Statement by TUV Bannside councillor Timothy Gaston:
“The sensible roadmap sketched out by the Prime Minister today for exiting lockdown in England should serve as a template for Stormont. The return of schools is particularly vital. A whole generation of children is missing out on important opportunities to learn. Yes, of course we have remote learning but that is no substitute for classroom based teaching by qualified professionals. The current policy of allowing P1-3 to return for a few weeks and then years 12-14 is totally irrational. There is no logic on keeping primary and secondary pupils off at different times when they attend different schools.
“It is about time the Executive woke up to the damage being done to the future of children and the viability of businesses. I hope the example set in London will act as a belated alarm call in this regard.
“With an r-number which has been consistently below 1 and the vaccine roll out exceeding expectations how can the Executive justify its current position?”