With six piercing questions Keir Starmer today punctured Boris Johnson’s claim that the Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis had been a success.
Under pressure the floundering Prime Minister conceded that the death rates in care homes was a matter of “bitter regret” and lack of protective kit was “enraging.”
The Labour leader’s precision and seriousness contrasted with a Tory leader trying to busk his way through the greatest challenge to face Britain since the Second World War.
It is no good Mr Johnson sharing the public’s frustration at the failure to protect the elderly or provide frontline workers with PPE.
It is his responsibility to rectify this.
Yet again the Government’s response to criticism was to make a promise they will struggle to keep. Yesterday Mr Johnson announced an ambition of 200,000 tests a day by the end of this month.
Shortly afterwards it emerged that the Government has missed its target of 100,000 daily tests for the third day in a row.
It is time to end the showboating and to focus on delivering the tests and kit that will save lives and help to end the lockdown.
Saving shops
Even before Covid-19 struck our high streets were facing a tough time.
Their plight has been made even worse by the pandemic with many shops and local businesses now fearing for their survival.
Which is why we should welcome any initiative that could help the retail sector.
One radical idea is to calculate rents based on takings rather than size and location.
This could prove a lifeline to many stores and ensure that once life starts to return to normal we still have thriving town centres.
Bake best of it
The lockdown has seen more and more of us find comfort in home baking.
It is not just the joy of making your own cakes, there’s a lot of pleasure in eating them too. You could call it the slice of life.
