Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has admitted the plight of Ukranian refugees has brought back memories of his own family’s escape from Iraq which saw him arrive in the UK as an 11-year-old who could not speak English.

“[I felt] a combination of anger, huge loss because you’re ripped away from all the things you held dear. The protective layers of family and home, and you don’t understand why this is happening to you,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

“The first few weeks I hid at the back of the classroom. I tried to string words together in my head but by the time I did, my classmates’ conversation had moved on.”

Mr Zahawi said his own experience has helped shape preparations that will see his department welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the education system.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has said it is up to the Russian people to decide who leads their country.

US President Joe Biden yesterday insisted Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” during an impassioned speech in Warsaw, whilst appealing to Russians to stand up against the war.

Asked whether the government echoed the his sentiments, Mr Zahawi told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I think that’s up to the Russian people.

“The Russian people, I think, are pretty fed up with what is happening in Ukraine, this illegal invasion, the destruction of their own livelihoods, their economy is collapsing around them and I think the Russian people will decide the fate of Putin and his cronies.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new push for oil and gas, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will “blow” the UK’s net zero climate target, analysis has revealed.

The plans to approve six new North Sea drilling sites are estimated to generate the equivalent of 420 million barrels of oil and produce 205 tonnes of CO2 emissions, the equivalednt of almost half of the UK’s yearly total emissions.

Read the full story by my colleague Adam Forrest here:

Schools will be told to provide at least 32.5 hours of teaching a week under a new plan announced by education secretary Nadhim Zahawi.

The Department for Education’s new minimum would be the equivalent of a school day lasting from 8.45am to 3.15pm.

Most primary and secondary schools already offer a 32.5-hour week, but ministers say there are “discrepancies” that they say need to be abolished by 2023 in “levelling-up” plans to increase numeracy and literacy rates.

The Schools White Paper will set out the new minimum requirement when it is published tomorrow. But the government has not made any new money available to fund the increase in teaching hours.

Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering a new council tax rebate amid backlash over his recent spring statement.

Earlier this week, the chancellor’s package of tax and duty cuts was widely criticised for not going far enough to help households in the cost of living crisis.

Initially, Mr Sunak had announced a £150 council tax rebate to help households with energy costs – that are set to rise by more than half from next week.

On Friday, the energy price cap will jump from about £1,300 to nearly £2,000, and could rise again to £3,000 in October.

Mr Sunak is considering another multibillion-pound package to help with the autumn surge in fuel costs, The Times reported.