Boris Johnson is facing a wave of criticism on Sunday after it was revealed that the prime minister was ‘pinged’ and told to self-isolate after meeting with Sajid Javid who tested positive for Covid on Saturday.
However, the PM has since swerved this and will now self-isolate.
Both he and chancellor Rishi Sunak were contacted by the NHS Test and Trace app but rather than being forced to self isolate for up to 10 days they instead planned to take part in a ‘daily contact testing pilot’ scheme which has only been made available to a select number of people.
The programme will see participants take daily tests and if they test positive they will be forced to self-isolate. Those involved in the scheme must however self-isolate when they are not at work.
The Mirror has reported that there are plans to introduce this to the wider public but that is still months away. Downing Street is just one of 20 organisations currently involved in the scheme with others said to include TFL, Heathrow Airport and National Rail.
More than 500,000 people are said to have received ‘pings’ from the app telling them to self-isolate and it’s perhaps unsurprising that the initial reaction to Johnson and Sunak not having to do the same as everyone else was one of criticism with #oneruleforthem trending on Twitter with many MP’s also laying into the PM.
530,126 people were told by NHS Test and Trace that they had to isolate last week.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 18, 2021
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak won’t because they believe the rules all of us follow should not apply to them.
This government is a sleazy, duplicitous joke.
Boris Johnson’s pretence at observing his own government’s Covid rules is currently self-isolating
— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) July 18, 2021
In this week’s episode of One Rule For Us, One Rule For Them: https://t.co/1PLiNrdAqW
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) July 18, 2021
So far, members of this govt can:
— Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) July 18, 2021
1. Go to work instead of self-isolate
2. Ravish employees at work instead of socially distance
3. Test their eyes on 600 mile road trips instead of obey lockdown
4. Hand billion pound contacts out like smarties to mates
I dream of decency 😔
Ah. Well. There you go. #oneruleforthem. Again. https://t.co/BFAMWnA23c
— Suzanne Evans 🙂 (@SuzanneEvans1) July 18, 2021
If @BorisJohnson wants 1.6m people to self isolate, he should do the same. #oneruleforthem https://t.co/uoRL5tnGsx
— Harriet Digby (@HarrietDigby) July 18, 2021
They take us all for fools. #oneruleforthem
— Siobhan Benita (@SiobhanBenita) July 18, 2021
🤬😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬😡 https://t.co/Fj5ukxMD0D
The amount of businesses currently struggling with people isolating, the people whose mental health has been ruined by isolating, the people who have lost money because the self isolation payment scheme isn’t good enough and they can just avoid it?!! #oneruleforthem https://t.co/4rWghWICDr
— Lucy Atkinson (@LucyAtkinson_) July 18, 2021
You
— Dr Ellie 💊🩺💉 (@Dr_Ellie) July 18, 2021
Could
Not
Make
This
Up
I know desperate families who have begged schools to take well but isolating kids back for the sake of their health. But been told they are the rules. #oneruleforthem
I mean wow. To have the gall. Beggars belief. While our families, friends and colleagues are all obeying the rules even though it hurts in so many ways. #oneruleforthem https://t.co/8mWsY0SPoP
— Tilly McAuliffe (@tilly_mcauliffe) July 18, 2021
Seriously hypocritical #OneRuleForThem https://t.co/jWVYVMHs6k
— Maria Eagle MP 😷💙 (@meaglemp) July 18, 2021
This is an old story folks … @BorisJohnson and @RishiSunak being randomly selected by the pilot trial …. It happened to Mugabe too!! I met him a few times. Truly revolting. Johnson heading for the same league pic.twitter.com/CWOCnx4CX4
— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@campbellclaret) July 18, 2021
A VIP lane for PPE contracts, a VIP lane for testing contracts and now a VIP lane for getting pinged but not having to isolate.
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) July 18, 2021
A government of fraudsters and grifters conning the public. https://t.co/XqKUksYXT2
How about the school teachers, transport workers and health workers getting a chance to be part of this test pilot or is it only for the privileged few? People have stuck to the rules and done the right thing, Boris Johnson is taking them for granted.
