Flashback to less than one week ago in the House of Commons – Labour Early Years minister Olivia Bailey said in response to another Tory question on phone bans:
“My honest view this we have already solved the problem of banning phones in schools.”
Last night Labour U-turned. Announced in the Lords, a new amendment will “create a clear legal requirement that the guidance must be followed unless there is a legally justifiable reason for schools not to do so.” A major U-turn as Labour has resisted Tory attempts to get a phone ban through for a year now…
There is currently only non-statutory guidance stating schools should be phone-free. This is what Bailey was referring to. Which has now revealed that the U-turn was decided on at the last minute…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”