PM must get a grip and sack Williamson

So, there we have it, the most predictable U-turn ever has finally happened. The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) have announced that teacher assessed grades will be given to A-level, AS-level and GCSE students in England this summer. Now, if the government is lucky, this fiasco will merely be a major embarrassment and showcase of their incompetence, rather than a “poll tax” moment that turns a large group of voters against them for a generation or more.

The foundations of this mess are understandable. With nothing but imperfect options in front of them government officials made a decision that teacher assessments shouldn’t be used because it would cause grade inflation. Thus, the predicted grades would have to be adjusted downwards using an algorithm. But an algorithm is only as good as the data fed into it, and it seems to have been forgotten along the way that it was deciding the future of individual human beings.

The real question is why it took this long. When it comes to politics it’s best for a government to do quickly what it will eventually be forced to do anyway. Grab the initiative, explain, apologise and the outrage caused by the mistake is dampened and the government looks in control. But has the government ever seemed in control during this pandemic?

It stumbles from one shambles to another, angering another section of society as it goes. It is a government defined by indecision, fiascos and unforced errors. After a string of blunders now we have this exam result debacle where a series of catastrophically unfair decisions were made in the creation of a dodgy algorithm which could’ve wrecked the future plans of thousands of young people.

Most of these young people were from already disadvantaged backgrounds; they are exactly the kind of less privileged people this government said it wanted to help by levelling up the country. Yet Boris Johnson has been AWOL throughout the crisis.  He over promoted Gavin Williamson to the role of Education Secretary and when disaster struck, the prime minister isn’t showing leadership or reassuring the nation, he’s nowhere to be seen.

Ultimately, as with so many of this government’s prolific errors, the buck stops with the Prime Minister. He chose a Cabinet of loyal inadequates, and yet he is the one who is absent when leadership is needed and when the final decision needs to be made. Instead of getting a grip on government, he either delegates or makes the wrong decision.

No matter, in his shameless administration no one ever accepts blame, no one ever resigns, and no one ever gets sacked. There is no accountability or sense of shame among this sorry lot.

What is so frustrating about this whole calamity is that it was foreseeable and avoidable. First of all, the decision not to hold the exams was disastrous. A government that was organised and capable of getting things done would’ve made sure the exams were held. In any exam hall, students sit distanced from each other already, and various publicly owned buildings could’ve been used with adequate safety measures put in place. Boris Johnson’s government has no imagination beyond slogans and proposing ludicrously long bridges.

Then, after that disastrous decision was made, the Prime Minister appears to have put it out of his mind while the Gavin Williamson, the man responsible for education, apparently sat on his hands not thinking about all the things that could go wrong. The future of thousands of young people was at stake and there was no preparation and no foresight. The extent of his lack of thought and planning would feel callous if it wasn’t more likely the result of sheer incompetence.

Even when disaster struck in Scotland, Tory MPs were smugly tweeting about it and Gavin Williamson was insisting England would not be following suit. He had a full week to see exactly how it played out in Scotland and still failed to end up being pressured into a humiliating U-turn. It wasn’t until after the tears, the disappointment and the anger that it finally it dawned on the government that it would have to bow to the inevitable.

Gavin Williamson should have resigned. Unfortunately, the Conservatives have set a precedent whereby utter failure doesn’t seem to be enough for a resignation. Williamson going won’t turn around the fortunes of this government because ultimately the problem goes all the way to the top

Still, a new precedent must be set. The PM should show some leadership and demand the resignation of this ludicrous figure and replace him with someone competent, qualified and capable. Come on Boris, there’s a first time for everything!

The government’s pitiful approach to the exam results was a bit like how they should’ve seen the threat of coronavirus coming. They had ample warning. They even had examples of other countries  showing them exactly what was coming. Yet when this government needs to act it freezes in the headlights.