Questions raised over coronavirus pandemic response with Boris Johnson's initial actions criticised

The Government has been criticised over its response to the pandemic
10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty
Jacob Jarvis21 April 2020

Questions have been raised over the Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic with Boris Johnson's early actions amid the crisis criticised.

Pressure is mounting for an exit plan to lift the Covid-19 lockdown, with Ministers refusing to go into detail on this, while reports suggest the Government missed early opportunities to diminish the impact of the outbreak.

Reports in the Sunday Times that Mr Johnson did not attend five emergency Cobra meetings between January and February, with him allegedly not attending such a meeting until early March.

A Number 10 spokesman moved to defend the PM and said: “The Prime Minister has been at the helm of the response to this, providing leadership during this hugely challenging period for the whole nation.”

The Sunday Times quoted an unnamed senior Downing Street aide who lampooned Mr Johnson's response in the early phase of the outbreak.

They said: “There’s no way you’re at war if your PM isn’t there.

“And what you learn about Boris was he didn’t chair any meetings. He liked his country breaks. He didn’t work weekends.

“It was like working for an old-fashioned chief executive in a local authority 20 years ago. There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning. It was exactly like people feared he would be.”

Downing Street said the Government had been "working day and night to battle the virus, delivering a strategy designed at all times to protect our NHS and save lives.

It comes as:

Elsewhere, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of having responded to slowly to the outbreak.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Sir Keir said: “The Government was too slow to enter the lockdown.

“It has been too slow to increase the number of people being tested.

“It has been too slow in getting NHS staff the critical equipment they need to keep them safe. We need to make sure these mistakes are not repeated.

“Other countries have begun to set out a road map to lift restrictions in certain sectors of the economy and for certain services, especially social care, when the time is right.

“This of course must be done in a careful, considered way with public health, scientific evidence and the safety of workers and families at its heart. But the UK Government should be doing likewise.”

It comes amid reports that the PM is beginning to instruct Ministers again from Chequers, where he is recuperating after being hospitalised with Covid-19.

He is said to have been delivering orders to Dominic Raab, who is standing in for the PM, and also communicating with senior aides.

Meanwhile, the Government is said to have formulated a three-phase "traffic light" plan to loosen the lockdown incrementally.

According to the Mail on Sunday, this would see outlets like DIY stores and garden centres reopen, and some pupils go back to school in mid-May.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

The UK is coming to the end of its fourth-week in lockdown, with three more weeks having been announced earlier this week.

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