Bristol MP calls for Gavin Williamson to resign

A Bristol MP has told us the Education Secretary should resign from government.

Kerry McCarthy, who is the Labour representative for Bristol East and the Shadow Minister for Green Transport, claims many Conservative MPs think the same.

We asked her opinion after she shared a post by Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green on Twitter, also calling for Mr Williamson to go.

"I think most of his Tory colleague think the same as well," she said.

"I had a call earlier this week with the School's Minister to talk about children with special educational needs.

"He at least is someone that knows his brief, is on top of it, his hands are tied to an extent because he is not in charge of the team, but at least there you get somebody who you feel is serious about their job,

"Whereas Gavin Williamson, it's been one fiasco after another".

There have been several controversies surrounding schools throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

First the government was pressured into providing free school meals over the summer holidays after pressure from Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.

Then after school exams were cancelled, many A Level and GCSE students were left exasperated after receiving lower than expected grades, thanks to a controversial algorithm.

The algorithm was later abandoned with students given their predicted grades instead.

As schools broke up for the Christmas holidays the government insisted they would be able to reopen safely in the new year despite rising cases, only for Boris Johnson to announce they should close one day after term restarted.

Now there is another row over free school meals, with Marcus Rashford and several other celebrities calling on the government to review the policy long term.

"Teachers need to be able to plan ahead and there has just been a complete lack of direction from him (Gavin Williamson)," the Labour MP continued.

We have asked the Department for Education for a response and are awaiting a statement.