Boris Johnson has ordered a four-week national lockdown in England from Thursday, but is facing criticism that his delay in imposing restrictions will have a “very real” human cost.
– Angela Rayner hits out at Boris Johnson’s “dithering and delaying “over lockdown
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has launched a Twitter tirade at the Government for failing to implement a full lockdown when deaths were at 11 a day in October.
There is a human cost to @BorisJohnson's dithering and delaying over a circuit break lockdown.
When SAGE recommended action in September daily deaths were 11, now it is 300+ per day.
Lives have been lost and now the inevitable lockdown will be longer and more damaging. #Marr
— 🌈 Angela Rayner 🌈 (@AngelaRayner) November 1, 2020
The Labour frontbencher hit out at Michael Gove’s claims he didn’t leak the lockdown details to the press which forced the coronavirus press conference penned in for Monday to be moved forward to last night.
She added: “A failed incompetent government that has completely lost it’s way, it cannot even trust it’s own ministers now, these lockdown measures should have been announced to parliament not leaked to a newspaper, these measures are serious and have grave consequences for so many people.”
– Keir Starmer says NHS Test and Trace problems must be sorted during lockdown
Sir Keir Starmer said Labour “will support the Government’s message” but called on them to fix the issues around NHS Test and Trace.
The Labour leader told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “The Government has to keep its side of the bargain here because if they don’t use this time to fix Test, Trace and Isolate, then I think December 2 will be a review date not an end date.
“Because for months and months and months they’ve promised a world-beating test, trace and isolate system which is vital… it’s been busted for months.
“Use the time to fix it because otherwise we’re going to be back in this cycle for months and months and months.”
He added: “They’ve promised so much and delivered so little.”
