Gavin Williamson now rivals Chris Grayling after A-level exams scandal – Tom Richmond

First, Parliament’s summer recess meant that there was little chance for him to be challenged over the A-level results scandal or for Tory MPs to have made their misgivings clear collectively (if they had dared to do so).

Second, Boris Johnson – or, presumably, his chief aide Dominic Cummings – decided that there’s no ready-made replacement for Mr Williamson. That in itself represents a damning indictment on the calibre of this Cabinet, and yet, sitting on the backbenches are the likes of Sajid Javid and David Davis who understand better than most the circumstances under-privileged kids in the North have to fight against. Put children before egos, PM.

Third, the Government didn’t care sufficiently about all those young people whose exasperation over this debacle was compounded by the silence of Williamson, and others, over the past weekend as the situation became farcical.

It was enough to make you despair. And weep. Yet none of these reasons justify Williamson remaining in post today, bereft of credibility, despite last night’s belated and humiliating U-turn, and half-hearted apology, which now allows teacher-assessed grades to stand.

No wonder that he has been compared to Frank Spencer of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em fame, though this does a disservice to the brilliant Michael Crawford who played the hapless, hen-pecked husband in the 1970s TV sitcom.

But the real scandal is that the Department for Education had nearly six months to prepare for this month’s eventuality and failed to do its homework, more so after Scotland’s exam results gave an early foretaste of the questions that this political exam would pose.

And while the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented, it did not excuse the serial failure to devise a system of grades that was fair and less reliant on the lottery of a computer algorithm which clearly punished schools and pupils performing above the odds in areas of under-attainment like the North.

Nor does it justify Williamson granting The Times an exclusive interview on Saturday where he announced the waiving of charges for appeals before Ofqual, the exams regulator, changed its criteria later in the day before postponing it that evening. If a private company launched a new product this badly, it would not deserve to stay in business.

And why, after plunging universities, schools and colleges into such chaos, was there a prolonged wall of silence from the DfE, Ofqual and 10 Downing Street when their indecision and indifference was posing more questions than answers? Saying sorry now must not suffice.

This was, after all, Grayling-esque contempt for students for which Williamson – and Nick Gibb, the equally ineffective Schools Minister – will never be forgiven. And this is before the small matter of reopening all schools next month, another vital task being left to the last minute and chance.

Yet the regret is Williamson’s upbringing – he went to a Scarborough secondary and then the University of Bradford – meant that he should have had a better understanding than most about the importance of social mobility and attainment in the North. His aloofness suggests otherwise.

But he’s not the only political disappointment. Even though it usually requires a national crisis for an emergency recall of Parliament to be sanctioned, a ‘remote’ session of the Commons should, at the very least, have been called for yesterday. Statements in September will be too late and Penny Mordaunt, a junior minister, deserved praise for breaking ranks to express her disquiet. “We must ensure that bright, capable students can progress on their next step,” she tweeted.

Then the rank opportunism of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. Teachers, lecturers and students have been expressing misgivings for months, yet the Opposition only appears to ever get exercised when the Government is in trouble. If Sir Keir is to cement his Prime Ministerial credentials in the minds of the electorate, he cannot simply be seen taking the moral high ground equipped with hindsight. He has to have confidence in his intellect and clear capabilities, and draw on them to set the agenda and show us some policy substance.

And, finally, the faltering judgement of a Prime Minister who should have had the nouse to spot that Williamson – like many of Johnson’s circle of ‘yes men’ (and women) – was already a Grade U liability long ago. Alarmingly, a tolerance of once unacceptable standards now appears to be best practice across Government.

Yes, Gavin Williamson should go – he has become a national embarrassment – but his demise must not mask wider political failings in this Grade A scandal.

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Tom Richmond is Comment Editor of The Yorkshire Post. He tweets via OpinionYP.

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