The education secretary says the government is using new technology to work with schools in tackling “persistent absence” by pupils.
Bridget Phillipson says the problem has become an “endemic” issue in schools and that “if children aren’t in school, if they’re not in their classroom then they can’t learn”.
Report by Ajagbef.
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Government ministers arrive in Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday morning. David Lammy, Ed Miliband, John Healey and Bridget Phillipson are seen walking into No 10 ahead of the meeting with Sir Keir Starmer. It comes as the PM defends his decision to cut welfare benefits for working age people.
Report by Kennedyl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says the government is “determined to get to two and half percent” of GDP for defence spending which she says is “very ambitious”. Report by Blairm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, says the government will deliver a “firm and fair” immigration system as the Home Office releases new data on increased immigration enforcement visits and arrests.
Report by Ajagbef. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
A teenager has died after he “got into difficulty” in a lake in south-east London, police said. Officers and paramedics were called to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham shortly after 3pm on Friday. The Metropolitan Police said on Saturday that the search for the 15-year-old had been stopped after a boy was found on Friday night. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Police officers and staff are being urged to share their views in the Angiolini Inquiry into Sarah Everard’s murder by ex-officer Wayne Couzens. A new survey follows last year’s report, which found Couzens should never have been hired. Former Metropolitan Police Officer Parm Sandhu criticised the lack of action, saying: “We’re building shelves of reports with little activity… Instead of reports, just do something about it.” Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
MSP Jamie Greene has defected to the Scottish Liberal Democrats, just a day after dramatically quitting the Tories. The West Scotland MSP was unveiled as a Lib Dem at the party’s spring conference in Inverness. He had left the Scottish Conservatives on Thursday, writing a stinging letter to party leader Russell Findlay which accused his former party of having a “Reform-lite agenda”. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
A mother who suffocated her newborn baby and left his body in woodland 25 years ago has been given a suspended prison sentence. Joanne Sharkey, 55, admitted responsibility over the death of the baby boy, who was named Callum by police investigating his death in 1998. Today, at Liverpool Crown Court, she was given a two-year prison sentence for manslaughter, suspended for two years. Report by Blairm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Outside court, Livia Tossici-Bolt called her conviction for breaching a buffer zone a “dark day for freedom,” insisting she hadn’t protested or harassed anyone but only offered consensual conversation. She warned that the case posed a serious threat to free speech in the UK, claiming it had global implications for freedom of expression. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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