‘Docking benefits of parents and carers if pupils truant is unfair and could backfire’

Michael Gove’s reactionary threat to plunge parents and children into hardship betrays the “Victorian mill owner” mindset so common in Tory ministers.

Docking the benefits of mums, dads and carers if pupils play truant from school is not only unfair, it could backfire badly.

There is little chance of Gove’s blunt penalty actually working, and there are understandable fears it would just make life worse for the households affected.

Education is incredibly valuable.

That’s why we need to work out why some kids skip school and devise effective ways of getting them back into classrooms.

Scapegoating parents and carers, often at the end of their tether when children are going off the rails, is not the answer.

Dredging up this idea – buried by the saner Liberal Democrats during the 2010-15 coalition Government – heightens fears the Tories are going backwards, not forward.

Gove should put down his big stick and try to engage his tiny brain.

A real EUtopia

Lauding the benefits of the European Union and Single Market, Rishi Sunak is destroying the argument for Brexit.

When the Prime Minister hailed the “unbelievably special position” currently enjoyed by Northern Ireland, it prompted many to ask why doesn’t he seek the same advantages for England, Wales and Scotland.

The clamour from British traders to escape the expensive bureaucracy imposed by Brexit is expected to grow. They are right to complain about the burdens imposed after Britain left the EU, as the Tories’ hard Brexit has been exposed for what it really is: A giant deceit.

A dad’s dream

The sight of Jamie Mines using transplanted hands to cuddle his children reminds us how lucky we are to live in this age of medical miracles.

Saving and enhancing lives is a gift we can all celebrate, whatever else divides us.