Early evening summary
Rishi Sunak is being investigated by parliament’s commissioner for standards over a potential breach of rules relating to the declaration of interests, related to his links to a childcare firm in which his wife is an investor. Sunak has told the Commons liaison committee that he has declared the interest to the Cabinet Office, for inclusion in the updated version of the register of ministers’ interests, which has not yet been published. (See 1pm.) But No 10 has not said when this was declared to the Cabinet Office. (See 4.27pm.) And No 10 has not explained why, if Sunak considered this something that should be declared, he did not mention this when explicitly asked at the Commons liaison committee hearing last month if he had any interests to declare in relation to childminder policy. (See 3.15pm.) This answer is hard to square with what the code of conduct for MPs says about the need for MPs to be “open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the house or its committees”.
Updated
Clinton says before he became president White House never wanted to get involved in Northern Ireland in case UK objected
Tony Blair, the former prime minister, and Bill Clinton, the former US president, have both been speaking at the conference at the Queen’s University Belfast today marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement. Blair was a lead figure in negotiating the agreement, but Clinton played a part too, speaking to the parties at a crucial point when No 10 felt he could exert leverage.
Clinton said that before he became president, the White House was nervous about getting involved in Northern Ireland. But he decided to change that by appointing an envoy for Northern Ireland. He said:
The state department had operated for decades on the theory that our relationship with the UK was so important we couldn’t mess it up.
Even President Kennedy, on his heralded visit to Ireland, did not go to the north and did not talk about it. This was one of those things that wasn’t done.
I thought it was crazy to deny such a large problem’s existence and to take a pass when we had the biggest Irish diaspora.
Recalling his controversial decision to give the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams a visa to visit the US in 1994, he said:
[Adams] asked for a visa and we agreed so I could make the United States look like an impartial body, we would grant the visa for two days but there would be no fundraising.
Everybody knew that a lot of money was going into Ireland from the north-east United States, but not on this trip.
We wanted to send a signal that we wanted to be involved but we wanted to be fair to everybody.
At the time it was crazy, they thought, but I thought it made all the sense in the world because what we were doing was not working and it seemed to me just from the talk that the public was maybe way ahead of the politicians in their desire to have some sort of resolution to this.
So I gave Gerry the visa and he kept his word as he always did in dealing with me, and the rest is history.
And Blair recalled his first meeting with Adams and his fellow Sinn Féin leader Martin McGuinness. At the time Adams and McGuinness were seen by their opponents primarily as representatives of the IRA. Blair said:
At the time this was very shocking to people, and you had to be prepared to do it, and I remember after I did it, after I met them for the first time I then went to a shopping centre for a visit. When I got to the shopping centre I was saying hello to people and so on, and suddenly this huge wave of people, including people who were wearing washing-up gloves – those plastic washing-up gloves, the last time I had ever seen anyone wear these was my mum – and I thought, ‘What’s going on here, what sort of protest is this?’
It was all to do with the fact I shouldn’t have been shaking hands with Gerry Adams because this was a big thing, there was a huge debate – yes you can meet him but you can’t shake hands with him. I said, ‘We’re going to meet him and we’re going to shake hands, let’s just do what you would do, one human being to another … We know we disagree about the past but let’s see if we can agree about the future.’
Updated
Badenoch refuses to say whether UK would try to block China joining CPTPP
In the Commons Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, has just finished making a Commons statement about Britain joining the CPTPP Asia-Pacific trade bloc.
Asked by her Labour opposite number, Nick Thomas-Symonds, about government figures showing that the deal will only boost the British economy by about 0.08%, Badenoch claimed that he did not understand the figure properly and that it was not a forecast, but the product of a model. There was a difference, she claimed.
Asked by Labour’s Hilary Benn if the UK would try to stop China joining the CPTPP, Badenoch refused to say. She said it would not be right to express an opinion when the UK had not yet signed its accession agreement. But as a member, the UK would have a say, she said.
Updated
Government considering sanctioning all Russians involved in trial of Vladimir Kara-Murza, MPs told
British nationals are not safe in Russia and the government should call for any remaining there to return home, the Conservative chair of the foreign affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, told the Commons.
Tabling an urgent question on Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian/British dual national political activist opposed to Vladimir Putin who has been jailed for 25 years in Russia, Kearns said the trial was “a farce”.
She said the UK should be “working to get [Kara-Murza] out”, and asked if the government would “sanction the 29 individuals responsible for him being held”.
She said:
Will [the minister] also call for all British nationals to return home? It is not safe any more to remain in Russia.
In response Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, said that he agreed with “pretty much everything” Kearns said and that the Russian ambassador was being summoned to the Foreign Office to hear the government’s protests. He went on:
[The] government condemn the politically motivated sentencing of Mr Kara-Murza and of all those who speak out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On sanctions, he said:
In the issue of sanctions, we have already sanctioned for the judge and the jailer under the Magnitsky propositions because they were involved in that case.
