Education secretary Gillian Keegan has defended holidaying in Spain in the run-up to the Raac scandal.
Aides said the cabinet minister was “working from home” on the continent between 25 August and Thursday, when the closures at more than 100 schools were ordered.
They argued she continued to chair operational calls every day while in Spain, while taking calls and messages, after heading abroad after GCSE results were announced.
The MP reportedly owns a flat in Madrid and a house in Marbella, but a spokesman declined to say where in Spain she was.
“When I went on holiday, to be honest, for the whole of the summer obviously I had to sort out industrial action, then I had to do the A-levels, then I had to do the GCSEs, so the first time I could go on holiday was…”, Ms Keegan told Sky’s Politics Hub.
“What I arranged was to go on holiday on that day for my dad’s birthday – it was a family occasion and we went.”
Are you a parent whose child has been affected by RAAC closures? E-mail alexander.butler@independent.co.uk
