Liz Truss Criticizes Schools Closing During Lockdown

Liz Truss has said the government went “too far” by closing schools during the Covid lockdown.

 

The Tory leadership frontrunner answered questions at a hustings event in Norwich on Thursday evening.

 

In response to a question about Rishi Sunak’s comments that it was “wrong to scare people” with Covid messaging, Ms Truss said “we did go too far” with school closures and questioned the government’s “draconian” lockdown policy during the pandemic.

 

“I didn’t sit on the Covid committee during that time; I was busy striking trade deals around the world,” she said.

 

“My view is we did go too far in closing schools. I think the lockdown was too draconian.

 

“We should have had a more nuanced approach which would have allowed us to keep the economy open while still protecting people who are most vulnerable.”

 

Ms Truss also said that the government needs to “learn lessons” from handling the pandemic and do better in the future.

 

“I think it is important that we learn lessons from what has happened over the last year,” she said.

 

“We need to ensure that our response to future pandemics is better. We must ensure that we protect our economy and our way of life while keeping people safe.”

In addition, Ms Truss said she would not rule out a further increase in taxes to pay for Covid-19.

 

I’m not going to make promises on tax right now because we need to wait and see what the state of the economy is,” she said.

 

“But I think it is important that we are honest with people about our choices.”

 

Ms Truss also said that the government needs to “learn lessons” from handling the pandemic and do better in the future.

 

According to the NHS, more than 126,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the UK. The government has been criticised for handling the pandemic, with some experts saying it acted too slowly in introducing lockdown measures.

 

What do you think of Liz Truss’ comments? Let us know in the comments below.

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