushed and botched’, and ‘cobbled together at ridiculous speed’, having been drawn up since Labour’s election victory.
A letter to the unions from the employees was sent on condition of anonymity to Schools Week.
It said the consultation is a ‘sham’ as there will be no time to introduce a model that would differ from Ofsted’s proposal.
The letter described plans as a ‘chaotic mess’, ‘amateurish’ and ‘cobbled together at ridiculous speed with virtually no underpinning research’.
Following Mrs Perry’s death, an inquest found the Ofsted inspection ‘contributed’ to it, because she was so worried about being downgraded from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate‘.
Her sister, Professor Julia Waters, has been campaigning for change at Ofsted but even she said yesterday it was ‘dangerous’ and introduced ‘new risks’.
She said: ‘I am worried that this proposal is a rehash of the discredited and dangerous system it is meant to replace.’
Meanwhile, teaching unions are also revolt, with Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, saying: ‘The proposals will make matters worse, not better…
‘Ofsted’s plan does not address the mental health impact of the current ‘high stakes’ accountability systems on the profession.’
Six of Ofsted’s own staff members have now reportedly said the plans were ‘rushed and botched’, and ‘cobbled together at ridiculous speed’, having been drawn up since Labour’s election victory
There will be nine new assessment areas which will each be rated as ‘exemplary’, ‘strong’, ‘secure’, ‘attention needed’ or ‘causing concern’, with green and red colour-coding
Ofsted said the new report cards are aimed at taking a ‘fairer’ and ‘balanced’ approach to ‘reduce the pressure on professionals’
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the ASCL union, said it will ‘subject a beleaguered profession to yet more misery’.
He added it was ‘even worse’ than the old system because of the large number of assessment areas would add more ‘hurdles’.
‘All of this will have a devastating impact on the wellbeing of teachers,’ he said.
And Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union, NAHT, said it ‘risks replicating the worst aspects of the current system and will do little to reduce the enormous pressure school leaders are under’.
Meanwhile, shadow education secretary Laura Trott insisted: ‘The previous system of one word judgments from Ofsted provided clarity for parents. This new system is more complicated, will please nobody and with a weaker response to failing schools, will lead to a reduction in standards.
‘Labour’s destructive plans for schools will just leave the poorest pupils suffering the most.’
And Sir Nick Gibb, former Tory school standards minister, said the new blueprint ‘increases complexity, reduces clarity for parents and weakens accountability’.
However, a Government source dismissed the criticism, saying: ‘The only people this Government is interested in pleasing is parents, who want the best education for their children.’
In response to the criticism that the plan ‘pleases no-one’, an Ofsted spokesman said: ‘In this consultation, the most important people we want to hear from are the parents we work for.’
Ruth Perry took her own life after her Primary School was downgraded by Ofsted
Mrs Perry’s sister, Professor Julia Waters, has been campaigning for change at Ofsted but even she said yesterday it was ‘dangerous’ and introduced ‘new risks’
The nine assessment areas of the new system include leadership, curriculum, achievement, behaviour, attendance and inclusion.
A separate rating of ‘met’ and ‘unmet’ will be applied to the issue of safeguarding, to recognise the fact that children are ‘either safe or not’.
The redesign will be implemented in September following a 12-week consultation, beginning today.
Ofsted said the new report cards are aimed at taking a ‘fairer’ and ‘balanced’ approach to ‘reduce the pressure on professionals’.
Sir Martyn Oliver, chief inspector of schools, said: ‘The Report Card will replace the simplistic overall judgement with a suite of grades, giving parents much more detail and better identifying the strengths and areas for improvement for a school, early years or further education provider.
‘We hope that this more balanced, fairer approach will reduce the pressure on professionals working in education, as well as giving them a much clearer understanding of what we will be considering on inspection.’
Under the Tories, the Department for Education refused to change Ofsted reports, saying accountability was needed, but after winning power Labour immediately abolished one-word judgements, and commissioned today’s full re-design.
The new designs have previously been leaked and described by one critic as being like a ‘Nando’s spice chart’.
