Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is coming under serious pressure from Tory MPs for her ‘over-cautious’ and “unilateral” decision to close school buildings over the RAAC concrete scandal, with Ministers now fearing she has opened a “Pandora’s box” by setting a precedent that will force other public buildings to close unnecessarily. According to Sky News’s Sam Coates, Keegan’s decision has had a ripple effect across Whitehall, with local councils, hospitals, and even military sites now facing potential closure to justify shutting schools over the bubbly concrete fiasco. Whitehall committees which had been investigating the issue for years were “informed”, although not consulted…

Keegan did at least get Number 10’s sign off, so Rishi’s fingerprints are over this too. Although the fear is the government could now be liable in the court if, for example, a courtroom or hospital building starts to crumble. Of course, plenty of these buildings were constructed well before the 2010, so it’s not as if Labour don’t have questions to answer either…

Nick Gibb accidentally added more pressure to the PM during an interview with Kay Burley this morning, effectively admitting that Rishi refused to fund the rebuilding of more schools as Chancellor. Speaking on Sky News, the long-standing Education Minister revealed that then-Chancellor Rishi had rejected a request to rebuild 200 schools a year back in 2021. Gibb conceded that, although the department had “put in a bid for 200″ schools to be rebuilt, “what Rishi agreed to was to continue the rebuilding programme at 50 a year”. The second day of term isn’t getting off to a good start.

Gillian Keegan launched a bold defence of her record during a testy interview with Sophy Ridge last night. Speaking on the debut of Sky News’ Politics Hub programme, Keegan was first left squirming as Ridge played back her hot mic moment to her in the studio. Although Gillian put on a smile, she hardly looked impressed…

The pair then discussed the numerous controversies swirling around the Education Secretary and her department. Keegan first made the unconvincing assertion that “I wasn’t talking about me” in her off-guard outburst. She then tried to claim “there was no complacency” on display in the clip, adding “it was the journalist” that got her back up. Gillian’s next tactic was to shift the blame over crumbling concrete. She argued the Department for Education is “not the responsible body for schools”.

Cue another robust exchange after Ridge asked Keegan if holidaying in Spain whilst school roofs caved-in was a mistake:

GK: Well when I went on holiday- I mean to be honest for the whole of summer um obviously I had to sort out industrial action then I had to do the A-levels, then I had to do the GCSE’s. So the first time I could go on holiday was then.

SR: So we should feel sorry for you?

GK: Not at all. I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me and I’m certainly not getting that vibe for you… I’ve always worked remotely. Nearly 50 years before I got elected as an MP, I always worked remotely.

SR: Don’t tell Jacob Rees-Mogg

GK: I said if it looks like we’re gonna make a decision… if it looks like we will do that then I’ll just come back. And I came back straight away – well, actually I came back straight away but I had to wait a day because of the air traffic controls.

Co-conspirators won’t be surprised to learn that Guido isn’t convinced by Keegan’s “I’ve always worked remotely” defence. Who can blame government workers for working from the beach when the Education Secretary is doing the same…

Gillian Keegan let her guard down at the end of an interview today. With language that could land her a detention, the Education Secretary let her frustration be known as she questioned why she wasn’t receiving the thanks she feels entitled to. She asked:

“Does anyone ever say for you know what you’ve done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their a*** and done nothing. No signs of that, no?”

Like Britain’s schools, Gillian seems to be crumbling under pressure…

UPDATE: Keegan apologises for her “choice language“…

Rishi Sunak has spoken to the press about crumbling concrete-related school closures. The Prime Minister admitted the timing was “frustrating” though claimed 95% of schools would not be affected. He added it was “completely and utterly wrong” that he was to blame for a lack of school rebuilding funding, as briefed over the weekend. Back to school…