Gavin Williamson infuriated people up and down the country when he appeared on breakfast programmes this morning to discuss children’s return to school.
On BBC Breakfast the education secretary continually side-stepped how he was focusing on increasing ventilation in schools to reduce Covid infection rates, as it is one of the most proven methods of preventing the spread of the virus.
But, then he claimed pupils should continue using classrooms with windows that cannot open, as CO2 monitoring programmes are being rolled out instead.
Seconds later, Williamson admitted they have not yet been installed in classrooms – even though pupils across England and Wales have begun to return to the classroom this week.
Unsurprisingly, the internet had something to say about that.
Actor David Schneider compared him to foreign secretary Dominic Raab who has been called to resign over his handling of the Afghanistan crisis in recent weeks.
Asked if he could rule out school closures again, Williamson told LBC radio: “I will move heaven and earth to make sure that we aren’t in a position of having to close schools.”
But the Education Secretary did not rule out a rise in infections being caused by schools reopening.
After being asked repeatedly, Williamson told Sky News: “This is why we’re doing the testing programme and we’re encouraging children to take part in it, parents, and of course teachers and support staff as well. This is a way of rooting out Covid-19.”
Williamson has developed a pretty poor reputation for his handling of exam season throughout the pandemic, but this latest appearance just seemed to push some people over the edge.
Another account tweeted: “Deciding who to hate more in this shambles of a govt is like the new version of whack-a-mole! Here is Gavin Williamson. WHACK.”
A different disgruntled viewer claimed: “Even my husband was swearing and shouting at Gavin Williamson on BBC News.”
Twitter users were also deeply alarmed at his interviews on BBC Breakfast and ITV’s Good Morning Britain, even suggesting children should dress up as the education secretary for Halloween.
A different account wrote: “Gavin Williamson is so far out of his depth it’s frightening! He gets nowhere near the level of scrutiny and/or criticism he deserves, he’s totally incompetent.
“It will take education years to get back on a level footing after his disastrous handling of the last couple of years.”
It did not escape many people’s attention that Williamson’s poor performance came a day after Raab attempted to defend himself over Afghanistan during a grilling from MPs on Wednesday.