Ghost children: Labour to force vote on creation of list of those not in school
Labour is aiming to force a vote on the creation of a list of children out of school, as it seeks to shine a spotlight on the number of youngsters missing lessons under the current government.
Announcing their plans, the opposition party highlights that absences have reached “historic” levels since the Conservatives took power in 2010 – increasing by 40% since then.
The phenomenon has also become known as “ghost children”.
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Sky News ‘ghost children’ coverage praised
Severe absences – missing more than 50% of school days – have tripled since the same date.
Analysis by the party claims that one in three children sitting their GCSEs this year have missed nearly three months of secondary school since the pandemic.
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Labour says it wants council-maintained lists of children not on school rolls.
The party is planning on using an opposition day on Tuesday – when they get to choose the topic debated in the Commons – to propose the legislation be heard on Wednesday 7 February.
Opposition days tend to be political and can be easily defeated by the government if it needs to utilise its majority – although the debates can prove sticky if centred on a controversial topic, as seen by the fracking vote which precipitated the collapse of Liz Truss’s premiership.
Labour has highlighted the backing of ministers and Tory MPs previously leant to creating such registers or lists.
Read more on ghost children:
Thousands are missing school – COVID made it worse
No single reason for surge in school absences
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The illusive ‘ghost children’ register
Creating a register of children not in school has been talked about a lot, not just by political parties, but by local councils and schools whose job it is to make sure children attend class.
But to date, no such register exists. Proposals to legislate for a new national register were once part of the Government’s now-scrapped Schools Bill.
In December 2022, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told MPs on the Education Select Committee that a register for children not in school would remain a priority for the Government, but legislation to create a register has yet to be put forward.
Last summer, in an interview with Sky News, I asked Ms Keegan when the Government would re-introduce the idea.
She said: “I don’t have the exact answer because it’s a parliamentary process that we have to go through, but we do intend to put it on a statutory footing and we will do that as soon as as the parliamentary time allows.”
And since then there has been no progress on introducing one. The Department for Education has announced an additional 18 “attendance hubs” in England, which are run by schools with strong attendance records who share their expertise with schools that need help.
And a national communications campaign on the importance of attendance has also been launched to target parents and carers.
But Labour’s intervention on the issue could be significant and popular amongst those who have campaigned for registers.
And with an estimated 1.8 million children now persistently absent from school, missing more than 10 per cent of lessons, the problem is an urgent one.
The government had promised to introduce a register within the Schools Bill, which was announced under the then education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, in May 2022 when Boris Johnson was still prime minister.
However, the bill was scrapped in December of that year by Gillian Keegan, appointed to the schools brief by Rishi Sunak.
Mrs Keegan did tell the Commons’ Education Select Committee at the time that the concept of a register was “definitely a priority”.
Nick Gibb, who was schools minister at the time, told the same committee in July 2023 that the “register of children not in school is important, and we consulted on it”.
He added: “Again, we do not have a legislative vehicle to introduce it, but we are still committed to doing so.”
A similar bill was introduced by Conservative MP Flick Drummond last year, and was backed by nine other Conservatives, including former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson.
The attempt by Ms Drummond did not even progress past a first reading in the Commons, with no vote taking place.
She has made a second attempt with her The Children Not in School (Registers, Support and Orders) Bill, which is set for a second reading and vote on 15 March.
A report from the children’s commissioner found children who were persistently absent for years 10 and 11 were half as likely to get five GCSEs when compared to students more often in attendance.
It is understood that the government is still working with councils on non-statutory registers.
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Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “Conservative MPs, including the current schools minister and two former schools ministers, claim to support the register of children not in school but yet again have failed to deliver.
“The secretary of state has said it is her priority to legislate on a register ‘in the very short term’: that is why Labour is giving her and her Conservative colleagues an opportunity to make good on her pledge.
“There is no time to waste if we are to tackle the biggest challenge currently facing our schools – that is why Labour’s motion is so essential, and represents the first step of our long-term plan to get to grips with persistent absence.
“Only Labour is demonstrating the kind of leadership on education which will break down the barriers to opportunity and deliver better life chances for our children.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to a suitable education.
“We remain committed to legislating to take forward the Children Not in School measures, and will progress these when the legislative timetable allows.”
Crypto users betting on the outcome of the snap election to determine the next Prime Minister of Canada appear to be favoring a Liberal Party victory as residents head to cast their votes.
As of April 28, cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket gave current Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney a 79% chance of defeating Conservative Party candidate Pierre Poilievre in the race for the country’s next PM. Data from the platform showed users had poured more than $75 million into bets surrounding the race, predicting a Poilievre or Carney victory.
The odds suggested by the platform, as well as those from many polls, show a nearly complete reversal of fortunes between the two candidates after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January. Trudeau and, by association, many in the Liberal Party, faced criticism over the handling of Canada’s housing crisis and questions about how he would face US President Donald Trump’s then-proposed tariffs.
