CHRISTMAS ISN’T CANCELLED
STUDENTS are expected to be allowed home for Christmas, Downing Street said yesterday.
Tens of thousands of young people at universities across the country have been forced to isolate in their halls of residence after coronavirus outbreaks.
And ministers fuelled fears of festive misery after refusing to rule out locking down the universities.
But the Prime Minister’s spokesman said students are subject to the same rules as everyone else and should be free to celebrate with their families.
“We would expect all students to be able to go home at Christmas,” he added.
No 10 moved to ease fears that students would be banned from travelling home hours after Care Minister Helen Whately refused to rule out a holiday lockdown.
Confined
She echoed warnings made last week by Health Secretary Matt Hancock that he could not take any option off the table to deal with a surge in the disease.
Furious Tory MPs warned yesterday that attempts to stop students reuniting with families would be unacceptable.
Sir Desmond Swayne said the last government to restrain celebrations was Oliver Cromwell.
Former Cabinet minister Sir John Redwood said the country needs hope rather than the threat of the “cancellation of Christmas” or of thousands of students being “locked away” in cramped accommodation.
But Tory MP Simon Baynes, who has two daughters at university, said the Government must keep people safe and protect the economy. “I believe it has this balance right,” he said.
Ministers will be grilled by MPs today amid growing fury about how students in Covid hotspots are being dealt with.
Around 40 universities have had coronavirus cases and tens of thousands of students are being forced to self- isolate for 14 days. At Manchester Metropolitan University alone around 1,700 students were told to self- isolate after 127 tested positive for coronavirus.
Guards have even been on patrol at some accommodation blocks to stop people leaving.
Yet young people at universities have complained they are struggling to get hold of food and other essential supplies.
Tory MP Tom Hunt, a member of the Commons Education select committee, raised concerns about the impact restrictions are having on the mental health of students.
He added: “Young students being forcibly confined to their accommodation is not something that sits comfortably with me at all.
“I am deeply concerned about the mental health and well- being of students, particularly those in their first year.
“If they are not able to attend lectures they should be able to
get a refund on their fees. If students are only given online tuition and not allowed to socialise it makes you wonder why they are being asked to go to university.
“We must keep asking ourselves if this is the sort of world we want to live in? We must get the balance right.”
Meanwhile, in a letter to Boris Johnson, the University and College Union said it was “not prepared to take chances with the health of students, our members and the communities they serve”. General secretary Jo Grady said: “It’s clear remote learning should be the default for campus life while we are in this precarious position.
“However, what we are seeing is university employers hiding behind the Government’s current guidance, with all the ambiguities associated with the term ‘ blended learning’.”
Shadow education secretary Kate Green called on the Government to “get to grips with the situation”.