SIR Keir Starmer, eager to get his name in the press to show he is around, has come up with a rather lachrymose reason to get the schools re-opened.
He suggested: “Schools should be among the first places to re-open when the Government decides to ease the lockdown.”
He fears that children from disadvantaged backgrounds will have suffered. Yet, one notes he has not put health and welfare first for his reasons.
Yes, one needs to look ahead and formulate possible outlines for easing the lockdown. But health comes first.
There are some who are eager to ease restrictions for economic reasons. However, this must be balanced against any possibility that the spike in infections and deaths would rise again.
Nick Powdthavee, professor of behavioural economics at Warwick Business School, said: “We support the existing lockdown strategy, but in the future it will be necessary to allow citizens to go back to some kind of normal life.
“Unless a vaccine is suddenly discovered there are no risk-free or painless ways forward.”
The dilemma is encapsulated in the following comment: “Like children, younger people are less susceptible to developing severe symptoms when they catch the virus – though the researchers estimated that their proposed strategy would result in between 600 and 700 extra deaths.
“There are currently around 900 officially reported deaths a day in hospitals in the UK.
“If this policy were enacted, there would still be tragic cases and some pressure on the NHS, but the effects would be far smaller than if the wider population were released.”
So, is it children who are to be subjected to first wave of easing the lockdown? Sir Keir Starmer in his haste to pronounce needs to avoid uncritical off-the-cuff remarks such as “schools must be the first”.
That is simply a variant of the crude herd-theory.
John Edgar
Kilmaurs
THE leaked report that Keir Starmer attempted to bin in the quest for unanimity has spectacularly revealed what we had all suspected.
The relentless media antisemitism campaign against the shadow cabinet was sustained and orchestrated. Without a satisfactory conclusion those with genuine grievances felt they were not being listened to.
The comments revealed in the report taken from texts were couched in the most appalling language towards individuals in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. They hated Corbynistas so much that their preference was a right-wing Tory government in power rather than Corbyn in Downing Street.
Abandoning the poor and the most vulnerable for the sake of internecine politics of the worst kind has rightly been exposed, one wonders though how long Starmer can keep the Labour Party together.
Mike Herd
Highland
DO you remember the old joke where someone says “Isabel” and another person is supposed to say “Isabel who”? And the answer is “is a bell really necessary on a bicycle”? Well yes, I think a bell really is necessary on a bicycle, but on British roads it is not against the law to ride a bike without a bell, however it is unlawful to sell a bike without a bell fitted!
This is not a joke, just another case of where the law is an ass. We live at the end of what is normally a quiet, leafy lane and from the main council road it is surfaced for the half mile to our house after which it becomes a rough farm track. The lane is 2.6 metres (8-6ft) wide and has one vehicle passing place. It is lined with gnarled old Oaks and at present with dozens of daffodils and is, and always has been, a dog walkers’ paradise.
We are a mile from the nearest village and over two miles from a small town and recently during lockdown the lane has never been busier what with lone walkers, joggers and whole families taking the air. I am retired and spend a half hour every day walking the lane, picking the litter and being careful to keep up wind of groups of walkers and heavily panting joggers. They are welcome to take their exercise out in the sticks and I am happy to give them directions when they are unsure of the way, but one recent type of user has got my back up.
They are the road bike boy racers who come stealthily up my back and whizz past my ear at 25mph; no warning cry of “coming through” often used by mountain bikers and certainly not the ring of a bell which, these days, should be a necessary accessory on every bike by law.
D Bathgate
Midlothian
WHEN the big film production companies decide to make a blockbuster, they always reach out to the top talent. They never ask the local amateur dramatic society to direct, produce, and star. That’s what we have as a UK Government. Rank amateurs, from top to bottom! They may be enthusiastic in their approach, but they just do not have the skills or experience to convince us that their best efforts will never be anything other than unconvincing amateurs.
Sandy Allan
Via thenational.scot
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