A staged apology picture has become the subject of ridicule on social media following Gavin Williamson’s exam U-turn yesterday.
Sat looking glum behind his desk, the Education Secretary acknowledged that the system put in place by regulator Ofqual had produced ‘significant inconsistencies’.
He said: “This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for young people who were unable to take their exams.
“I am sorry for the distress this has caused young people and their parents but hope this announcement will now provide the certainty and reassurance they deserve.”
But the picture released with the announcement has raised eyebrows on social media.
Politics.co.uk editor Ian Dunt questioned why there was a whip laying on his desk, while others have taken umbrage to the position of his mug, which seems impractically far away.
We’ve picked out some of the best reaction below:
The whip is upsetting me quite a lot. What is the whip for. Why is it there. Why. https://t.co/GNadLh9XEX
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) August 18, 2020
Is that a hunting whip on Williamson's desk? https://t.co/8XnxECbunl
— Brian Moore (@brianmoore666) August 17, 2020
I still can't get over the fact that in the midst of a massive crisis and on the same day as a decision that would descend universities into chaos, Gavin Williamson thought it was the time to do a photo shoot.
— Etan (@EtanSmallman) August 18, 2020
How much time was spent deciding mug choice and desk layout? pic.twitter.com/ID7fZ2aHu4
A mug. pic.twitter.com/eW3lLLr5vE
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) August 18, 2020
Related: Dido Harding’s husband part of an advisory board which called for PHE to be scrapped
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