And I have instructed officials to investigate the possibility of sanctioning everyone who was involved in this trial. And we expect, within the next week, to come forward with a package of further measures in this respect.
Here is Pjotr Sauer’s story on the sentencing of Kara-Murza.
Margaret Ferrier to appeal against recommendation she should be suspended as MP for 30 days for breaking Covid rules
The Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier is appealing against the recommendation that she should be suspended from the Commons for 30 days for breaking Covid rules (see 1.45pm), Jessica Elgot reports.
🚨NEW - Margaret Ferrier is appealing her 30-day suspension for breaking Covid rules. The independent expert panel has just written to the Speaker confirming the appeal.
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) April 17, 2023
This will delay any potential by-election in the seat which would be a fierce fight between Labour and SNP.
Photograph: Paul Faith/AFP/Getty Images
No 10 refuses to say when Sunak first declared wife's shareholding in childminder agency to Cabinet Office
The PM’s spokesperson was asked various questions about the parliamentary commissioner for standards’ investigation into claims that Rishi Sunak did not declare an interest at the afternoon lobby briefing. The answers were more interesting for what the spokesperson did not say than for what he did say.
Here is a summary.
The spokesperson refused to say when Sunak declared his wife’s shareholding in Koru Kids to the Cabinet Office.
The spokesperson said the updated register of ministers’ interests would be published “as soon as possible” – but he would not say when that would be. No 10 says the interest has been disclosed, because it will appear on the updated register, but that is not out yet. (See 1.03pm.)
The spokesperson refused to say whether the commissioner’s inquiry was focused on Sunak’s failure to mention his wife’s shareholding in Koru Kids in the register of members’ interests, or whether it was focused on his failure to mention that to the liaision committee (see 3.15pm). The commissioner’s website implies the latter.
The spokesperson said he was not aware of any plans to align the rules for the register of ministerial interests, which is only meant to be updated every six months, with the rules for the register of MPs’ interests, which is updated every two weeks.
The spokesperson said he did not accept a claim put to him that a firm from which Sunak’s wife profits is getting privileged access to taxpayers’ money. When this was put to him, he replied: “I wouldn’t agree with that characterisation.” He said the Department for Education had explained the policy. (See 4.03pm.) As for Sunak’s conduct, he said:
In the response to the liaison committee (see 1pm) the PM says that the regime ensures there are steps taken to avoid or mitigate any potential conflict of interests, and that the interests of ministers’ spouses or partners are not something that would influence their actions, either as ministers or as members of parliament.
Updated
Bonus boost for childminder agencies in budget was simply to compensate for registration costs, MPs told
During education questions in the Commons earlier Labour asked why the budget included plans for people signing up as childminders through an agency to get a £1,200 bonus, instead of just £600 if they sign up as an individual.
This is the anomaly that has led to claims the budget will benefit childminder agencies like the one part-owned by Rishi Sunak’s wife.
Helen Hayes, a shadow education minister, said:
In the spring budget the chancellor announced new incentives for people registering as childminders and a double incentive to register with childminding agencies.
Will the minister set out why she considered it necessary to incentivise childminders to sign up with agencies and what conversations she and the secretary of state [Gillian Keegan] had with the prime minister and the agency in which his wife is a shareholder prior to the budget?
In response, Claire Coutinho, an education minister, said:
It’s a very simple reason, it’s because we subsidise Ofsted for the registration costs – so it costs them about £35, whereas a childminder agency to register a childminder costs them, it can be, £500-plus.
So the discrepancy is just simply to balance that out and to balance out the fact that they have different costs.
Referring to the allegation about Rishi Sunak not declaring an interest, Coutinho went on:
I know the No 10 team are collaborating with the commissioner to establish facts and show that everything has been transparent and declared.
Updated
Barclay is responding to Streeting.
He says he has already negotiated a pay deal for NHS staff.
He says it is disappointing that the RCN decided to announce further strikes, before other unions had announced the results of their ballots on the deal.
He says most unions on the NHS staff council have advised their members to accept the deal. He says he is waiting to see what the council decides when it meets on 2 May.
Updated
Streeting says the government should go to Acas, the conciliation service, to reach an agreement with the junior doctors.
He asks what the government will do to protect patient safety if another strike goes ahead without derogations (exemptions for doctors needed so essential services can be maintained).
And he says, instead of acting like a commentator, Barclay should be negotiating a resolution to the NHS strike.
Updated
In the Commons Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is asking an urgent question about strikes in the NHS.
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, is replying.
He says he does not have data yet on the impact of the junior doctors’ strike last week. But he says there were 175,000 cancelled appointments the last time junior doctors went on strike.
He says the BMA made contingency plannnig much more difficult, because it asked doctors not to tell management whether or not they would be available.
He says he wants to see a deal that increases junior doctors’ pay.
