Vanessa ClarkReporter by education
Papers in hand, Boris Johnson arrived at the Covid inquiry before sunrise.
He was there to answer questions about decisions he made during the pandemic that directly impacted children.
And what an impact they had.
School attendance, behavior, screen time, speech and language—we now know that the pandemic has had a lasting impact on all of these issues for children.
Demand for speech and language support increased noticeably after the pandemic. The number of children who regularly miss school is still stubbornly high. And school suspensions and expulsions hit record levels.
Each of these issues can be traced back to the part of the pandemic that has been central to this investigative session: school closures.
Boris Johnson described the decision to close schools on Tuesday as a “personal horror” for him, a “nightmare idea”, but he said it seemed the only option at the time.
We know that in March 2020 the Government remained almost entirely focused on efforts to keep schools open.
But former education secretary Gavin Williamson told ministers at the inquiry last week they should have “bitten the bullet” and done more to prepare for school closures.
In earlier evidence given to the inquiry, we heard that there was not even a plan to close schools until the day it was announced on March 18, 2020.
In evidence from Sir John Coles, chief executive of the United Learning Trust, it was described as an “extraordinary breach of duty”.
But on Tuesday the former prime minister walked back that claim.
Getty Images“If you look at the sequence of events since February, it is clear that Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) is talking about this possibility, Cabinet is discussing it in March. Of course, I remember that this topic was raised more than once,” he said.
It would be accurate to say that Sage mentioned the prospect of “massive school closures” in February 2020.
But then-senior Department for Education (DfE) civil servant Jonathan Slater wrote in evidence to the inquiry that “the DfE's contingency plans were based on the assumption that schools (and other educational settings) would remain open.”
And Williamson told the inquiry last week that his ability to plan business closures had been hampered by Downing Street.
All of this points to the chaos of the decision-making processes underlying government at the time – something that former children's commissioner Anne Longfield explicitly refers to in earlier evidence.
She said it was unclear at the time who was in charge of planning the children.
It is now clear that there was no love lost between Johnson and Williamson, the men most responsible for the welfare of children during the pandemic.
Last week we saw an expletive-filled rant Williamson sent to his former boss, in which he lamented the “abuse” he received due to the government's decision to close schools the day after they reopened in January 2021.
And on Tuesday Johnson faced his own leaked messages to his advisers in which he suggested he wanted to sack DfE staff following the August 2020 exam results fiasco.
He now says the DfE has done a “heroic” job in tackling the pandemic.
The Liberal Democrats described it as an “insult” to “the true heroes of the Covid pandemic: the teachers and doctors, nurses and key workers who risk their lives to keep essential public services running”.
Johnson now admits lockdown and social distancing rules have “probably gone too far” – and there could be a way to make children exempt from them.
These are all points that Baroness Heather Hallett, chair of the inquiry, will be focusing on when it comes to her final report, as well as what could be done differently if this were ever to happen again.
The investigation room itself does not allow the use of any technology, mobile phones or laptops, and so many journalists were in the press room upstairs watching the live feed.
It was busier on Tuesday than it had been in the past few weeks, and the public gallery downstairs was full. Before the proceedings began there was a reminder that hooligans would not be allowed in – a reference to a previous Boris Johnson appearance when protesters had to be escorted out of the building.
Activists from various groups, including Children with Long Covid and Clinically Vulnerable Families, were a visible presence outside the front door, trying to make their voices heard with posters and banners.
Boris Johnson is used to speaking in front of large crowds and at similar official events, but at the end of the inquiry, when Baroness Hallett turned to thank him for his testimony, he was already trying to get up from his seat – clearly eager to call it a day.
He'll probably be glad not to come back.
