Boris Johnson should have stood up to Nicola Sturgeon instead of foisting masks on pupils
SIR – I was gobsmacked to read that masking at schools in England during the Covid pandemic was introduced after Boris Johnson was told it “was not worth an argument” with Nicola Sturgeon (report, March 2).
This shows the folly of devolution with respect to health issues during a pandemic. Surely in a national emergency central government should be the final arbiter for all measures throughout the United Kingdom.
I am also disappointed that Mr Johnson did not have the moral courage to differ with Ms Sturgeon. Sadly, it was the schoolchildren of England and Scotland who were the losers. Robert Taylor Nottingham SIR – If Boris Johnson had followed his instincts and given older people the choice to shield (report, March 2) rather than lock down the whole country, Britain’s pandemic response would have been very different.
Lockdowns would have been avoided, education would have continued without excessive disruption, our working population would still be going to the office, the economy would still be in reasonable shape, cancer patients would not be dying prematurely and he, Boris, would still be prime minister.
No doubt there are still some who will insist that, without lockdowns, more people would have died; but if Sweden’s experience is anything to go by, that is unlikely to have been the case. Indeed, I find it astonishing that there is anybody left who, with the benefit of hindsight, still believes our pandemic response was proportionate.
We have paid a terrible price for locking down. It must never be allowed to happen again.
Georgina Stanger
Caerwent, Monmouthshire
SIR – Parents whose children have suffered because of the lockdown policies are in a dire situation.
I have been a qualified counsellor for 12 years and am a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. As a result of the lockdowns, very many young people have suffered from anxiety and a lack of socialisation experience.
Some parents are able to use a private counsellor, but others rely on the help of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. These are so underfunded that, if you are referred, there is a two-year waiting list. This is ridiculous. If your situation with your child is urgent (perhaps involving the police) it gets put on the urgent list – a six-month wait. This is totally unacceptable. Virginia Jones
Chesham, Buckinghamshire
SIR – Sir Gavin Williamson’s suggestion that teachers were looking for an “excuse” not to work (report, March 2) shows a marked lack of awareness of what was going on at many schools during the pandemic.
I worked in state and private education during this time. In both sectors, teachers were given one to two weeks’ notice to learn how to use all of the software necessary for delivering face-to-face lessons on the internet; were expected, once teaching had moved online, to spend extra time speaking directly to pupils on a regular basis to monitor their wellbeing and mental health; and were required, when the Government cancelled public exams, to administer the whole process necessary for the awarding of grades on behalf of the exam boards.
In a 26-year teaching career, it was incredibly stressful and the hardest I have ever worked, and my experience is by no means unique. Our reward for this has been to see our pay fall, in real terms, over the past decade and our working conditions deteriorate.
Sir Gavin’s comments are inaccurate and deeply hurtful. His claim – that he was describing teaching unions rather than the teachers they represent – only adds insult to injury. A sincere apology is appropriate and should be delivered before any further damage is done to an already demoralised profession. Alexander Quenault
Wisborough Green, West Sussex
SIR – Unicef has described the scale of the loss to children’s learning caused by the pandemic as “insurmountable”. Isabel Oakeshott’s moral courage must lead us beyond hindsight anger to a positive plan for the two million children disengaged from education as a result of Covid.
I would suggest local hubs of extended learning, such as those I have visited in Scandinavia, where folk of any age can return to education. They could be called King Charles Colleges – a positive beacon of hope in his coronation year.
Canon Alan Hughes Berwick-upon-tweed, Northumberland
SIR – Sex was taboo 150 years ago but death was accepted. Today the reverse is true and it is now impossible to have a rational debate about mortality.
I found it particularly egregious during the pandemic that the BBC posted daily so-called Covid death figures without ever mentioning that on average, 1,600 of us die in Britain each day. Even the Covid death figures were exaggerated. I had two friends who were terminally ill, caught Covid in hospital and died. Covid went on their death certificates as a result. Clive Williams Upper Basildon, Berkshire