• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Starmer: “Pretending there isn’t a problem is part of the problem, Prime Minister”

The Labour leader clashed with the PM over testing - accusing Boris Johnson of turning a blind eye.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2020-09-23 13:14
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has accused the Prime Minister of “pretending there isn’t a problem” with the Government’s Covid-19 testing regime.

During PMQs, Boris Johnson defended the head of NHS Test and Trace, Baroness (Dido) Harding of Winscombe, and said the UK is testing “more people than any other European country”.

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.

Keir Starmer taking no crap from Bozo – "My complaint is not with the #NHS, it's with the Government.

My wife works for the NHS
My mother worked for the NHS
My sister works for the NHS

So I'm not going to take lectures from the Prime Minister on supporting the NHS." ?#PMQs pic.twitter.com/pELON0yKcj

— Haggis_UK ?? ?? (@Haggis_UK) September 23, 2020

“Both positions cannot be right”

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.

.@Keir_Starmer asks why PM said yesterday that T&T had “very little or nothing to do with” the spread of the disease.

— Johnson spouts dead cat gibberish about “epidemiology”

— Starmer repeats the question

— Johnson repeats his gibberish

pic.twitter.com/n8oJh6tfh9

— Dr Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) September 23, 2020

“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.

“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.”

RelatedPosts

Sarah Palin’s meeting with Alaskan leaders ‘Zoom bombed’ by drawing of giant penis

Buckland reminded of previous comments as he switches allegiances to Truss

Rudy Giuliani says there will be revenge raids on Biden’s house if Trump wins in 2024

‘What does she even mean?’: Truss prompts fierce reaction from Jewish civil servant

The Dido Harding defence

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

He added: “Is the explanation from the PM that we haven’t got enough capacity because nobody could have expected the rise in demand? That’s the Dido Harding defence – or is it we’ve got all the capacity we need, it is just that people are being unreasonable in asking for tests? That’s the (Matt) Hancock defence. So which is it?”

Mr Johnson replied: “I must say that the continual attacks by the Opposition on Dido Harding in particular are unseemly and unjustified.”

He added: “Testing more people than any other European country … we’re going to go up to 500,000 tests by the end of October.”

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

“How on earth did we get into this mess?”

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 per cent 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.”

Related: Boris Johnson blames Covid rule breakers for ” allowing the “invisible enemy to slip through”

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

3 retail trends to look out for on the high street in 2019

Politicians should take responsibility for Paradise Papers rather than point score

Merkel: Britain must ‘live with consequences’ of looser ties with Brussels

Police release defiant mugshots of the Britain First leaders early because of impact they have had on the community

Mansplaining? Lord Frost calls on Kemi Badenoch to withdraw from race

Greta hits out at G7 for ‘steak and lobster celebration’ as climate crisis mounts

Daily Mail readers react to NHS protests

We Are The 99%…Aren’t We?

Doncaster are title contenders, they just don’t know it yet

Couple transform their semi into a medieval castle

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.