School closures, Labour, teaching unions – and why Starmer himself should be in the dock
Does he back the National Education Union’s advice to its members not even to engage on a possible June 1 re-opening?
MPs must return to Westminster, and subject the Government to proper scrutiny, at the earliest opportunity
Rees-Mogg is right: we cannot tell children to go back to school if parliamentarians continue to play truant.
“Una faccia, una razza”. Greece – a success story in managing Covid-19?
By all indications, the country’s citizens have been some of Europe’s most compliant in observing lockdown.
Covid-19 is a slender excuse for Johnson’s u-turn on lifestyle freedom
It isn’t justification enough that obesity exacerbates the virus if any realistic timeline for slimming the nation is longer than the pandemic.
This really is the time to let the deficit grow big enough to look after itself
If, that is, interest rates carry on at rock bottom rates. But we have to take a chance on growing our way out of this crisis.
The teaching unions are wrong to campaign against reopening schools
One union has warned teachers not to “engage” in talks – in an utterly unhelpful move.
Why the Government is keen to get the Commons sitting again
Ministers’ efforts to get schools and businesses to re-open won’t be helped if MPs are visibly unwilling to return to Westminster.
If you thought staying in lockdown was hard, wait until you see what trying to get out of it is like. But here’s how Johnson could do it.
A successful test, track and quarantine policy would open the door to local paths out of this national shutdown.
Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Starmer becomes lethal by pointing out the Government’s inconsistencies
The Leader of the Opposition showed, in the reasonable tone of a man on the Camden omnibus, that the official account is incoherent.
An undertow of doubt about the Government’s competence is washing through the Conservative Parliamentary Party
And contrary to Johnson’s figure of speech, we haven’t yet reached the mountain peak. The difficult part of the climb is only just beginning.
The UK quarantine for international arrivals: what the rules are – and the reasons for their imposition now
Whereas other countries, such as Israel and Australia, implemented travel bans mid-March, the country is only following now.
Our snap survey. Over half of our Conservative member panel backs Johnson’s plan. A third want a Sweden-style looser lockdown.
The Prime Minister has room and time to get the new policy right – at least as far as most Party members are concerned.
Andrew Gimson’s Commons sketch: The Prime Minister offers good-natured, commonsensical, rather fuzzy unity
When Starmer tried to cross-examine him in order to produce clarity, Johnson simply refused to engage.
Ten questions for Johnson about his lockdown plan
They seem no less relevant this morning than they were yesterday – and are unlikely to be answered this afternoon.
What will Conservative MPs make of the Prime Minister’s new plan – not just this morning, but during the coming weeks?
The ’22 Executive has been pushing for a faster end to lockdown, and many Tory MPs agree. But they’re more likely to follow public opinion than lead it.