Keir Starmer has called for more children should be vaccinated and better testing and ventilation is needed in schools to ensure classrooms stay open throughout winter, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader said the country needed “better leadership” from Boris Johnson and his government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He criticised the lack of “sufficient” Covid-19 tests nearly two years into the pandemic, describing it as “simply unacceptable” that the Government had not yet dealt with the issue.
Answering questions during a speech in Birmingham, Sir Keir said: “If we’re to keep our schools open, and we must, what we need is many more of our school children vaccinated.
“Only about half of those over 12 who are eligible to be vaccinated have been vaccinated.
“We said to the Government use the Christmas period to vaccinate those children. We need much better ventilation. We’ve been saying this for about a year to stop the virus spreading in schools.
We have now come up with I think, something like 7,000 ventilaors, which is about one in four for all the schools that need it.”
Starmers comments will anger parents who feel it is wrong to vaccinate children wirhout parental consent.
The Uk government has said it will mediate between parents and pupils in circumstances where a child wants to be vaccinated against the parents wishes, but support a child capable of making a competent judgement if they really want ro be vaccinated
Pupils in England returned to the classroom on Tuesday after their Christmas break, with new advice to wear masks in the classroom and test twice a week.
Challenge
Pupils returning to class will be mandated to wear masks when they return to school.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said it would be “more challenging, of course, to deliver education with masks on in the classroom” but stressed the need to disrupt learning as little as possible.
The Education Secretary said schools should be prepared to merge classes into large groups if staff levels dipped too low and offer online learning for children who have to isolate.
Sir Keir said the Government is “nowhere near achieving” the testing targets needed among schoolchildren
“It is simply unacceptable the best part of two years into a pandemic for the Government to say we don’t have enough tests,” he said.
“Lateral flow tests ought to be available in sufficient quantity to deal with the situation we are now in.
“Omicron was a word we hadn’t heard several weeks ago but the idea that there would be a variant that would get around some of the protections in place was a known threat six months ago.”
Asked if a Labour government would call for different measures, such as reducing Covid isolation to five days, he said his party had “always taken the approach of following the science”, and would continue to do so.
Downing Street said experts on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation would be considering whether to expand the jabs programme to all primary-age school children as part of their work.
Sir Keir romised a “straight leadership” based on the values of “security, prosperity and respect” if he were to be elected Prime Minister.
“I am well aware that just because the Tories lose the public’s trust it doesn’t mean Labour simply inherits it. Trust has to be earned. I am confident but not complacent about the task ahead,” he said.
He said the UK was a “great place to live” but pointed to challenges facing people in the coming months.
“I’m afraid at the moment we are going backwards. We have a Prime Minister who thinks the rules apply to anyone but him,” he said.
He said his “contract” would ensure people have a “basic right” to feel safe in their own communities, knowing the NHS is there for them when they needed it, while having the opportunity to thrive and prosper.