Tories make announcement and call on schools to prepare – then provide no information
Last night, Boris Johnson announced that schools in England will be closing from tomorrow afternoon as a result of the coronavirus pandemic – but only partly.
Johnson said that the government is requiring schools to make arrangements to continue classes for the children of ‘essential workers’, to ensure that those in vital jobs are not kept away from work by the need to care for children no longer going to school.
But more than twenty-four hours later – and less than twenty-four hours from the start of the closure – teachers and sources in the National Education Union have told the SKWAWKBOX that they still do not have the list of which jobs are ‘essential’ that they need in order to begin identifying the children they need to accommodate.
One teacher said:
Schools are in turmoil. No one knows what’s happening and all our staff have been asked to report for duty Monday as normal! What’s the point of the ‘closure’?
There isn’t even a list of relevant job types yet – or if there is, nobody seems to have received it.
The government has been utterly useless. Other countries have already closed their schools so there is already a model.
Our government seems in disarray. It’s like Boris Johnson is being deliberately vague again, just like he was about pubs and restaurants.
SKWAWKBOX view:
Yet again Johnson and his sidekicks have made announcements without preparing for them or even being able to explain how they’re supposed to work.
He and his party are a mile out of their depth and utterly unfit to provide the leadership the country needs in this huge crisis.
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Just watched Boris Johnson and his two Puppets on BBC 1 for the daily Corona Virus Briefing. My Message to BJ is you are full of BULLSHIT and you are not fit for purpose. You now claim the worst will be over within 12 weeks??!!. You failed to mention how many tests you have completed today and thus far. You claim you will stand behind Companies who are about to go into liquidation but thus far not one penny has been given to anyone. You claim all the PPE has been purchased but not yet delivered . For fucks sake Johnson, you are such a Pathological Liar, you just don’t know where or what the truth is anymore. You come across as a bumbling, mumbling Buffoon compounded by the fact you lie every time your lips move.
alan m dransfield, i listened on the radio while multitasking. Striking was the fact that if the public follows Skwawkbox.org , they would have learnt at least five days ago, that to which Johnson flipped this evening.
Test, test, test and trace amongst other measures posted here. It is neither brilliant virology nor the preserve of “experts”. It is common sense. But Johnson does know the benefit of sounding as if he is giving fresh on point guidance. He will all ways be able to fool some people. He is barely on point. But lamentable our of time and script re COMMON-SENSE. The WHO was correct days ago. To fail to test and trace is to fight blindfolded.
It is not rocket science to understand that ALL frontline WORKING CLASSES – office cleaners, prison officers, supermarket workers especially checkout staff, teachers ALL at the GP surgeries including receptionist and specialist staff, EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the hospitals and social care services, to list a few, ALL of those who keep the world turning should have long had access to testing and E F F E C T I V E PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. Not thin cheap trash flogged for profit‼️‼️‼️
I feel sure that just like Johnson, most of the BBC, ESPECIALLY TV, is failing the public. Feel free to put me right. I could be wrong as i am strictly radio, reading and real life observation first hand. ps When i say radio, almost know BBC except BBC London Vanessa Feltz in the morning, then a few bits of Emma Barnet on a Wednesday. Oh an Live from the Met on Radio 3, to which i’v listened since childhood … yes odd child, odd adult. BUT the public would be far better to rely on Skwawkbox for core sound advice, education and guidance.
Re currant affairs, readers can extract more 24ct nuggets of education here, on Skwawkbox.org than a year of any MSM.
Which reminds me… partly to inflame the weird weird WEIRD Allan Howard man & sidekick SH, London has the highest incidence of C-19 in the UK and in London Southwark has the highest incidence, second nationwide only to Hampshire. Anyway, the head of this council, Southwark, informed us yesterday that he his REVERSING his intention to resign.
SH & AH, if tis good enough for a council head, why not our Jeremy Corbyn❓❓❓ It is the ONLY sensible thing to do re the Leadership election. Of course it is perfectly sensible to install Richard Burgon at once as interim Dep as Twatson has stepped down at last and has nothing positive to offer. But it is clear that now unhindered by Twatson, Jeremy can now be free to display the excellence that even AH & SH acknowledge. 🌹🌹🌹
The ‘vagueness’ you refer is the creation of Behavioural Insight Team – it put the onus on the individual to avoid any responsibility being taken by incumbent government.Nudge Nudge.
Even Ian Bunkum Smith is voicing concerns provision for the low paid and those on UC.
SM
Universal Credit is designed for exactly these challenges, just need to put enough money into it, then it becomes the safety net below which no one falls
It’s an easy fix if the government are genuine
Yes the BIT are a bunch of psychopaths. They were the ones who formulated the “big stick” of sanctions and starvation levels of benefits. They were obviously behind the original policy, and would also be in tune with Cummings. Eugenics is rife in the upper class.
You can pracically hear the briefings given to Johnson to get him to go out and front this crap. It wouldn’t take much persuading as he has extensively written about his own prejudices. But only moments after his “beat it in 12 weeks” it was back to the naked emperor again. Just a shabby dishevelled shell who is so far out of his depth even is own party are now moving to disown him. We need to give him the push now.
