Teaching unions have reacted with fury to leaked texts sent by the former education secretary Gavin Williamson at the height of the Covid pandemic, saying they reveal the UK government's "secret contempt for teachers". 2023 BBC. He said that "People want her back in work and they want the Royal Mail to show some common sense and some common decency" and asked the Royal Mail to reinstate her into her old job. 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"During the pandemic, teachers went above and beyond during very challenging times.". SHAMED Sir Gavin Williamson is out of the Cabinet for the THIRD time in his toxic political career. London CNN British cabinet office minister Gavin Williamson resigned from his role on Tuesday following recent allegations of bullying, saying the accusations against him were "becoming a. More than 100,000 messages sent between ministers and officials during the pandemic, have been passed to the Telegraph by journalist Isabel Oakeshott. Messages leaked to the Telegraph appear to show Gavin Williamson accusing teachers of looking for an excuse not to teach. As we have seen, releasing them in this way gives a partial, biased account to suit an anti-lockdown agenda. In a statement on Wednesday, Williamson said: Further to reports in the Telegraph and other outlets, I wish to clarify that these messages were about some unions and not teachers. It follows journalist Isabel Oakeshotts decision to pass on thousands of WhatsApp messages first shared with her by former health secretary Matt Hancock in order to write up his pandemic diaries. During the pandemic, teachers went above and beyond during very challenging times and very much continue to do so.. Williamson has not yet publicly reacted to Miltons claims. England was the first UK nation to reopen schools before a second wave of Covid infections hit in September 2020. ", Covid messages leak a massive betrayal - Hancock, Hancock denies claim he rejected care home advice, Rees-Mogg had Covid test couriered during shortage, School face masks worn to avoid Covid row - claims, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Later that month, Williamson alleged that the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, in meeting a Czech diplomat (later revealed to be a spy) during the 1980s, had "betray[ed]" his country. Ex-Conservative Party Chair Jake Berry has said he told Mr Sunak about Ms Morton's complaint on 24 October - the day before Sir Gavin's appointment. The Mail on Sunday quoted an unnamed ally of Hammond comparing Williamson to Private Pike, a hapless character in the sitcom Dad's Army. Read about our approach to external linking. His then director of communications, Lee Cain, said: Considering Scotland has just confirmed it will I find it hard to believe we will hold the line. Gavin Williamson accused teachers of looking for an "excuse" not to work during the pandemic, according to leaked WhatsApp messages. July 24, 2021: Cleveland Indians signed RHP Gavin Williams. Matt Hancock called teaching unions 'absolute a**es' in WhatsApp texts to the then Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, who claimed teachers 'hate work' and were looking for 'an excuse' not to teach. He attended East Ayton Primary, Raincliffe School, and Scarborough Sixth Form College. In September 2012, Williamson became PPS to Patrick McLoughlin, Secretary of State for Transport, and in 2013 became PPS to the Prime Minister, David Cameron. Teachers complained about a lack of PPE in order to have an excuse not to teach, Gavin Williamson said in a leaked WhatsApp chat, commenting later that some teaching unions really do just hate work. Sir Gavin Williamson strongly rejected new allegations that he 'deliberately demeaned and intimidated' a civil servant amid calls for Rishi Sunak to sack him - despite the PM voicing his. Mr Hancock battled with Sir Gavin in late December 2020 and suggested it was "mad" that he was trying to keep classrooms open. She acknowledged, however, that he was not happy at what she had done. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 44 years old? Sir Gavin said he "refuted" how his conduct had been characterised. What a bunch of absolute a**es the teaching unions are,' he wrote. People say things in the heat of the moment on WhatsApp that they dont really believe., On unions, he said: I think they work hard for their members. He is widely known mishandling the GCSE and A-Level exams fiasco in 2020 as Education Secretary. "What a bunch of absolute arses the teaching unions are. The grading system was scrapped after widespread anger from parents, students and educators. It was a huge debate going on, very snarky debate about whether face coverings should or shouldnt be worn. Ideal time to install duck nest tubes, says BASC, Firearms licensing is in crisis, BASC tells Parliamentary Committee inquiry, Week-in-Review: Covid sleaze is back and more politically potent than ever. All Rights Reserved. The leaked WhatsApp messages have been seen by The Daily Telegraph as part of their Lockdown Files investigation. Former education secretary Gavin Williamson - who was widely criticised for his handling of England's schools and exams during the coronavirus pandemic - will soon become a sir after the Queen. You have entered an incorrect email address! What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Following the deplatforming of history professor Selina Todd and former Home Secretary Amber Rudd by student societies at Oxford University, in March 2020 Williamson called for "robust action" to enforce free speech codes, and stated that the government would intervene to protect freedom of speech at universities if they failed to do so themselves. In the texts, he appears to complain MPs not "favoured" by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss were being excluded from attending the Queen's funeral at Westminster Abbey. Gavin was born in Scarborough on 25th June 1976. Graeme Demianyk. He said: These stolen messages have been doctored to create a false story that Matt rejected clinical advice on care home testing. In a group chat, Johnson said: Folks I am about to [be] asked about masks in schools. Ultimately, if the medical experts were saying thats what needed to be done then youre torn even if in your heart of hearts you know the best place for children was in school. He added: An apology would be fine but those people, lets be honest, are yesterdays men. Hancock also reportedly said No 10 did not want to change the rule of six for meetings to include children during lockdown, even though another minister said there was no robust rationale. messages also reveal how a Covid test was couriered to the home of Jacob Rees-Mogg during a nationwide backlog at the height of the pandemic, leaked WhatsApp messages suggest. At the height of his powers as the government chief whip, Gavin Williamson