PM is ready to listen in grammar school row, says Tory chairman

 
Pic:Tory chairman: Sir Patrick McLoughlin
Political reporter(wp/es):
A strong hint that Theresa May will consider concessions on grammar schools is made by the Conservative party chairman today on the eve of the PM’s first party conference.
In an exclusive interview with the Standard, Sir Patrick McLoughlin said the grammar plans would “develop and evolve” during a public consultation.
The ex-miner also revealed that the conference slogan will be “A country that works for everyone”, echoing Mrs May’s first speech in Downing Street where she set a priority of spreading opportunity for the less well-off.
Sir Patrick, right, warned that Mrs May would not allow the Government to be “hijacked by Brexit”, saying the focus would remain on key public  services and the life-chances agenda.
A record 12,000 people will attend Mrs May’s first conference as Prime Minister, but it risks being over- shadowed by in-fighting over education reform and Europe.
 On grammar schools, Sir Patrick said the Government was keen to give more children who are “academically gifted the opportunity of a school which will concentrate on their strengths and  talents”, but added that it was open to ideas to improve the plans. “We want to make sure the systems we introduce work and we will take into account the consultation,” he said. He ruled out any return to the “binary” era of the old 11-plus and said grammars were “not going to dominate” the system. Asked how many children might take entrance tests, he said: “Let’s see how we develop and evolve the system over this consultation period.”

Sir Patrick strongly defended the aim of increasing choice, and suggested new grammars would be no different in principle to existing specialist academies that have cross-party support. “We have sports academies, we have art academies, we have music academies. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having ‘academic academies’, and they’re called grammar schools.” His comments will help cool the temperature of an issue that has divided Conservative MPs and handed a campaigning opportunity to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
In an olive branch to MPs threatening to overturn the Government’s fragile majority, Sir Patrick said Mrs May had her ears open. “One of the things you are going to see more of from a May government are green papers where we put ideas out and we discuss things,” he said.
Sir Patrick, who made his conference debut as a working miner during the 1984 pit strike, called Mrs May “a determined woman” and said: “The truth is she is not going to let the whole of the Government just become hijacked by Brexit.” He also came as close as he could to ruling out an election until 2020 and denied reports he had been preparing the ground for a third runway at Heathrow to be approved.
In his opening speech on Sunday he will pay tribute to David Cameron, who recommended him for a knighthood in his resignation honours, but the ex-PM will not appear.

600,000 London renters at risk of moving home if jobless or sick

Staff reporter(wp/es):
 The number of Londoners renting privately at risk of having to move home if they become jobless or lose their income due to sickness has soared to nearly 600,000, a new study warned today.

The analysis by leading insurer Royal London found the number of households in the capital in such a precarious financial position had more than doubled in just over a decade.
These “renters at risk” include many families whose children could have to change school if they were forced to move home.
The study, by former pensions minister Steve Webb who is now director of policy at Royal London, highlighted three main factors behind this “toxic cocktail” threatening working Londoners.
The number of renters has risen sharply as buying a home has become so expensive, employment has hit a record high and there have been cuts to housing benefit.
Latest figures show the number of working adults in London who could be affected by these factors, if they lost their income, rose to 867,000 in 2014/15, from 338,000 in 2003/04.

It would have reached 963,000 in 2016/17 if as expected the number has continued to rise at least in line with the trend over the past decade.
Some 790,000 of them are calculated to be renting in the private sector, with the remaining people in housing association or council homes.
Around three quarters of the 790,000 - or 592,000 - would run out of money for rent and other bills, according to the analysis, after three to six months.
The age breakdown of these “renters at risk” includes 44,000 under 25, 314,000 25 to 34-year-olds, 142,000 aged 35-44, 84,000 45 to 54-year-olds, and 8,000 aged 55 or over.
The study warns private renters could be affected in at least four ways:

* Couples who need both their salaries to pay the rent, and lost one of them, would in many cases not quality for housing benefit given its sharp earnings ‘taper’.

* Single people under 35 would usually only be entitled to housing benefit at shared accommodation rate.

* People with “spare bedrooms”, according to welfare rules, finding housing benefit not covering their actual rent.

* Housing benefit rates only meeting rent levels in the cheaper parts of an area.


Mr Webb said: “More needs to be done to help families living in rented accommodation to think through the implications of the very limited state safety net on which they might be relying.
“Unless they are able to resume paid work quickly, approaching 600,000 working people renting in the private sector in London could be at risk of not being able to pay the rent and having to move to cheaper accommodation, if they could find it.”
London and housing minister Gavin Barwell, MP for Croydon Central, has recognised more focus needs to be put on helping renters.
A Government spokesman said: “We’re creating a bigger, better private rented sector with up to £10 billion in Government-backed guarantees to attract more institutional investment in quality homes for rent.” Unemployment and sickness benefits ensured “a strong safety net for the most vulnerable”, he added.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also outlined plans for a “London Living Rent”, a new type of tenancy for newly-built affordable homes aimed at low and middle-income households, typically earning between £35,000 and £45,000 and currently renting privately, to help them save for a deposit by offering them a below-market rent.

man shot in Kentish Town north London street

Crime reporter(wp/es):
A young man is seriously injured in hospital today after he was shot in the street in north London.
Armed police and paramedics raced to the scene after the man, aged in his 20s, was gunned down in Kentish Town late last night.
He was rushed to hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.
Emergency services were called to reports of a gun being fired in Prince of Wales Road at 10.35pm.
A resident, who lives nearby and asked not to be named, told the Standard: “I didn't hear the gun go off as I was watching bake off but it happened about 30m from my house.

“We noticed flashing lights outside our window and they weren't going away so we looked outside.
“We saw about 10-12 police officers, several cars, one unmarked. There were armed police there as well. Some were taking statements.
“There was an ambulance and a fire engine and the ambulance was there for about half an hour before it left. From what I heard it was happened near Talacre park.”
The man remains in hospital in a stable condition today, police said.
A Met Police spokesman said no arrests have been made.
Enquiries are ongoing.

Heathrow Airport worker's body found in River Thames

 
Pic: Maeusz Dajnowicz

Crime reporter(es/wp):

The body of a Heathrow airport worker was recovered from the Thames months after he was granted UK citizenship.
Mateusz Dajnowicz, 30, of Brentford, was found in the water near Kew Pier on September 22, a week after he was reported missing.
It is believed his body was spotted by a member of the public. Mr Dajnowicz’s friends, who had appealed online for help to find him, said he was last seen on CCTV leaving his flat, near Kew Bridge, on his own and wearing pyjamas.
His family flew in from Poland this week to identify his body and police are not treating his death as suspicious.

Mr Dajnowicz, who moved to London a decade ago, was working as a  manager for the airport’s cleaning contractor team after completing an apprenticeship in hospitality six months ago.
He had visited Brighton and Paris this summer. His friend Cassandra Hutchinson said: “He was such a nice lad, very hard-working and he really enjoyed his work. We all can’t believe it and are just in shock.”
Another friend, Gul Din, said: “He was just such a lovely soul and very fun-loving. If he ever saw a karaoke stand, he would be up there singing without a care in the world.”
Mr Dajnowicz had just started another course at work with the help of Anita Gomez, his assessor at HIT Training college, who said he would have gone on to do great things.
“He had one of the cutest smiles and would always have a joke for you,” she added. “He had just got his British citizenship about three months ago. He was so happy. It meant everything to him.”