Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson giving evidence to an inquiry. He noted that kids have paid a “tremendous price” in the Covid pandemic to help protect other people. His comments came in the wake of severe criticism for the government’s handling of augmented school closures and altered exam results during the crisis. Johnson dealt with blistering questions about decisions he made and questions about his lack of rapport with critical advisers. This titanic contest exposed a confusing array of accountability during perhaps the toughest health crisis—the Covid pandemic—in modern memory.
At the invitation of Rep. During that inquiry, Johnson received a shocking, x-rated blast of invective about education policy. Rather than accept responsibility, though, he passed the buck almost immediately onto his then-Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson. In February of 2021, the tweet laid bare their costarily relationship — or lack thereof. It was particularly targeted at the disastrous exam results fiasco that played out in England in August 2020. It was during those times that Johnson knew he struck a chord with his boss and education crusader, Williamson. Their differences became especially evident when they both moved to reclose schools in January 2021.
In an interview, Johnson explained what he was thinking when the exam results crisis first came to a head. He expressed a “thoroughly homicidal mood,” underscoring the overwhelming frustration and strain he experienced throughout the crisis. He invited scrutiny on the calamitous lack of planning for schools throughout the pandemic. In hindsight, he admitted, it would have been helpful to have greater foresight. Johnson stated that implementing changes in schools would have necessitated “a much greater state of knowledge about Covid and what was likely to happen,” a reflection of the uncertainty that surrounded public health decisions.
Clair Dobbin KC, counsel to the inquiry, explained how serious this was. As governor, he then pronounced it “a disaster” all but directly ascribed to the exam results. This statement struck a chord with those of us whose education was uprooted through the lockdowns caused by COVID-19. In the announcement, Johnson reiterated his hope for “mass testing” in schools to allow them to remain open. He thought there were steps that still could have been taken to mitigate the harmful impacts on students.
Johnson has acknowledged that lockdowns and social distancing were probably overdone. He lamented the toll these actions have taken on children’s educations and overall health. He suggested exempting children from many of these limitations. This tells us he had a sense of how disproportionately these rules crushed young people.
Johnson’s government took a more methodical approach to shuttering schools. It was no small feat for them to have set this plan into motion on March 17, 2020. The decisions that followed created a tension in his administration. In his frustration, Johnson considered extreme measures. He went so far as to think of bursting into Number 10 to sack those who’d overseen the cock-up.
Even through all of that, Johnson still held fast to some of his core principles about education policy during the pandemic. Wider reforms He articulated the need for stronger leadership within the Department for Education (DfE). He personally demanded that close advisers Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain raise the standard expectation of ministers in dealing with educational issues.
