Keir Starmer opened his questions to the Prime Minister by asking how 16,000 Covid-19 tests had managed to go missing, and what impact that may have had on local lockdown restrictions, with Starmer claiming that local lockdowns have been put in place based on wrong data.
The Prime Minister responded by reassuring the country that the tests had since been found and their results returned back to patients, however, it is worth mentioning that the isolation period will have needed for some people by the time they got their test back.
Backing up his fact-based approach, the leader of the opposition urged the PM to disclose with Parliament and also the British people, on what basis the Government were putting the 10pm rule in place. With local leaders, such as Andy Burnham being vocal opponents of the rule, Sir Keir advised that it might be time for the Government to listen to communities across the country.
The validity of local lockdowns was also called into question, with research by the Labour Party showing that 19 out of 20 areas that have had restrictions placed upon them, have had an increase in Covid-19 cases since the measures were put in place.
Mr Johnson defended local lockdowns and questioned whether the leader of the opposition would continue to backtrack on his support of measures being put in place to slow down the spread of Covid-19.
Maria Eagle, MP for Garston and Halewood, raised concerns about areas being put into local lockdown with little to no financial support, however the Prime Minister reiterated that billions continue to be pumped into areas of local lockdown.
The Prime Minister ended his answers by talking about his ambitious plans to turn “generation rent into generation buy”.
