Priti Patel: 'No doubt' schools will be returning in January
22 December 2020, 08:22
Home Secretary tells LBC there is 'no doubt' kids will be returning to schools after the Christmas break
When Nick Ferrari asked Priti Patel how confident she was schools would return after the Christmas break, the answer was positive.
It comes after a scientist on the Government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats advisory group (NervTag) said there was an indication that the new variant of coronavirus infected more children.
Mrs Patel said the Government wanted to ensure that children return to education telling LBC it was vitally important to all pupils.
With a plan in place for school testing the Home Secretary said Education Secretary Gavin Williamson had been working with schools to ensure a return was safe.
"I am confident schools will be returning in January," the Home Secretary told Nick, adding "no doubt about that."
On Monday the Prime Minister refused to guarantee that schools in England will reopen after Christmas, saying "we want, if we possibly can, to get schools back in a staggered way at the beginning of January" but "the commonsensical thing to do is to follow the path of the epidemic".
