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The government has finally published a list of schools identified with collapse-prone concrete after days of mounting pressure.

The document, released by the Department for Education, showed the start of term had to be delayed at 19 schools as a result of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Read more: PMQs dominated by rows over concrete scandal

Four schools have also had to return to remote learning – echoing learning during the pandemic – while the rest have become a mix of remote learning and face-to-face.

The list came just before the first PMQs since the summer recess, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Commons the government had “acted decisively to ensure the safety of children and minimise disruption to education”.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Conservatives of spending 13 years “cutting corners”, and compared ministers to “cowboy builders”.

The Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, also called for Mr Sunak to “come clean over his own role in this crisis”, and publish evidence given to him when he was chancellor on the risks to children’s safety from RAAC.

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The list of schools – published on the Government website – is below:

Myatt Garden Primary School, in Lewisham, southeast London
Seven Mills Primary School, in Tower Hamlets, east London
The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls, in Ealing, west London
St Ignatius College, in Enfield, north London
Welbourne Primary School, in Haringey, north London
St John Vianney RC Primary School, in Haringey, north London
Hornsey School for Girls, in Haringey, north London
Brandhall Primary School, in Oldbury, West Midlands
St William of York Catholic Primary School, in Bolton, Greater Manchester
St Andrew’s CofE Primary School, Over Hulton, in Bolton, Greater Manchester
All Saints C of E Primary School, in Manchester
Abbey Lane Primary School, in Sheffield
Pippins School, in Slough
Stanway Fiveways Primary School, in Colchester, Essex
Baynards Primary School, in Colchester, Essex
Great Leighs Primary School, in Chelmsford, Essex
Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School, in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire
Bentfield Primary School and Nursery, in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
White Court School, in Great Notley, Braintree, Essex
Beehive Lane Community Primary School, in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex
Eversley Primary School, in Pitsea, Essex
Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Eight Ash Green and Aldham, in Fordham Heath, Essex
St Lawrence Church of England Primary School, Rowhedge, in Colchester Essex
Great Tey Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, in Colchester, Essex
Hatfield Peverel St Andrew’s Junior School, in Essex
Broomfield Primary School, in Essex
Mersea Island School, in Essex
Cranbourne, in Basingstoke, Hampshire
Markyate Village School and Nursery, in St Albans, Hertfordshire
Widford School, in Ware, Hertfordshire
Palmarsh Primary School, in Hythe, Kent
Birchington Church of England Primary School, in Kent
St James’ Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent
St Bartholomew’s Catholic Primary School, Swanley, in Kent
Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School, in Blackpool, Lancashire
Our Lady’s Catholic High School, in Preston, Lancashire
Mayflower Primary School, in Leicester
Parks Primary School, in Leicester
Donnington Wood Infant School and Nursery Centre, in Telford, Shropshire
Thurston Community College, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Shawfield Primary School, in Ash, Surrey
St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Thames Ditton, Surrey
Petroc, in Devon
Park View School
Springfield Primary School
Outwoods Primary School
Denbigh School
Sale Grammar School
The Appleton School
King Ethelbert School
Holcombe Grammar School
The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School
Wood Green Academy
The Honywood Community Science School
The Billericay School
Aston Manor Academy
Hadleigh High School
The Palmer Catholic Academy
The London Oratory School
Tendring Technology College
East Bergholt High School
Hounsdown School
Thurstable School Sports College and Sixth Form Centre
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School
Waddesdon Church of England School
Wallingford School
Woodkirk Academy
Batley Girls High School
St Clere’s School
Sandbach School
Carmel College
Anglo European School
St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon
The Gilberd School
The Thomas Lord Audley School
St Helena School
East Tilbury Primary School
Clacton County High School
White Hall Academy and Nursery
Altrincham College
Cleeve Park School
Joyce Frankland Academy, Newport
Danetree Primary School
The Bromfords School
Royal College Manchester (Seashell Trust)
The Ramsey Academy, Halstead
Redhill School
Ark Boulton Academy
Woodville Primary School
Holy Trinity Catholic Voluntary Academy
Thomas Bullock Church of England Primary and Nursery Academy
Water Lane Primary Academy
Katherine Semar Junior School
Katherine Semar Infant School
Mistley Norman Church of England Primary School
Hatfield Heath Primary School
St Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive School
Godinton Primary School
St Francis Catholic Primary School, South Ascot
The FitzWimarc School
Winter Gardens Academy
Cherry Tree Academy
Prince Albert Junior and Infant School
Cockermouth School
Northampton International Academy
St Gregory’s Catholic Science College
Bishop Douglass School Finchley
Lubbins Park Primary Academy
Scalby School
Arthur Bugler Primary School
St Leonard’s Catholic School, Durham
Canon Slade School
Claydon High School
Harlowbury Primary School
Kingsdown School
Katherines Primary Academy and Nursery
Sir Thomas Boughey Academy
Harwich and Dovercourt High School
Ferryhill School
Wyburns Primary School
Jerounds Primary Academy
Roding Valley High School
Lambourne Primary School
Hillhouse CofE Primary School
Barnes Farm Junior School
St Elizabeth’s Catholic Voluntary Academy
Hockley Primary School
Chipping Ongar Primary School
Langney Primary Academy
St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School
St Mary and St John Junior and Infant School
St John Catholic Primary School
St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green
St Francis’ Catholic Primary School
Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School
Sunny Bank Primary School
St Benet’s Catholic Primary School, Ouston
St Bede’s Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
Wells Park School
St James’ Catholic Primary School, Hebburn
St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Town End Farm, Sunderland
St Columba’s Catholic Primary School, Wallsend
St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, West Denton
The Holy Family Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy
St Michael’s Catholic School
Elmstead Primary School

Ministers expect hundreds more schools could be affected as they await the results of building surveys.

