The Prime Minister has jetted off to the Costa del Sol to stay in a “luxury” complex near Marbella.

His official spokesperson refused to be drawn on reports that the Tory leader was staying at the villa of Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, or to say whether he had paid for the holiday himself.

“Any declarations that need to be made will be made in the normal way, but I don’t have anything to add to that,” they commented.

“I wouldn’t get into anything on location for security reasons.”

Downing Street insisted that Johnson is continuing to work on Government business while on holiday following the Conservative Party conference last week.

His spokesperson said that he had taken a call from Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and was being updated on the work to address supply chain problems.

“The Prime Minister continues to be in charge as is always the case. The Prime Minister has taken calls with leaders already and there will be others to follow,” the spokesperson told reporters.

“The Prime Minister has been kept regularly updated on the ongoing work to address the current issues around fuel and supply chains.

“He is in regular contact with ministers and No 10. He is also continuing to take calls particularly in the run-up to COP26.”

Johnson was only recently cleared of breaking the MPs’ code of conduct over a trip in early 2019 to the Caribbean island of Mustique.

He faced an investigation into whether he adequately registered £15,000 worth of accommodation paid for by a Tory donor.

Earlier, Home Office minister Damian Hinds defended the Prime Minister’s decision to go on holiday, his second in three months.

Asked if now was the right time for a break, he told Sky News: “When is the right time? I think it is important that people do have an opportunity to be with their families to have some relaxing, unwinding.

Boris Johnson has said the Government is ready to take “big, bold decisions” to rebuild the country after the ravages of Covid.

As Conservatives gathered in Manchester for the start of the party’s annual conference, the Prime Minister promised “decisive action” on jobs, crime and health and social care.

“We didn’t go through Covid to go back to how things were before – to the status quo ante. Build back better means we want things to change and improve as we recover,” he said in a statement.

“That means taking the big, bold decisions on the priorities people care about – like on social care, on supporting jobs, on climate change, tackling crime and levelling up.

“This Conservative Government has a track record of delivering on the people’s priorities: we got Brexit done and secured a deal with the EU – keeping our election promise.

“On Covid, we rolled out unprecedented levels of economic support, protecting livelihoods and keeping businesses afloat.

“And thanks to our NHS, scientists and so many others, our successful vaccine rollout has saved thousands of lives, prevented countless hospitalisations and has allowed the economy and society to begin returning to normality.

“All of this shows we are delivering – and now it is time to go further – not only to recover, but to build back better – with decisive action on more jobs, more police and supporting health and social care.”

It also marks Labour’s shift to focus on improving the prospects of the 40 per cent of young people who leave compulsory education without essential qualifications.

Under Labour’s ‘National Excellence Programme,’ the next Labour government will boost the number of outstanding schools in all areas of the country; drive up standards; and enable every child to achieve their full potential.

The National Excellence Programme will include:

Recruiting thousands of new teachers to address vacancies and skills gaps across the profession;
Reforming Ofsted to focus on supporting struggling schools;
Providing teachers and headteachers with continuing professional development and leadership skills training.
Even before the pandemic, 200,000 primary age children in England were growing up in areas with not a single primary school rated good or outstanding.

Starmer’s speech will set out the short-term failures of the Conservative government and emphasise that the problems that are worsening because of their long-term neglect. He will warn that Britain risks being left behind if it does not open up opportunities for young people in every part of the country.

On Labour’s vision for education, Starmer will say:

“I want every parent in the country to be able to send their child to a great state school.”

“On top of that, 40 per cent of young people leave compulsory education without essential qualifications. What does that say about their future? We will not put up with that.

“That is why Labour will launch the most ambitious school improvement plan ever.”

It would be funded by ending tax exemptions for private schools, first announced by Labour on Sunday, when Starmer set out plans to ensure that every child leaves school ready for work and ready for life.

There are hundreds of thousands of pupils in schools graded at requiring improvement or inadequate. Additionally, there are 210,000 pupils in ‘stuck’ schools which have received ratings of inadequate or requires improvement for 13 years or more.

There are also significant geographic inequalities, research suggests over 200,000 primary age children live in local areas where there are no good or outstanding schools and 11 out of 12 local authorities in the North East have a higher than average share of pupils attending an underperforming school. A secondary school pupil living in the North of England is around five times as likely to attend an underperforming school than one of their peers living in London.

