“The Left's hysterical 'confusion' over No 10's plan is utterly transparent

With respect to others who clearly disagree, it is hurtful to accuse another of "having no concept or sympathy with the problems faced by essential workers" with no basis in fact nor of denigrating another as clearly "having no experience as a frontline worker" again with no basis. My original post was in response to a post about a question asked in the media, I attacked no one.
Furret whether your recent comment was to me or someone else, I appreciate the good manners. We are all under a great deal of stress and worry right now.

No you weren’t Furret - you made your very valid points well and there was no rudeness on your part.

I don't think it was you that was being rude Furret

I apologise if I was rude to a couple of people upthread. This is very stressful having close family working in the frontline of the NHS and now, if June 1st goes ahead, in education,

No excuse I know. But again sorry,

It’s interesting to see how partisan this crisis has become. Outrage being expressed as well as incompetence, ignorance even Murderers.
I was amazed whilst researching the other day to note an ONS statistic relating to the winter of 1999/00. It was a Labour Government in power at that time.
The excess deaths for that time was 48,000 from flu.
I can remember getting the flu then, it was horrible, however the whole of society carried on. I had about a week off work, but nothing changed, no government intervention, no carping from the opposition no MSM hysteria.
I cannot understand why the left, and particularly those ‘same old, same olds’ in the media that were militant Remainers feel now is the time to government and Brit bash relentlessly in what appears to be an attempt to destabilise the government. There may be axes still to grind, but for goodness sake, not now.

Ladymuck. “Whatever Boris does or says, the Opposition will oppose. It's their raison d'etre.”

And if Boris was Keir don’t tell me the same thing would happen.
What happened to critical faculties ? Why do people think Boris can do no wrong ? I have never voted Conservative but that doesn’t stop me thinking that someone like Michael Heseltine has good qualities, and in fact although I seriously disliked her I reckon Maggie T would possibly have handled this Crisis better.

Maybee70 - I’ve seen acknowledgement on the political threads that mistakes have been made by the Tories, I’ve acknowledged that myself. This post is about the Labour Party doing an about turn whenever it thinks needs to in order to oppose the government, irrespective of what views it held in agreement beforehand.

The above has been posted in the incorrect section, sorry

As there appears to be dissension regarding the staggered opening of schools, I have learnt this from reading various articles furret, we are living in unprecedented times. I suspect that as the lockdown is eased, some things will be trial and error, and this is not a flippant observation. The Government appears to be observing other countries that are a few weeks ahead of the UK to monitor their progress. Reports indicating that terrible errors were initially made, and this is a fact, is not helpful in the current climate.

So, lemon grove, you think that the government of a country that has had 32,000 deaths (and rising) is doing a good job. Just as left wing voters, in your opinion,never criticise their party of choice (and everyone centre or slightly left of centre seem to be branded left wing extremists) I’ve yet to read any criticism of the government on this forum from it’s supporters. Surely no government gets everything right all of the time and yet in some eyes Boris Johnson can do no wrong.

True Lemongrove! I find it interesting where I’ve agreed on the failings of the uk Government and also pointed out the ones of the Welsh counterparts (Labour) the silence from the left has been deafening......?

Absolutely agree Maizie

MaizieD it wouldn’t matter to some left wing posters if they thought the Conservative government were doing a good job or not and regardless if they have more than two brain cells or not, they would say ‘it’s all rubbish’.You know it, I know it and everybody knows it.
Notice that I say some left wing posters.

French schoolchildren returning to school are in the same age ranges as we are doing here, therefore it seems that education experts on both sides of the Channel are in agreement.
There will be around 15 children in the classroom.

People are scared enough as it is

Yes, Happygirl. People are terrified of what this talentless, incompetent, error prone government, led by bumbling clown whose strings are being pulled by an unelected weirdo ensconced in No10 as an 'adviser', is going to do next to up the body count.

It is incumbent on anyone with more than two brain cells to criticise it loud and clear.

Even the Victorians realised something was needed that's why they built parks as a place for the working class to get fresh air and exercise.. Of course the Tories have cut council funding so now the parks rely on volunteers to keep them open. Weird isn't it, we do something worse than the Victorians!

Now is not the time for parties fighting as they normally do
People are scared enough as it is
We need to stick together regardless of our political stance

We can only take care of people if that wealth is put into sustainable health care systems which are well funded and long term public health programmes which create healthy communities, employment and improvements in social justice - none of which has been particularly high on the list of Tory priorities.

growstuff that seems to confirm what Matt Hancock let slip on This Morning. He said that 13 and 14 year olds could be left at home whereas a 6year old couldn't. I don't know if he realised what he was saying. It seems that he doesn't know that teenagers need supervision as well or they get into all sorts of bother. Watch out for gangs of teenagers in parks drinking and drug taking while their parents work. Of course GCSE year and A level students would be on study and exam leave anyway. But the rest!!???

You took the words out of my mouth Jane ....without wealth
We can’t take care of anyone properly!

Glorybee I agree with what’s in the OP completely, it’s disappointing, just when we need unity during a pandemic, but sadly what a lot of us expected.

Without health there will be no wealth
Maisie and gagajo

Agreed, but it’s also true that without wealth there will be no health.
That’s why people living in deprived areas in this country suffer such poor health outcomes and have lower life expectancy and indeed are suffering more the effects of COVID than those living in affluent areas.
How wealth is distributed is the issue, not which of health or wealth we pursue.

trisher and Calendargirl I think the answer is that it is nothing to do with education, but ensuring that parents have no "excuse" not to work. Schools are being seen as providing a childminding service.

From an educational (and safety) perspective, the ones who should be allowed back first are Year 10s and 12s, who will be sitting public exams in a year.

Unless primary schools have changed radically since my children were there, Year 6s didn't do much after KS2 SATs in May anyway.

Some schools are to open here in France but it is parental choice as to whether or not the children go. The children able to go are the same age groups as those in England. The class sizes are due to be half the normal also. In some areas parents have been contacted to ask if they are intending to send the children to school.
All the families I am in contact with are not intending to send the children.
In US many schools and colleges announced a couple of weeks ago that they would not reopen again until September and in the case of Universities online only.

But why is it primary schools who are going back first? Why not secondary schools? Is it because the secondary ones can be at home unsupervised, whereas little ones can’t?
It said on the news last night that it is an important development stage, reception etc. but I would have thought another few weeks at home would not be detrimental, especially as so many parents seem unsure whether to send them anyhow.

I really don't understand why Reception children are included in those returning to school. Year 6 I can understand they will have their last few weeks in their primary and be better prepared for secondary and if they are the only children in they will be able to be supervised and socially distance themselves. But Reception is ridiculous. It will be about 7 weeks to the summer holidays. By the time they adjust it will be the holidays again. It's some attempt to pretend they are handling things. Nothing to do with what is best for the children at all.