But the junior doctors’ co-chairs have not said yet they will move significantly from the request for a 35% pay rise, which he says he, and the Labour party, cannot support.
On the other NHS strikes, he says Unison voted in favour of the deal rejected by the RCN. Other unions are still balloting their members, he says.
It’s a bad day for the Sunak family, Alex Wickham at Bloomberg reports.
NEW on @BloombergUK:
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) April 17, 2023
Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty has lost about £49 million in a single day after shares in Infosys Ltd tumbled 9.4%
With @AlexJFMorales @BenStupples >> https://t.co/ZQp7vWaykS
Here is my colleague Peter Walker’s explainer on the investigation into Rishi Sunak by the parliamentary commissioner for standards.
How Sunak told liaison committee last month he had nothing to declare in relation to childminder agencies
Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, has said he is investigating Rishi Sunak over a declaration of interest. That normally refers to what an MP includes, or does not include, in the register of members’ interests.
But Greenberg also says he is specifically investigating Sunak under paragraph 6 of the code of conduct for MPs, which says:
Members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the house or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders.
This is relevant because, when Labour’s Catherine McKinnell was asking Rishi Sunak at the liaison committee last month about the measure in the budget giving people a double bonus if they signed up as a childminder through an agency (like the one part-owned by Sunak’s wife), McKinnell went on to ask:
There is nothing that the prime minister wishes to declare in respect of that?
And Sunak replied:
No. All my disclosures are declared in the normal way.
As explained at 1.27pm, the test of relevance is “whether those interests might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions or words as a member”.
This is from Luke Tryl, director of More in Commons, a thinktank that conducts extensive polling, on Rishi Sunak’s wealth, and how some people think this makes him less likely to be corrupt.
On the Sunak investigation. One nugget from focus groups, is that while his wealth is net negative for most (too out of touch), there is consistently a group who see it as a positive because “he can’t be bought” or “he must be PM for the right reason as he doesn’t need the money”
— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) April 17, 2023
I think this is a legacy of Patterson, Johnson’s money woes and expenses, some people think it better if politicians don’t need the money. I suspect this investigation doesn’t change that as quite complicated, similar to PPE stuff, but interesting to see if it does.
— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) April 17, 2023
The Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has accused the Scottish National party of being politically bankrupt and deceitful, as further questions emerged about Nicola Sturgeon’s role in discussions over party finances.
Sarwar told a Labour rally in Glasgow the SNP was rapidly losing its right to govern after Sturgeon’s party endured a divisive battle to succeed her as leader, followed by a series of dramatic developments in the police inquiry into SNP finances.
Speaking in first minister Humza Yousaf’s constituency of Glasgow Pollock, Sarwar said:
The festering wounds in the SNP are open, replacing cover-up and secrecy with incompetence and delusion,
This is a distracted and divided government that is disastrous for Scotland.
In emerged on Monday that Sturgeon will be absent from the Scottish parliament this week, instead taking part remotely via the internet, after emails surfaced suggesting Sturgeon had resisted proposals to hire a fundraising manager for the SNP two years ago.
It is thought those emails are being studied by detectives investigating the party’s handling of more than £600,000 in donations ostensibly given for a second independence referendum. That money has never been separately accounted for in party accounts.
Sturgeon’s spokesperson denied suggestions the former first minister was considering stepping down as an MSP (see 9.46am); she said Sturgeon wanted to avoid her presence at Holyrood overshadowing a major policy speech by her successor Humza Yousaf on Tuesday.
Sunak is failing to deliver integrity he promised, says Labour
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has accused Rishi Sunak of dodging “proper scrutiny” because the list of ministers’ interests has not been updated for nearly a year. A revised version is supposed to be published every six months.
Rayner said:
This government’s failure to update the rules or publish a register of ministers’ interests in nearly a year has left a transparency black hole which is enabling the prime minister and those he has appointed to dodge proper scrutiny of their affairs.
If Rishi Sunak has got nothing to hide, he should commit to publishing the register before May’s elections so the public can see for themselves.
While this prime minister fails to deliver the integrity he promised and preserves the rotten standards regime he inherited as the Tories resist tighter rules, Labour has a plan to clean up politics with an Independent Ethics and Integrity Commission to restore standards in public life.
Rayner is referring to a promise Sunak made on his first day as PM. Speaking outside Downing Street, he said:
This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.
Sunak’s statement was an implicit rebuke to Liz Truss, whose administration failed on the professionalism test, and Boris Johnson, whose government arguably failed on all three.
But at times Sunak and his team have been accused of failing to live up to this standard. Two senior ministers have quit following complaints about their conduct (Gavin Williamson and Nadhim Zahawi), the deputy PM, Dominic Raab, is currently being investigated over bullying allegations, and Sunak himself has been fined by the police for not wearing a seatbelt.
