Accusations of delayed reactions were rife in today’s PMQs from leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, who told the House of the 17,000 Covid deaths and over one million new cases since the last PMQs.
Mr Starmer quoted the Prime Minister saying there was no need for endless lockdowns, or changes in legislation because the tiered system was working to bring cases down.
The Prime Minister was strong in his response, stating the change in circumstances that lead to another national lockdown, including the news of the new variant that spreads 50% to 70% faster than it was in March.
The Prime Minister said that he took the decision to put most of the country in Tier 4 once he was made aware of the new variant.
The Leader of the Opposition did state that it took over 2 weeks for the full third lockdown to come into place, which lead to unnecessary cases and deaths.
Tier 4 is starting to have a positive effect on the case rate, as well as the vaccination programme that is being rolled out nationwide with 2.2 million people having received the vaccine so far.
The Prime Minister faced questions about when lockdown would end from his own party, with clear steps out of lockdown being requested from both sides of the House.
Brexit reared its head when Ian Blackford questioned why his constituents were facing bureaucracy when trying to sell almost £40,000 worth of fish produce, calling for more investment from the Government, which the Prime Minister assured was coming and already here.
