The new Tory leader in Scotland, Douglas Ross, has increased the pressure on Gavin Williamson to resign over the A-levels fiasco. He said the education secretary should reflect on what had happened to pupils in England, considering the fact Scotland had been faced with a similar grades fiasco earlier in the month. Ross is the most high-profile Tory to speak out publicly on Williamson’s future since the grades debacle erupted. Asked whether he supported Williamson staying on in his job, Ross told BBC Radio Scotland: “That is a decision for Gavin Williamson. It’s a decision for the prime minister, if he continues to have the trust of the prime minister.
“I’m not here to say in your report that I think Gavin Williamson has done a great job and he should continue. I think he has to reflect on what happened to so many pupils in England, students who were concerned for four days, because we had the exact same up here in Scotland for a week.” While there have been strong briefings against Williamson behind the scenes from senior Tories, and he is now expected to be reshuffled away from the education brief this autumn, Ross is the first to refuse to publicly back him. On Thursday, pupils in England received GCSE results based on teacher assessments instead of grades moderated by an algorithm developed by Ofqual. On Monday, the government announced a U-turn on how A-level results would be awarded after thousands of pupils in England were downgraded and some missed out on university places.
Ross, who was elected as the MP for Moray in 2017, quit as a Scotland minister earlier this year over the Dominic Cummings controversy. He was the only minister to do so. He said at the time that Cummings’ interpretation of the government’s lockdown advice was not shared by the vast majority of people. Meanwhile MPs are calling on Williamson to urgently respond to two petitions that have been signed by more than 170,000 people about the A-level grades fiasco. Catherine McKinnell, the chair of the Commons petitions committee, has written to the minister asking for him to reply to an e-petition signed by 144,000 people urging the government to review the decision to use previous data to calculate exam grades. More than 30,000 people also signed a petition that called for students to be given the grades predicted by their teachers. McKinnell said: “It is vital that the government expedites its responses to these petitions. We as MPs are hearing directly from affected students and parents in our constituencies and they deserve clarity on the government’s position and its plans to ensure that students are not unfairly disadvantaged at such a crucial stage in their lives.”