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'Everyone could see this coming' - Labour's Pat McFadden hits out at Gavin Williamson's handling of exams 'shambles'

Gavin Williamson's claim that he only realised there was a problem with A-level gradings over the weekend has been dismissed as "not remotely credible" by Labour's Pat McFadden.

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Pat McFadden, left, and Gavin Williamson

The under-fire Education Secretary is facing calls to resign over the fiasco which led to a major U-turn on Monday.

Mr Williamson, the MP for South Staffordshire, had insisted over the weekend there would be no change of direction.

He then claimed that following the weekend the scale of the problems suffered by students had become clearer to him.

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But Mr McFadden, MP for neighbouring Wolverhampton South East and the Shadow City Minister, said he did not buy that explanation, insisting it was clear from what had happened in Scotland that students were going to face chaos.

The Labour MP said: "It is not remotely credible for the Secretary of State to claim he only realised there was a problem at the weekend.

"If that is the case he has even less grip on what's going on that we thought. Everyone could see this problem was coming after the Scottish exam debacle a few weeks ago.

"This whole thing has been a shambles and is the latest example of a Government lacking grip and unable to run things properly."