‘Washed down the drain’: Nadine Dorries condemns Rishi Sunak Government after Channel 4 sale U-turn

Nadine Dorries has condemned Rishi Sunak’s Government following the U-turn on the sale of Channel 4, claiming that three years of Tory rule was being “washed down the drain”.

The former culture secretary under Boris Johnson, who proposed the privatisation of the Government-owned channel, slammed a series of policy reversals under Mr Sunak by saying: “[It] will now be almost impossible to face the electorate at a [general election] and expect voters to believe or trust our manifesto commitments”.

“Three years of a progressive Tory Government being washed down the drain,” she added. “Levelling up, dumped. Social care reform, dumped. Keeping young and vulnerable people safe online, watered down. A bonfire of EU leg, not happening. Sale of C4 giving back £2b reversed. Replaced with what?”

Hours before the Prime Minister is due to make a keynote speech, Ms Dorries also took aim at Mr Sunak’s plans to make maths compulsory for all students until the age of 18. She claimed the policy was so unfeasible it would undermine trust in the Government.

“A policy at some time in the future to teach maths for longer with teachers we don’t yet even have to do so. Where is the mandate- who voted for this?” Ms Dorries wrote on Twitter.

It comes as Rishi Sunak prepares to unveil the fresh education policy in his new year speech this afternoon, where he will formally set out the vision for his premiership for the first time.

Due to speak in London on Wednesday afternoon, the Prime Minister will say that giving young people more advanced training in maths will leave them better placed for the data-intensive jobs of the future and help them manage their finances as adults.

“This is personal for me,” he is expected to say. “Every opportunity I’ve had in life began with the education I was so fortunate to receive. And it’s the single most important reason why I came into politics: to give every child the highest possible standard of education.

However, the plans have sparked furious backlash among school leaders who claim the education sector is already on its knees in the face of a worsening recruitment and retention crisis among teachers.

Just 90 per cent of the target set by the Government for trainee maths teachers was met this academic year, with the figure dropping as low as 64 per cent in recent years.

A recent report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) also found that roughly 62 per cent of schools across the country struggling with staff numbers have been forced to recruit non-specialist teachers to provide maths lessons.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: “Where are the maths teachers to make ⁦this announcement⁩ even remotely achievable?”

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson added that the Government had been missing its targets to recruit new maths teachers for a decade.

“The Prime Minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers, yet the Government has missed their target for new maths teachers year after year, with existing teachers leaving in their droves,” she said.

This story is being updated