An MP who broke Covid rules in the early stages of the pandemic has until 4pm today to launch an appeal against a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons - which would likely lead to a byelection in her Glasgow seat and a bitter fight between Labour and the SNP.
Margaret Ferrier, a former SNP MP who now sits as an independent for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, was found by the standards watchdog to have damaged the reputation of parliament and put the public at risk when she travelled by train after testing positive.
If the recommended 30-day punishment is agreed by a vote in the Commons, it would automatically trigger a recall petition, opening up the possibility of a byelection in a seat won by the Scottish National party in 2019 and by Labour in 2017.
A byelection would be the first big electoral test of the new Scottish first minister, Humza Yousaf’s tenure as SNP leader, and an opportunity for Labour to show it is resurgent in Scotland.
Public fed up of Tory 'sleaze and scandal', say Lib Dems as Sunak being investigated by Commons standards watchdog
Responding to the news that Rishi Sunak is being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem chief whip, said:
Another day and another accusation of a Conservative prime minister bending the rules …
After months of Conservative sleaze and scandal, the public just want a government which is focused on the country, rather than saving their own skin.
Earlier today the Lib Dems also sent a letter to the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, alleging that Rishi Sunak’s maths speech was in breach of government “purdah” rules saying the government should not make announcements in the run-up to elections if they could influence how people vote. At the Downing Street lobby briefing No 10 rejected claims that the Sunak speech broke purdah rules.
(Two hours before the Lib Dems sent out the press release about the letter to Case, the party issued a statement criticsing the maths policy as “rehashed”.)
What code of conduct for MPs says about when assets belonging to spouses should be declared
This is what the code of conduct for MPs says about when MPs have to declare assets belonging to their spouses in the register of members’ interests.
4. Members are required, subject to the paragraphs below, to declare any financial interests which satisfy the test of relevance, including:
a) past financial interests (normally limited to those active within the last 12 months);
b) indirect financial interests, such as the financial interests of a spouse or partner, or another family member, if the member is aware or could reasonably be expected to be aware of that interest. It is not necessary to identify the person concerned: a formula such as “A member of my family has a financial interest in [ ]”will usually suffice …
5. The test of relevance is whether those interests might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions or words as a member.
At the Commons liaison committee last month Catherine McKinnell said that agencies like Koru Kids would benefit from a measure in the budget offering a £600 bonus for people who sign on as childminders, but a £1,200 bonus if they sign on through an agency. It is argued that this will help agencies, because it will encourage childminders to sign up through them.
Whether his wife’s stake in Koru Kids could reasonably be thought to have provided Rishi Sunak with a motive for including this in the budget will be a matter for the parliamentary commissioner of standards to consider. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Sunak and his wife are worth £730m – mostly because of his wife’s stake in Infosys, the Indian software company set up by her billionaire father. What happens to the Koru Kids investment may not be their biggest preoccupation.
Updated
Downing Street sources are confirming that the complaint being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards (see 12.53pm) does relate to the shares that Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, holds in Koru Kids.
A No 10 spokesperson said:
We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.
UPDATE: This statement provoked this commentary from my colleague Henry Dyer.
... which is why, in the spirit of transparency, we didn't actually publish this interest, transparently, but it was transparently declared, just not transparently published. https://t.co/5aBK1sWbh6
— Henry Dyer (@Direthoughts) April 17, 2023
Updated
As Harry Cole from the Sun reports, Rishi Sunak has written to the Commons liaison committee to say that his wife’s minority stake in Koru Kids has been declared to the Cabinet Office and will be included in the revised version of the list of ministerial interests, which is due to be published shortly.
NEW: Sunak has written to Liaison Committee to say he did declare Koru Kids links to Cabinet Office pic.twitter.com/FcAPkmwJyg
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) April 17, 2023
Full letter here: pic.twitter.com/ZNPzt3iJoH
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) April 17, 2023
Rishi Sunak being investigated by parliamentary commissioner for standards over alleged failure to declare interest
Rishi Sunak is being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards over an allegation about failing to register an interest properly, the commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, has revealed on his website.
Greenberg has not given any further details, but it is understood that the complaint refers to the fact his wife, Akshata Murty, is a shareholder in Koru Kids, a childcare agency.
When Sunak was giving evidence to the Commons liaison committee last month, the Labour MP Catherine McKinnell alluded to this, implying that the firm would benefit from a decision in the budget and that Sunak should have declared his wife’s stake as a relevant interest. A Liberal Democrat MP, Wendy Chamberlain, subsequently raised the issue with the No 10 ethics adviser.
Today the Commons is sitting again for the first time since the Easter recess, and there are two urgent questions, and two ministerial statements, starting with a Labour UQ about the NHS strikes.
