‘Government is still preventing young people from reaching their potential’

Congratulations to all those who passed their A Levels.

The results – with the proportion of top grades up on 2019 – are particularly impressive given that schools were badly hit by Covid.

But they also reveal an unacceptable divide between regions. Nearly 40% of pupils in the South East got A* and A grades compared with 30% in the North East.

The achievement gap between private and state education also widened.

Nobody’s future should be decided by where they live or their parents’ ability to pay.

But that is what is happening because of Tory refusal to provide the post-Covid educational recovery plan experts demand coupled with their failure to spread resources and opportunity more evenly across the nation.

For all their talk of levelling up, this government is still preventing young people from reaching their potential.

Tories off rails

It is now clear Grant Shapps has no interest in ending the rail strikes.

The Transport Secretary has repeatedly refused to sit down with union leaders.

Instead, he has spent his time pandering to the Tory right with plans to toughen union laws – already some of the strictest in Europe.

If Mr Shapps genuinely cared about passengers he would stop grandstanding and start negotiating.

He would also sort out the dismal service by Avanti West Coast and reverse the cuts which have led to one in four bus routes being axed in the last decade.

The country is grinding to a halt and the main reason is not the unions.

It is the Transport Secretary who must take the blame.

Griller thriller

Doner kebabs have been voted our favourite post-pub snack.

Connoisseurs say nothing comes close to giving that sensational late night boost when the chips are down.