A video that appears to suggest the Minister of Education contradicted himself over whether a decision to close a school is legally binding has been circulating via social media.

The 40-second satirical clip shows Diallo Rabain in a past press conference saying the decision to keep Sandys Secondary Middle School as the parish primary school for Southampton over West End Primary School was “legally binding”.

Then there was a clip of Mr Rabain at a town hall meeting last month hosted by the West End Warriors, a pressure group opposing the closure of West End Primary, and attended by Mr Rabain, who appears to contradict himself.

However, Mr Rabain has since claimed that the video has been edited in a way that confuses legal advice received by the ministry with a legally binding contract or agreement.

The minister, who along with David Burt, the Premier, promised to re-evaluate the scoring process used to decide which primary schools should close as part of the Government’s education reform plans, said yesterday that there was no legally binding contract or agreement.

The clip has a ZBM reporter ask Mr Rabain if there was any scenario where the decision to have Somerset Primary as the parish school could be reversed.

The minister is on camera at a press conference saying: “The decision was and it’s a legally binding, it’s a legal binding decision, is that Somerset Primary site would be the site to be redeveloped into a parish primary school.”

The footage is then interrupted with a picture of Pinocchio, nose fully extended, under the caption “Are you sure? Let’s ask again”.

A captioned question appears asking: “Is there a legally binding agreement that commits the Government to developing Somerset Primary over West End?”

The clip then shifts to footage from the town hall where Mr Rabain said: “Absolutely not. There has been no contracts, there has been no agreements …”

The minister continues: “ … and there has been no, not even verbal comments on, we must use one location over another.”

The clip then switches to a member of the West End Warriors who got up in the meeting and said of Mr Rabain and the Premier: “It’s an outright lie, both of them lies, you hear me? Outright lies.”

Mr Rabain told The Royal Gazette yesterday: “This video has been edited to create a false impression that legal advice received by the ministry and followed out of an abundance of caution is somehow the same as a legally binding contract or agreement.

“To be clear, there is no legal binding agreement or contract at all as regards the choice of Somerset Primary.

“During the 2023 Budget press conference, the Minister of Education referred to legal advice received in 2021 to determine if just changing the decision from the Somerset Primary site to the West End Primary Site was possible, not about a contract or legal agreements pertaining to Somerset Primary or West End.

“The ministry was advised that unilaterally changing the decision could result in a legal challenge from other schools and that the Government would likely lose because it would be unfair to change the decision.

“During the private meetings with the West End Warriors leading up to the town hall meeting, specific questions were asked about the minister’s comments during the 2023 Budget press conference and if any contracts were signed or legal agreements in place that commit the Government to develop the Somerset Primary site.

“The initial question was answered as detailed above and we confirmed that no agreements, contracts or verbal agreements were in place.

“Also, during the private meetings, as a way to move forward, there were suggestions around re-evaluating the original scoring process, allowing enhanced consideration of history and legacy, and a method to include community input from all schools.

“As announced at the town all meeting, we are grateful that the West End Warriors has indicated a willingness to move forward with these suggestions and we are now exploring the best way to do this to ensure fairness and further transparency.

“We believe this latest direction has shown that we are all willing to listen to each other and have this challenging discussion to work together for a better education system for our students.”