2 UQs and 2 Statements today from 3:30pm:
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) April 17, 2023
1. UQ @wesstreeting on strike action in the NHS
2. UQ @aliciakearns on Vladimir Kara-Murza
3. @KemiBadenoch Trade statement on CPTPP
4. @AndrewmitchMP FCDO statement on Sudan
No 10 rules out reopening pay talks for NHS staff even though RCN voted against
Downing Street has ruled out improving its pay offer to striking nurses and said talks will not be reopened after the rejection of the proposed deal.
Speaking at the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said:
I think the RCN themselves, Pat Cullen [the RCN’s general secretary] herself, said this is the final offer. We agree.
The Royal College of Nursing was clear that talks will not be reopened if members reject the pay offer and we agree.
I will post more from the briefing shortly.
Sunak's plan to extend maths teaching could be counterproductive, says IEA thinktank
The Institute of Economic Affairs, the free market thinktank whose ideas were championed by Liz Truss during her brief and disastrous premiership, has criticised Rishi Sunak for his plan to make maths compulsory in schools up to the age of 18. It said that the plan could be counterproductive and that the government should be decentralising education more, not moving in the other direction.
In a statement, Matthew Lesh, the IEA’s director of public policy and communications, said:
Extending compulsory maths education is no silver bullet for economic growth.
The Soviet Union was world-renowned for maths and science instruction but that failed to translate into a strong economy. Similarly, the UK has some of the top universities in the world yet has experienced stagnant growth for the last decade. Prosperity requires creating the right institutional environment for entrepreneurship, not dictating curriculums from the top.
Forcing disinterested students into mathematics classes increasingly taught by non-specialist teachers risks lowering the overall quality of instruction. Higher educational standards will require decentralising decisions about curriculums, as has proven effective in Singapore, along with increasing school choice to facilitate more educational competition.
Updated
Anyone not registered to vote in next month’s local elections in England has only a few hours left to apply, with signs of a late flurry of interest, PA Media reports. PA says:
More than 8,000 council seats in England are up for grabs on May 4 across 230 local authorities, ranging from small rural areas to some of the largest towns and cities.
Polls are also taking place to choose mayors in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough.
People who have not yet registered to vote, or are not sure if they are eligible, have until 11.59pm on Monday 17 April to submit an application.
This can be done online at gov.uk/registertovote.
Voters will also need to make sure they have a form of photo identification to cast a ballot, which is compulsory in England for the first time.
An average of 20,977 applications register to vote were made per day in the week to April 16, up from 16,194 the previous week, government figures show.
The government’s controversial bill which seeks to scrap thousands of EU-originated laws before the end of the year will return to parliament after next month’s local elections, it has emerged, giving ministers more time to consider concessions and avoid potential defeats.
The EU retained law bill, which has alarmed business and environmental groups among others over concerns that a rush to scrap Brussels-based regulations could remove vital protections and create confusion, had been due to begin the report stage in the Lords, when amendments are considered, soon after Easter.
However, just before recess this timetable was pulled, prompting concerns from some Brexit-minded Conservative MPs that the government could be getting cold feet over a bill championed by Jacob Rees-Mogg when he was business secretary.
Now the bill has been scheduled to return to the Lords on 15 and 17 May – safely after local elections across England on 4 May.
Opposition and crossbench peers have been discussing how to amend the bill, which as planned would automatically scrap the 4,000-plus EU laws kept after Brexit at the end of 2023, unless ministers decided that there should be exemptions.
Updated
'Reasoned, principled compromise is essential,' George Mitchell tells Northern Ireland parties
George Mitchell, who chaired the talks leading up to the Good Friday agreement, has urged the political parties in Northern Ireland to compromise to resolve the current deadlock at Stormont.
Speaking at the conference at Queen’s University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the agreement, Mitchell said:
I know that each of your parties – like all political parties in the world – have some of what I call the 100 percenters, they want everything their way all the time – to them, any compromise is a sign of weakness.
I say to you that reasoned, principled compromise is essential, especially in divided societies. It reflects a belief in democratic values that we all are in this together.
There is great depth in recognising that the only way to help us emerge from the rubble of conflict is that we must learn to understand one another. We don’t need to love one another. We don’t even need to like one another, although we hope we could. But we must learn to understand one another and to be able to say yes to one another, especially when the quicker and easier answer is no.
Because, like it or not, we are all in this together, facing the reality of the future, rather than clinging to the myths of the past, takes strength and courage, and vision.
Those we honour today showed those qualities a quarter of a century ago, they will be forever remembered.
Mitchell, who is being treated for leukaemia and who said that this was his first speech at a major public event in three years, received a standing ovation.
His comment about compromise seemed to be directed in particular at the DUP, which continues to boycott power-sharing at Stormont because it is unhappy with the new version of the Northern Ireland protocol negotiated by London and Brussels.
Updated
The full text of Rishi Sunak’s maths speech is now on the No 10 website.
