U-turn as ALL London primaries stay closed

Williamson forced into humiliating climbdown

ALL primary schools in London will remain closed when term starts next week after Gavin Williamson was forced into yet another embarrassing U-turn.

Just two days after instructing some of the capital’s schools to reopen as normal after the Christmas holidays, the Education Secretary backtracked last night following legal threats from councils.

It means thousands of parents face an urgent scramble to find care for their children who were supposed to return to school from Monday.

On Wednesday, Mr Williamson announced a plan to close primaries in certain boroughs of London at the start of term, while keeping open others just yards away. The move was branded a ‘postcode lottery’.

Councils reacted with fury as it emerged

‘We must protect our country’

that schools in areas like Kensington and Chelsea with low rates of the virus would remain shut, while those in places like Greenwich would reopen despite high rates.

On New Year’s Eve, the Education Secretary insisted he was ‘absolutely confident’ there would be no further delays to schools reopening.

But last night he announced that all London’s primary schools will be shut until at least January 18, rather than some opening on Monday.

The Department for Education said the decision was taken following a ‘further review of the transmission rates’ of Covid-19.

Sources said the decision was reversed after councils pointed out that many pupils cross borough boundaries to go to schools.

Mr Williamson said in a statement: ‘ Children’s education and wellbeing remains a national priority. Moving further parts of London to remote education really is a last resort and a temporary solution. As infection rates rise across the country, and particularly in London, we must make this move to protect our country and the NHS.

‘We will continue to keep the list of local authorities under review and reopen classrooms as soon as we possibly can.’ It is the latest humiliating U-turn from the Education Secretary, who first had to backtrack over the failed algorithm to determine last sumer’s exam grades.

He then had to abandon an ambition for primary school children to return to school in the summer, and backtracked yet again on children wearing masks in lessons. On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Williamson announced that primaries in 50 local authority areas in the South – including many in London – would shut for the first two weeks of term.

The announcement triggered a furious reaction from council leaders and unions, who said it was not safe for staff and pupils to return to schools while the infection rate continues to climb. Leaders of London councils threatened legal action and demanded that the Education Secretary reverse the decision, which they said was ‘not supported by the evidence’.

In a letter, they said they were ‘struggling to understand the rationale’ behind a move that ignored ‘ the interconnectedness of our city’.