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Tony Blair says the Boris Johnson government is ‘overwhelmed’ by the coronavirus crisis and that ‘massive evidence must be at the heart’ of its strategy
- Tony Blair said today that he was offering constructive, not critical advice.
- The 66-year-old man said the current government needed to be reorganized.
- He said it was the most difficult challenge he had ever seen for any government
- Learn more about how to help people affected by COVID
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said today that the Boris Johnson government is “overwhelmed” by the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the nation.
Blair, who now heads the Tony Blair Institute, also stressed that “massive testing must be at the heart” of the government’s strategy to defeat the virus that has so far claimed 17,337 lives in the UK.
Johnson has been out of action while recovering from the virus with Dominic Raab taking the helm, contacting key ministers such as Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain today, the 66-year-old man said he was offering “constructive, not critical advice,” but said the government needed to be “reorganized.”
“This is the most difficult challenge I have ever seen for any government, it is immensely complicated and it has all kinds of dimensions, but it has more to do with being overwhelmed.”
He added that the Tony Blair Institute has completed a document on the tests and said that a detailed examination of the different subjects was necessary.
“I think it is necessary to completely relocate the government,” he added.
“A lot of the skills you need to deal with something like this, which is related to equipment production, how you get the different elements of the equipment, the heart of it is mass testing and what I’m saying is that you have to reorder the entire government.
“You must divide the different key elements and have senior ministers in charge of each element, divided in that way with good outsiders, people who have the skill set that will not be politicians or people in government or bureaucracy.”
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured above) said today that the Boris Johnson government is “overwhelmed”
He said the government needs to get to the point where it has the capacity to deal with “all the different dimensions and not feel overwhelmed.”
“I say this with great humility because I know how difficult it is to be in government and I know how difficult decision-making is.”
“I am sure everyone is working completely, but it is really just a matter of whether we are positioned correctly to live up to the scale of this problem and there is a need for action, decision-making and speed.”
When asked if he believed the army should be more involved, he said that when he was dealing with the FMD outbreak during his tenure, it was only when the army stepped in that they were able to ‘accelerate our ability to deal with it. ‘
Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured above) had been reporting to the media
In normal government, as you know Piers, you have your education department, your health department, your industry department, your defense department. This is just a government with a challenge, so I don’t think I can leave the system running like the normal system and that’s really the point I’m making.
“ When you get to the exit of the blockade, this phase of disease suppression, which is absolutely correct and necessary, which in my opinion is probably a simpler task than how to get out of the blockade.
“The way out is really very complicated, and unless you have the right skills established in the center of government from the start, it will be very difficult to do things like mass testing, that I can’t see any other way out of this.
