Williamson Texted PM: 'F****d Over' by Covid Choices

Covid inquiry reveals a profanity-laden message sent by Gavin Williamson to Boris Johnson regarding school closures and the appointment of the catch-up tsar.

Former Education Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson expressed his frustration through a text to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, stating he felt he had been “screwed over” by decisions concerning school closures and that significant decisions were made without consultation.

Williamson, who served as education secretary from July 2019 to September 2021, provided extensive testimony to the Covid inquiry, which is scrutinizing the impact of the pandemic on children and young people.

The inquiry has revealed Williamson’s disagreement with Johnson over the abrupt decision to close schools in March 2020 and again in January 2021, asserting that these actions were not in the best interests of students.

During today’s session, a WhatsApp message sent from Williamson to Johnson surfaced, where he expressed feeling “completely screwed over” following the January 2021 closure decisions for which he felt he faced unfair blame.

Williamson criticized the appointment of Collins as education recovery tsar as being made without his input, feeling it was akin to having his “legs cut from under” him.

Key takeaways from today’s inquiry include:

1. Major disagreements surfaced

Williamson voiced his frustration that decision-making had increasingly centralized during the pandemic, claiming he often required “permission to essentially act.”

He reported two major disagreements with Johnson: one regarding the phased reopening of schools in summer 2020, and the other concerning the abrupt closure of schools in January 2021.

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2. Williamson felt “completely screwed over”

During his testimony, a message from Williamson dated February 8, 2021, was shared.

In it, he criticized Johnson for lacking the courtesy to discuss the appointment of Collins, stating, “PM, I generally prefer to be polite in our conversations, but I must admit to feeling somewhat annoyed.”

He continued, “Not only do I get completely screwed over by decisions on January 4, which I took the blame for, but I then have my legs cut from under me by an appointment that you didn’t even discuss with me.”

He then expressed concern regarding No10 leaking the story of the appointment without proper preparation, stating he was then left to manage the fallout.

In a later tone shift, he acknowledged that the DfE was collaborating well with Collins, leading to promising policies.

Collins has since been appointed by the Labour Party as the DfE’s lead non-executive director.

3. “Numerous errors” identified

Williamson indicated to the inquiry that there were “failures” in the government’s pre-planning before the pandemic. He mentioned that school closures were first discussed at a SAGE meeting on February 4, 2020, where the strategy was still to keep schools open.

He acknowledged, “There were many actions that we thought were appropriate, but looking back, we should have had more effective measures in place. I admit there were numerous mistakes made before the pandemic.”

Plans for addressing a pandemic should have ideally been established as early as 2013, he said.

Williamson indicated he was being directed by Downing Street to prepare plans to keep schools open but had only one night to prepare a strategy to close schools on March 17.

“Our focus was likely too much on the mission to keep schools open due to the political direction we were receiving. However, we were also trying to adapt to the evolving situation.”

“I accept that the actions taken weren’t executed in the best manner.”

4. Exam results model was “clearly flawed”

Williamson confessed that the approach used to allocate GCSE and A-level grades in 2020 was “clearly flawed.” This method employed an algorithm to adjust teacher-assessed grades to prevent exam inflation, which ultimately led to many students receiving lower marks.

Last week, it was revealed during the inquiry that Sir Jon Coles, the CEO of United Learning academy trust, had expressed concerns to Williamson regarding the grading model.

Coles stated that Williamson “seemed to acknowledge my concerns,” but lamented that it was “too late to amend any issues.”

When queried about this interaction, Williamson claimed he had “no recollection” of that acknowledgment but conceded issues within the system.

“The model was evidently wrong. We believed at the time, based on consistent meetings with Ofqual, that this was the appropriate methodology to pursue.”

“There was a lack of realization regarding the individual impact on students.”

He attributed the issues to “a degree of collective groupthink” surrounding the policy.

5. School closures represented a “self-fulfilling prophecy”

The inquiry heavily focused on why the government failed to consult key stakeholders concerning potential school closures.

Williamson stated, “If we had approached trade unions or other organizations to say we were contemplating closure, even if we didn’t think it would materialize, it would likely become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

He contended that holding confidential conversations regarding the potential closure in advance would have prematurely influenced the decision.