— Ed Davey MP 🔶🇪🇺 (@EdwardJDavey) July 18, 2021
As I said last week to the Prime Minister, it can’t be one rule for him and his elite chums, and another for the rest of us plebs.
— Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP (@TanDhesi) July 18, 2021
Despite his apology, not surprised with this constant disgraceful truth-twisting!https://t.co/JTuDN52AYt
I hope somebody in Downing St has some private polling to show the public likes the idea of “one rule us, one rule for them” in a pandemic and will support what @BorisJohnson and @RishiSunak have done this morning
— George Parker (@GeorgeWParker) July 18, 2021
— Olly Richards (@olly_richards) July 18, 2021
I can now reveal I was part of a drug testing pilot scheme for much of the 1990s
— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) July 18, 2021
I’m in a really bad place at the moment. Not mentally, I just live in the UK.
— Tom Knight (@TJ_Knight) July 18, 2021
And another thing... https://t.co/hHafGTJmzW
— Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) July 18, 2021
However, in another major u-turn for the government, it has been announced that Johnson and Sunak will now go into self-isolation and will not be taking part in the pilot scheme.
Whilst the test and trace pilot is fairly restrictive, allowing only essential government business, I recognise that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is wrong.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 18, 2021
To that end I’ll be self isolating as normal and not taking part in the pilot.
Cue even more reactions.
Wow. @BorisJohnson and @RishiSunak have now chosen to isolate and not participate in the exemption pilot. They plainly concluded if they didn’t isolate almost no one would pic.twitter.com/NCBBDd22yp
— Robert Peston (@Peston) July 18, 2021
How it started...how it’s going pic.twitter.com/yRInXlyaMG
— Kate Wilsea (@katewilsea) July 18, 2021
Is that a "U-turn" or a "climbdown"? Never sure
— Adam Hurrey (@FootballCliches) July 18, 2021
How has this government managed to cock up staying indoors. It’s literally the easiest thing in the world.
— Luke McGee (@lukemcgee) July 18, 2021
British politics. I mean. You’ve got to hand it to them it’s not dull
— Janine Gibson (@janinegibson) July 18, 2021
we might not be able to achieve much else, but we can at least bully them out of their holidays https://t.co/GLjXZpELAz
— Grace Robertson 🏳️⚧️ (@GraceOnFootball) July 18, 2021
One of the fastest u-turns.
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) July 18, 2021
No 10 says PM “was at Chequers when contacted by Test and Trace and will remain there to isolate…. He will continue to conduct meetings with ministers remotely” https://t.co/Ba0JEClvfj
The mess of the UK government is largely explained by them holding the public in utter contempt.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) July 18, 2021
They think the public are simplistic, incapable of independent thought or analysis - plebs, below them in life's hierarchy.
As long as they see a giant UK flag, they'll be happy.
As someone who has had to isolate for the week and cancelled 5 gigs to do so, let me say I am delighted they have abandoned this pilot scheme. In unrelated news I am abandoning my pilot scheme of posting dogshit to 10 & 11 Downing Street.
— Nish Kumar (@MrNishKumar) July 18, 2021
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak having to self-isolate for "freedom day" is literally too perfect an analogy for the expectations vs reality meme
— James McManus (@JamesMcManus1) July 18, 2021
‘I won’t be swimming myself, I’m part of a pilot scheme to stay uneaten’ pic.twitter.com/3ao7Tb4w9K
— Dave Lee (@davelee1968) July 18, 2021
The UK Government is like the greatest ‘The Thick of It’ episode of all time. pic.twitter.com/S31PzNXxA6
— Rob Dowling (@Rob_Dowling) July 18, 2021
I once avoided having to self isolate because my work was taking part in a secretive trial that no-one else had heard of pic.twitter.com/PBrbIzCoOc
— George Osborn (@GeorgeOsborn) July 18, 2021
Of all people, Piers Morgan put it best.
Nothing will more perfectly illustrate the disingenuous data-ignoring nonsense of 'Freedom Day' tomorrow than Boris Johnson locked away at Chequers, self-isolating from the virus we're supposed to be free from.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 18, 2021
This news comes just a day before the government are due to lift Covid restrictions across England for so-called ‘freedom day’ a move that is also being heavily criticised as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the nation thanks to the Delta variant.
