Tuesday briefing: Do mobile phone bans at schools really improve learning?

In today's newsletter: The education minister has pitched a policy that is popular with many parents, but teachers and education experts say it's a distraction from more pressing issues facing pupils

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Good morning. Today we're going to take you straight to Newman Catholic College secondary school in Oldham to meet headteacher Glyn Potts, who is reacting to education minister Gillian Keegan's plan to ban pupils from using mobile phones in England's schools. One of the biggest issues facing children and teachers is grappling with the impact of smartphones in our schools," she told Conservative party conference. The distraction, the disruption, the bullying - we know that teachers are struggling with their impact."

But are they?

Transport | Rishi Sunak is set to confirm he is scrapping the northern leg of HS2 to Manchester at the Conservative conference in the city despite a furious response and Tory fears it will fatally undermine the party's commitment to levelling up. Meanwhile business leaders who warned against Ed Miliband in 2015 have now turned on Rishi Sunak, criticising the prime minister's plans to roll back net zero policies.

Education | Schools in England must challenge unconscious bias against the working class, according to the UK's first professor of social mobility. Lee Elliot Major argues the system tries to make working-class children into middle-class clones" when it should celebrate figures such as Stormzy, Tracey Emin, Mary Anning and Michael Faraday.

Crime | New powers will stop people who have killed their partners from gaining parental rights to surviving children. Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, will introduce Jade's law" later this year to protect families from the manipulation of jailed abusers.

Crime | Russell Brand is facing a second criminal investigation in connection to allegations of harassment and stalking. The 48-year-old comedian and actor has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame working for the BBC and Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films. He denies the allegations.

Science | Prof Katalin Kariko and Prof Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their contributions to RNA biology that contributed to the unprecedented speed of vaccine development during the Covid pandemic.