RAAC concrete: Rishi Sunak supports Gillian Keegan’s handling of crisis despite criticism from Whitehall

Published

2 years ago

September 8, 2023

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Rishi Sunak has backed Gillian Keegan’s handling of the schools concrete crisis after she was accused of opening up a “Pandora’s box” by taking unilateral decisions on the issue.

The prime minister said the Department for Education (DfE) had acted “exactly correctly” upon learning that more than a hundred schools were affected by the presence of collapse-prone reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

In total 147 schools have been identified as containing RAAC after the government responded to demands from the Opposition to publish the full list.

The start of term has been delayed at 19 schools – responsible for 11,150 pupils – while four schools with a total of 2,938 pupils have also had to return to remote learning, with the rest having to resort to a mix of remote learning and face-to-face tuition.

Speaking to reporters while on a trip to the G20 summit in Delhi, Mr Sunak said the action taken by the government “will ensure the safety of children and these buildings”.

PM says deal with India not a ‘given’ at G20 summit – politics latest

“We’re providing lots of support to schools so that we can mitigate these things as quickly as possible, minimise the disruption of children’s education,” he said.

“But the professional advice from the independent bodies on RAAC remains as it is. Departments individually will follow that advice as it relates to their particular estate.”

Mr Sunak’s defence comes after Sky News revealed that Ms Keegan had come under fire from colleagues for her “unilateral” decision to determine which school buildings needed to close following RAAC concerns.

Ministers in Whitehall fear she has opened a “Pandora’s box” by setting a more cautious than necessary standard that could affect a huge array of public buildings, including housing stock, local authority buildings and the military estate.

The education secretary has made clear she took the most cautious of the options presented by officials over which buildings to shut last week.

Sky News understands that the decision was signed off by the education team in Number 10 with the prime minister’s knowledge.

However, there was no Cabinet Office meeting and no ministerial follow-up for days after the issue emerged. The Department for Education “belatedly” shared the technical advice on why they shut schools with others in Whitehall – some of whom disagree it shows a need to shut schools.

Sky News understands she “informed” the relevant Whitehall committees, which have been dealing with the issue of crumbling concrete for years. However, she did not fully consult or secure an agreement for her move.

“This is suboptimal,” said a senior Whitehall figure. “She has made a unilateral decision. It’s not been resolved, and it’s a bit of a mess.”

The unravelling of the RAAC crisis coincided with parliament returning from the summer recess – creating a fresh headache for Mr Sunak.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said cowboys were “running the country” as he criticised the Tories over the crisis unfolding in England’s schools.

The Labour leader said school closures as a result of unsafe concrete were an “inevitable result of 13 years of cutting corners and sticking plaster politics”.

The government has faced criticism for attempting to shift the blame after Ms Keegan bemoaned that she had not been thanked for doing a “f*****g good job” while other people had been “sat on their arses” in a sweary outburst that she later apologised for.

She later told school leaders to “get off their backsides” and fill out a survey informing ministers of whether their buildings contained RAAC.

Elsewhere, Mr Sunak addressed fears about hospitals that had been built with RAAC, saying the NHS had been looking at the issue “for years” and had a £700m mitigation programme in place.

“We’ve already moved seven hospitals that are particularly affected into the new hospital programme,” he said.

“They will be all sorted by 2030. Each department will have its own particular way of dealing with it and following the technical guidance that is there.

“The chancellor has been very clear that we will provide the funding for schools for these mitigations.”

Politics

Top TRUMP whales hold $174M in tokens ahead of dinner with US president

Published

3 hours ago

May 12, 2025

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Top TRUMP whales hold 4M in tokens ahead of dinner with US president

The list of the top holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin has been finalized ahead of background checks to apply for a dinner and “VIP tour” with the president on May 22.

In a May 12 X post, the TRUMP memecoin project said it would stop considering additional purchases for a dinner with the president, adding that the top tokenholders had been notified to apply for background checks if they wanted to attend.

According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth roughly $174 million at the time of publication.

White House, Donald Trump, Corruption, Memecoin — *Top 10 TRUMP memecoin holders as of May 12. Source: TRUMP memecoin project*

It’s unclear who, if any, of the wallet holders will choose to apply for and attend the dinner with Trump, or the “exclusive reception” expected to be in the White House for the top 25 holders, on May 22. A May 7 Bloomberg report suggested that the majority of tokenholders were based outside of the United States, leading to potential security concerns and conflicts of interest.

Many US lawmakers and figures in the crypto industry criticized the president for launching the memecoin just days before taking office on Jan. 20. In the wake of his dinner announcement on April 23, the calls for congressional oversight and allegations of corruption have intensified, with one senator calling for Trump’s impeachment and other representatives refusing to consider crypto-related legislation until their concerns were addressed.

Companies also apparently seeking influence over Trump’s policies have invested in the memecoin. In April, Freight Technologies said it would invest $20 million in the token, suggesting that it could affect the president’s trade war between the US and Mexico, where the firm conducts some of its business. As of May 12, the company had not announced whether it qualified to send a representative to the dinner.

