by Cllr Ian Shires, Walsall Liberal Democrat Group Leader

Whether or not a school should open this week depends on a number of things, not least of all are the resources that are available to individual schools, and that will vary from school to school.

One such resource is teachers. Some will now need to be isolating due to underlying health issues. There are those who because of pregnancy can go into school but can’t be in the classroom so straight away the availability of supply teachers becomes an issue.

Then there are the health and safety issues which need to be taken into account and here the weather conditions come into play due to the recent snow and ice. In normal times a safe pathway is all that would be needed. Under COVID-19 rules all that changes. Because of social distancing now the whole site has to be made safe and free from any snow and ice.

Just these two points alone will impact on and require the resilience of the school budgets. Some schools will be in a better place than others when it comes to their budgets and I don’t mean just from a financial point of view. Resilience will also depend on the community the school serves. Some communities are more resilient than others because of the wealth, or lack of wealth, within particular communities.

In a fair society this would not be an issue as the straight would step in. We currently do not live in anything like a fair society so like it or not, wealth plays a big part in deciding whether or not a school will be open this week. There are those who can’t work from home, to some it’s not so much of an issue as they earn sufficient money or have family who can look after kids should schools close. There are others for whom this would not be an option as they are low paid or on zero hours contracts or are self-employed with no Government Grants to help them make ends meet.

All of these pressures have led to divided opinion as to whether or not schools should remain closed given the very high number of new COVID-19 cases each day. Whilst the public remains divided in this way the real culprits in all of this get off the hook the lack of decisive leadership!

What is needed right now is a leadership which holds the respect of the people, one which has the courage of its convictions and is guided by an understanding of the evidence led science readily available to it.

Sadly, Johnson and his fellow Tories are anything but decisive and are more led by their dogma than the science which other countries, more successful than ours in controlling COVID-19 than ours adopted very early on in this Pandemic. Their dithering multiple U-turns has led us to the situation we now find ourselves in just one day away from schools reopening. Add to this a country divided by Brexit and a total lack of social cohesion is it any wonder that we are where we are right now?

We have massive problems – a voting system which denies power to people. A Parliamentary system which denies power to MPs. A media system which allows newspapers to peddle fake news without consequences. A Tax system which allows rich people a multitude of ways to protect “their” wealth, and an economic system which promotes inequality.

So as we start a new year let us not lose sight of who the real culprits are for landing us in our current predicament. Johnson and his Tory government.

Content published and promoted by Willenhall Liberal Democrats all at 23 Lynwood Close, New Invention WV12 5BW

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