Wes Streeting has labelled the Prime Minister an ‘entitled idiot’ after he blamed the exams fiasco on a “mutant algorithm”.
Following the A-level downgrading controversy, Boris Johnson sacked the senior official at the Department for Education and blamed the algorithm which decided pupils’ grades.
Labour Ilford North MP West Streeting took to twitter to vent his frustrations at the PM, saying: “These entitled idiots don’t take responsibility for anything. As the old proverb goes: the fish rots from the head.”
A-levels and GCSEs: Boris Johnson blames 'mutant algorithm' for exam fiasco > These entitled idiots don’t take responsibility for anything. As the old proverb goes: the fish rots from the head. https://t.co/QUrBpzouZH
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) August 26, 2020
The Prime Minister has acknowledged the stress caused by the situation – which eventually resulted in a U-turn with A-level and GCSE grades in England awarded based on teachers’ assessments rather than the algorithm.
The Department for Education announced that permanent secretary Jonathan Slater will stand down because “the Prime Minister has concluded that there is a need for fresh official leadership”.
The announcement came a day after Sally Collier resigned from her role as head of exams regulator Ofqual.
Dave Penman, leader of the FDA union which represents senior public servants, said: “If it wasn’t clear before, then it certainly is now – this administration will throw civil service leaders under a bus without a moment’s hesitation to shield ministers from any kind of accountability.
“After this Government’s continuous anonymous briefings to the press, trust between ministers and civil servants is already at an all-time low and this will only damage it
Mr Slater will stand down on September 1, in advance of the end of his tenure in spring 2021.
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