I suppose it must be difficult to find replacements as, although he has a whopping majority he has replaced those with ability already and is losing support on the backbencher. Who would want to be tarred with ‘Cabinet Responsibility” at the moment. Housing, Education, Transport, Foreign Office are all a shambles, work and pensions are preparing to enter next weeks competition over the treble lock, International Development has been defunded and the Treasury meanwhile seems to want to plough a different furrow than that of the government.
However Williamson’s DfE did make a bid for this weeks award. The DfE has advised that they should delay seeking help until a cluster of 10% of staff and pupils have contracted Covid. This includes advising the wearing of masks. The only ‘extra action” would be opening windows or having lessons outside where practical. Attendance restrictions should only be used as a last resort. So in NZ a lockdown is ordered at the discovery of a single case (now rising) – a lockdown promoted by 80% of the population – but our DfE is content to allow 10% of the school population to contract covid (with the possible long term effects) before doing anything other than opening the offing window! Williamson appears to have been asleep or on holiday for the last 18 months so probably missed the consensus that herd immunity was totally discredited as a theory by March 2020.
Incidentally the Covid rates in North Somerset and Bristol. remain stubbornly high, although fairly stable in the 250 – 500 /100000 range.