Boris Johnson has indicated he has not read a government-commissioned report setting out urgent measures needed to prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus, telling the Commons only that he was “aware” of it. Johnson was questioned at length by Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions about the study by 37 senior doctors and scientists, published this week, and the need for an effective test-and-trace system to mitigate any new outbreak. The 79-page report predicts that in a worst-case scenario, a resurgence of Covid-19 this winter could kill up to 120,000 people, and it says preparation for this in the coming weeks is vital to reduce the death toll. Starmer said: “I have to ask, in light of the last few questions: has the prime minister actually read this report, that sets out the reasonable worst-case scenario and tells the government what it needs to do about it in the next six weeks? Has he read it?”
Johnson replied: “I am, of course, aware of the report, and we are, of course, taking every reasonable step to prepare this country for a second spike,” bringing jeers from some opposition MPs. Starmer asked Johnson to commit to implementing all the recommendations of the report, which was commissioned by Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser. Johnson did not do so, saying only that ministers would ensure the NHS was not overwhelmed by a second wave. Asked after PMQs whether Johnson had read the report, a Downing Street source said they did not know, as they had not asked him. A spokesman for Starmer said the report set out the potentially dire consequences of a second wave, adding: “It is deeply concerning that the prime minister hasn’t even bothered to read it.” The spokesman also condemned Johnson for his response to Starmer’s last question of the session. Starmer said he was meeting families bereaved by coronavirus later in the day, and asked Johnson what his message to them would be.
Johnson said he would do everything he could to prevent a second spike, but ended with a clearly prepared joke about Starmer’s legal past, saying: “He’s got more briefs than Calvin Klein.” Starmer’s spokesman said: “I think it tells you everything you need to know about the prime minister’s flippant approach to this crisis, and his style of leadership.” The leaders also clashed over the test-and-trace system for finding people potentially exposed to the virus, with Johnson saying the UK’s version was “as good as or better than any other system anywhere in the world”. Asked what was the basis for the prime minister’s claim, his spokesman cited statistics for the number of people the system had traced, but did not give any other evidence. . At PMQs, Starmer noted that proportion of contacts who had been tracked down had fallen in recent weeks. “What assurance can the prime minister give that the system will be fit for both purposes in the timeframe envisaged in this report – ie by this September?” he asked. Johnson replied by returning to a familiar theme of recent PMQs, accusing Starmer of selectively opposing government actions on coronavirus and “knocking the confidence of the country”. Starmer condemned Johnson’s approach. “It’s perfectly possible to support track and trace, and point out the problems,” he said. “And standing up every week saying it’s a stunning success is kidding no one. That isn’t giving people confidence in the system. They would like a prime minister who stands up and says: ‘There are problems, and this is what I’m going to do about them.’”
Answering a later question from Ed Davey, the Lib Dems’ interim leader, Johnson committed for the first time to holding an independent inquiry into the handling of the pandemic, while saying now was not the “right moment” for it. Asked when it might happen, the No 10 source gave no details: “He said an independent inquiry, and we’ll set out further details of the independent inquiry in due course.”