An incredible front page from the Mail.
But a Tory source described the advert as ‘pathetic’, pointing out that classrooms were being shut as a precaution in order to ensure that schools are safe for pupils to return this week.
They were informed that the buildings were very unsafe in January, and yet they have sent kids into the buildings all this year. The only reason they have owned up to them being unsafe is because a roof collapsed over the summer. This could so easily have been a major tragedy. There was a report published about this in 2019. Labour have been using FOI requests on the status of the repairs all year. IMO if a kid is injured or killed by this, there should be criminal charges.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: ‘Labour were warned about this when they were last in office and did nothing; they ignored the issue in opposition; and now it’s in the news they have decided they are interested.
No source cited OFC. Using Labour as an excuse for something you have ignored for 13 years is pretty pathetic. It shows they have no real justification for this at all.
The government are refusing to give a list of the schools involved. Labour have motioned a bill to get that list from them.
‘In the meantime, in Labour-run Wales they are recklessly sending students back to school without checking they are safe, leaving parents in the dark.’ Yesterday’s attack revived a notorious campaign run by Labour earlier this year.
Again no one except the government know which buildings are affected. You cannot react on information you do not have.
I heard on the radio yesterday that Labour had a multi million pound plan to start rebuilding schools and address this problem. Then the Tories came to power and scrapped it and did nothing.
“Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said the crisis stemmed from the Conservatives’ decision in 2010 to axe the Building Schools for the Future programme – the investment strategy introduced under Tony Blair – and what she described as repeated raids on education capital budgets.
“Using already-allocated money to just make safe school buildings with Raac is funnelling money away from other necessary work to upgrade schools and remove dangerous asbestos, storing up problems for the future,” she said.”
From here.
It’s time we stopped just talking about “levelling up” and started acting, the country needs a New Deal-esque stimulus to create skills and build new infrastructure with them. Schools, transport, hospitals, housing, it has all lagged behind for too long and now the damage is becoming clear.
Optimistic thinking and positive, constructive visions seem a bit lacking in Labour’s outlook however.
It’s annoying that the chaos post 2016 has kind of let Cameroon and Osborne walk away from government without the criticism they deserved as far worse have come since. The amount of things that are going to keep popping up that should have been fixed but we’re put on the back burner due to the “austerity” programme won’t end here and it’s legacy will be as bad as Thatcherism in the long run.
The Conservative Party could’ve just, you know, sorted the concrete issues on a rolling basis.
At the time of the pandemic lockdowns, working on the schools when they were part-closed anyway might have been an optimum solution with the added bonus of keeping folks in business.
The attack ad is easy to put together because unfortunately the current Conservative Party provide such easy source material to work with.
Where is Mr Sunak just now anyway?
I love how this comes out just before the kids went back. Could’ve at least to rectify the situation a couple of months ago…
A material with a 30-odd year shelf life was used on buildings 30-odd years ago. Some time in the last ten years or so there ought to have been a plan in place.
If I recall correctly the money to do that kind of work was cut… in 2010.
When the Tories got in… of course.
He always hides when there is a crisis, which is most of the time. PMQs start again this week. He cannot avoid that without showing really bad optics.
At the time of the pandemic lockdowns, working on the schools when they were part-closed anyway might have been an optimum solution with the added bonus of keeping folks in business.
Unfortunately our government was too busy dealing with important pandemic matters, like arranging bogus PPE contracts.
