Government urged to publish lockdown exit strategy

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said transparency is needed for what comes next.

In an interview with ITV News, Sir Keir also said he believes an inquiry into the UK's response to the pandemic is ‘inevitable’.

“I think the Government were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment, and may now be slow on our exit strategy,” he said.

“I've made clear I'm not asking for lockdown to be lifted. We will support the Government on lockdown being in place for as long as is necessary.

“Nor am I pushing on a timing. What I want to know is what's the plan for the next phase? Because we need to plan for it, decisions need to be taken now, so I've made that clear to the Prime Minister.”

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He continued: “So far as the exit is concerned, the next phase, it's partly scientific because of course we need to know whether the infection rate is down.

“But it's partly political because the decisions will be political in the sense of do you get your schools back into operation? Which bit of your economy do you think ought to come out of lockdown first?

“These aren't scientific questions, they're political decisions and they need to be taken.

“The Prime Minister said he wanted transparency so, if he's going to have transparency, let's see what the plan is, let's look at it and, frankly, if we could support it, then we will, but we need to know what it is.”

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He added: “I've been talking to businesses, to trade unions, with communities across the country - they understand lockdown, they understand why we're staying in lockdown, but they want a conversation about what's going to happen next.

“I'm sure there's going to be an inquiry, it's inevitable at the end of all this.

“At the moment, I think the focus should not be on whatever inquiry might be in the future, the focus needs to be on what we need to do to get through this crisis.”