We all know the harm caused to kids from challenging backgrounds - another extended period away from school does nobody any favours especially the children themselves. They need social interaction to aid their development into adulthood.

The first people to get the Astra-Zeneca jab should be all the teachers and if they refuse then they need to find another job. This isn't about teachers this is about the kids - the most important human capital we have.

Nope, sorry kids & students have to stay off school until we are clear of Covid in 2022 - DG and their ilk say that’s the best way, because losing a generation of children’s education makes so much sense.

So much to consider other than just the Covid but they just keep the blinkers on

I love your concern for the future of our children particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds.

Maybe you could support policies that ensure that they get fed such as free schools meals something which the Tories have reluctantly had to be dragged into.

Maybe you could support policies which provide affordable housing so that thousands of children are not homeless and living in hostels or a whole family in a room.

Maybe you could support policies that all children should be given access to a laptop which was promised by Boris at the start of the crisis but was dropped so that more money could be given to his friends in the private sector to squirrel away by pretending to set up a track and trace system or provide e PPE.

Maybe you could support policies which have not cut Educational psychology and support for children with special needs to the bone.

You use this arguement about helping children staying in school yet you seem happy to deny them the basics of life such as food and shelter.

You should read Maslows hierarchy of need. You cannot learn if you are hungry , you cannot learn if you are scared about whether you will have a roof over your head


Your arguements about schooling are nothing but straw men. You don’t care about the children as much as you care about supporting government propaganda

Quote ="ColD"Who do you suggest is the right person for the job ?? It’s a mess and no denying it, but everyone seems to MR & Mrs hindsight'" So we have another government U Turn over schools in London which the government wanted to keep open even though most other schools were to stay shut. It seems that mr and Mrs U turn strike again rather than listening to those who are actually on the coal face and know what is happening So No hindsight here just those looking at reality and making the right decision https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55511169

Quote ="ColD"Who do you suggest is the right person for the job ?? It’s a mess and no denying it, but everyone seems to MR & Mrs hindsight'" So we have another government U Turn over schools in London which the government wanted to keep open even though most other schools were to stay shut. It seems that mr and Mrs U turn strike again rather than listening to those who are actually on the coal face and know what is happening So No hindsight here just those looking at reality and making the right decision https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55511169

You do know I’m not Boris Johnson don’t you, and in all honesty although a bit blue at the moment don’t have any particular political tendencies, and certainly don’t an issue with supporting any of the policies you mention, indeed I have grandchildren that fall into the bracket of the support you mention above - my point being that it is not always as straightforward as people make it seem
Don’t think Johnson has handled this well by any means, but who would have done better and differently

How's your splintered @rse?
At least DG lays it down!
Take a side and be done with it man, your beginning to sound like Mild Rover, dearest me!

Let's have a look at some of these:
1. Perhaps if parents took some responsibility and prioritised feeding their kids rather than constantly berating the state - plenty of low income families manage to feed their kids - its about doing the right thing first. Free school meals should be a last resort but should be available all year round.
2.We live in a very densely populated country so building affordable housing is a challenge especially in the cities where it is needed so kids are close to schools/infrastructure etc - where in London do you suggest they build - Regents Park, Green Park - deny the public these green spaces?
3.Leeds council are sat on about 1,500 laptops that never got distributed - perhaps the government did their bit but the local councils haven't done theirs?
4. Agreed

Maslow really applies to the adults - he doesn't mention hungry children - plenty of kids learn perfectly well from poor backgrounds it about parental input - you encourage your kids to embrace education and they will - if you don't see any value in it neither will your kids.

The state can only do so much - as adults we have to take some responsibility for our own actions - if we have done everything possible and still need state help that is what it is there for a last resort not the first option.

Got some very good tweezers thanks



And why is it about taking sides, it’s about what’s best for the country and all the people within it

Appreciate most on here appear to be Corbynists, and that is their choice - and it appears to be those on here who don’t wish to waiver from that and look at the whole picture. The Tories are in charge so let’s just rip anything they do or say appears to be the motto

Maybe because whatever the Tories do or say isn’t for the betterment for the country more like lining the pockets for their spouses and fat cat mates. Despite what the Daily Mail or the Sun spout out Corbyn would’ve handled Covid a lot better.

That's really gone and done it now.

