Angry Boris Johnson dismisses criticism over schools delay

Boris Johnson today angrily dismissed a wave of criticism that zoos and shops are reopening when schools might not be back until September. 

In bad-tempered exchanges at PMQs, Mr Johnson faced an onslaught from Labour’s Keir Starmer who accused him of ‘flailing around’ while millions of children missed out on their education. 

But Mr Johnson raged that Sir Keir had been ‘flip-flopping’ over whether schools were safe to return or not, and had not honoured his pledge to work together on the crucial issue.

‘I really think he needs to make up his mind,’ the premier swiped. 

And the two politicians ended up squabbling over whether they had discussed the matter in a phone call, leaving parents none the wiser over when and how children will get back to school.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson admitted yesterday that the ‘ambition’ of getting all primary age children back in class for a month before the summer break had been ditched, just weeks after it was set. 

And Government sources refused to confirm that all pupils at either primary or secondary schools will be able to go back full-time after the holidays, merely saying they hoped ‘more’ could return. 

Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield has accused ministers of ‘furloughing childhood’, while parents voiced anger that non-essential shops, McDonald’s and zoos are reopening on Monday before most schools. Former chief inspector of schools Michael Wilshaw said the government’s approach had been a ‘mess’ and was fuelling a ‘tragedy’ for young people. 

Tory MPs are among those who have demanded a route map to get children back to school. Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee, warned that 700,000 of the most vulnerable pupils were doing no work at home at all and many do not even have access to computers, predicting an ‘epidemic of educational poverty’ without more assistance.

Meanwhile, there is pressure for a Nightingale hospitals-style operation to use community halls and churches as temporary classrooms. 

But business minister Nadhim Zahawi complained that those who were criticising the government for not reopening schools have previously accused them of moving too fast.  

The Government’s two-metre social distancing rules and advice from Public Health England – that class sizes should be limited to 15 – are believed to be the major obstacles to getting more children back. 

Mr Johnson is coming under growing pressure to ease the rules. 

SAGE adviser Shaun Fitzgerald of Cambridge University, who helped draw up the rule, told the Times that there should be more focus on how long people are close together any whether they are facing towards each other. 

‘The thing which is missing from a simple two-metre rule is consideration of other factors, such as time, duration and orientation,’ he said. 

‘It’s all three that are important. I would not want to be 1 meter apart from somebody for an extended period because that’s much, much higher risk than two metres. 

‘But being less than two metres for a short period and I’m not facing that person are ameliorating factors. If things evolve, it isn’t necessarily because the evidence is any different.’  

Professor Robert Dingwall, a member of one of the sub-groups feeding into the Government’s SAGE committee, said that even if the distance was cut to one metre, there would still be a ‘safety margin’ as it was ‘very rare’ for virus particles to travel that far.

A study published in the Lancet found physical distancing of at least one metre lowers the risk of coronavirus transmission, but distances of two metres could be more effective.

But Prof Dingwall told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was a ‘problematic’ study because it did not look at the economic consequences of having a larger distance requirement.

‘I think it’s a question of relative risk. Even the problematic Lancet study that was published last week was really saying you’re moving from a tiny risk at two metres to a very small risk at one metre.

‘You have to set that against all the other harms that are being done by the, the economic devastation that is wreaked by the two-metre rule, the deaths that will be attributable to the lockdown itself, and to the social and economic disruption that is causing.’

The PM will front the Downing Street briefing this evening and is expected to confirm zoos, safari parks and drive-in cinemas can reopen in England from June 15.

It comes a day after Business Secretary Alok Sharma confirmed shops would also be able to reopen on the same day as the Government seeks to kick-start the economy.

But Mr Williamson was forced to admit defeat over plans for all primary pupils in England to attend classes before the summer break. 

In a round of interviews today, Mr Zahawi said the government’s ‘ultimate aim’ was to have a full return to school by September.

He added: ‘The same voices that last week were supporting people who are saying do not open up the schools are this week criticising us for saying we will take it deliberately carefully.’

Challenged on why there was not a Nightingale-style plan to mobilise class space, Mr Zahawi insisted the government was working ‘as quickly and deliberately as we can’.

Rishi Sunak has warned school closures are as damaging to the economy as the 2008 credit crunch, it was claimed today.

The Chancellor is believed to be among the most hawkish in government on the need to reopen schools. 

He has privately told colleagues that the impact of keeping millions of pupils at home is the same scale as the financial crisis, which required nearly £140billion in taxpayer bailouts, according to the Telegraph.

Treasury sources dismissed the report as ‘categorically not true’. Speaking on a visit to a John Lewis store this morning, Mr Sunak said: ‘I personally think every day our children are not at school is a tragedy.’ 

