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Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of failing to give the public “clear instructions” on the way through the coronavirus crisis on Monday, as the government struggled to respond to a barrage of questions about its new advice to “stay alert.”
Boris Johnson was challenged by the Labor leader, MPs and members of the public about the ambiguities and contradictions in the new government guidelines.
Starmer has widely supported the government’s approach to dealing with the crisis, but has intensified its criticism in recent days, amid what Labor views as mixed messages about next steps.
“What we needed from the prime minister last night was clarity and calm,” he said. “The prime minister said he was establishing a road map, but if we are to complete the journey safely, a road map needs clear instructions.”
Johnson delivered his broadcast to the nation Sunday night, urging the public to “stay vigilant,” but full details of the planned changes were not released until Monday afternoon.
After a day of confusion over exactly what the message meant, with ministers and parliamentarians giving apparently contradictory responses on the air in defending the policy, the prime minister admitted that the message had become more complex than the “stay home” motto. , save lifes”. The last six weeks.
He said the government was now trusting people to use their common sense and duplicated the “stay alert” message by saying it was similar to the one French President Emmanuel Macron was using: “Sauvez des vies, restez students“(Save lives, be careful).
Pooja, one of the members of the public who had a chance to ask the prime minister questions at Monday’s press conference, asked him why he had been “so vague” about who should return to work.
Another, an elementary school teacher named Kate, asked why she could mix with the children she is teaching, but not with members of her family.
Dominic Raab had previously suggested that it would now be acceptable for someone to meet his parents in a park. But Johnson contradicted him, saying, “You have to do it one-on-one, outdoors.”
Starmer said the most important question the government had not clearly answered was, “When can we see our loved ones again?”
And in the House of Commons, he said: “There is no consensus either on messages now or on policies between the UK government and those of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is not something he knows he [Johnson] I wanted to see but now we are in that position, [which] it raises serious concerns, with a real danger of divergence.
“What the country needs at the moment is clarity and tranquility and at the moment both are very scarce.”
Former Conservative Cabinet Minister David Davis, who criticized the blockade, said that in lifting it, “the government should think about both families and the economy.”
In other developments on Monday:
• The government announced that it would recommend that the public cover their faces, in places where they cannot distance themselves from others.
• Johnson said the blockage could be quickly re-imposed in a particular local area if a new outbreak is detected, a process he compared to “whack-a-mole.”
• Unions welcomed the changes to the workplace safety guide to reopen workplaces, saying they were “moving in the right direction.”
• Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance sidestepped the question of whether they signed the “stay alert” slogan, saying they were not communications experts.
In the 60-page “Plan to Rebuild”, the government outlined details of what it called the “second phase” of its approach to dealing with the virus. Described as an “indicative roadmap,” it suggests dates when a larger part of the economy may reopen, but stresses that they depend on the data.
Vallance said he and his colleagues had “strongly supported the conditionality” of the government’s approach, and that each step would have to be based on science, not “date-based.”
More outdoor activities will be allowed and more people who cannot work from home will be actively encouraged to return to their workplaces.
But at the same time, the government said “smarter controls” would be imposed to help reopen more areas of the economy when possible.
These include the use of facial coatings, encouraging the public to wash their clothes regularly, and changes in work practices, including working from home where possible, reducing face-to-face contact and improving ventilation.
The measures are expected to become a “new normal” until an effective vaccine or treatment for the virus can be found.
Addressing MPs on the government’s plans, Johnson insisted that the UK should continue to face the crisis as such, despite suggestions from the Welsh and Scottish governments that it recklessly abandoned the “stay home” message too soon.
“Different parts of the UK may need to remain in the total blockade for a longer time, but any divergence should be only in the short term because as UK Prime Minister I have no doubt that we must overcome this threat and confront together the challenge of recovery, “he said.
There was also confusion over when the latest changes would go into effect. Johnson seemed to suggest Sunday that they were immediate.
But Raab, who was sent to explain the government’s approach on Monday when workers in London crowded into the tube, said they would not start until Wednesday, once employers have received new advice on how to work safely.
Nine sets of new “safe for Covid” workplace guidelines were released Monday night, after days of consultation with unions and business groups.
The TUC had rejected an earlier draft of the council, saying it was written too loosely. But his general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said they were “a step in the right direction.”
“All employers must now conduct and publish risk assessments in consultation with unions and their workforces. After the confusion of the past few days, workers will only feel safe if the government and employers now act to make safer work a reality in all workplaces, ”he said.
Johnson later insisted that no one should return to an unsafe workplace and that there would be “spot checks” to ensure compliance by employers.
“In saying that people who cannot work from home now must go to work, we are absolutely categorical in their workplace, their workplace must be safe, it must be safe for Covid,” he said. “Employers will not be able to get away with forcing people to work in conditions that are not safe for Covid.”
