Keep kids safe

ALL prime ministers make mistakes. Britain’s tragedy is that Boris Johnson does not learn from his.

Lives would have been saved had he not made earlier errors. The PM is risking making another.

That is why he must pause reopening schools for more pupils until essential conditions are met to make it safe for them to do so.

Today we publish an open letter from the National Education Union, signed by 1,000 head teachers, which details what those conditions must be. They want all scientific advice to be open so it can be reviewed by other scientists and the public.

They want assurances that social distancing in schools can be maintained and PPE provided to staff who want it.

They want ministers to talk directly to teachers and their unions as to how best keep children, and the families they return to at the end of the day, safe.

But most of all they want a guarantee that testing and contact tracing is working adequately before a date is set for children to return. And if that is not in place, no school should open to more children on June 1.

What the PM is embarking on is an experiment with a killer disease. And our children are too precious to be used as his guinea pigs.

A DOCTOR who missed his dad’s funeral to obey lockdown rules ignored by sneaky Dominic Cummings yesterday said he was “flabbergasted, disgusted and appalled” at the Tory adviser.

“I’m enraged he felt it was OK to do this while I, and many others, have had to go through hell,” said neuroscientist Dean Burnett, 37, a dad-of-two.

“When my dad Peter contracted Covid-19, I couldn’t see him. When he went to hospital, I couldn’t visit him. And when he passed away, I couldn’t be there.

“I’ve endured the worst emotional pain of my life. All because of the lockdown. Yet I stick to it, as I can’t imagine ever inflicting DISGUSTED Dean Burnett and dad Peter