Keegan rejects calls for Oftsed to stop issuing one-word assessments of schools
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, dismissed suggestions that Ofsted should stop issuing one-word assessments of schools – ie, outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.
As PA Media reports, there have been calls for Ofsted to drop the system since Ruth Perry, headteacher at Caversham primary school in Reading, Berkshire, killed herself in January while awaiting an Ofsted report which downgraded her school from the highest rating to the lowest.
Critics have argued that one-word summaries are unfair because simplify Ofsted reports, which typically provide a much more rounded assessment.
In interviews this morning Keegan described Perry’s death as “tragic” and said the Ofsted head, Amanda Speilman, was looking at whether the way the regulator works with schools can be improved.
But Keegan she insisted “undermining Ofsted” was “not the right approach”, describing the role it plays in upholding standards and safeguarding as “crucial”.
Asked if she supported Ofsted’s using single-word assessments, Keegan replied: “Yeah. They’re clear. They’re simple to understand.”
Sunak says limited extent of maths teaching 'causing us to fall behind rest of world'
In his speech Rishi Sunak explained why he was giving a speech on maths education at the London Screen Academy. He said:
What’s the biggest skills shortage holding our film industry back?
It’s a shortage of technical skills.
And so what have the London Screen Academy put on the curriculum for their 16-to-19 year olds?
Maths.
Why?
Because you can’t make movies without maths.
You can’t make visual effects without vectors and matrices.
You can’t design a set without some geometry.
You can’t run a production company without being financially literate.
And that’s not just true of our creative industries. It’s true of so many of our industries.
In healthcare, maths allows you to calculate dosages.
In retail, data skills allow you to analyse sales and calculate discounts.
And the same is true in all our daily lives …from managing household budgets to understanding mobile phone contracts or mortgages.
Sunak also said the UK was unusual among developed countries in not requiring pupils to keep learning maths until the age of 18. He said:
We also need to address a very specific problem that’s causing us to fall behind the rest of the world.
We are one of the few developed countries where young people don’t routinely study some form of maths up to the age of 18.
They do it in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway and America.
Why should we accept any less for our children?
Of course, we shouldn’t.
Sunak says NHS strikes have made keeping his promise to cut waiting lists 'more challenging'
Rishi Sunak has set out five pledges he wants to achieve before the general election, one of which is cutting NHS waiting lists. In his Q&A he admitted the ongoing NHS strikes would make this keeping this promise “more challenging”.
He said that the government wants to eliminate hospital waits of more than 18 months by this spring. “The industrial action obviously makes that more challenging, but we’re pushing hard to meet that target,” he said.
And he said that by next year he wants to ensure that no one has has been on the waiting list for more than a year, and that the overall waiting list is falling. He went on:
I do remain hopeful, but of course industrial action makes these things more challenging.
Updated
Rishi Sunak was speaking at the London Screen Academcy this morning, which teaches pupils who want a career in TV. My colleague Jessica Elgot, who was there, says the students in the audience were more excited to be in a room with Chris Mason and Beth Rigby than with Sunak himself.
It’s fair to say at the London Screen Academy after the speech there’s a lot more buzz from the students around @ChrisMasonBBC and @BethRigby than around the prime minister
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) April 17, 2023
Sunak says better maths education for pupils will be 'setting them up for success'
Sunak says the government wants to give teachers the confidence to teach maths at primary schools.
If teachers are confident, that will affect pupils.
He cites, as an example, teaching angles through looking at free kicks.
He says most of us have heard people joke about being bad at maths. But no one would say that about not being able to read.
It is not an either/or, he says. He goes on:
If we get this right, we will do something really special for our young people. It will be setting them up for success.
He says that applies, not just in work, but in day-to-day life too – in terms of being able to understand discounts, or manage credit cards.
And that’s it. He has finished taking questions.
Q: Why should people be allowed to join the army at 16, but still forced to keep studying maths?
Sunak says it is not a question of forcing people. He says it is a question of asking why most other countries do ensure people keep learning maths after 16. People lose out if they don’t. They people can earn an extra £1,600 a year just by having basic numerarcy skills.
On this thing about forcing, I think that’s actually coming at it from the wrong way.
I think if you ask yourself why is it that virtually every other developed country in the world thinks that it’s the right thing for their children to be studying some form of maths up to 18, and if you look at it, why is it that we’re not doing as well, as I think we all want to do when it comes to numeracy in our country today, and then you’ve ask yourself: is that right?
I don’t think anyone could justify that.
He says the reaction to this idea, when he proposed it in January, illustrated the anti-maths mindset.
He says he would urge everyone to read the national numeracy website. There is powerful evidence about the need to change cultural attitudes.
Q: Do you think renaming the Brecon Beacons is just virtue signalling?
Sunak says he has not seen that story. It was not part of his prep for this speech, he says.
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Q: Can you give any timescale for when pupils will have to start learning maths after 16?
