The letter from paediatricians urging a return to schools is a damning reflection on the slow action of politicians

The doctors, who know more about children than any other medical speciality, have called on Boris Johnson to return to classrooms as a priority.

They say that closures “risk scarring the life chances of a generation of young people”.

The doctors have signed a letter from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health asking for authorities in England and Northern Ireland to follow Wales and Scotland and lay out detailed plans for getting children back to classrooms (see link below).

How damning that England and Northern Ireland have been cited in this way.

How damning that outside of the pages of this newspaper, there has been so little debate about this huge matter.

How damning that a clear path to childcare was not laid out well before now, which working parents need so badly.

The tiny risk to children from Covid-19 has been clear for weeks. Yes, there is a small risk to teachers but then there is a risk to people in a whole range of jobs.

There will be an inquiry into the government’s response to Covid-19 when the crisis is over but there should also be an inquiry into what we have done to education.

Politicians have hid behind the science, and have been timid in the face of the teaching unions.

This blistering letter from doctors says: “The brunt of the impact of Covid-19 is and will continue to be borne by children and families who have the fewest resources and need the most support.” It added that “left unchecked, Covid-19 will exacerbate existing problems and deepen structural and social health inequalities”.

Did we really need to be told this by paediatricians and psychiatrists? Yet still there is talk of a rotating, agonising slow return to Northern Ireland schools in the autumn, taking perhaps months to get to normal.

• Doctors demand schools open as soon as possible

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