On Sunday Labour announced it would make sure every child leaves school job-ready and life-ready with its ‘fit for the future’ curriculum.

In 2019/20 39.8% of 19-year-olds did not have level 3 attainment (2 or more A-Levels, BTEC, T-Level or equivalent apprenticeship).

Fewer 16-18 year olds stay in education than in many other countries: 71% of 17 year olds are in education in England compared to 89% in Estonia, 93% in Sweden and 88% in the Netherlands.

The former international trade secretary replaced Dominic Raab, who was demoted but became Justice Secretary and deputy PM in place of the axed Robert Buckland.

Mr Johnson also made Nadhim Zahawi the new Education Secretary after dismissing Gavin Williamson, while Michael Gove replaced Robert Jenrick as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Priti Patel kept their jobs.

Further changes at junior ministerial level were expected after the Morning Star went to press.

Mr Johnson said that he wanted a “strong and united” Cabinet amid rising anger over his impending increase in National Insurance contributions, cut to universal credit payments and supply chain disruption that is leaving supermarket shelves empty.

Mr Williamson tweeted that he was “proud of the transformational reforms” that he claims to have overseen in education, despite being blasted by unions, teachers and MPs for his handling of school closures and exam cancellations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reacting to the news, Labour shadow education secretary Kate Green said the South Staffordshire MP had “failed young people, their parents and our hard-working education staff.

“Two years of exams chaos and staff abandoned, unsupported and demoralised, that is Gavin Williamson’s legacy.”

University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady slammed Mr Williamson for causing “deep and lasting damage” to the education system.

Reacting to Mr Zahawi’s appointment, the National Education Union said that it hoped he would show a passion for transforming young people’s lives.

Also claiming to be proud of his achievements was Mr Jenrick, despite them including the unlawful approval of a Tory donor’s housing development.

Mr Buckland said that it had been an honour to serve, but he leaves behind a record-high backlog of Crown Court cases, while the number of rape convictions is at an all-time low.

Mr Raab’s role change did not surprise many observers after he failed to break off his holiday as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last month.

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said: “Appointing [to the justice brief] a failed foreign secretary who was fired for being missing in action shows how little this government cares about victims of crime.

“Victims need a justice secretary who is capable of fixing the courts crisis the government created, not one who has been open about his opposition to the fundamental freedoms that the public depends on.”

The Tory leader is set to break a manifesto commitment by increasing National Insurance, risking unrest within his Cabinet and on the backbenches.

Johnson, Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have been thrashing out the details, as the UK Government prepares to announce the plans.

There is anger over the proposals in Scotland, which could see the country hit with a £1 billion tax bombshell to fund England’s social care situation.

The SNP shadow chancellor Alison Thewliss said the Tories must guarantee that Scotland receives every penny it is due through Barnett consequentials.

Downing Street sources insisted details of the social care plans were still being worked out last night and that a day for the announcement was yet to be confirmed.

Former minister Jake Berry, leader of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs, warned against a policy which appeared aimed at elderly voters in affluent southern seats.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Berry said: “It doesn’t really seem to me reasonable that people who are going to work in my own constituency in east Lancashire, probably on lower wages than many other areas of the country, will pay tax to support people to keep hold of their houses in other parts of the country where house prices may be much higher.”

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today that as National Insurance was not paid by people who are retired there was also a question of intergenerational fairness.

“It doesn’t seem fair to me – particularly following this pandemic where so many people have taken great sacrifices to keep people safe, it’s particularly hit the youngest, particularly hit those in work – that we then ask those in work to pay for people to have protection in care.”

He suggested income tax may be a fairer way to raise revenue rather than the “jobs tax” of increased National Insurance contributions.

“When I was sat round that Cabinet table and Sajid Javid was the chancellor of the exchequer writing the Conservative Party manifesto, he was a great believer in not racking up the jobs tax and I just wonder why he’s had a sort of Damascene conversion when becoming the Health Secretary to seeing the jobs tax as the way forward.”

Reports have suggested that lifetime contributions on care will be capped at about £80,000 and National Insurance will be increased by 1.25% to raise between £10 billion and £11 billion per year.

Tory former Cabinet minister Sir John Redwood warned against a “stupid” tax rise.

“A tax on jobs when you want to promote more and better paid employment is particularly stupid,” he said.

Redwood added that “if an elderly person goes to live permanently in a care home it often makes sense for them to sell their former home”.

“Otherwise it would cost them money to pay the tax on it whilst unoccupied and in need of maintenance.”

