The gloves are (finally) off: Keir Starmer rattles Boris Johnson over COVID-19 BAME deaths, track and trace failures and schools as the coronavrus political cease-fire comes to an explosive end
- The Government has only been publishing statistics for total number of tests
- Edward Argar was today unable to say how many individuals are being checked
- He said the ‘important’ number was the total number of virus tests carried out
- Some people are tested more than twice which can skew the overall figures
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Sir Keir Starmer today took the gloves off in his battle against Boris Johnson as he battered the Prime Minister over the Government’s test and trace programme, decision to reopen schools and transparency.
Sir Keir tried to use PMQs this lunchtime to score body blows on the PM over key parts of the Government’s coronavirus response.
But a furious Mr Johnson hit back and accused the Labour leader of delivering ‘endless attacks on public trust and confidence’.
Labour had adopted a constructive approach to the crisis to date, with the shadow cabinet seemingly reluctant to blast the Government in public.
But today marked a dramatic shift in approach as Sir Keir told Mr Johnson: ‘The Prime Minister is confusing scrutiny for attacks.’
The clashes at PMQs came as the Government faced growing pressure over the roll out of the NHS Test and Trace programme.
Reports suggest that the system is failing to trace the contacts of approximately 60 per cent of people who have tested positive.
Sir Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson repeatedly clashed at PMQs this lunchtime over the Government’s coronavirus response
Overnight, Sir Keir had attacked Mr Johnson for ‘winging it’ over easing the coronavirus lockdown.
The Labour leader said the premier will personally be to blame if coronavirus deaths spike again.
He also jibed that the way Mr Johnson had loosened the rules suggested there was ‘an exit but not a strategy’.
He stepped up his criticism of the PM at PMQs as he took Mr Johnson to task over test and trace.
‘Two weeks ago today at the despatch box the Prime Minister promised that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world beating and yes, it will be in place by June 1,’ he said.
‘But it isn’t. A critical element, the ability of local authorities to respond to local spikes is missing.
‘As one council leader put it to us, we are weeks away from having this up and running, we simply weren’t given enough warning.
‘The Prime Minister mutters it is not true. Dido Harding, the Prime Minister’s own chair of the track and trace system has said that this element will not be ready until the end of June.
‘The Prime Minister must have been briefed on this problem before he made that promise two weeks ago. So why did he make that promise?’
A furious Mr Johnson hit back and said: ‘I am afraid he is casting aspersions on the efforts of tens of thousands of people who have set up a test, track and trace system in this country from a standing start.
‘We now have 40,000 people engaged in this. Every person, thousands of people are being tested as he knows every day.
‘Every person who tests positive in this country, the track and trace system, is contacted, then thousands of their contacts are themselves contacted… and I can tell the House at the moment as a result of our test, track and trace system which was up and running on June 1 as I said, contrary to what he said, as a result of their efforts thousands of people are now following our guidance, following the law and self-isolating to stop the spread of the disease.’
Sir Keir then accused Mr Johnson of failing to use statistics in an appropriate manner after UK statistics watchdog David Norgrove yesterday delivered a devastating rebuke to Health Secretary Matt Hancock for his ‘misleading’ figures on testing.
‘The problem when the Prime Minister used statistics is that the statistics authority have had concerns on more than one occasion,’ he said before adding that Mr Johnson’s approach was ‘damaging’ to ‘public trust and confidence’ in the Government.
Mr Johnson replied: ‘I really do not see the purpose of his endless attacks on public trust and confidence when what we are trying to do, and I think what the public want to hear from politicians across all parties, is our clear messages about how to defeat this virus.
‘Test and trace is a vital tool in our armoury and contrary to what he says, we did by the end of May get up to 100,000 tests a day and we got up to 200,000 by the beginning of this month.’
Sir Keir sniped back: ‘The Prime Minister is confusing scrutiny for attacks. I have supported the Government openly and I have taken criticism for it.
‘But boy he makes it difficult to support this Government over the last two weeks.’