Keir Starmer backs unions in wanting schools to return safely ⚡⚡⚡

[DumplingsAndStew]

"We'll have to see where the data is, where the science is, but that's what we should be working towards. If that means more testing, if that means Nightingale classrooms, if it means other measures, let's do that because I want to get our kids back into school."

Isn't it great that he agrees with what school staff and unions have been saying for months. That he wants schools to put in place cautious safety measures to enhance safety, so that everyone can return.

news.sky.com/story/amp/covid-19-labour-calls-for-all-schools-in-england-to-reopen-on-8-march-and-for-a-debt-charter-12224393

Well Boris tends to ridicule Kier and his ideas but weeks later follows them. Take Christmas fir example

Just get the kids back for the love of god. Enough. They’ve missed enough!

Whoever thinks Kier Starmer is in government doesn’t even have a basic understanding of what government is.

There are a number of different political parties. They all send MPs to sit in the House of Commons. Whichever party has the majority of seats forms a government. The government is currently conservative.

Kier Starmer is the leader of the opposition to the government (labour). He is not in government.

Christ!

Running out of excuses thankfully as more teachers and parents get vaccinated. The “bringing it home to their parents” argument loses its power

sasha that’s so rude. I don’t want Covid spreading in schools because the surge in cases will increase the demand on hospitals. You know where you work.

Teaching on line is utterly exhausting and soul destroying. The idea that teachers are sat at home enjoying an extended holiday is frankly insulting.

[quote DumplingsAndStew]@JanFebAnyMonth

He's still in government, and publicly stating that he has the same goal as unions do can only be a positive thing.[/quote]
Yeah he isn’t in government- he’s in the opposition.

@MoirasRoses

Just get the kids back for the love of god. Enough. They’ve missed enough!

I think people said this before September. As I recall, it did not go well.

Covid transmits in schools and extra safety measures are needed.

@DumplingsAndStew
"What do you mean "stand up to the unions"? Why would anyone be against putting in safety measures to make schools as safe as possible? "

Schools had safety measures last time and the unions still opposed return. Don't kid us, as parents we all know what the unions agenda is and that is to keep teachers off work.

What has been good at our school was the amount of teaching done live on teams although I understood they were utterly resistant to it citing safeguarding issues, technology hitches, not using their home broadband and not understanding MS Teams.

Having watched Starmer on TV...I didn't see him supporting the unions although he did sit on the fence a little (as usual)

Kier Starmer looks frightened to death half the time. I’ve never seen such a weak leader of the opposition. Corbyn was dreadful but he at least looked confident.

The safety measures in schools in most places in England aren’t really fit for purpose. Hence the reason many bubbles burst and schools were seen as huge vectors of transmission. If we want rates to stay low we need to put further measures in place.

@Malteser71

Kier Starmer looks frightened to death half the time. I’ve never seen such a weak leader of the opposition. Corbyn was dreadful but he at least looked confident.

I dunno, Starmer has trounced Johnson in debate? Mind you, I've never seen such a terrible Prime Minister. (and we have seen a few)

Ha, I’ll beg to differ on Boris.

He’s at least entertaining. I preferred John major.

MN is a strange place. Lots of people here are very politically engaged, while others don’t understand the differences between government, opposition and Parliament.

I actually thought he’d turned into a Tory. This is refreshing.

@Malteser71

Ha, I’ll beg to differ on Boris.

He’s at least entertaining. I preferred John major.

He's PM, rather than a comedian. Supposedly.

Schools had safety measures last time

Did they fuck.

So we've now got two sides to the argument:

Open schools when it is safe to do so with measures taken to make them safer (Starmer, Unions, Teachers, Chris Whitty + SAGE)

Open schools when it is not safe to do so with no measures taken to make them safer (CRG, Us4Them, anti-lockdowners)

Schools had safety measures last time and the unions still opposed return

Tape on the floor, bubbles of 250 kids. Teaching 150 kids in 4 different year groups.
No masks in classrooms.

The safety measures were totally inadequate, I still remember the look on my pupils faces when they realised what the “safety” measures amounted to.

@ladybirdlamp

I'm confused, how is Keir Starmer in government?

You know fine well what I mean. He is in politics, he is in Parliament. He is a political figure speaking publicly.

