Calls are being made made for the 2m social distancing measures to be relaxed to help get children back into school.

Concerns over the 2m rule have been raised after it was announced yesterday that the Government’s plan to get all primary school pupils back into school for a month before summer was going to be abandoned.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson told the House of Commons the plans would be scrapped and instead suggested schools will be asked to take in as many children as they can while sticking to government guidelines on maximum class sizes.

This morning, Ipswich MP Tom Hunt, who is a member of the government’s Education Select Committee, said that the rule should be “looked at”.

Speaking to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Show, Mr Hunt said: “My personal view as a member of parliament is that the 2m gap in general should probably be looked at and I think clearly, if it was moved to 1m we could do more with that.

“I must be honest with you, I’m very sad.

“I came into politics because I’m passionate about young people getting every opportunity in life and it’s many children from disadvantaged backgrounds, vulnerable children, those with special educational needs like I had who, are going to miss out the most.

“The damage to social mobility we could see here could set us back for a generation.”

However, the Government has been criticised for its handling of schools in the UK.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he was not surprised the plan to bring back all primary pupils before the summer holidays had been dropped.

He said: “The ‘ambition’ to bring back all primary year groups for a month before the end of the summer term was a case of the government over-promising something that wasn’t deliverable.

“It isn’t possible to do that while maintaining small class sizes and social bubbles, so we aren’t surprised that the policy has been jettisoned.”