Spectacular disconnections 2022: from Partygate to the Schools White Paper

Alongside the invasion of Ukraine, two news stories from 29th March 2022 echo recent research carried out in education – and, interestingly, each other. On one hand, a Metropolitan police investigation into “partygate” showed how social distancing rules were widely flouted at Downing street during COVID lockdowns. On the same day, the government’s Education White Paper announced a new policy of reducing inequality as part of its famously opaque “levelling up” agenda. Critics have already suggested that the latest White Paper’s goals are underfunded, impractical and ideologically driven: plus ça change.