Read more:
Education secretary under fire for opening ‘Pandora’s box’ on concrete crisis

Ms Keegan came under fire on Tuesday for telling school leaders to “get off their backsides” and complete the forms.

It was the latest mishap after she was caught on camera bemoaning a lack of thanks for doing a “f***ing good job” while other people are “sat on their arses”.

Rishi Sunak is also facing criticism for rejecting a funding request to fix 200 schools while chancellor.

The prime minister defended himself by saying he committed to a major programme to fix around 50 schools a year over a 10 year period – but the Department for Education confirmed on Tuesday that just four have been rebuilt since 2021.

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Another tantrum from the Labour backbenches is inevitable

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

In common with many parents across the country, here’s a conversation that I have with my young daughter on a semi-regular basis (bear with me, this will take on some political relevance eventually).

Me: “So it’s 15 minutes until your bedtime, you can either have a little bit of TV or do a jigsaw, not both.”

Daughter: “Ummmm, I want to watch TV.”

Me: “That’s fine, but it’s bed after that, you can’t do a jigsaw as well.”

Fast-forward 15 minutes.

Me: “Right, TV off now please, bedtime.”

(Pause)

Daughter: “I want to do a jigsaw.”

Now replace me with the government, the TV and jigsaw options with axing welfare cuts and scrapping the two-child cap, and my daughter with rebellious backbenchers.

Politics latest: Former Labour leader calls for wealth tax on assets above £10m

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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma

That is the tension currently present between Downing Street and Labour MPs. And my initial ultimatum is the messaging being pumped out from the government this weekend.

In essence: you’ve had your welfare U-turn, so there’s no money left for the two-child cap to go as well.

As an aside – and before my inbox fills with angry emails lambasting me for using such a crude metaphor for policies that fundamentally alter the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society – yes, I hear you, and that’s part of my point.

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Welfare U-turn ‘has come at cost’

For many in Labour, this approach feels like the lives of their constituents are being used in a childish game of horse-trading.

So what can be done?

Well, the government could change the rules.

Altering the fiscal rules is – and will likely remain – an extremely unlikely solution. But as it happens, one of Labour’s proverbial grandparents has just popped round with a different suggestion.

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Welfare: ‘Didn’t get process right’ – PM

A wealth tax, Lord Neil Kinnock says, is the necessary outcome of the economic restrictions the party has placed on itself.

Ever the Labour storyteller, Lord Kinnock believes this would allow the government to craft a more compelling narrative about whose side this administration is on.

That could be valuable, given one of the big gripes from many backbench critics is that they still don’t really understand what this prime minister stands for – and by extension, what all these “difficult decisions” are in aid of.

The downside is whether it will actually raise much money.

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Is Corbyn an existential risk to Labour?

The super-rich may have lots of assets to take a slice from, but they also have expensive lawyers ready to find novel ways to keep their client’s cash away from the prying eyes of the state.

Or, of course, they could just leave – as many are doing already.

In the short term, the future is a bit easier to predict.

If Downing Street is indeed now saying there is no money to scrap the two-child cap (after heavy briefing in the opposite direction just weeks ago), an almighty tantrum from the backbenches is inevitable.

And as every parent knows, the more you give in, the harder it becomes to hold the line.

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UK restores diplomatic ties with Syria

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UK restores diplomatic ties with Syria

The UK has re-established diplomatic ties with Syria, David Lammy has said, as he made the first visit to the country by a British minister for 14 years.

The foreign secretary visited Damascus and met with interim president Ahmed al Sharaa, also the leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and foreign minister Asaad al Shaibani.

It marks the latest diplomatic move since Bashar al Assad’s regime was toppled by rebel groups led by HTS in December.

In a statement, Mr Lammy said a “stable Syria is in the UK’s interests” and added: “I’ve seen first-hand the remarkable progress Syrians have made in rebuilding their lives and their country.

“After over a decade of conflict, there is renewed hope for the Syrian people.

“The UK is re-establishing diplomatic relations because it is in our interests to support the new government to deliver their commitment to build a stable, more secure and prosperous future for all Syrians.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy shakes hands with Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus. Pic: X / @DavidLammy
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Foreign Secretary David Lammy with Syria’s interim president Ahmed al Sharaa in Damascus. Pic: X / @DavidLammy

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has also announced a £94.5m support package for urgent humanitarian aid and to support the country’s long-term recovery, after a number of British sanctions against the country were lifted in April.

While HTS is still classified as a proscribed terror group, Sir Keir Starmer said last year that it could be removed from the list.

The Syrian president’s office also said on Saturday that the president and Mr Lammy discussed co-operation, as well as the latest developments in the Middle East.

Read more:
Wildfires break out in Greece, Turkey and Syria
Putin ‘mocking Trump’s peace efforts’, Poland says
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal

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Since Assad fled Syria in December, a transitional government headed by Mr al Sharaa was announced in March and a number of western countries have restored ties.

In May, US President Donald Trump said the United States would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria and normalise relations during a speech at the US-Saudi investment conference.

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From May: Trump says US will end sanctions for Syria

He said he wanted to give the country “a chance at peace” and added: “There is a new government that will hopefully succeed.

“I say good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”

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Secret Service seizes $400M in crypto, cold wallet among world’s largest

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Secret Service seizes 0M in crypto, cold wallet among world’s largest

Secret Service seizes 0M in crypto, cold wallet among world’s largest

Secret Service quietly amasses one of the world’s largest crypto cold wallets with $400 million seized, exposing scams through blockchain sleuthing and VPN missteps.

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