Thread - #Newsnight ran over taking what should have been an 8 min interview down to 3 so here’s all the points I would have made if I’d had the time ...

1. All the arguments about opening schools would be true if #Covid_19 *only* affected CYP, or if they existed in a vacuum...

2. As it is, SAGE has found CYP are 7 times more likely to bring COVID into the home and are far more likely to be asymptomatic (doesn’t mean they can’t get #LongCovid of course, but less likely);

3. Most state schools cannot, just by dint of their size and pupil population...

...be COVID safe. This puts teachers at risk (and FFS please can someone think about teachers in these debates?)

4. The new COVID variant is severely affecting ppl in their 30s, 40s and 50s with no underlying health conditions according to #NHS ICU workers - thats most ...

...parents and teachers. The very ppl upon whom CYP rely.

5. Furthermore, SAGE has said we cannot expect the R rate to go down with a lockdown that includes fully open schools. If we rush to reopen schools now, it means more lockdowns in the future, prolonging everyone’s...

...agony.

6. Spread of COVID through fully open schools will disproportionately impact impoverished children because they’re more likely to live in cramped or multi generational households;

7. And yes, the most RW section of the Tory back-benches do not give a shit about...

...any of this. The ‘lockdown sceptics’ are co-opting arguments about education and mental health for economic imperatives. If you don’t believe me, check their voting records.

Sorry that time restraints meant I only got to say the last bit.