CABINET OFFICE Minister Michael Gove has quite rightly sought to qualify the term ‘safe’ as applied to the reopening of schools.

To allow the interpretation that safe means absolutely safe would be to mislead.

This should not be acceptable, even if the great majority of families will not see any practical difference.

One daily newspaper devoted its front page to demanding a simplistic yes or no answer from Mr Gove.

This gives a strong indication of the view it takes of the mental capacity of its readers and its preference for a society in which no understanding or decision taking is expected of the individual.

The sort of nuanced thinking which Mr Gove was calling for is essential if we are to negotiate a way out of lockdown through balanced and proportionate safety precautions rather than a headlong plunge back into ‘normality’ and its likely consequences.

John Riseley, Harrogate