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Boris Johnson is launching a skills revolution to address coronavirus job losses, while fighting backlash from conservatives over additional COVID-19 restrictions.
In a move aimed at creating a recovery of jobs, the prime minister plans to expand education and training after age 18 to help laid-off people re-qualify for a new job.
Johnson promises a £ 2.5 billion lifetime guarantee, which he says will give adults without an A-level rating or equivalent the opportunity to take a free vocational college course.
But as the embattled prime minister unveils his roadmap, senior ministers are desperately trying to persuade 80 rebellious Conservative MPs not to inflict a humiliating Commons defeat on the new lockdown restrictions.
And Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, described by Labor as the “Invisible Man,” faces a tough standoff with MPs as he makes a Commons statement about the confinement of thousands of self-isolating students on campus university students.
In his speech to announce the new skills guarantee, the prime minister will say: “As the Chancellor has said, we cannot, sadly, save all jobs.
“What we can do is give people the skills to find and create new and better jobs. So my message today is that at every stage of your life, this government will help you get the skills you need.”
And he will add: “We are transforming the foundations of the skills system so that everyone has the opportunity to train and retrain.”
But behind the scenes in Westminster, the leaders of the Tory rebellion, demanding votes from the Commons on new blockade restrictions, were called into talks with high-ranking ministers.
Up to 80 Conservative MPs are claimed to be prepared to back an amendment to the Coronavirus Act, introduced by Tory backbench 1922 committee chairman Graham Brady, demanding debates and votes on all new COVID-19 curbs.
The rebel spokesman, former Brexit Minister Steve Baker, met with Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Head of Government Mark Spencer and Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg for crisis talks aimed at reaching a compromise.
After the meeting, Baker said it was “cordial and constructive” and that more talks were planned. “I hope and hope that we reach a satisfactory agreement,” he said.
One option being discussed is believed to be a plan to give MPs a retrospective vote on new coronavirus powers five days after presentation in parliament, as opposed to four weeks today.
Hinting at an agreement during a Commons debate in which Tory MPs expressed their fury at the lack of scrutiny, Hancock told MPs: “The question is how can we have the right level of scrutiny and, at the same time, make sure we that we can act fast where that is necessary. “
However, senior ministers hope that Commons spokesman Sir Lindsay Hoyle will scrap the Brady amendment and save the government from the threat of a hugely embarrassing defeat.
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In an alarming development for the prime minister, the conservative rebellion includes a Red Wall revolt by the latest crackdown on coronavirus, by MPs representing seats seized from Labor in the December general elections.
A group of Tory MPs from Teesside and Durham County – Jacob Young, Matt Vickers, Simon Clarke, Peter Gibson and Paul Howell – have written a strong letter to Hancock.
In the letter, they state that national measures such as the six o’clock rule and a 10 pm curfew in bars should have more time to “lie down” before new measures are imposed.
“In particular, a ban on domestic mixing as winter approaches would effectively condemn thousands of local inhabitants to loneliness and isolation, even with mitigation measures in place,” they wrote.
North West Durham MP Rick Holden told the Daily Mail that his constituents wanted to know when they would be released from the latest and onerous restrictions, requested by local authorities in the region.
“People are incredibly irritated by the restrictions and they are a disaster for the hotel industry,” he said. “They will be reluctant to abide by it in the short term, but they want to know where the end is, and they certainly don’t want more.”
Ahead of Williamson’s Commons statement on student lockdown, Labor Party shadow Education Secretary Kate Green said: “After days of silence, this statement is an opportunity for the Education Secretary to end to your Invisible Man act and start dealing with the situation.
“None of this was unpredictable. Labor and others have warned that campuses would need access to testing. But, as with the testing fiasco over the summer, the education secretary has created chaos due to his incompetence and lack of action.
“Gavin Williamson must establish what he is doing to solve these problems and reassure youth and parents.”
