The two long national lockdowns in England have disrupted the education of a whole generation of children.
So it is right to look at ways of helping pupils catch up with the weeks of lost learning.
This should be done in consultation with teachers so they are not lumbered with additional hours of work for no additional pay.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s concern about the impact of Covid on education would carry more weight had he not been part of a Government that cut per-pupil funding by 8% between 2010 and 2019.
Additional cash for education was also noticeably absent from this week’s Budget.
If this Government cared about children’s futures, it would invest properly in schools, expand free school meal provision and reopen the hundreds of Sure Start centres it closed.
And it would not have created a situation where schools have had to beg parents for basics such as pens and even toilet rolls.
Tinkering with school terms is just a distraction from the Tory failures of the past decade.
Cruel industry
More than two million kangaroos a year are killed to make sports shoes.
Animal rights campaigners claim the cull also results in the deaths of 440,000 orphaned joeys, either from slaughter or starvation.
Consumers in the UK are probably unaware of this barbaric practice when they buy
football boots made by some leading brands.
The best way to stamp out such inhumane acts is to force firms to be transparent about how and where their goods are sourced.
That means proper labelling so customers are not kept in the dark about the grisly secrets behind products they buy on the high street.
Honour heroes
Thousands of brave men risked their lives to test Britain’s nuclear weapons.
They should be the country’s pride but the MoD refuses to honour them with a medal.
Boris Johnson could intervene to end this injustice. What’s stopping you, Prime Minister?