Not Trump’s first appeal to crypto users

During his 2024 campaign, Trump hosted a dinner with supporters who purchased his “mugshot” non-fungible tokens, which featured a picture of the then-presidential candidate at his surrender to authorities on charges he attempted to overturn the 2020 election.

Many of the “mugshot” attendees publicly shared their identities on social media ahead of and during the event, but at the time of publication, no one appeared to be claiming they would apply for the memecoin dinner. Wallets with the usernames “Sun” and “elon” have led to speculation that Tron founder Justin Sun and Tesla CEO Elon Musk — both Trump supporters who have financial interests tied to Trump’s presidency — could be among the attendees.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Politics

NYC Mayor doubles down on crypto push ahead of city summit

Published

5 hours ago

May 12, 2025

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NYC Mayor doubles down on crypto push ahead of city summit

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced partnerships between the city and financial firms as part of his crypto plans.

In a May 12 press conference at Gracie Mansion, the the city’s official mayoral residence, Adams said June Ou, founder of financial services company Figure, and Richie Hecker, CEO of private equity firm Traction and Scale, would be assisting the city in its crypto efforts. He spoke of Ou and Hecker acting as advisers for New York City’s next steps in “economic development and opportunities to serve the public using digital assets.”

“We are focused on the long-term values of these technologies for our city and its people, not chasing memes or trends,” said Adams, adding:

“If you’re in the crypto, blockchain, Web3 or the fintech space, New York City is open for business.”

Cryptocurrencies, Politics, New York, Donald Trump — *Eric Adams addressing reporters on May 12. Source: Yedda Araujo/Cointelegraph*

Adams made digital assets a large part of his policy platform after assuming office in January 2022, when he announced plans to accept his first three paychecks in Bitcoin (BTC). In a 2023 financial disclosure, the mayor reported holding between $5,000 and $54,999.99 worth of Bitcoin, but suggested it was worth more in a December 2024 press conference.

Trump DOJ dismissed the corruption case against Adams

Adams had been facing corruption charges over alleged illegal donations from the Turkish government, but Justice Department officials appointed by US President Donald Trump stepped in and directed local authorities to intervene. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened, in April, and Adams traveled to the White House on May 9 to reportedly thank Trump for his “words of support” during his 2024 campaign.

It’s unclear whether Adams’ May 12 announcement was related to his meeting with the president, who has also pushed significant policies related to digital assets since taking office. Cointelegraph reached out to the mayor’s office for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Adams announced in April that the city would be hosting its own crypto summit on May 20.

Magazine: Crypto City: Guide to New York

Politics

Minister does not rule out ‘supermax’ jails for most dangerous offenders following alleged Rudakubana attack on prison officer

Published

7 hours ago

May 12, 2025

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Minister does not rule out 'supermax' jails for most dangerous offenders following alleged Rudakubana attack on prison officer

“Supermax” jails could be built to house the most dangerous offenders following a spate of alleged attacks on staff, the prisons minister has said.

James Timpson told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that “we shouldn’t rule anything out” when asked if the most dangerous criminals should be placed in top security prisons.

It comes after Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water from a kettle at an officer at HMP Belmarsh on Thursday. Police are now investigating.

Politics latest: PM has undergone a ‘miraculous conversion’, say Tories

Before that, three prison officers were also allegedly attacked by 28-year-old Hashem Abedi – the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi – with hot cooking oil and “improvised knives”, potentially made from a baking tray.

Speaking from HMP Preston for a special programme of the Politics Hub, Mr Timpson told Sophy Ridge: “We inherited a complete mess in the prison system.

“Violence is up, assaults on staff is up. But for me, we shouldn’t rule anything out.”

He added: “What we need to do is to speak to our staff. They’re the experts at dealing with these offenders day in, day out. “

Mr Timpson – who was the chief executive of Timpson Group before he was appointed prisons minister last year – said the violence in prisons was “too high”.

He continued: “The number of people when you have prisons are so full, and the people in there are not going to education or into purposeful activity.

“You get more violence and that is totally unacceptable. Our staff turn up to work to help turn people.

“They want to turn people’s lives around. They didn’t turn up to work to get assaulted. It’s totally unacceptable.”

Reflecting on the crisis facing the UK prison system ahead of the government’s sentencing review, Mr Timpson said a major problem was the high rate of reoffending, saying “80% of offending is reoffending”.

He said people were leaving places like HMP Preston “addicted to drugs, nowhere to live, mental health problems – and that’s why they keep coming back”.

Asked whether every prison had a drugs issue, he replied: “100%.”

“If we want to keep the public safe, we need to do a lot more of the work in here and in the community. But also we need to build more prisons.”

Put to him that making more use of community sentences – thought to be one of the recommendations in the government’s sentencing review – might be considered a “cushy option” compared to a custodial sentence, Mr Timpson said: “There are some people in this prison tonight who would prefer to be in prison than do a community sentence – but that’s not everybody.

“Community sentences need to be tough punishments outside of prison, not just to help them address their offending behaviour, but also the victims need to see punishments being done too and for me, technology has a big part to play in the future.”