would often be compared to Francis Urquhart, the ruthless parliamentary enforcer in the novel and TV drama House of Cards. On the first day after the announcement I went into our factory shop in Stoke-on-Trent and we had people fighting over the last plate that we had on the shop floor. After 2005, Williamson then moved to Derbyshire. He also went to the University of Bradford. The newspaper received more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages from the former Health Secretary's communications, which were shared by Isabel Oakeshott, the ghostwriter of his Pandemic Diaries. We will have a truly vibrant economy only when we recreate the Victorian spirit of ingenuity and inventiveness that made Britain such a vibrant country, as I am sure it will be again." ", Gavin Williamson texts unacceptable, PM says, Williamson has not apologised to Morton, friends say, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. As demonstrated in the exchange, I was responding regarding unions. To save his marriage, he has said he left the firm. The Conservative Party lawmaker was previously fired from his post as defense minister in 2019 by then-Prime Minister Theresa May over the leaking of a key decision related to the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Simon Case, a senior official in No 10 who would become Johnsons cabinet secretary, indicated that unless Whitty and the chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, were willing to go out and say WHO and Scots are wrong, I think some nervous parents will freak out about this happening in Scotland, but not in England. The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had already announced children would need to wear face coverings in corridors. Gavin Williamson is 44 years old British Conservative politician serving as secretary of state for education since 2019. Williamson made his maiden speech on 8 June 2010, on the same day as Nicky Morgan and Kwasi Kwarteng. During the pandemic, teachers went above and beyond during very challenging times and very much continue to do so.. Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/Crown Copyright via PA Media. At the end of the meeting, Mr Hancock said: 'I want to find a way, Gavin having won the day, of actually preventing a policy car crash when the kids spread the disease in January. Before Gavin became Secretary of State for Education he served as Secretary of State for Defence for 2 years. The "brightest and best" becoming teachers is less likely this morning because of that sneering denigration of the teaching profession," Mr Barton added. I certainly thought long and deeply over whether I should have gone then. Read about our approach to external linking. Mr Barton told the BBC: "We have to remind ourselves that this was an age of extraordinary anxiety. Looking back now, I wonder whether I should have resigned at that point. And for that we must now fight a rear-guard action.'. In response to the statement, a spokesman for Corbyn stated: "Gavin Williamson should focus on his job and not give credence to entirely false and ridiculous smears". Williamson was one of several MPs who was absent or abstained on the 21 March 2011 vote on supporting UN-backed action in Libya. In his resignation letter, Sir Gavin said he would comply with "an ongoing complaints process concerning texts he sent to a colleague" and added that he had "apologised to the recipient for those messages". 'During the pandemic, teachers went above and beyond during very challenging times and very much continue to do so.'. Discovery Company. He is know to have played a key part in the PM's . He said they were looking for an "excuse" not to work. Meanwhile, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman of the Russian Defence Ministry, said: "The market wench talk that British defence secretary Gavin Williamson resorted to reflects his extreme intellectual impotency". All of them will but some will just want to say they cant so they have an excuse to avoid having to teach, what joys!!!. Williamsons current stint in government only lasted for 14 days. Former health secretary Matt Hancock was involved in a behind-the-scenes clash with then-education secretary Gavin Williamson over moves to keep classrooms open during the Covid pandemic. Williamson at the time strenuously denied he was the source of the leak, in a letter posted to his Twitter account. Gavin Williamson quits after formal complaint over 'slit your throat' remark Sunak believes Williamson's account of events on the allegations he faces For sure, his reputation meant he was not the person to sell the strategy to colleagues - that's what the urbane chief whip Simon Hart is for. 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Did you encounter any technical issues? Sign up and we will email you daily with the best of our political and news coverage while also giving you a taste of our most-popular lifestyle, opinion and personal blogs. Williamson worked as managing director of fireplace manufacturer Elgin & Hall, a subsidiary of AGA, until 2004. I got the impression that he loved salacious gossip and would use it as leverage against MPs if the need arose, Milton told broadcaster. Updated ", Sir Gavin replied: "I know they really really do just hate work.". Photograph: ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy. The WhatsApp messages are among thousands given to the Telegraph by the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who helped Hancock write his Pandemic Diaries book. Government dragged their feet over providing laptops for children most in need, while it took the footballer Marcus Rashford to shame them into free school meals provision during the school holidays. Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the NEU, defended the role of teachers and education staff during the pandemic, saying they worked tirelessly, listening to the science and acting to protect the school community when the government was doing neither. Born in 1976, Gavin Williamson is 43 years old. Asked if it was concerned the WhatsApp messages could undermine the government's ability to reach a pay deal with teaching unions, the prime minister's spokesman said that was a "separate issue". In 2015 he received the Honorific Title The Right Honourable for life after being sworn in as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In January 2010, Williamson was selected as the Conservative candidate in South Staffordshire for the 2010 general election. Given the current dispute with the Department for Education over teacher pay, we sincerely hope Gillian Keegan does not share this attitude and gets around the table to discuss a resolution to the pay dispute., The shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said the leaked comments were a kick in the teeth for teachers who stretched every sinew for children during the pandemic.