In your article on the government’s plans for a phased return for schools in January (School leaders and councils demand clarity on primary closures, 31 December), you quote the Department for Education’s response to local authorities and school leaders mystified by the decision to close primaries in areas with relatively low infection rates but require them to open in areas where infection is high. “Decisions on which areas will be subject to the contingency framework,” the DfE said, “are based on close work with Public Health England, the NHS, the Joint Biosecurity Centre and across government to monitor the number of new infections, positivity rates, and pressures on the NHS.” However, on the same day, the Association of Directors of Public Health in London issued a statement calling for all primary schools in the capital to remain closed.
Also, on the same day that the prime minister claimed that schools were safe, a member of his own scientific advisory body, Sage, said this was “untrue”. Far from following the science, it seems the government is lying to the public on a regular basis about matters of life and death.
Patrick Murphy
Leeds
