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Sir Keir Starmer has accused the prime minister of “pretending there is no problem” with the government’s Covid-19 testing regime.
During the PMQs, Boris Johnson defended the head of NHS Test and Trace, Dido Harding, and said that the UK is testing “more people than any other European country”.
Opening his Commons exchange, Starmer questioned why the prime minister said yesterday that the Test and Trace system has “very little or nothing” to do with the spread or transmission of Covid-19, having previously hailed it as a change. of game.
The Labor leader added: “Both positions cannot be correct, which is it, Prime Minister?”
Johnson responded: “It is an obvious fact of biology and epidemiology that, unfortunately, this disease is transmitted by human contact or by contact with aerosols.
“But one of the great advantages of NHS Test and Trace, which we did not have working before in the pandemic, is that we now have the ability to see in granular detail where the epidemic is breaking out, exactly which groups are being infected. .
“That is why we have been able to implement local closures and that is why we can say at this stage that it is necessary to take the decisive action that we are … to reduce the virus, keep children in school and keep our economy in movement “.
Starmer replied, “Pretending there is not a problem is part of the problem, Prime Minister.”
He added: “Is the prime minister’s explanation that we don’t have enough capacity because no one could have expected the increased demand? That’s Dido Harding’s defense, or do we have all the capacity we need, is it just that people are not being reasonable in asking for evidence? That’s [Matt] Hancock defense. Then what is?
Johnson responded: “I must say that the continued attacks by the opposition against Dido Harding in particular are indecent and unjustified.”
He added: “By testing more people than any other European country … we will reach 500,000 tests by the end of October.”
