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Keir Starmer questions PM over rejecting Covid ‘circuit breaker’ – video
Keir Starmer has piled more pressure on Boris Johnson over his refusal to implement a national “circuit breaker” lockdown in England, confronting the prime minister about why he ignored top scientific advisers who urged him to impose the measure.
The Labour leader questioned Johnson on why he rejected Sage’s advice last month to introduce such a two-week lockdown to stem the spread of Covid-19, in a move Starmer characterised as abandoning the science.
During fiery scenes at prime minister’s questions, Johnson defended the new three-tier system that the government unveiled this week, insisting it could bring down the R number. He also accused Starmer of opportunism and performing a U-turn after previously backing government measures. Hitting back, Starmer claimed the prime minister had been “an opportunist all his life” and made clear he did not think the government’s approach went far enough.
Starmer had urged the government on Tuesday to “follow the science” and impose a circuit breaker of at least two weeks to stem the spread of Covid-19.
Starmer’s intervention followed the release of advice from the government’s Sage committee, which warned ministers three weeks ago that the country faced a “very large epidemic with catastrophic consequences” unless they took immediate action by imposing a two-week circuit breaker.
Locking horns with Johnson over the government’s failure to take up the advice – instead, it announced on Monday a three-tiered system of localised lockdown measures – Starmer painted a bleak picture of the cost. He told the Commons on Wednesday: “Since he rejected Sage’s advice on the 21st of September, I remind him, the R rate has gone up, the infection rate has quadrupled, hospital admissions have gone from 275 a day to 628 a day in England.
“Yesterday, 441 Covid patients were on ventilators, and the number of deaths recorded was, tragically, the highest since June the 10th. That’s the cost of rejecting the advice.
“Sage has a clear view on why that’s happening. What’s the prime minister’s view on why these numbers are all heading in the wrong direction?”
A ‘circuit breaker’ in England will work only if test and trace is urgently reformed
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In response, Johnson explained the disease was “appearing much more strongly in some parts of the country than in others”, adding: “That is why the tiered approach, three-tiered approach that we set out on Monday, and that he then supported, is the right way forward. And we want to put in the most stringent measures necessary in the places where the virus is surging in order to get it down where it is surging … that is the logical thing to do.”
Quick guide What are the three tiers of England’s Covid lockdown system?
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Tier one – medium
Shops, schools and universities remain open in all categories.
In tier one, on top of the national restrictions and rules, for example on using face masks in retail environments and on public transport, residents are expected to:
- follow the rule of six if meeting indoors or outdoors
- pubs and restaurants shut at 10pm
Tier two – high
In tier two areas:
- no household mixing indoors
- the rule of six applies outdoors
- pubs and restaurants shut at 10pm
Tier three – very high
- no household mixing at all, either indoors, outdoors or in hospitality venues
- the rule of six applies in outdoor public spaces like parks
- pubs and bars not serving food to be closed
- guidance against travelling in and out of the area
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Starmer also put pressure on the prime minister over test and trace, which he said had gone “so wrong”, highlighting Sage’s view that the system is only having a marginal impact on transmission. Johnson defended the system and turned his fire on Starmer, saying: “He wants to close pubs, he wants to close bars, he wants to close businesses in areas across the country where the incidence is low … That’s what he wants to do and he wants to do it now.
“And yet he voted to do nothing last night, nothing in the areas where the incidence is highest. He says one thing at 5pm calling for a national lockdown. When it came to a vote in this House of Commons, Mr Speaker, to impose more stringent measures, he failed to even turn up.”
In response, Starmer said: “I know that for someone who has been an opportunist all his life … this is difficult to understand. But having read and considered the Sage advice, I have genuinely concluded that a circuit break is in the national interest.”
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