WTAF ! how does this utter turd of a PM even begin to know that the worst will be over in 12 weeks .
The Sit Reps from the WHO , 31 DEC 2019 first cases in China reported , Sit Rep today , only now after a serious and sustained quarantine of the entire population is the infection/death rate slowing .
Now compare the early committed and robust measures taken by the Chinese Govt with what Johnson the Clown has done so far in the UK .
Do nothing , Take it on the chin , let it move through the society , get herd immunity , no closures of public spaces , schools still open or not or maybe , well who the fuck knows , and that has taken well from mid Jan till now .
Who knows how this is going to go and it won’t be in 12 weeks far from the worst being over by then , and in any case the worst will now be MUCH worse than it needed ever to be as a result of this utter tool of a person who has the audacity to be squatting in No 10 .
The number diagnosed is tiny compared to those who have it, had it
If your not testing it’s a sick joke trying to guess the numbers
Mortality rate is 1% and it only threatens those who with underlying conditions
Winter flu excess deaths are between 8,000 and 27,000
Closing schools makes absolutely no sense
Key workers needs to include those who cannot afford child care and those on free school meals
How many does that leave FFS
And the responsibility for that deliberately engineered dilemma lies right at the foot of Johnson and Co.
The right response imo is temporary UBI till the virus is under control or eradicated .
Covid according to WHO is 20 to 50 times more deadly than flu , and the mortality rate depends which age bracket you are in excluding any underlying conditions it’s
for 80 and over its 67% for 60 -70 its 3.4% and for younger folks its below 1%
If Children are likely to be effective carriers of this virus then the transmission line is surely via parents to work place parents .
Grand parents already in many cases do the child minding whilst parents are at work , so imo are at higher risk than if the schools closed and relieved them of that duty , as parents would then have to stay at home to look after their children. The Govt is screwing this up by not biting the bullet and compensating the loss of earning via UBI , along with the idealogical stupidity delaying strict isolation control measures . Example Italy has now surpassed the total deaths (3526) of China (3231) , and the new deaths today in Italy is 345 and China 13 new deaths , the key difference is Italy delayed , just as Johnson has delayed us in the UK .
If they are serious about controlling this , then strict isolation is what needs to be done where ever possible and imo that means schools and all public places . You can’t blame anyone other than the Tory Govt for the mess it’s made over the last 10 yrs and the state we as a Nation have been put into by them .
IMO, the UK will follow the same trajectory as Italy in the coming months and as Corbyn has said history will judge them the politicos and I hope it burns the hell out of the Tories and Johnson for what they have done .
Universal credit is the safety net below which no one falls
UBI is bankruptcy for a country that is already insolvent
Absolutely agree. I watched this too. He is like a startle rabbit in headlights. Itbisvobvious he’s just waffling and bumbling in his normal manner.
He hates being on camera and under scrutiny. It exposes his lack of gravitas and credibility.
No wonder at the end he pleaded for this dail press conference to go on line.
DO NOT allow this useless PM to run away and hide.
I got room in my freezer for him to hide , permanently !
Perhaps the main problem with the Government is that it is a One Man Band? It seems all decisions have to be made by him but his intellect isn’t up to it so he ends up wallowing in dithering indecision and nobody has the power to shut him up. Now he’s collapsing the economy in an historic car crash. He’s physically shrunk and aged in a week. Perhaps he’ll do an Antony Eden after Suez and decide his health isn’t up to it? His brain certainly isn’t.
Paul l agree We will probably end up with another Tory drunk like Churchill,with a wing anda prayer economics for the Wealthy elite.Even in Trumps America the administration has caught on that just divying out public money to the Banksters doesn’t work.My Soninlaw has been on a 4day week for over a week now in Florida were he deals with high end Business travellers all over the world.He has been left without pay for the one day less and is told the government will issue the money shortfall next week.He has also been guaranteed a federal payment for a shutdown.Whilst in Britain its more of the quantitive handouts that failed last time and we are getting nothing in quantitative easing for the public.The whole rotten system has been tried and tested and failed miserably.We all know the theory behind “knowing somthing is wrong but continually repeating the same mistakes” the route to insanity ..We the sane part of r public will suffer unless a real solution to this “mindless” drift is sorted out.
Looks like all that public schoolboys education has been wasted.They really are the worst advert for private education I have seen.ITs such a shame when you see Labour mps following the same route into apartheid education..But they are after all 2nd rate mps and torys.
Corbyn has gone and look what we are left with?
There are NO WHO universal guidelines regarding the need (or otherwise) to close schools.to prevent the spread of Covid 19. The opposite may be true. There are millions of parents in GB (many single parents) who are now trapped in the ‘Gig Economy’, courtesy of the actions of Thatcher & Blair, with obscenely poor terms & conditions of employment.
For them, school closures mean that they cannot work, unlike the ‘Smugs’ who can ‘self isolate’ without consequence. For many, it means working regardless of whether or not you are sick……another recipe for disaster. For many, real poverty is reality & closing schools will make their lives impossible.
It will be interesting to find out who Hancock thinks are key or essential workers……politicians perhaps, they don’t appear to be self isolating?