He added: ‘Last month we set out a clear plan to reopen our country slowly and today we’re at the next stage of that plan where next week we’ll be able to open shops again in our country.

‘And that’s because we’ve met the five tests that we set out.

‘I hope that when all these shops open people should have the confidence to know that they can go out again in safety. And that’s very important.’

The fears emerged after figures showed the costs of the government’s furlough scheme rising again, with the UK on the brink of the worst recession in 300 years. 

Sir Michael told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the impact on schools was an ‘absolute tragedy’. 

‘What’s happened over the last few weeks and months has been an absolute tragedy,’ he said.

‘It’s been a tragedy for those youngsters who need school, need the structure of school, need the routine of school, need teachers who will be working with them, to support them when they get very little support at home.’

He added: ‘I just don’t know how we’ve made such a mess of it, because headteachers, and I know lots of headteachers, will have been saying to the Department for Education, you’ve got this wrong.

‘If you’re going to insist on social distancing and a maximum of 15 in a class we will need double the amount of space, we will need double the amount of teachers and we’ve got to make sure we have that.’

Former education secretary Justine Greening said the government was failing to understand that lockdown cannot truly end until schools reopen.

She told GMB: ‘I think many people will be very surprised that there isn’t yet a government plan in place to help our schools get back open and there’s also not a government plan in place to help children that have been most affected by the schools shutdown to be able to catch up.

‘And the big risk for Boris Johnson’s government now is that unless they bring forward a proper joined-up strategy, then it won’t be a government that delivers levelling up in Britain, it will end up being a government that levels down and nobody wants to see that.’

She added: ‘It will open up opportunity gaps that were already there before and make them even wider.’

Meanwhile health bosses have raised concerns that around 10 million people will be on the waiting list for NHS treatment by the end of the year – more than double the current figure – due to a combination of social distancing measures, a backlog of treatments and staffing shortages.

The PM, who will face a grilling from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday at Prime Minister’s Questions, will reopen outdoor attractions where people remain in their cars, such as safari parks and drive-in cinemas, because the risk of spreading the disease is lower outside.

A Downing Street official said: ‘People are continuing to make huge sacrifices to reduce the spread of coronavirus and avoid a second spike, but we know it is tough and where we can safely open up more attractions, and it is supported by the science, we will do so.’

Questions remain, however, over returning pupils to school with a number of councils, including in the north west of England, opposing plans to widely reopen after new data suggested coronavirus could still be spreading in their local areas.

Children in nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 in England began returning to primary school last week after the Government eased lockdown measures.

But some schools said they did not have enough space on site to admit all pupils in the eligible year groups, while adhering to Government guidance to limit class sizes to 15 and encourage fewer interactions.

Mr Williamson said the Government would like to see schools who ‘have the capacity’ bring back more pupils where possible before the summer break but conceded the Government was ‘working to bring all children back to school in September’. 

Former education secretary Lord Blunkett said there was a lack of ambition being shown by the Government in ensuring pupils get back to school.

The Labour peer told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: ‘To be honest, I think it is a lack of will, it is a lack of ‘can do’.

‘It is a failure to do what we have already done with the health service and economy, which is to say there are challenges, there are real problems but we are going as a nation to seek to overcome them.

‘Why is it that other countries, not just in Europe but across the world, can have the ambition to get their children, in all kinds of creative ways, back into school and we can’t?

‘I can only conclude that the Government is losing the plot.’

The trained teacher added: ‘I just know that we’ve got to do this. If we can set up the Nightingale hospitals in the time we did, why on Earth can’t we invest in the future of our children?’

Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis academy chain, told the BBC there should be a Nightingale-style drive to use community halls and churches for teaching children. 

‘I think there are other ways around dealing with this as well because what the Government has said about bringing children back – keeping them two metres apart, socially distanced but bringing them back – well, of course it is not possible to bring all children back into a school building and keep the social distancing – it is an oxymoron, you can’t do both things,’ he said.

‘But in any community there are other buildings that can be used – community halls, churches and other faith groups’ buildings, hotels.

‘We’ve explored conversations with some people like that so you can bring children back in and use those buildings because their emotional and social development is so important.’

Shops will only be able to reopen if they have completed a Covid-19 risk assessment and can implement social distancing measures.

But other businesses, including pubs, restaurants and hairdressers, will remain shut until July 4 at the earliest, Mr Sharma said.

It comes as hospitality chiefs have warned the rule requiring people to stay two metres apart could jeopardise firms’ ability to reopen, with some asking for the distance to be halved.

Mr Sharma said the rule was being kept under review and ‘when it is safe to do so, we will see whether you can move to a shorter distance’.