Analysis

Video: Starmer’s Labour sides with Tories on school masks – and against unions. School staff have died and studies show infection can spread like wildfire in and from schools

You’ve got to say, if that’s happening in schools then you cannot open schools.

Leading virologist Christian Drosten, who led major study of coronavirus spread in schools

Labour’s education spokesperson Kate Green this morning told Sky News viewers that the party would not contest the Tories’ decision not to require the wearing of masks in school – in spite of unions’ insistence that the absence of masks puts school staff and pupils, together with their families, at risk. At least 148 school staff have been killed by COVID-19.

Green said that Labour would not ‘second-guess’ the Tories’ ‘scientific advice’, even though it has been proven wrong regularly and has changed constantly – and in spite of well-known studies that show children are just as likely to transmit the virus as adults and that outbreaks can spread like wildfire in schools, with staggering rates of infection among staff and children of as high as 60%:

Drosten’s verdict was unequivocal: “If that’s happening in schools, then you cannot open schools.” Yet not only are schools open and set to re-open fully in September, both the Tories and Keir Starmer’s front bench are siding against the unions’ calls for masks to be worn.

Yet again, Keir Starmer is refusing to oppose the Tories even when it puts the lives of children and working people at risk.

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22 comments

  1. Remember when asked by ‘gammon extraordinare’ nick (more fiat than) ferrari about if people should go back to work if they feel unsafe and stammer said: ‘We’ll have to look at it??

    Well, now he’s looked at it….And decided your safety isn’t worth a carrot.

    https://videos.files.wordpress.com/8UQpEO8t/starmer-lbc_dvd.mp4

    So much for: ‘ I do think everybody’s entitled to a safe place of work’

    GTF, stammer.

  2. ‘Ere, steve h…

    Guess what? You asked us to wait; we did….And we got exactly what we expected (A-bastard-gain)

    You planning on carrying on abusing this particular tactic or face up to the fact that stammer’s a cnut?

  3. Schools are an obvious vector, and the perfect place to teach children how to use masks safely.
    Another pandemic can strike at any time without warning – children trained now will make the next one easier to stop spreading.
    If the Tories hadn’t been so reckless as to let PPE stocks fall so far below any reasonable person’s assessment of ‘preparedness’ we wouldn’t be the worst country for deaths.
    Tories are entirely to blame, not only for their own incompetence, but the population’s slapdash attitude to social distancing – Johnson personally bears most of the blame for that with his “take it on the chin” faux-Churchillian posturing – stupid, useless, vapid bitch that he is.

    1. “Schools are an obvious vector”

      No they’re not – especially now that there’s no epidemic levels of infection. Go do some reading and stop shadowing Hand-cock and Johnson by parroting the Beeb Scary Fairy tales.

      Or just go wrap *yourself* in cotton wool (well earthed) – in case lightning strikes.

  4. Christ! Starmer’s Labour does *something* right instead of backing the child abuse advocated by a notably regressive Union.

    A small reason for cheerfulness, although it will sadden the knicker-wetters who enjoy sitting on their damp arses.

    Good old SB – backing the innumerate and illiterate who are hard of understanding on Covid!

    1. I’d just been thinking today he hadn’t commented in a while.
      Raising people’s hopes and then dashing them. Typical.

      Correction to my previous post – fuckwits like RH and Bubba share the blame for the population’s slapdash attitude to social distancing – stupid, useless, vapid conspiracy-dupe bitches that they are.

      1. Poor old Mc Bullshit a true believer in hyperbole and hogwash. Regurgitating the slogans of chairman Gates and his merry pranksters, just like Private Fraser in Dads army. WE ARE DOOMED, DOOMED I SAY!!! By a virus which has a fatality rate, as measured in 8 countries between 0.2 – to about 0.46%. What next fear of being struck by asteroids.

  5. Starmer’s team are looking just like they are part of Johnson’s personal PR machine. Repeating the same mantra for exactly the same reasons. In the 1980s ordinary people referred to these people as clones, were going backwards not forward. Will the public blame these people or the Labour Party, it is people like this that tarnish Labour’s reputation.

    1. Sorry, rotzeitchen , but ‘these people’ (the Starmerite scum) ARE indeed the real Labour Party, historically for its ENTIRE pro imperialist, pro capitalist sad lifespan , and now – rather than the tiny number of always marginal Leftie MPs and a handful of still-remaining socialist members. Let’s not forget that it was the ‘Corbynist’ membership en masse that was just as keen on remaining in the neoliberal EU as the Starmerites , and hence collectively trapped us in the suicidal ‘Remain and Second Referendum 2019 Election policy. So , with our old Heartland working class voters, that , combined with years of their local Labour Councils implementing austerity without demur, has trashed the belief in Labour as a pro working class party forever, as in Scotland after many years of Tory-lite Labour Scottish ‘devolved administrations’. The ‘tarnish’ aint a simple surface, temporary, ‘tarnish’, rotzeichen, it is what Labour has always been , to its very core , ie, the compliant ‘Loyal Reserve Party of UK capitalism . The pathetically cowardly, indecisive, ‘Corbyn surge’ years were just a flukey blip in Labours trajectory away from even its traditional , grovelling, mildly reforming on occasions, social democratic politics – to being just a UK version of the US Democrat Party – totally wedded to neoliberalism.

