As he walked his dog, Dilyn, around the grounds of Chequers last week, Boris Johnson could have been forgiven for wondering if schoolchildren still learn the biblical story about the wisdom of Solomon or the harsh realities of Hobson’s choice — the classic dilemmas for those facing difficult decisions.

Ministers say reopening schools has become the symbolic first step in a gradual lifting of the coronavirus lockdown: a decision that only Johnson can make when he returns from his convalescence.

The Department for Education is working on the basis that some pupils will return to school Monday, May 11, which would clear the way for more parents to go back to work. The question for Johnson is how far and fast to go.

Debate in