Sunak says the expert group is due tor report by July. After that the government will come up with a plan. But “you can’t rush something like this”, he says. It is a “big reform”.
Q: Are you losing hope you can cut NHS waiting lists?
Sunak says this is really important to him.
They have already practically eliminated two-year waits. By spring this year he wanted to eliminate 18-month waits. The strikes have made that harder, but the government is pushing hard to meet it. And by next spring he wants to eliminate one-year waits.
Sunak says there are many initiatives that will help. He is very focused on this, he says.
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Q: Are you going to have to offer more money to teachers?
Sunak says what is on offer is “a good and fair settlement”.
And it is not just about pay, he says. He says the government is trying to cut workload.
Beth Rigby from Sky News goes next.
Q: Isn’t the problem one of provision. Many schools do not have specialised maths teachers. Wouldn’t it be better if, as PM, you gave a commitment to ensure that kids can pass maths GCSE. Should you fix the basics before you talk about the next steps?
Sunak claims “the good news is, we’re doing both”.
He says the government is focusing on primary schools.
He says the government now has 40 maths hubs.
A new qualification for maths teachers at primary schools is being rolled out, he says.
Q: Has the government dropped the ball on this?
Sunak does not accept this. He says the government has moved up 10 points in international league tables on numeracy.
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Chris Mason presses Sunak on NHS pay.
Sunak says Unison, the largest health union, voted to accept the NHS pay deal.
He says the deal was “fair and responsible”.
The RCN leadership advised members to accept, he says.
The result was narrow. It was only rejected by 54% to 46%.
Only a minority of the whole RCN membership voted to reject the deal (when you allow for turnout), he says.
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Sunak claims 'door is always open' to further talks with unions on teachers' pay
The speech was very short, and it’s over.
Sunak is now taking questions – starting with non-journalists.
After the first question, the non-journalist questions dry up. So Sunak takes a question from the BBC’s Chris Mason.
Q: Schools are facing further disruption from strikes. And the NHS strikes are going on too. Should not sorting those out be your priority?
Sunak says teachers do “an incredible job”.
The quality of teaching is the most transformative thing for pupils, he says.
He says teachers were offered “a reasonable and fair settlement” on pay. Starting salaries would rise to £30,000.
But it is not just about pay. The government proposed measures that would cut the workload by about five hours a week.
He is disappointed the unions rejected the offer. But the government’s “door is always open” to further talks, he says.
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Sunak says advisory committee will consider whether new maths qualification needed for 16 to 18-year-olds
Sunak stresses he is not saying every pupil should have to study maths to A-level standard.
And he confirms he is setting up an advisory committee to suggest how pupils should learn more maths.
No 10 says:
A new advisory group, comprising of mathematicians, education leaders and business representatives, will be established to advise government on the core maths content that students need to succeed in future. Taking evidence from countries which have high rates of numeracy and from employers across the country, the group will also advise on whether a new maths qualification is required for 16-18 year olds.
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Sunak says it should not be socially acceptable to joke about being bad at maths
Rishi Sunak is delivering his maths speech.
He says maths is now the most popular subject at A-level.
But there is still a problem with pupils not learning enough, he says.
He says there is still an attitude problem. He says, when he told his daughters he wanted to make the case for more maths, there were not keen. And he says it should not be socially acceptable to say you are bad at maths.
We make jokes about not being able to do maths. It’s socially acceptable. We say things like, ‘oh maths, I can’t do that, it’s not for me’ and everyone laughs. But we’d never make a joke like that about not being able to read.
So we’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset.
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Here are tweets from three commentators on Rishi Sunak’s speech on maths.
From Ben Ansell, a politics professor
I am another - rare? - advocate for maths to 18. EVERY other country in the OECD but two (Ireland and NSW in Oz) does this. Is the UK is magically immune from the benefits of more maths? Do we give up simply because we don't currently have the teachers?https://t.co/7swdL9GSUB https://t.co/QdNW66KYsM
— Ben Ansell (@benwansell) April 17, 2023
Or as I put it in my piece for the British Academy - 'It is possible, I suppose, that the United Kingdom is doing something idiosyncratic but correct'. More likely, it isn't. pic.twitter.com/c7b8CVwxLt
— Ben Ansell (@benwansell) April 17, 2023
From Sunder Katwala, head of the British Future thinktank
The PM may have in mind a CP Snow two cultures point: ie English graduates being proud of not liking maths. But it does not sound like more stigma & more embarrassment will help with about a fifth of adults who are unable to read a bus timetable or are functionally innumerate
— Sunder Katwala (@sundersays) April 17, 2023
From Sam Freedman, a columnist for Prospect
For instance adults should be able to answer simple questions like:
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) April 16, 2023
"If you are thousands of maths teachers short of required numbers + you've cut real terms pay for 13 years + then you introduce a policy that requires thousands more maths teachers how likely is it to succeed?" pic.twitter.com/lVC3KzpqgE
Talk of Sturgeon standing down soon as MSP because of SNP crisis is 'idle speculation', says Ian Blackford
This morning the Daily Telegraph has splashed on a story claiming there is a “growing expectation” in the SNP that Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister, will soon stand down as an MSP because of the turmoil in the party she has left behind. Opposition parties are even calling for her to be suspended from the party she led for more than eight years.
