Boris Johnson today insisted he has ‘no doubt’ it is safe for schools to reopen as he was urged to emulate Thatcher’s battle against coal miners and force teaching unions to get children back in class.
Tory MPs are demanding the PM stays ‘unbreakable’ despite claims of attempts to sabotage his drive to get all pupils back in classes in England next month.
There are also increasing signs of a backlash against Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, with complaints he has been ‘practically invisible’ and comparisons with hapless comedy character Frank Spencer.
As schools returned in Scotland today – where summer holidays end earlier – the NEU union upped the ante again by claiming the science on infections is not yet ‘clear enough’ to guarantee safety.
But on a visit to Hereford, Mr Johnson played down the risks. ‘I have no doubt that it can be done safely. Schools are doing a huge amount to make sure that it is done safely,’ he said.
‘Just for the sake of social justice, ensuring that all our kids get the education they need, we need to get our pupils, our children, back to school in September and I am very, very impressed by the work that has been done to make those schools Covid-secure.’
Scotland’s schools are returning from today, because their holidays end earlier. Pictured, pupils arrive at Kelso High School in the Scottish Borders
Pupils return to Kelso High School for the first time since the start of the coronavirus lockdown. Mr Johnson turned up the heat in the standoff yesterday by insisting that there is a ‘moral duty’ to get all schools up and running in England in September
There are signs of a Tory backlash against Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured last month), with complaints he has been ‘practically invisible’ and comparisons with hapless comedy character Frank Spencer
Ministers have become increasingly frustrated with the teaching unions in recent days, particularly after the National Education Union published a ‘nit-picking’ list of 200 safety demands for all schools to adhere to.
But the government is facing increasing pressure to take a tough line.
The Tory chair of the education select committee, Robert Halfon, told the Telegraph: ‘The Government needs to be absolutely unbreakable on this. If teachers won’t go in, be Maggie about it and say ‘we will find alternatives’. ‘
Former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith added: ‘Unions have got one objective – to use their political muscle to damage Boris Johnson.
‘It’s a re-run of the Eighties except it’s not the coal miners, it’s the teaching unions.’
One backbencher delivered a withering verdict on Mr Williamson’s performance, telling the paper: ‘Boris has got to show the courage of Thatcher in his battle with the unions, but that’s quite difficult when his divisional commander is Frank Spencer.’
Mr Johnson dodged questions about research suggesting that older children can transmit coronavirus as easily as adults.
He said: ‘I’m afraid you are going to see outbreaks, we have seen them across the country in the last few weeks and months and we have also seen the immense efforts that local authorities have gone to, local communities have gone to, to get that outbreak under control.
‘The most important thing for people to remember is that you have got to get schools back, we will get schools back, but also we have got to stick to our discipline – so in schools they have some very well thought through plans for how to manage it.’
Tory MPs are urging Boris Johnson (pictured right visiting a building site in Hereford today) to emulate Margaret Thatcher’s (left) battle against coal miners and force teaching unions to get children back in schools
The government is set to publish evidence about coronavirus risk in schools in a bid to reassure parents.
Chief medical officer Chris Whitty has been asked by No10 to carry out a review of research before the new term starts.
One study expected to be published later this week shows not one child was hospitalised in June and July.
Early findings from Public Health England (PHE) research are likely to say next week that there is very little evidence of transmission in schools.
The unions insist they are not trying to sabotage the back-to-school plans but are asking genuine questions about the Government’s approach and the lack of a plan B should virus cases escalate again.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘This idea that demonising the trade unions lets the Government off the hook with difficult questions we are asking.
‘They ought to be facing difficult questions because we are in the middle of something extremely challenging.’
Mr Barton added: ‘We would like to see more thought given to blended learning as a back-up plan, which could be a rota system of children in for one week and then learning at home for one week. This would be better than children returning solely to remote education.’
Avis Gilmore, deputy general secretary of the National Education Union, called for a more robust test, track and trace system to be in place to ensure the welfare of pupils and school staff.
She said: ‘Government could do much more to assure schools and local authorities that, should a second spike occur, either nationally or locally, there is a clear Plan B in place.
‘This plan needs to spell out what action must be taken in a variety of situations, so that schools and colleges can make the preparations parents expect of them.’