Exclusion zones could be used to prevent anti-vaccination protests outside schools, the health secretary has suggested.
Sajid Javid said that the protestors were “idiots” who spread “vicious lies, with pupils being injured in the process”.
Labour has called for councils to be able to use exclusion orders to prevent harassment of staff and pupils by anti-vaxxers outside schools.
School vaccine rollout: How to prepare for protests
Revealed: 12-15 vaccine take-up just 3% in some areas
School absence: More than 200,000 pupils off because of Covid
Mr Javid said those measures could be “an option” for dealing with the problem.
Questioned on Sky News about protests in which three pupils were injured, the Cabinet minister said: “These people are doing so much damage.
“First of all, here you have three children that are injured, actually physically injured, and that’s heartbreaking to see - children going about what they should be doing, going to school every day, and you’ve got, frankly, these idiots outside their school spreading vicious lies.
“It is becoming a growing problem as time goes by.”
He said there are options for tackling the problem. “In terms of whether it’s an exclusion zone or other potential action, I think it’s got to be done at a local level.
“If you’ve injured children, that is a criminal act and I hope in that case police are able to track those people down.”
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) revealed earlier this month that most of the schools surveyed by the union (79 per cent) have been targeted by anti-vaxxers.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “sickening” that anti-vaxxers were “spreading dangerous misinformation” to children in protests outside of schools.
He added: “Labour believes the law around public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) urgently needs to be updated so that local authorities can rapidly create exclusion zones for anti-vax protests outside of schools.”
PSPOs can be used to disperse people from a public area and have previously been used to move on protesters outside abortion clinics or to allow police to confiscate alcohol in certain spaces.
But gaining permission to impose one takes time and significant consultation, and Labour is calling for an expedited process in cases of preventing harassment and intimidation of children outside schools if agreed to by the school, the leader of the local council, and the local police chief constable.
The party said the PSPO could be in place within five days and remain in force for six months.
ASCL previously said that of the 526 responses from schools eligible for the Covid vaccination programme for 12- to 15-year-olds, 13 per cent had reported seeing protesters immediately outside their school premises, and 20 per cent reported demonstrators in the local area.
Some 18 schools said protesters had gained access and protested inside the school premises, and 20 said they had received communications threatening physical harm to staff.
Most of the harassment by anti-vaxxers reported to ASCL had been through emails threatening legal action, though the union said staff had been threatened with physical harm while some protesters had gained access to school sites.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of ASCL, said: “We would welcome any action that helps to keep anti-vaccination campaigners away from schools and that allows pupils and staff to go about their business without this intrusion.
“Schools are operating under great pressure because of the disruption that continues to be caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The last thing they need is the additional problem of protesters outside their gates.
“Vaccinations are an important step in helping to reduce educational disruption and in keeping pupils in the classroom after 18 months of turbulence. If protesters think otherwise there are plenty of outlets for them to express their views without resorting to targeting schools.”
