Boris Johnson made a “panicked” decision to close schools in January 2021, Gavin Williamson has told the Covid Inquiry.
Mr Williamson, who was the education secretary at the time, said that he considered resigning from his role because of the decision, which he criticised as having been “made without having children’s interests front and centre”.
Mr Johnson announced schools would shut on Jan 4 2021, hours after he told parents it was safe to send their children back to the classroom.
In his witness statement, one of hundreds of documents published by the inquiry this week, Mr Williamson said: “I still believe that the decision did not sufficiently take children’s interests or well-being into account. I believe that the decision to close schools in January 2021 was not required. It was a panic decision, made without having children’s interests front and centre.”
Mr Williamson, who resigned as a government minister last year after bullying claims were made against him, also said in his written evidence that Mr Johnson did not give his advice to keep schools open “sufficient weight”.
The inquiry was also told that Mr Johnson said he hoped a new Covid test would “get Whitehall and the whole British army of bludgers and skivers back into the office”.
‘The prize is immense’
In a WhatsApp message from Mr Johnson to a circle of his close aides on Aug 7 2021, he asked them to work “flat out” to make Oct 7 “COVID FREEDOM DAY”.
He said in a later message: “I know that I am sometimes accused of over optimism/boosterism etc but I truly think wednesdays [sic] meeting on rapid salivary testing could be a turning point. The prize is immense.
“If we can offer the British public a simple and rapid turnaround test to show whether or not – to a high degree of probability – they have the disease then we have the glimmerings of a route out of the nightmare.”
Mr Johnson said this would mean “at a stroke” the Government could reopen “the most difficult and Covid-prone sectors of the economy” and that “people will be able to take a test in the morning and as Matt [Hancock] says go to Hamilton the musical in the evening”.
He also said it would “transform our approach to international travel and quarantine”.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
