Watching the PM on Marr.
Marr: “SAGE suggested you won’t be able to keep on top of cases if you keep schools open “
BJ: “Well SAGE suggested we take tougher measures, which I agree with”.

Why aren’t you doing it then. Why are you waiting.

BJ: “The evidence is not clear, we need to see whether the extra steps we’ve taken in tier four areas are enough”

Tier 4 has been operating in London for over two weeks now with no sign of cases coming down.

BJ: “There is no doubt in my mind that schools are safe and that education is a priority.”

Education is a priority, but that does not mean schools are safe places for staff to work or that we can control the spread of infection with them open.

BJ: “People aren’t focusing enough on testing. We didn’t have this huge number of lateral flow tests in the first wave.”

Testing will help to some degree, but it isn’t the whole solution to make schools safe.

BJ: “I believe that daily or weekly lateral flow testing in schools can make a huge difference”

Which is is daily or weekly? This will have a big impact on how effective testing is at finding positive cases.

This idea that the new variant is only affecting certain areas and not others, so we only need to take measures to control the spread in some areas is a farce.

The new variant is everywhere.

Disappointed that Marr isn’t hauling Johnson up on his repeated claim that “schools are safe, it’s just the mixing which takes place in schools which allows the virus to spread”.

What does he think people mean when they say schools aren’t safe?

Marr: “Isn’t it time to act now”

In response, Johnson claims that rates of infection were higher in the autumn than they are now.

I’m genuinely not sure he has a grip on the current situation and how serious it is.