DS(16) has been much happier being at home with remote provision this term than he was in school last term. His school is quite small and spread out so no hordes of students cramming into corridors but he still didn’t feel happy with no social distancing in classrooms etc

@MoonlightInVermont

MN is a strange place. Lots of people here are very politically engaged, while others don’t understand the differences between government, opposition and Parliament.

And some of us just mix up our words, for many reasons.

Wouldn't it be nice to not understand the many reasons that could be 🙄

@dumplingsandstew yeah that's totally different to being in government.

@Hammonds

That clip only shows a snippet of what was said so you dont really get a true grasp of the interview. I was surprised at how forth coming he was.

He was asked about the unions and very politician like he dodged the question he didn’t reinforce support for the union at all. He dodged the only question about them. The unions do not want schools to open on the 8th - Keir does. He wasn’t shy through out the interview of repeating 8th of March. He is showing he wants a committed end date for this and wants the government to make sure measure are in place.

Your take away from the clip was Keir supports unions. My take from watching the whole interview is that Keir wants schools open on the 8th and the government need to make that possible by putting measures in place.

I agree. That short clip is probably about a 1/5 ( maybe less of the interview)

There was no acknowledgement of support for unions when pushed. I think Keir is focusing on the kids now and rightly so.

The unions have been quite vocal about not opening up on the 8th the only alignment he shares is wanting safety measures in place not phased returns, rota systems, Easter firebreak, total vaccination ect.

[quote Normalmumandwife]@DumplingsAndStew
"What do you mean "stand up to the unions"? Why would anyone be against putting in safety measures to make schools as safe as possible? "

Schools had safety measures last time and the unions still opposed return. Don't kid us, as parents we all know what the unions agenda is and that is to keep teachers off work.

What has been good at our school was the amount of teaching done live on teams although I understood they were utterly resistant to it citing safeguarding issues, technology hitches, not using their home broadband and not understanding MS Teams.

Having watched Starmer on TV...I didn't see him supporting the unions although he did sit on the fence a little (as usual)[/quote]
What safety measures were they? Were they sufficient?

And you say in one paragraph that unions are making sure that teachers don't work, yet follow on to compliment the work being done by teachers

It’s so infuriating as a parent and healthcare worker in a hospital that has never once refused to go into work until everything is “safe”.
Running out of excuses thankfully as more teachers and parents get vaccinated. The “bringing it home to their parents” argument loses its power

I sincerely doubt you and your colleagues would continue to work if you weren’t afforded basic safety measures - I am sure you are not providing your own masks, nor are you expected to provide sanitizer for the 150kids you see everyday. You are also now vaccinated and thousands of teachers are months away from that, as are many parents and children even further away. Some children are clinically vulnerable to covid and yet not one tiny fuck given about them and what could be done in school to make things safer for them.

What safety measures do unions want?

Here's the joint union statement:

Nine education organisations, including the NASUWT, have joined together to issue a statement on the wider opening of schools and colleges in England, ahead of the Prime Minister’s expected announcement on Monday.

We are committed to bringing all children and young people back into the classroom as soon as possible. However, it is counterproductive if there is a danger of causing another surge in the virus, and the potential for a further period of lockdown. Wider opening must be safe and sustainable.

We therefore urge the Prime Minister to commit to 8 March only if the scientific evidence is absolutely clear that this is safe, and at that point go no further than a phased return of children and young people with sufficient time to assess the impact before moving to the next phase.

We are increasingly concerned that the government is minded to order a full return of all pupils on Monday 8 March in England.

This would seem a reckless course of action. It could trigger another spike in Covid infections, prolong the disruption of education, and risk throwing away the hard-won progress made in suppressing the virus over the course of the latest lockdown.

The science around the role that schools play in the overall rate of transmission is uncertain. Scientists have expressed different views on this point. What we do know is that the full reopening of schools will bring nearly 10 million pupils and staff into circulation in England – close to one fifth of the population. This is not a small easing of lockdown restrictions. It is a massive step.

These factors necessitate a cautious approach with wider school and college opening phased over a period of time. This is the approach being taken in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It allows public health experts to assess the impact of the first phase before moving to the next.

None of this is intended to stand in the way of the full reopening of schools and colleges. On the contrary. It is intended as a prudent way forward to ensure that once they are fully open, they stay open.