Javid lashes out at ‘vicious lies’
THE Health Secretary lashed out at “idiots” who mount anti-vaccine protests outside schools, as he said exclusion zones are an option to protect children.
Sajid Javid yesterday said that children have been injured in clashes with protesters, who are spreading “vicious lies”.
Labour has called for local councils to be able to use exclusion orders to prevent harassment of staff and pupils by ‘anti-vaxxers’ outside schools.
Mr Javid said those measures could be an option for dealing with the problem.
Questioned on Sky News about protests at one school in which three children were injured, the Cabinet minister said: “These people are doing so much damage.
“First of all, here you have three children that are injured, actually physically injured, and that’s heartbreaking to see – children going about what they should be doing, going to school every day, and you’ve got, frankly, these idiots outside their school spreading vicious lies. It’s becoming a growing problem as time goes by.”
He said there are options for tackling the problem, adding: “In terms of whether it’s an exclusion zone, or other potential action, I think it’s got to be done at a local level”. If you’ve injured children, that is a criminal act and I hope in that case police are able to track those people down.”
Downing Street said it was “never acceptable for anyone to pressurise or intimidate pupils, teachers or the wider school community”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Protesters engaging in this type of behaviour should immediately stop.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel has made clear that police will have the “powers and resources they need” to deal with the issue, the spokesman added.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) revealed earlier this month that most of the schools surveyed by the union (79%) have been targeted by ‘antivaxxers’.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it is “sickening” that those against vaccinations are demonstrating at school gates.
“It is sickening that anti-vax protesters are spreading dangerous misinformation to children in protests outside of schools,” Sir Keir said.
“Labour believes the law around public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) urgently needs to be updated so that local authorities can rapidly create exclusion zones for anti-vax protests outside of schools.”
PSPOs can be used to disperse people from a public area and have previously been used to move on protesters outside abortion clinics, or to allow police to confiscate alcohol in certain spaces.
However, gaining permission to impose one takes time and significant consultation, and Labour is calling for an expedited process in cases of preventing harassment and intimidation of children outside schools if agreed to by the school, the leader of the local council, and the local police chief constable.