A Tory MP was accused of “fobbing off” an audience member and the “whole country” after he was asked for an apology in regards to the Conservatives’ handling of the Covid pandemic.
On Thursday, an inquiry into the pandemic response was published by chair Baroness Hallett. The report criticised Boris Johnson’s government for a “toxic and chaotic” culture that led to poor decision-making.
Baroness Hallet said the then-prime minister should have responded more urgently to the developing crisis, whilst criticising his style of communication.
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One of the main conclusion’s of the report was that the UK’s response was “too little, too late” and that a week-long delay in introducing lockdown led to 23,000 more deaths in England in the first wave that would have been seen otherwise.
Dominic Cummings and Matt Hancock were also criticised.
On Question Time yesterday evening, the panel were asked whether Johnson and his government had indeed done “too little, too late.”
At one point, an man in the audience criticised Tory MP Joe Robertson for a “half-hearted apology” he had given earlier in the show in regards to the Conservatives’ handling of the pandemic.
He told Robertson: “We saw ourselves the data coming out of China, out of north Italy, with lots of people dying a day. Can you just say sorry for all of the lives that were lost during the pandemic?”
An apology wasn’t coming from Robertson, who said the report “isn’t calling on us to apologise” and pointed out he wasn’t part of Johnson’s government at the time.
This prompted Lid Dem president and MP Josh Babarinde to say Robertson had “fobbed off” the man in the audience with his response.
“Not only did you fob off this guy you fobbed off the whole country who feel utterly let down by the way in which the Conservative government managed the situation,” he said.
Babarinde added: “Boris Johnson should be hauled into Downing street and be made to apologise to the country.”