FOREST MP Mark Harper says keeping schools closed is damaging young people’s mental health and futures.

As chairman of the lockdown sceptic Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, the former chief whip and Tory leadership candidate has consistently urged the Government to set out clear plans about reopening schools and businesses.

And while hailing the success of the vaccine roll out in Gloucestershire, the MP says in his latest blast at Government hesitancy to lift restrictions that ministers need to give people hope and businesses a plan.

Speaking last week, Mr Harper said: “Once the most vulnerable have been protected by the vaccine, the Government must make a balanced judgement and start to reduce restrictions.”

And in a Commons debate, he asked Covid Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi: “The top nine vulnerability groups account for 99 per cent of Covid deaths and about 80 per cent of Covid hospitalisations, so once they are protected, why would we need to have restrictions in place at all?”

The Minister replied: “No one more than he and the PM want to get the economy open and functioning as we would expect it to as soon as possible.

“The mid-February deadline for the top four (priority vaccine groups), if you go three weeks from there, that’s when the protection really kicks in… the 8th March is the plan to reopen schools, and then to gradually reopen the economy.

“I think it’s important also to wait for the evidence we’ve got… where we are able to see the impact of the vaccines on infection rates and transmissions.”

He said the Government would use its own “robust evidence” to share the “road map” later this month of how they would “open up the economy very gradually”.

But keeping the pressure on PM Boris Johnson, Mr Harper said: “Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser, has said that “Covid-19 is going to be with us forever”.

“We cannot simply shut everyone away until it’s gone for good and we must not close our schools and our economy forever.

“I know from parents and school students I have heard from in the Forest of Dean that continuing to keep schools shut is having a really damaging effect on our young peoples’ mental health and prospects.

“People need hope and businesses need a plan, which is why I have been calling for the Government to set out a roadmap for reducing restrictions (contingent on progress made by the vaccine rollout) - getting our young people back in school and reopening our economy so that we can preserve people’s jobs.”

He said it was good that the Government had listened to him and his colleagues on this, with the PM saying he intends to set out a roadmap to recovery in the last week of this month, and, as long as the vaccine rollout continues at its current pace, to start reopening all schools in England to all children from March 8.

“The whole point about rolling out the vaccine as quickly as possible is so we can protect our vulnerable people before starting to reduce restrictions and begin to return our lives to normal,” added Mr Harper.

“Thankfully, the pace of the vaccine rollout across the UK is among the very best in the world.

“The efforts by Gloucestershire’s NHS to roll out the vaccine to the most vulnerable across our county continues to be among the fastest across the entire country, with the latest statistics showing that 94.9 per cent of over 80s, 87.2 per cent of those aged 75-79 and over a quarter of those aged 70-74 have had their all important first vaccine dose, which provides the bulk of the protection against Covid.

“I have been really heartened by those constituents who have been getting in touch with me to say how slick, efficient and welcoming our vaccine rollout hub in the Forest is, and I will be sure to pass on your kind comments when I have my next meeting with the county’s NHS leadership team next week.”