2 2GM Saturday November 14 2020 | the times
News
Sir Keir Starmer consolidated his
control over Labour last night after
elections to the party’s ruling body.
Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn failed
to overturn a moderate majority on the
national executive committee (NEC)
despite winning the most support from
grassroots members.
Nine seats on Labour’s NEC were up
for election in polls that opened in
September and ran until Thursday.
Left-wing candidates sponsored by
Momentum and other Corbynite
groups won five seats to three for a joint
Blairite and right-wing slate supportive
of Sir Keir. Ann Black, a non-aligned
left candidate and veteran activist, won
the ninth seat.
The results appeared to vindicate
left-wing hopes that Sir Keir’s standing
among members had been damaged by
his shift to the centre and the suspen-
sion of Mr Corbyn.
Both sides declared victory last night,
however. While Momentum hailed a
“big win”, Sir Keir retained a clear over-
all majority of seats on the NEC. TheStarmer in control after
Momentum falls short
Patrick Maguire Red Box Reporter failure of the left to win back control
deprives it of a key means to obstruct
his drive to reform the party. Dismiss-
ing claims of a Corbynite fightback, one
supporter of the leadership said: “This
is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Momentum, nonetheless, said that
members had rejected Sir Keir’s “anti-
democratic crackdown” on the left-
wingers in his party.
Andrew Scattergood, the group’s co-
chairman, said: “Keir Starmer has
shown worrying signs of breaking with
the values of party unity and socialist
policy on which he was elected. This
result should warn against that course
of action.”
Laura Pidcock, the divisive former
shadow cabinet minister who once in-
sisted that she could never be friends
with a Conservative, returns to the
front line of the party.
Ms Pidcock, the preferred successor
of Mr Corbyn’s inner circle and a
darling of the grassroots, lost her North
West Durham seat to the Tories in the
election last year.
She was one of the five Momentum
candidates to win a seat on the NEC.Islamophobia
‘is rife in the
Labour Party’
Eleni Courea Political ReporterSir Keir Starmer is under pressure to
tackle Islamophobia in the Labour
Party after a report found that more
than a quarter of members and
supporters had been victims of it.
The Labour Muslim Network’s
report said that 29 per cent of members
and supporters had experienced Islam-
ophobia in the party, including being
called terrorists.
One councillor said that a party
member told them they could not
support them in a local election
because Muslims were “prone to vio-
lence and terrorism”. Several members
said that complaints about Islamopho-
bia took more than a year to process.
The study, led by Afzal Khan, the MP
for Manchester Gorton, urged Labour
to introduce training for members and
adopt a new code of conduct and an
impartial complaints process.
Sir Keir said: “Islamophobia has no
place in our party or society and we are
committed to rooting it out.”The government plans radical reform
to degree course admissions and will
push it through even without support
from universities, the education
secretary has said.
Gavin Williamson told The Times
that the admissions process was a
hangover from the 1960s and no longer
fit for purpose.
Universities UK, which represents
vice-chancellors, and the admissions
service Ucas have published reports
this week in favour of change. The
government has said that it also wants
to reform the system and to eradicate
the “sharp practice” of unconditional
offers, which promise a place regardless
of grades if pupils pick that university as
their first choice.
The least disruptive option would
mean teenagers receiving university
offers only after getting their A-level
results in August. A more drastic alter-
native could involve them making
applications after results and starting
degrees in January.
The education secretary revealed his
plans last night, the day after Universi-
ties UK called for an overhaul to make
the process fairer. He said that heOffers will be reformed with or
without you, universities told
Nicola Woolcock
Education Correspondentwanted to move fast on changing the
system, potentially from autumn 2023.
At the moment pupils have to apply
based on predicted grades and narrow
their choices to two institutions before
the actual results.
Asked which option the government
favoured, Mr Williamson said: “I’m in-
credibly open-minded. There has got to
be radical change. We need an admis-
sions system that works for students.
It’s perfectly likely that [we could
support] people applying after results.”
He added: “We want to work with the
sector and make it happen — the whole
university sector has woken up to the
reality that there needs to be reform —
but if we weren’t able to do this by
consent then I would be comfortable
legislating to make it happen.”
A 90-day consultation is expected to
start next year. Britain is one of the only
countries to have a system based on
predicted grades. Previous attempts at
change were abandoned after opposi-
tion from universities and schools.
Nearly four fifths of predicted A-lev-
el grades are overinflated but pupils
from poorer homes or lower-achieving
schools are less likely to have high
grades predicted, regardless of ability.
The Tory manifesto for last year’s
general election promised to improvethe application and offer system and
Mr Williamson is keen to address this
before the next election in 2024.
