Is Boris going CAMPING with Carrie and baby Wilfred? PM ‘plans to spend break re-reading Roman philosopher Lucretius who wrote about plague of Athens’ on Scottish holiday
- The family will journey north for some family holiday time away from No10
- It is PM’s first vacation since the pandemic struck and he was hospitalised
- The trip will reportedly include some time camping
Boris Johnson will take Carrie Symonds and their young son Wilfred for a ‘paternity holiday’ in Scotland this weekend – and may even go camping.
The trio will journey north for some family time away from No10, Mr Johnson’s first vacation since the pandemic struck.
But the PM will not entirely be getting away from the coronavirus battle, as his reported choice of holiday reading will keep his mind very much on the problem at hand.
The PM, a well-known classicist, is said to have chosen On The Nature of Things (De rerum natura), by the first century BC Roman philosopher Lucretius among his getaway literature.
The six-part work includes a study of the Plague of Athens, which devastated the Greek city state in 430BC, killing up to 100,000 people.
Mr Johnson, 56, Carrie, 32, and three-month-old Wilfred are to camp for some of the trip north, according to the Sun.
The trio will journey north for some family time away from No10, Mr Johnson’s first vacation wince the pandemic struck
Mr Johnson and his wife-to-be last holidayed on the Caribbean island of Mustique at Christmas
Mr Johnson and his wife-to-be last holidayed on the Caribbean island of Mustique at Christmas. Since then the pandemic has struck, he himself has been hospitalised and he has become a father for the sixth time.
But his holiday comes at a time when the Government is facing a mounting crisis over plans to reopen schools to all pupils in September.
Mr Johnson told teachers today they have a ‘moral duty’ to help schools reopen next month as he faced a standoff with unions.
The PM warned it is ‘not right’ that pupils should spend more time out of the classroom, reiterating his determination for a full return when term begins.
While he was careful to praise the work done by teachers and unions to make schools ‘safe’ in time for the move, he added: ‘It is our moral duty as a country to make sure that happens.’
The intervention – on a visit to a school in Upminster – came as unions were accused of a bid to sabotage the government’s plans with a 200-item list of safety demands.
The National Education Union has provided its half a million members with a ‘checklist’ of Covid-secure measures, saying they should ‘escalate’ complaints if they are not being followed. There have also been calls for pupils to be taught on a week on, week off rota.
Mr Johnson told teachers today they have a ‘moral duty’ to help schools reopen next month as he faced a standoff with unions
Fears are also mounting of a ‘bonfire of jobs’ amid warnings a third of firms are planning to lay off staff this autumn.
Shock research found huge numbers of companies expect to axe roles in the third quarter of the year as coronavirus hammers the economy.
Many of the cuts are set to come from hospitality businesses such as hotels, restaurants and cafes, as well as shops that were already on the brink before the pandemic.
The hit emerged in a survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) with recruiter the Adecco Group.
Labour demanded the government ditches plans to scrap the furlough scheme entirely from October, forcing employers to take on the full costs of staff wages again.
Meanwhile, figures released this week are due to confirm that the UK has formally entered recession – with a second quarter of GDP contracting. And official jobs data are scheduled for tomorrow.