Following Trudeau’s resignation, Trump stepped up rhetoric disparaging Canada, repeatedly referring to the country as the US’s “51st state” and Trudeau as its “governor.” The US President also imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada in March. The policies seem to have led to increasing anti-Trump sentiment in Canada, with many residents booing the US national anthem at hockey games and making comparisons between the president and Poilievre.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
Politics
Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands
Small boat crossings have passed 10,000 in 2025 at the earliest point in a year since records began, Sky News understands.
Analysis of previous Home Office numbers and footage of people arriving today show the number of people crossing the Channel continuing to rise.
The issue has become a lodestone for political parties across the spectrum, with Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “Stop The Boats” falling well short.
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Sir Keir Starmer promised to clear the backlog of asylum applications and “Smash The Gangs” of people smugglers upstream, but critics say he has failed to do this almost a year into his stint in Number Ten.
Reform’s Nigel Farage has made the issue key to his party’s pitch to voters.
The 10,000 figure is understood to have been passed on 28 April. Official figures only go until 27 April at the time of writing, with 9,885 people detected crossing the Channel by the UK government at this point
This compares to 7,167 by the same date in 2024, 5,745 in 2023, 5,352 in 2022, and 1,796 in 2021. Data only started to get collected in 2018, and for the first three years fewer than 1,000 people were observed crossing the Channel before 28 April.
Fine weather conditions are known to lead to an increase in people crossing the Channel, with some efforts earlier this year stymied by heavy winds.
Sir Keir scrapped the Conservative’s Rwanda deportation plan when entering office. In March, the prime minister said his government had “returned” 24,000 people who had no right to be in the UK.
Read more:
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Gusty conditions halt small boat crossings
Starmer: 24,000 people returned
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Britain’s borders are being torn apart under Labour. This year is already the worst on record for small boat crossings after over 10,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Britain, but Labour just sit on their hands.
“Labour scrapped our deterrent before it even started, flung open the door to extremists and criminals, and handed the bill to hardworking taxpayers.
“Under new Conservative leadership, we are serious about tackling this crisis with deliverable reforms, but Labour continue to block these at every turn. Labour’s open-door chaos is a betrayal of the British people, and we will not let them get away with it.”
Mr Philp was part of previous Conservative governments, which also failed to reduce crossings.
Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Farage said: “If this carries on at this rate, by the end of this Labour government another quarter of a million people will have come into this country, many of whom frankly don’t fit our culture or cost us a fortune.”
He claimed that Reform is “the only party” saying that “unless you deport those that come illegally, they will just continue to come”.
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A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
“That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.
“Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security and Asylum Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.”
The Stacks Asia DLT Foundation has become the first Bitcoin-based organization to establish an official presence in the Middle East, aiming to promote institutional Bitcoin adoption through expanded educational initiatives.
Stacks Asia has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) — one of the world’s fastest-growing financial centers — in a move that could boost the adoption of its Bitcoin (BTC) layer-2 (L2) solution in the Middle East and Asia.
The new partnership will play a “pivotal role” in shaping the future of Bitcoin’s “programmability and adoption” in these regions through educational programs and support for Bitcoin builders, according to an April 28 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
Through the collaboration, Stacks and the ADGM aim to make it easier for institutions and investors to participate in the growing Bitcoin economy and help set “new standards for regulatory clarity and technical growth” for the rising global Bitcoin capital, according to Kyle Ellicott, executive director at Stacks Asia DLT Foundation.
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“Stacks and ADGM are a powerful combination for accelerating Bitcoin adoption across the Middle East and Asia,” Ellicott told Cointelegraph, adding:
“ADGM has established itself as a world-class global financial hub at the heart of the United Arab Emirates, known as the ‘Capitol of Capital,’ where capital and innovation are brought together to shape the future financial landscape.”
“We’ll be working to enable the launch of educational programs, regional developer communities, and create opportunities for the real-world adoption of Bitcoin-powered applications,” he said.
Starting in May, the foundation will host a series of live and virtual events to “empower institutions” with the knowledge to integrate Bitcoin into their operations and learn about the “opportunity of productive Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott added.
Related: Nomura crypto arm Laser Digital bags Abu Dhabi license
Stacks Foundation pushing for a “progressive” regulatory environment worldwide
As the leading Bitcoin scalability solution, Stacks is also pushing for progressive global regulations that will cement Bitcoin’s role in the future of the financial landscape.
“We’re not just focused locally — our team is engaged in global conversations, advocating for frameworks that balance decentralization, security, innovation, and compliance surrounding the unlocking of Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott said.
A key part of the strategy involves knowledge sharing with local regulatory bodies to build understanding among government officials about Bitcoin’s characteristics and potential economic impact.
The foundation is also developing the Bitcoin Capital Activation Framework, described as a comprehensive policy blueprint to help regulators enable Bitcoin utility in their jurisdictions.
The Stacks Foundation will also launch the Bitcoin Policy Bridge in May, a working group uniting regulators from all key jurisdictions across the Middle East and Asia.
In February, ADGM signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to advance the development of distributed ledger technology.
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