Monday’s Daily TELEGRAPH: “Pressure grows on Sturgeon to quit SNP” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/kHpvAeNiTr
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) April 16, 2023
Ian Blackford, the former SNP leader at Westminster, told the BBC this morning that this report was “idle speculation”. He said:
I think what you’ve seen is idle speculation which is taking place. I speak to my colleague Nicola on a very regular basis and I can tell you that she’s focused on serving the interests of her constituents.
Asked if she was now a distraction for the SNP, Blackford said:
I think history will judge all of us and history, I think, will show a woman that’s led our country, that led us through the Covid pandemic, that has given inspiring leadership to all of us over the course of that period she’s been in leadership.
Blackford also said there was “no reason … at all” why Sturgeon should be suspended by the party.
In a statement on Rishi Sunak’s plan for maths teaching, the National Education Union makes the same point as the one conceded by Gillian Keegan – that there aren’t enough teachers.
Mary Bousted, the union’s joint general secretary, said:
After 13 years in government there are not enough teachers to deliver the prime minister’s vision. His government’s policies for teacher recruitment are not bringing in enough new teachers. There is also a crisis of teacher retention as a result of low pay and excessive workload. The government needs to urgently get a grip of this workforce crisis in education.
Of his proposals on maths education, the prime minister says ‘we’ll need to recruit and train the maths teachers’ but he does not explain how the government will do this. Let’s not forget that this is a government that has cut its recruitment target for maths teachers by 39% since 2020.
And this is from Daniel Kebede, recently elected as the union’s new general secretary.
Even if there was enough Maths teachers to meet the requirements of Sunaks gimmick (there really isn't)
— Daniel Kebede (@DanielKebedeNEU) April 17, 2023
Our children need access to a rich and diverse curriculum
Access for things like music, drama and the arts are becoming pursuits only for those who can afford to go private
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Education secretary Gillian Keegan admits schools don’t have enough maths teachers to implement Sunak’s plans
Good morning. Rishi Sunak will give a speech this morning restating his desire to ensure that all pupils study maths up to the age of 18. You could argue he is Britain’s first geek prime minister (he loves data and spreadsheets etc), and he first set out this ambition in a speech in January. But today he is going a bit further.
It is normal for prime ministers to change policy. But Sunak is trying something more ambitious. He wants to change social attitudes. According to the No 10 overnight briefing, he will complain that being bad at maths is regarded as “socially acceptable” (in a way, perhaps, that being unable to read or write is not regarded as socially acceptable). He will say:
We’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset. We’ve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is – a key skill every bit as essential as reading ….
I won’t sit back and allow this cultural sense that it’s ok to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage …
My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice to have. It’s about changing how we value maths in this country.
Peter Walker has a write-up of the preview here.
But Sunak may struggle to change social attitudes towards numeracy when the government cannot even implement policy in this area. As Justin Webb pointed out on the Today programme this morning, when interviewing the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, the government published a review six years ago setting out proposals intended to improve “mathematics education for 16-18-year-olds in England with the aim of ensuring that the future workforce is appropriately skilled and competitive”. At the time the government said it would respond. Sunak’s speech today could be seen as an admission that it hasn’t.
And, in her Today programme interview, Keegan admitted that the government was failing to meet its target for recruiting maths teachers, even though that target has been cut. And she made the same point on Times Radio, saying:
We certainly need to do more to build up our maths teachers. That is why very recently we put in place a bursary for maths teachers and also physics and computer science as well of £27,000.
We have also increased what we call levelling up payments of £3,000 in certain areas to attract more maths teachers.
In an interview with LBC, Keegan said that the changes proposed by Sunak would not come into force before the general election. And, asked how many extra maths teachers were needed, she told Today:
It depends on what the expert panel say they’re actually going to be learning.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the talks leading up to the Good Friday agreement, speaks at the opening of a three-day conference at Queen’s University Belfast on the 25th anniversary of the deal. Tony Blair and Bill Clinton are among the other prominent figures speaking today. The full schedule is here.
10am: Rishi Sunak gives his speech on maths.
10.30am: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, gives a speech in Glasgow arguing that “Labour is ready to deliver the change that Scotland needs”.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Morning: Keir Starmer is on a visit in the Midlands.
2.30pm: Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
4pm: Peter Stanyon, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, gives evidence to the Commons levelling up committee about electoral registration.
If you want to contact me, do try the new “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a PC or a laptop. (It is not available on the app yet.) This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line, privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate), or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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