Over three thousand people took part in a virtual rally against the government’s plan to reopen schools on June 1 last night.

Speakers were deeply concerned about the government’s plans and the overriding message of the event was that the safety of children and staff comes before the wishes of Number 10.

The rally was hosted by the Wirral branches of teaching unions the NEU, NASUWT and Unison.

At the rally Eleanor Belton, a 17-year-old student who lives locally, said: “Despite my academic future being taken completely out of my control, I completely understood why the decision to cancel exams took place for the greater well-being of our country.

Wirral Globe: Student Eleanor Belton spoke at the virtual rallyStudent Eleanor Belton spoke at the virtual rally

“I cannot emphasise enough how stressful it is for my age group. Fourteen years of study for someone else to decide my future.

“However I feel that if schools were to be reopened that decision to cancel exams would be pointless and the upheaval that children across the UK faced including myself was meaningless.

“Why not wait 12 weeks. We are learning more and more about this virus each day, so who knows how much more we will know in 12 weeks, this time can buy us the safety of our schools.”

The rally builds on the growing dissent against the government’s plans in Merseyside.

Wirral Globe: Cllr Tom UsherCllr Tom Usher

Liverpool Council said its schools will not open to most children on June 1 after Mayor Joe Anderson pledged to “resist” the plans, and other local authorities in our region have taken a similar stance.

On Monday, Wirral Council said it does not expect parents or carers to send their children to school from June 1.

Based on this, the three unions said they will work with Wirral Council and schools to find a way to reopen them, but only when it is safe to do so.

They were adamant that any reopening plan must be based on clear scientific evidence with a much lower rate of infection and an effective test and trace procedure put in place.

Pressing home the core argument of local union branches, David Jones, Wirral Unison’s branch secretary, said: “This is not an issue about school staff and unions versus parents and pupils, we stand united with parents.

“This is an issue about safety, and that must be paramount. We will not let the Government put children at risk; we will go back only when it is safe to do so.”

Wirral Globe: Wirral West MP, Margaret GreenwoodWirral West MP, Margaret Greenwood

Margaret Greenwood, MP for Wirral West, said: “Everyone wants to see schools open and to make sure that children do not miss out.”

The recently appointed shadow schools minister, added: “But this cannot be at the expense of their safety, or of the safety of their families and the wider communities in which they live.”

Others wanted to know more about the risks created by opening schools.

Anne Rycroft, Wirral NASUWT’s local negotiating secretary, said: “Every aspect of the school day needs assessing and, in a lot of cases, additional resources will have to be sourced.

“The purpose of Risk Assessments is to identify and eliminate hazards and manage risks, in this case possible transmission being a very real risk.”