‘Completely avoidable mess’: Keir Starmer attacks Boris Johnson over schools reopening delay

Government’s plans on restoring education lie ‘in tatters’, says Labour leader

Keir Starmer has told Boris Johnson he must take responsibility for the ”completely avoidable mess” of the failure to take schools out of lockdown, accusing the prime minister of “flailing around trying to blame others”.

The Labour leader went on the attack at prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons a day after the government ditched its plan to give all primary pupils a month’s school before the summer and admitted that some students may not be able to get back to classrooms in September.

Sir Keir said that the delay left the government’s plans for schools “in tatters” and repeated Labour demands for the establishment of a national task force including unions, parents’ representatives and medical experts to work out a way to get children back into the classroom safely.

“It’s time he took responsibility for his own failings,” he told MPs. “This mess was completely avoidable. The consequences are stark.”

Mr Johnson told the Labour leader to encourage “his friends in the left-wing trade unions” to help get schools ready, but offered no new suggestions for how to increase the space available or recruit extra staff to permit socially distanced lessons.

Sir Keir said the UK is the “outlier” compared to other countries which are now getting children back to school, telling the Commons: “It’s no good the prime minister flailing around trying to blame others.”

When the PM announced his ambition in May to get children back into schools weeks later, he must have known that temporary classrooms would be needed to comply with social-distancing rules, said Starmer. “They built the Nightingale hospitals,” he said. “Why are they only starting on schools now?”

He told MPs: “We all want as many children back into school as soon as it’s possible and as soon as it’s safe. What that required for that to happen was a robust national plan, consensus among all key stake holders and strong leadership from the top. All three are missing.

“The current arrangements lie in tatters, parents have lost confidence in the government’s approach and millions of children will miss six months’ worth of schooling and inequality will now go up.”

The Labour leader said he had received no response from Mr Johnson to his proposal made some weeks ago for a national task force bringing together education unions, parents organisations and health experts, telling the PM: “It’s not too late, will the prime minister take me up on this?”

Mr Johnson retorted that Starmer had previously backed unions which warned against a swift return to classrooms.

“Last week he was telling the House that it was not yet safe for kids to go back to school, this week he’s saying that not enough kids are going back to school. I really think he needs to make up his mind,” the PM told MPs.

In testy exchanges, Mr Johnson claimed that he had already discussed Starmer’s proposals in a phone call and that he had then “deviated” with the plans agreed.

But Sir Keir denied this, telling MPs: “The prime minister and I have never discussed our letter in any phone call – he knows it and I know it.

“The taskforce has never been the subject of a conversation between him and me one-to-one or in any other circumstance on the telephone. He knows it, so please drop that.”