      The real problem isn’t even the corrupt, careerist nature of the Labour Right – but rather the crap, middle class, identity-obsessed, non socialist Left Liberal politics and personnel of the bulk of the supposed Labour ‘Left’ membership ! Without breaking from the middle class liberals and liberalism that composes the current ‘Left’, no alternative Left Party will ever win over the now lost working class ex-Labour voters to radical politics, and with that crap , Left Liberal politics of the current , now utterly defeated Labour Left, serious internal Left resistance to the Starmer/Blairite triumphalist new Labour Leadership is bound to fail dismally – especially as no matter how disgracefully Starmer and co abuse the Corbyn circle they will NEVER leave the Labour Party – even if Jeremy himself is isolated and expelled.

      1. jpenney, you are one crazy mixed up kid. The ‘Left’ is not left enough for you, yet your obsessive hatred of the EU sees nothing wrong in driving us into the grasp of the right wing USA! Not forgetting of course your support for the racist right wing concept of Zionism.

      2. If Corbyn supporters weren’t left enough for you – because they weren’t Brexit enough for you – is UKIP in fact the real party of socialism in the UK?
        No? How many of these true socialist Brexiters are there in total, then?
        They’re not in the ‘Labour heartlands’ clearly – ‘true socialists’ would NEVER vote Tory.

        Another thing… if you believe in World Socialism (don’t we all?) doesn’t it behoove us to try to spread the word – and isn’t the EU the only serious political talking shop in the west?
        Neoliberal at present of course, but where in the world isn’t?
        The UK and US are the two hives of neoliberalism and Brexit forces us closer to the US – how does that fit your plan for a socialist resurgence?
        Those were rhetorical questions so you needn’t bother answering – I only skimmed your 5:05PM and I’ll be equally attentive to your reply so no need to waste your time.
        Brexit was a mistake of epic proportions.

      3. As a “corbynist”, I’d like to say you don’t know anything about me or many corbynists I know
        I’m working class and respected the brexit result, I was enthused by Corbyn’s socialist values and am furious that we were denied a fair govt by the right within labour, msm and a population that was willing to destroy the nhs, and embrace a far right tory party who will happily cull the vulnerable, cos they were too busy hating on certain parts of our community and gobbling up the bullshit they read on the front pages of the scum and daily heil

  6. Fact checkers have looked at it and working only from studies that have been peer reviewed,evidence is children are not spreaders of Covid19
    Neither are they affected by it
    Its official Sweden are ahead of the game
    Virus will die a natural death as herd immunity kicks in
    Most of us had immunity before Covid19 entered the population, T cells are the secret weapon against it
    Tories did not have a clue, they were on another eugenics experiment altogether
    We need large scale interaction, football, pubs, clubs, back to work, Cheltenham every other week,
    Together with shielding of vulnerable and test and trace, all over by Christmas and safe for them to come out to play, until the next one, that’s how the world works
    In pub last friday, asked auld fella if he was worried about Covid19
    ‘I dont give a fuck about all that bollocks’ was his reply
    Methinks who am I to say any other
    We then went on to toast Jackie Charlton

  7. How many teachers are there in the UK?

    There are currently 506,400 full-time teachers in the UK.
    https://www.besa.org.uk/key-uk-education-statistics/

    “ At least 148 school staff have died from Covid 19” which is a percentage rate, assuming they are all teachers because there are many thousands of teaching assistants and non teaching staff, the fatalities percentage is approximately 0.03 %.

    The largest cause of illnesses and possible deaths in the U.K. teaching profession by a very very very long way is stress and diseases related to stress.

  8. I wonder if it is a ghastly ego boost to be able to juggle with peoples lives and welfare. for personal or party benefit. ?..sick minds.

  9. Expect Sir Keir to seek funding outside the unions and attempt to marginalise them, replacing them with the “correct type” of donors and MSM outlets.

    1. So wont take a lot to help them on their way to form Mythical unicorn centrist red Tory, blue Tory, tartan Tory, yellow Tory GE winning party

  10. US Economist Professor Jeffrey Sachs spoke on BBC News an hour or so ago, making the point (among others) that the countries ruled by populists – US, Russia, UK and Brazil – have performed worst on tackling CV19 – pretty much what any thinking person would expect.
    His comments, though not directed at Johnson, were as applicable to him as to the other petty dictators.
    Here’s a New Yorker Q&A from April 21st.
    https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/jeffrey-sachs-on-the-catastrophic-american-response-to-the-coronavirus

  11. The US economy has contracted by about 32%, the U.K. by about 25% and The Russian Federation by about 16% because of a virus which has a median fatality rate of 80 years old, and approximately 95% of the cases are people who have 2 or more serious illnesses and has a mortality rate of between 0.2-0.46% . Yet, millions and millions of people will suffer a severe drop in living standards, homelessness and living a hand to mouth existence because of a perception of a “ pandemic “.

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