+1

And its about time all these tories were stopped from fiddling their taxes

Well I think you’ve just pretty much proved the point I was making to be honest - neither you nor I have any idea how Corbyn would have handled Covid, but there you go bigging him up. To be fair I’m not aware of any comments he’s made about how he would have done things differently, and in my opinion (you seem to be stating it as a fact) he wouldn’t have been up to it - in fact he was one of 2 reasons I didn’t vote Labour at the last election.

I imagine, at a time government is trying to deliver these huge and critical projects, it wouldn't hurt having in charge someone who believed in the power of government to make things happen rather than people who believe the solution instead is to give vast contracts, without tenders, to companies with no relevant experience other than the ears and pockets of cabinet members.

Corbyn would have handled it better? Lol. How? By calling it the fault of isreal and offering it free WiFi to go away?

Some of this I agree with but the public sector has hardly an unblemished record at delivery large projects. I think they needed to focus track and trace on the elderly and vulnerable - taking whole class out of school for an youngster with no real issues seems counterproductive

I doubt he would - kids would have been off school for 9 months by now - Universities shut. They would have focused on the wrong stuff IMO e.g. union legislation, green issues - Blair on the other hand different story

Sorry but, you are just making stuff up.
The Tories are making a right mess of everything they touch and you still proclaim that Labour would have been worse.
To claim that ANY party would have focused on other stuff, rather than Covid, is just plain ridiculous - you needed to give that a little more thought.
It would be akin to me suggesting that the Tories would have cut taxes for the better off and shrunk the size of the state.
They will do this at the first opportunity but, right now, the metaphoric house is burning down and that needs dealing with first.
- Mind you, Boris & Co aren't exactly doing a good job on this one



You are Rupert Murdoch (or other Right wing apologist) and I claim my £5

The Tories have been terrible I would agree - what makes you think Corbyn would have done a better job? The pressures from the unions especially the education related ones would have been immense. These are the funders of the Labour party - one thing I think we can all agree on the costs of this would have been off the scale.

We wouldn't be able to go work because we would spent all our time on one knee if Jeremy and John had been in charge - Labour hardly made a great fist of in Wales have they? As for the SNP perhaps less said the better.

Their desire to increase the size of the state would have been a big factor here and lockdown would have been tougher and longer and company collapse and unemployment would have been significantly worse.

Cutting taxes is no bad thing if it increases take - increasing taxes and reducing take as would have happened under Corbyn not great really?

You do read the Morning Star and I claim my £5

Deary me, still clinging to the Laffer Curve. I thought that had gone out with trickle-down.

It would be funny if only largely bonkers concepts like this didn't actually drive policy for the current government.

Interesting that the CT increased as the rate when down - no doubt you will some half-baked concept that you have seen on a website somewhere.

Activity in housing have increased significantly since the removal of the stamp duty for lower priced homes - strange that - no doubt lowering the rate had nothing to with it?

Trickle down is an interesting concept - how do you explain the increase in living standards in the last 50 years - off you trot to Google?

There you go again, so certain that things would have been worse with a different government.
You say that "the costs would have been off the scale". HELLO - they ARE off the scale.

I cant begin to imagine what would have happened had a Labour Chancellor brought in the Furlough scheme or Eat out to Help out.
The Tory Press and most of the rest of the media would have exploded with rage but, Rishi can do no wrong, despite the fact that he is yet to set a budget and he certainly hasn't balanced one



Let's wait and see if he's any good when it's not spend, spend, spend.

Everything that you say is literally made up.

So he’s closing the schools after allowing them to be open for a day, when he should’ve just kept them closed in the first place.

Boris Johnson needs to be put on on trial.

I agree
The "Leader" of our country declared schools "safe" on Sunday lunchtime and then the following day, declared they would need to close.
He FINALLY seems to have grasped that kids, although at vey low risk themselves, actually DO spread the virus.

It's taken him 10 months to work this out and perhaps instead of berating the Teachers and Unions at every opportunity, he should start to listen to them as they clearly know a fair bit more than him - granted, it's not difficult.

Bozo will get something right, sooner or later, surely.
Law of averages, innit?

I've been scratching my head regarding why cases have been on the rise for so long.

I initially put it down to apathy, especially after the Cummings fiasco, but I've come to the conclusion that schools are driving this increase.

All we've heard from the Government is "we must keep the schools open at all costs, as kids are not driving up the infection rates". Well, how come since they all went back in September the numbers began to steadily rise?

If anybody's got another proposal as to what's causing the increases, I'd love to know.