Responding to the Prime Minister’s COVID-19 update, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: “People across the UK have made enormous personal sacrifices to slow the spread of COVID-19, protect others and protect our NHS and care services. Millions of people have put their lives on hold, are in isolation and face losing their livelihoods.
“So I don’t understand why the Government has changed its messaging at this critical stage. It risks what people have fought so hard for. The Prime Minister has not provided the country with any evidence or justification for this change. Instead, he risks creating more confusion than clarity by badly communicating his Government’s plans.
“We must put people’s health first. It is crystal clear that the only way to begin to ease out of the current lockdown is to radically expand capacity to test, trace and isolate. The Government have a long way to go to achieve such a system, yet the Prime Minister did not address this in any detail. An app alone will not suffice and the Prime Minister’s road-map must lay out the route to this above all else.
“The Liberal Democrats will continue to support strategies informed by scientific understanding to stem COVID-19. The Prime Minister must come forward with greater transparency about the science behind these key decisions and a far better clarity in communicating what people need to do to play their part.”