Inside Politics: Gavin Williamson’s U-turn sparks scramble for uni places

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Well, we had plenty of time to get the memes ready. The most predictable, inevitable, nailed-on U-turn in British political history sparked a cavalcade of gifs at Gavin Williamson’s expense – screeching trucks, madcap clown cars and Austin Powers getting stuck attempting a three-point turn. After all the fun and games, can the education secretary – known rather cruelly by some in Westminster as “Private Pike” after the dimwit in Dad’s Army – hold onto to his job? More importantly, what does the decision mean for school leavers now scrambling for university places?

Inside the bubble

Chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:

David Frost, No 10’s chief negotiator, is to dine with EU counterpart Michel Barnier in Brussels this evening at the start of the seventh round of EU-UK trade talks. “Seventh?” you might exclaim, but yes, although there has been little visible progress, a lot of the complicated uncontentious stuff has been gone through. That means that, if there is a political breakthrough in the next few weeks, it can be turned into a legal text quite quickly.

Daily briefing

PHEW-TURN: Relieved A-level pupils will be able to receive grades decided by their teachers’ assessment following a dramatic U-turn by the government – 48 hours after Gavin Williamson promised “no U-turns”. The education secretary said he was “incredibly sorry” – but attempted to shift the blame for the mess onto Ofqual, insisting he had been given “reassurances” there were “sufficient differences” with the Scottish system scrapped last week. The Lib Dems’ Layla Moran said Williamson “must go”. Among the anonymous Tory backbenchers saying the same thing, one said: “His handling has been so inept I almost feel sorry for him.” A temporary cap on university places will be lifted – but some students said they’ve already lost out on courses now filled. Universities UK want “urgent clarification” to cope with the chaotic scramble ahead.

GO HARDING OR GO HOME: You know what they say: you want something done, ask a busy person. Baroness Dido Harding – the Tory peer already in charge NHS Test and Trace – has been handed the task of running the replacement body for Public Health England. The government today announces the creation of the new National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) agency to lead the pandemic response. Labour’s shadow health minister Justin Madders said there was no “accountability” in the Baroness’s appointment, while the Lib Dems’ health spokesperson Munira Wilson attacked the promotion of a “Tory insider whose been responsible for a sub-par test and trace system”. Imperial College London’s Prof Richard Tedder had more fundamental criticism, saying the unfairly scrapped PHE had suffered from “persistent meddling from on-high”.

MIND THE GAPS: No 10 still believes – or at least says it believes – a post-Brexit trade deal can be agreed with the EU by the end of next month. Boris Johnson’s spokesman said UK negotiators would “continue to plug the gaps” as negotiations enter a seventh round in Brussels today. The sides remain at odds over competition rules and fishing rights, among other things. Elsewhere, the government said it did not recognise the result of Belarus’s contested presidential election. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab branded the contest “fraudulent” – and called for an international investigation into the “grisly repression” of protesters by state security forces. “The UK does not accept the results. We urgently need an independent investigation through the OSCE into the flaws that rendered the election unfair.”

NO KENT DO: The garden of England is closing its gates to child migrants. Kent County Council said it couldn’t provide care for any more unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Council boss Roger Gough said he informed the Home Office his local authority was “expected to reach safe capacity to meet its statutory duty of care this weekend” after 13 more children arrived in the past two days. “That is clearly unacceptable and needs to be resolved immediately,” said Kent Refugee Action Network’s Bridget Chapman. Meanwhile, a group of 21 MPs has written to the government warning of a “new wave of homelessness” when a temporary ban on evictions ends later in August. They urged ministers to follow Scotland’s lead, where the ban was extended until March 2021.

GOD LOVES A SINNER: Donald Trump wants us to believe he has been having conversations with the Lord God Almighty. The president claimed the coronavirus was “God testing me” – and said he had been challenged by the guy upstairs to rebuild the economy. Michelle Obama opened the Democrats’ virtual convention with an attack on the profane sinner in the White House: “He is clearly in over his head, he cannot meet this moment.” She said the US economy was “in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed” – and praised Joe Biden as a “profoundly decent man”. Trump, who has never really claimed to be a decent man, suggested he was at least an exciting one. The president said news outlets would suffer if he lost. “Nobody’s going to want to cover sleepy Joe … We will end up with one very boring socialist country.”

WHAT THE HECKLE: Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko was jeered, booed and heckled when he visited a tractor factory in the capital Minsk, as domestic anger and international concern grows over his disputed re-election. The authoritarian leader told the workers: “I will never cave in to pressure” – after they chanted “Go away!” Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, said: “There will be no new election until you kill me.” Opposition protesters – who gathered again in Minsk’s Independence Square last night – voiced fears Vladimir Putin could eventually send in Russian troops to prop up Lukashenko. NATO’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed that the alliance has no military build-up in the region. “We remain vigilant,” he said.

On the record

“The Tories’ handling of this situation has been a complete fiasco. Incompetence has become this government’s watchword.”

Keir Starmer sticks the boot in after the ‘screeching’ U-turn.

From the Twitterati

“Gavin Williamson’s resignation not made it through clearing then?”

The Independent’s Tom Peck wonders what’s holding up the minister’s exit…

“The problem with getting Gavin Williamson to resign is that he will mess it up and ask for a promotion.”

…while satirist Dave MacLadd thinks it’s probably all Williamson’s fault.

Essential reading

Jess Phillips, The Independent: There is still nothing equal about how children experience this pandemic

Carli Pierson, The Independent: Why I can’t shake my disgust about being forced to vote for Biden

Martin Fletcher, New Statesman: The A-level fiasco shows why Johnson is profoundly unfit to be PM

Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post: Michelle Obama is a political powerhouse

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