Matthew Taylor
Sunday shows round-up: Sage scientist says lockdown delay cost lives
Professor John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who has been advising the government throughout the Covid crisis, spoke to Andrew Marr this morning. Edmunds told Marr that, with the UK's official death toll having now passed 40,000, the UK should have locked down faster in retrospect:
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) June 7, 2020"We should have gone into lockdown earlier… I think that has cost a lot of lives unfortunately," says SAGE member Professor John Edmunds#Marr #Covid_19 https://t.co/Uug1h8EmWX pic.twitter.com/nhHj56z5V5
AM: [Do] you have some regrets about some of your advice, about what you thought at the time?
JE: Yes. We should have gone into lockdown earlier. I think it would have been hard to do it... but I wish we had... I think that has cost a lot of lives unfortunately.
Matt Hancock - We made the right decisions at the right time
Marr was also joined by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, and asked him if he agreed with Edmunds' analysis of the situation. Hancock disagreed, arguing that the government has operated in line with the broad consensus of its Sage committee of advisers, of which Edmunds is a contributor:
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) June 7, 2020"I’m sure… that we made the right decisions at the right time"
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tells #Marr he disagrees with SAGE member Professor John Edmunds that not going into lockdown earlier had cost lives#Covid_19 https://t.co/Uug1h8EmWX pic.twitter.com/TSyOeajdsy
MH: No. I think we took the right decisions at the right time, and [on Sage] there's a broad range... of scientific opinion, and we were guided by the science... That's the right way for it to have been done.
Protests are 'undoubtedly' a risk for spreading coronavirus
Hancock also told Ridge that he thought the recent protests that have taken place in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police force were irresponsible because of the likely health risk that they posed:
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) June 7, 2020Matt Hancock says protests are "undoubtedly a risk" for increasing the spread of coronavirus. #Ridge
Follow live analysis: https://t.co/acafWfVYun pic.twitter.com/rVIEiR4kXF
MH: It's undoubtedly a risk... The virus itself doesn't discriminate, and gathering in large groups is temporarily against the rules, precisely because it increases the risk of the spread of this virus.
Johnson's cabinets 'some of the most diverse' in history
Ridge asked Hancock about the racial diversity in the current cabinet. Hancock floundered a little on this question, being unable to name any black members attending cabinet since Kwasi Kwarteng was reshuffled to a new post in February:
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) June 7, 2020"How many black people are in the current cabinet?"
"Well there's a whole series of people from a black and ethnic minority background" responds Matt Hancock. #RidgeFollow live analysis: https://t.co/acafWfVYun pic.twitter.com/p1M7CsW2lb
SR: How many black people are there in the current cabinet?
MH: ...I think that Boris Johnson's got a very good record on this... And it's diversity of thought that's the really important thing...
SR: So are you saying then that people from black backgrounds shouldn't really worry... because you have diversity of thought?
MH: No, what I'm saying is that the cabinets that Boris Johnson [has lead] are some of the most diverse in the history of this country...
Lisa Nandy - I'm very proud of the protestors
Marr also spoke to the Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy. Unlike Hancock, Nandy was broadly supportive of the holding of anti-racism protests over recent days:
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) June 7, 2020#Marr: Is it right for people to protest during the #Covid_19 pandemic?
Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy: "It must be safe, people should social distance… but I’m very proud of those young people"https://t.co/vncvQ3blte pic.twitter.com/ckTeEsXjyh
LN: It must be safe, people should social distance… but I’m very proud of those young people who are coming out and speaking up... [Racism] requires you to take an active stance against it. You cannot be silent in the face of racism and police brutality.
John Barnes - Some aspects of UK are as racist as US
The former England footballer and anti-racism campaigner John Barnes told Ridge that he felt the UK held some structural aspects of racism in common with the USA:
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) June 7, 2020'In terms of the disenfranchisement of the inner cities, of the black community not being given access to healthcare, social care and jobs the UK is exactly the same as the US' of says former footballer, John Barnes. #Ridge
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JB: [The UK] hasn't got a problem like the US in terms of policemen killing black people on the streets as we saw with the George Floyd fiasco. However, in terms of the disenfranchisement in the inner cities, of the black community not being given access to healthcare, social care, jobs, housing... In terms of how impactful it is, negatively on the black community, it's exactly the same.
Margaret Hodge - House of Commons debate 'just a nonsense'
And finally, the veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge has criticised the organisation of debates in the House of Commons after arrangements have been made to restore voting and debating in person. As someone classified as vulnerable to Covid-19, Hodge told Ridge that she had little means of making her voice heard:
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) June 7, 2020"It's just a nonsense"
Dame Margaret Hodge says she is excluded from a debate about virtual access because she is having to work virtually instead of returning to parliament. #RidgeFollow live analysis: https://t.co/acafWfVYun pic.twitter.com/EsdnZHkLQb
MH: Tomorrow there is a debate on virtual access, and I would like to virtually take part in that debate. I've been told I can't do that, so I am being disenfranchised... on a debate that is discussing my disenfranchisement... It's just a nonsense.