Summary of the day …
The UK education secretary has been forced to defend remarks saying that in 10 years’ time, nobody would be looking at the grades teenagers earned today. Gillian Keegan, the sixth Conservative education secretary since the 2019 general election, told reporters: “It is true, it is just real,” after saying: “What will people ask you in 10 years’ time? They won’t ask you anything about your A-level grades in 10 years’ time. They will ask you about other things you have done since then: what you have done in the work place, what you did at university. And then, after a period of time, they don’t even ask you what you did at university.”
The shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “I think the comments from the secretary of state are incredibly rude and dismissive. This is a nerve-racking day for young people who’ve worked incredibly hard. The last thing that they need is the secretary of state offering comments like that. She’s talking down England’s young people, and she needs to apologise.”
A-level grades awarded to students in England have shown their biggest drop after results plummeted across the board in line with the government’s policy of enforcing a return to pre-pandemic grading. England’s results showed a large gap in top grades compared with Wales and Northern Ireland, which were also announced today. Northern Ireland awarded A*-A grades to 37.5% of its A-level entries, while Wales awarded 34% – in stark contrast to the 26.5% in England. Scottish pupils got their results on 8 August, which also showed a fall.
The government has confirmed that seven NHS England cancer targets are to be scrapped, as the service moves to having three performance standards from October. The new guidelines will move away from what the government termed the “outdated” two-week wait target. Currently that two-week wait target is not being met.
The health minister Will Quince has claimed the government is scrapping the two-week cancer target in NHS England after clinical consultations. He said: “The biggest factor in people surviving cancer is the stage at which they are diagnosed. We have listened to the advice from clinical experts and NHS England to reform cancer standards which will speed up diagnosis for patients.”
Angela Rayner has insisted that SNP calls for employment law to be devolved are not needed. The deputy Labour leader met apprentices in Glasgow as she set out her party’s plans to enhance workers’ rights. They include protection against unfair dismissal, sick pay from day one and banning zero-hour contracts and fire and rehire policies. Earlier, Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf had asked: “Will Labour commit to full devolution of employment law should they form the next government?” Rayner responded: “They won’t need it because I want employment law across the whole of the UK to be uplifted and better.”
Rishi Sunak has spoken on the phone today to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and prime minister, Mohammed bin Salman. The Downing Street readout of the call stated that Sunak and Bin Salman “looked forward to meeting in person at the earliest opportunity”. In July the Guardian reported that the prince had been invited to the UK for an official visit in late autumn, which would be the first such visit by the heir to the Saudi throne since he was accused of masterminding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. The journalist’s body was hacked to pieces with a bone-saw at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson, Layla Moran, said it “beggars belief that Rishi Sunak is rolling out the red carpet for Mohammed bin Salman”. Labour’s Angela Rayner said Sunak should use any visit to “have a conversation about human rights”.
The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson has claimed that the party has been having “meaningful engagement” with the UK government over the restoration of the Stormont assembly, while also criticising the Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s recent interventions as “unhelpful”.
The government has been criticised for binning food waste legislation that campaigners say could have reduced food prices and curbed climate change. The policy would have made food waste reporting mandatory for large and medium-sized businesses in England.
The government collected more than £270m from the plastic packaging tax (PPT) during its first year, official figures show. It was £41m more than the Treasury predicted.
Four people have been detained in France today after six people died and more than 50 were rescued when a boat carrying people to the UK sank in the Channel at the weekend.
Pub bosses have called on the government to loosen licensing rules for Sunday opening hours and alcohol sales for the Women’s World Cup final. Industry bosses have said licensing rules could mean some venues will be unable to serve pints or open early for fans on the day. England kick off against Spain at 11am.
That is it from me today. We will be closing the blog shortly. I will be back with you again tomorrow. Take care, see you soon.
P.S. There’s still time to pop over and do my Thursday quiz.
Updated
The Scottish Tory leader, Douglas Ross, has rejected the assertion he is avoiding the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.
While Ross was visiting a business at Prestwick airport in Ayrshire he said he was “absolutely not” avoiding the seat, saying there had not actually been a byelection called yet, and when it was, he would be campaigning with his candidate, Thomas Kerr.
He told PA Media: “I’ve confirmed I’ll be there supporting Thomas, as I say, he’s already launched his campaign, he’s already doing activity there with our local campaigners and I’ll be very proud to support Thomas in that byelection.”
Responding to recent polling figures he said: “These opinion polls go up and down, I don’t get too excited when the polls go up, I don’t get too demotivated when they go down.”
Asked if he was still the right man to lead the Tories north of the border, Ross said: “Yes, absolutely.”
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