Boris Johnson defends Covid testing boss Dido Harding and hits back at 'unjustified' attacks from Labour

April Roach @aprilroach2823 September 2020

Boris Johnson has defended the head of NHS Test and Trace from what he said were "unjustified" attacks as he called for a "spirit of togetherness" from Labour.

The Prime Minister called for support of Baroness Dido Harding of Winscombe during PMQs as he insisted the UK is testing “more people than any other European country”.

It comes after Lady Harding said she did not believe "anybody was expecting to see the really sizeable increase in demand" for Covid-19 tests.

Sir Keir Starmer raised the issue in the Commons, asking if the problem was unforeseeable or if people requesting tests without symptoms were to blame.

The Prime Minister said in response: "I must say that the continual attacks by the opposition on Dido Harding, in particular, are unseemly and unjustified.”

He added: "I think her teams have done an outstanding job in recruiting people from a standing start.

"This is not for a moment to deny the anxiety of those who want tests, which I readily accept. Of course we would love to have much more testing instantly."

Serco staff working on behalf of NHS Test and Trace operate a coronavirus testing centre in July in Stone, England
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Opening their Commons exchange, Sir Keir questioned why the Prime Minister said on Tuesday the Test and Trace system has “very little or nothing” to do with the spread or the transmission of Covid-19, after previously hailing it as a game-changer.

The Labour leader added: “Both positions cannot be right – which one is it, Prime Minister?”

Responding, Mr Johnson said: “It is an obvious fact of biology and epidemiology that alas this disease is transmitted by human contact or aerosol contact.

“But it is one of the great advantages of NHS Test and Trace, which we did not have working earlier in the pandemic, that we now have the ability to see in granular detail where the epidemic is breaking out, exactly which groups are being infected.

People who fail to self-isolate could soon be hit with £10,000 fines
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“That’s why we’ve been able to deliver the local lockdowns and that’s why we’re able to tell at this stage that it is necessary to take the decisive action we are … to drive the virus down, keep kids in school and keep our economy moving.”

Sir Keir replied: “Pretending there isn’t a problem is part of the problem, Prime Minister.”

The Prime Minister said he wanted to see “more of the spirit of togetherness that we had yesterday” from Sir Keir.

On testing in schools, Sir Keir highlighted that one in eight children are off school this week, adding: “How on earth did we get into this mess?”

The Prime Minister replied: “We are doing our level best to get every child a test who has symptoms and further to that, thanks to the efforts of teachers in this country, of parents, pupils, 99.9% of our schools are now back.”

The Labour leader then accused Mr Johnson of being “out of touch” with the experiences of parents with school-age children.

He added said: “That’s such a poor defence, the point … isn’t whether the children have got Covid, it’s that they’ve got Covid symptoms and then they’re off school.

“The Government’s own department shows that one in eight children are off school this week. That disrupts their education. Whether it’s Covid symptoms or other symptoms is nothing to the point.

“If the Prime Minister doesn’t see that, he’s really out of touch with families and what they’re going through in schooling day in, day out in the last few weeks.

“The reality is losing control of testing is a major reason why the Prime Minister is losing control of this virus.”

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