Tory former chancellors Lord Hammond, Lord Clarke and Lord Lamont have all criticised the plan to increase National Insurance.

Speaking from Doha, the minister added that the British government would not recognise the new rulers in the “foreseeable future”.

The comments come as the Taliban is expected to form a government and to name Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada — the group’s top religious leader — as the country’s new supreme authority.

The US, the EU and others have stressed that formal recognition of this government depends on its action, with Victoria Nuland, US undersecretary of state, saying: “We’re not going to take them at their word, we’re going to take them at their deeds.”

Meanwhile, defence secretary Ben Wallace said he warned his ministerial colleagues in July of a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

In a deepening row with Mr Raab, he countered the foreign secretary’s claim that a failure in intelligence was to blame for the UK’s slow response to the crisis. “History shows us that it’s not about failure of intelligence, it’s about the limits of intelligence,” he said.

Prince Harry addressed the need to vaccinate people in poorer countries and “masses of misinformation” surrounding the the Covid-19 jab as he made a surprise virtual appearance at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in London.

The Duke of Sussex spoke at the ceremony on Wednesday evening as he presented the “Heroes” award to the team behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert and Professor Catherine Green.

In his speech, the 36 year old called on the government to do more to help those in need access the vaccine without fear and hesitancy across the globe.

“Until every community can access the vaccine and until every community is connected to trustworthy information about the vaccine, then we are all at risk,” he said.

Harry continued: “As people sit in the room with you tonight, more than a third of the global population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. That’s more than five billion shots given around the world so far.

“It sounds like a major accomplishment, and in many ways it is, but there is a huge disparity between who can and cannot access the vaccine.

“We cannot move forward together unless we address this imbalance as one,” he added.

Morgan, who quit the show after his comments produced an on-air row with another presenter, described Ofcom’s ruling as a “resounding victory” and a blow to “cancel culture”.

In a 97-page ruling, the regulator found that Morgan’s remarks were “potentially harmful and offensive” but were allowable because the code allows freedom of expression.

Following Meghan and Prince Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, Morgan questioned the truthfulness of duchess’s account of breakdown of her mental health at the start of her marriage.

“Who did you go to?” he said. “What did they say to you? I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report.”

The next day Morgan stormed off set after a discussion about Meghan with his colleague Alex Beresford. The weather presenter defended the couple, telling Morgan: “I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, or had one, and she cut you off. She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has but yet you continue to trash her.”

Morgan’s remarks prompted more than 57,121 complaints to Ofcom in a week and were criticised by the mental health charity Mind. The regulator ruled in Morgan’s favour, but reminded ITV to be cautious when discussing mental health.

An Ofcom spokesman said: “This was a finely balanced decision. Mr Morgan’s comments were potentially harmful and offensive to viewers, and we recognise the strong public reaction to them. But we also took full account of freedom of expression.”

He added: “Under our rules, broadcasters can include controversial opinions as part of legitimate debate in the public interest, and the strong challenge to Mr Morgan from other contributors provided important context for viewers.

“Nonetheless, we’ve reminded ITV to take greater care around content discussing mental health and suicide in future. ITV might consider the use of timely warnings or signposting of support services to ensure viewers are properly protected.”

Morgan said the Ofcom ruling was a vindication of his defence of his remarks.

He tweeted: “I’m delighted OFCOM has endorsed my right to disbelieve the Duke & Duchess of Sussex’s incendiary claims to Oprah Winfrey, many of which have proven to be untrue. This is a resounding victory for free speech and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios. Do I get my job back?”

Writing in the Mail Online he said: “If Ofcom had found against me, that would have signalled the end of every UK TV journalist’s right to express any honestly held opinion on air lest it upset the likes of Meghan Markle.

“The whole point of journalism is surely to question and challenge statements from public figures, particularly when no actual evidence is produced to support them?”

He added: “This is not about me, or Meghan Markle. It’s about free speech and the right to have an opinion.”

“We now live in a woke-ravaged era where it’s become a punishable offence to say what you really think about almost anything for fear that someone, somewhere, will be offended.

“This insidious ‘cancel culture’ as it’s been termed represents the most serious threat to democracy in my lifetime.”

A summary of the Ofcom ruling said: “This programme focused on the interview between Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

“It contained statements about suicide and mental health which had the potential to be harmful and highly offensive.