Vice-chancellors and ministers are
also keen to eradicate the use of the sort
of offers that compel students to put a
university as their firm choice in ex-
change for a guaranteed place regard-
less of grades. Schools say that such
“conditional unconditional” offers are
not in pupils’ best interests.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social
mobility at the University of Exeter,
said: “Applying to university with actual
A-level grades would sweep away the
barriers, from poor advice to low expec-
tations, that for too long have stymied
the prospects of poorer students.”
The Association of School and Col-
lege Leaders urged the government not
to be timid. Geoff Barton, its general
secretary, said: “Teachers work hard to
provide their students with accurate
predicted grades but it is not an exact
science and never can be. A post-quali-
fication admissions system based on
actual grades is better and fairer.”
Kate Green, the shadow education
secretary, said that Labour had made
“repeated calls to reform the university
admissions system”.
Welsh A-level results ‘outperform’
rest of UK, letters, page 36press secretary. Downing Street said
last night that Lord Udny-Lister, an ally
from Mr Johnson’s days as mayor of
London, would be promoted into the
role for an interim period. He is due to
leave No 10 himself in January.
Mr Johnson held a 45-minute
meeting with Mr Cummings and Mr
Cain yesterday in which he made clear
that they had to go. The prime minister
said that staff loyal to the pair in No 10
had become “emotional” about the
situation and it was damaging morale.
It was reported later that Mr Johnson
had accused Mr Cummings and Mr
Cain of briefing against him. It was
claimed that he had shown them text
messages forwarded to Ms Symonds toApology for
victims’ families
West Yorkshire police
has apologised for
distress caused by the
language its officers
used in the 1970s about
Peter Sutcliffe’s victims.
The serial killer has
died at 74. Pages 10-Mother and son
‘burglary gang’Rail fare rise to
exceed inflation
Rail fares are forecast
to rise by more than
inflation for the first
time in eight years as
passengers pay for the
multibillion-pound
bailout of train
operators. Page 4
Shares up on
vaccine hopes
Euphoria about
progress in the race for
a coronavirus jab has
driven leading British
shares to their best
week in eight months,
even as Covid-19 cases
hit a record. Page 53‘Lockdown will
be safe to end’
Scientific advisers to
the government have
backed an end to the
Covid-19 lockdown in
three weeks. The rise
in cases is flattening
out, with the R rate at
1.0 to 1.2. Pages 14-
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thetimes timesandsundaytimes thetimesA mother and son
formed part of a gang
that allegedly stole
£25 million of jewellery
and cash from the home
of Tamara Ecclestone,
Isleworth crown court
was told. Page 5COMMENT 33
LEADING ARTICLES 37REGISTER 82
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COVER STORYMONEY SPORT SATURDAY REVIEWToday’s
highlightsListen for free DAB | Smart speaker | Online at times.radio | Times Radio app8am The former Brexit secretary David Davis on the
resignation of Dominic Cummings
11am Katie Puckrik, right, offers a beginner’s guide
to places to spot autumn wildlife
2.30pm The environment minister, Lord Goldsmith
of Richmond Park, on deforestation and the
environment bill
10.30pm A first look at Sunday’s front pages with
Stephen Bush, political editor of the New Statesman
Midnight Kait Borsay interviews Sir Nicholas Soames,
grandson of Winston Churchill and former Tory MPIf a section of your Times is missing, please call 020-7711 1525 or e-mail
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Full forecast, page 81
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e-mail [email protected]show they had also briefed against her.
The claim was strongly denied by allies
of the pair, who pointed to a picture
taken of Mr Cain and Mr Johnson
smiling after the meeting.
Both are on gardening leave,
although Mr Cummings is expected to
continue to work from home on Opera-
tion Moonshot, the prime minister’s
plan for mass-testing for coronavirus.
Other insiders said that the pair had
little choice but to go. One ally of Ms
Symonds said: “The problem is they
never saw themselves as serving the
prime minister. The prime minister was
an instrument to them.” This was
strongly denied by allies of Mr Cum-
mings and Mr Cain. “They were totally
loyal to the prime minister,” one said.
“In the end he wasn’t loyal to them.”
One figure said that Mr Cummings’sdeparture would lead in the short term
to Mr Johnson relying more heavily on
civil servants, whom his chief adviser
had at times tried to isolate.
“I don’t think you’re going to see a
whole lot of new people brought in,” the
source said. “There are good people
there already. They just need to be
used.”
The Times reported yesterday that
Mr Johnson was planning to “reset” his
government with a renewed focus on
the green agenda and a more liberal,
internationalist approach. There are
suggestions that the former chancellor
Sajid Javid could return to government
in a reshuffle which is being considered
for early next year.
Brexit ’squatters’ evicted, pages 6-
Power struggle in Downing Street,
leading article, page 37continued from page 1
Cummings departure