A UK government spokesman has refuted wide-ranging claims made by The Sunday Times in a damning article that criticizes the government’s early response to the coronavirus pandemic, arguing Sunday that the article contains a “series of falsehoods” that “misrepresent” the government’s actions.
This article contains a series of falsehoods and errors and actively misrepresents the enormous amount of work which was going on in government at the earliest stages of the coronavirus outbreak,” the government’s spokesman said in a statement.
“The Prime Minister has been at the helm of the response to this, providing leadership during this hugely challenging period for the whole nation,” the statement added.
The spokesman’s response comes after Cabinet minister Michael Gove acknowledged that — as reported by the Sunday Times — Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not attend five national security COBR meetings focused on coronavirus in January and February.
According to the government’s spokesman, it is “entirely normal and proper” for such meetings to be chaired by the relevant secretary of state, as opposed to the Prime Minister.
“It is ridiculous to suggest that coronavirus only reached the UK because the Health Secretary and not the PM chaired a COBR meeting,” the spokesman said.
Additionally, The Sunday Times reported that a number of opportunities to reduce the impact of the pandemic had been missed by the UK government in January, February and March, claiming that UK officials “sleepwalked into disaster” and “played down the looming threat” of coronavirus.
The government’s spokesman rejected such claims, asserting the government “started to act as soon as it was alerted to a potential outbreak” of coronavirus.
“The suggestion that the government’s attitude was nonchalant is wrong. Extensive and detailed work was going on in government because of coronavirus,” the spokesman said.
“The government’s scientific advisory groups started to meet in mid-January and (Health Secretary Matt) Hancock instituted daily meetings to grip the emerging threat. We have taken the right steps at the right time guided by the scientific evidence,” the spokesman added.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/ADC3CxDfHpc/index.html