“However, our decision is that overall the programme contained sufficient challenge to provide adequate protection and context to its viewers. We also considered that the comments about race in the programme could have been potentially highly offensive, but that the comments were sufficiently contextualised. Therefore, our decision is that the programme did not breach the Ofcom broadcasting code.”

Susanna Reid has shared her support for ex-colleague and good pal Piers Morgan.

The TV host took to Twitter following the news breaking that he was cleared by Ofcom after the broadcasting regulator investigated Piers’ comments about the Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Ofcom ruled today that Good Morning Britain was not in breach of the broadcasting code over comments about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview.

Showing her joy that Piers was not in trouble, Susanna retweeted the ruling to her 829k Twitter followers after ITV new Royal Editor Chris Ship typed out the outcome of the investigation on the micro-blogging site.

Moments after the news broke, Piers – who exited GMB after the row – tweeted about his happiness over the ruling.

The bolshy TV host penned: “BREAKING: ⁦ @Ofcom rejects all complaints against me over Meghan Markle furore that led to my exit from @GMB ⁩. Verdict says I was entitled to disbelieve her & Prince Harry & to restrict my right to do so would be a ‘chilling restriction on freedom of expression.”

Piers then added another message where he asked if he was getting his job back on the ITV morning show.

He boasted: “I’m delighted OFCOM has endorsed my right to disbelieve the Duke & Duchess of Sussex’s incendiary claims to Oprah Winfrey, many of which have proven to be untrue.

“This is a resounding victory for free speech and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios. Do I get my job back?”

An Ofcom spokesperson said of the decision to clear Piers: “This was a finely-balanced decision. Mr Morgan’s comments were potentially harmful and offensive to viewers, and we recognise the strong public reaction to them. But we also took full account of freedom of expression.

“Under our rules, broadcasters can include controversial opinions as part of legitimate debate in the public interest, and the strong challenge to Mr Morgan from other contributors provided important context for viewers.

“Nonetheless, we’ve reminded ITV to take greater care around content discussing mental health and suicide in future. ITV might consider the use of timely warnings or signposting of support services to ensure viewers are properly protected.”

Ex newspaper editor Piers landed himself in hot water with the regulator in March when he said he refused to believe comments made by the Duchess Of Sussex during an interview with Oprah Winfrey were true.

Meghan told how she struggled with her mental health while working as a senior member of the Royal Family and had been subject to racial discrimination in the Royal family.

Ofcom confirmed that 57,121 people – including Meghan herself – had submitted formal complaints over the presenter’s comments about her.

Piers sensationally quit his GMB role after bosses told him he must apologise for saying he did not believe the things Meghan and her husband Prince Harry had said during their sit down with Oprah.

After his exit, he told at his upset with colleague Suzanna in his column for the Daily Mail.

He said: “At 6.30am, I turned on GMB to see what my ‘TV wife’ Susanna would say about our sudden divorce.

“Stony-faced, she read a short, rather frosty statement: Piers and I have disagreed on many things and that dynamic was one of the things viewers loved about the programme.

“‘He is without doubt an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster.

“‘He has many critics, and he has many fans. You will know that I disagreed with him about Meghan’s interview.

The plans for the commandos, who UK troops helped train, have been backed by MPs who served in Afghanistan.

The Daily Telegraph reported the proposals could see the Afghans form their own regiment in the Army, similar to the Gurkhas.

And it said that Afghans already enrolled at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, who had been due to join the Afghan National Army, could now join the British Army instead.

The Afghan special forces played a key role in the evacuation effort from Kabul by heading into crowds to find those eligible for evacuation and handing them over to British forces.

The chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Tom Tugendhat, said the personnel should be welcomed into the Army.

The Tory MP, who served in Afghanistan, told The Telegraph: “We trained and fought alongside many Afghans who are now in the UK.

“They’ve proved their loyalty a thousand times.

“If they want to serve, we should welcome them, I would love to see a regiment of Afghan scouts.”

Fellow Conservative Tobias Ellwood, who is chairman of the Defence Select Committee and also a veteran, added: “Given that we’ve helped train these forces, it’s certainly something that needs to be a consideration.

“One avenue is they are kept as a unit, as the Gurkhas have operated.

“The other avenue is they are blended into our own system.”

Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer also said it would be an “absolute waste not to make use of” the Afghan troops.

The Ministry of Defence said it was “assessing how to best support them and utilise their skills and expertise going forward”.