Time for Boris Johnson to end virus confusion – Rachel Reeves

Even Boris Johnson and his Ministers cannot clearly explain their own system of restrictions, adding to the aura of incompetence around the Prime Minister.

The Government’s chaotic response to this crisis has undermined public confidence at a time when we need clarity and a clear-eyed approach as winter approaches.

In Leeds, the new 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants saw some pour on to the streets and ignore social distancing, prompting the city council to write to Health Secretary Matt Hancock about the “contradictory and confusing” discrepancies in the rules.

University students are among those affected as they are forced to self-isolate in their halls of residences. Many of them are still scarred by the Government fiasco over their A-level results this summer. I fear there is a real risk that the drop-out rate will rise, which could have a serious impact on social mobility and trigger further rises in unemployment.

Around a quarter of the country and 16 million people are now under tighter Covid-19 restrictions, including many parts of Yorkshire. However, just as it did during a decade of austerity, the Government seems to have forgotten the North and the Midlands when it comes to helping those who most need it.

Businesses have been told they cannot operate or must shut early, but there is no extra support from the Government for them. That has to change, particularly as the furlough scheme finishes at the end of October. A more flexible and long term approach is crucial – which is why Labour has called for real action to recover jobs, retrain workers and rebuild business.

Many businesses are out in the cold and will also not benefit from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Winter Economic Plan announced last month.

In my constituency of Leeds West, I know brilliant businesses like Pop Art Media Group in Armley and Lauden Chocolate need better support. There must be more help for businesses forced to remain shut through no fault of their own, but by Government decisions.

Despite a warning from the Bank of England that the jobless total could rise by a terrible one million, the Chancellor’s measures do precious little for manufacturing, hospitality, leisure, aviation and the vast number of self-employed people already excluded from Government help.

The flaws in his new Job Support Scheme means it will be cheaper for firms to employ one full-time worker than two part-time workers on the same full-time equivalent salary. That marks another failure when it comes to protecting jobs.

There is no doubt the toll from the virus has been far more brutal on some sections of society. We have seen the impact it has had on those who have lost loved ones, including those health and care workers who died doing their jobs, and the way the virus swept through care homes.

I realise how hard this crisis has been for so many people, but it did not have to be this way. As the pressure eased on the NHS with a falling number of cases over the summer, the Government should have acted and prepared for the inevitable rise in cases this autumn and winter.

The summer was the time for Ministers to ramp up the test and trace system to break community transmission and draw up a coherent strategy to communicate consistent messages with the public at key points of time.

Instead, the Government was complacent and had the wrong instincts. Multi-million contracts with companies like Serco have fallen way short of the mark in delivering vital services.

Our local councils and local public health teams are experts on our communities and should be at the heart of the driving force of the test and trace 
system and not frustrated by a lack of funding or asked to mop up the mess of these corporations.

The blame for this is squarely on the Government who has repeatedly dished out huge contracts without understanding the experience and expertise taxpayers already have paid for in the public sector and which Ministers have neglected.

Despite the Government’s hollowing out of public services and deeply misguided love-in with large outsourcing firms, the city council has done a great job sending officials door-to-door in the worst affected areas to give people advice and ensure they get tested if needed.

They are working hard to combat the virus. However, their efforts make it all the more important that the Government ditches its current carnival of incompetence.

Ministers must get a grip on test and trace and further increase testing capacity, focusing on those people at the highest risk. The Government also needs to work to restore the public trust shattered by its own incompetence, dither and delay.

We face a very difficult few months. If we are to defeat the virus and build a better and safer future, the Prime Minister and his team need to work far harder to improve the tools we need to beat this pandemic.

Rachel Reeves is Labour MP for Leeds West and a senior Shadow Cabinet Minister.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson