1 - At the crossroads moment, with shops opening in England, the experts are missing
There was no sign of Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, or Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance, amid growing signs the scientists are being sidelined as the UK government makes a “full review” of the two metre social distancing rule.
Dominic Raab said advisers will continue to attend but “judgement calls have to me made by politicians.”
That is quite a handbrake turn from “being led by the science”.
2 - The raging debate on the economy versus health crisis
Raab insisted a decision on whether to reduce the two-metre rule would be “underpinned” by science.
The Foreign Secretary told the Downing Street press conference: “There’s no magic to one or other particular measure, there will be different levels of risk whether it’s at two metres, one-and-a-half metres or one metre.
In the Commons Tory MPs demanded an easing of the two metre rule to help the economy get back on it’s feet.
But at the 5pm press conference Raab could not give ground.
The other figures, Covid-19 deaths up by 38 from 41,698 from the day before, speak for themselves.
Raab said: “We’ve got to make sure we proceed in a sure-footed way, we don’t want a second spike.”
3 - Racial disparity
The Foreign Secretary said more research was needed before Public Health England findings into the risk posed by Covid-19 to black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities could be released.
When asked why the Government had not published the report, which was leaked last week, Dominic Raab said: “We do want to get to the bottom of that, we’ve commissioned more research on it.”
He was similarly defensive of the Prime Minister’s announcement for Commission on Racial Disparity in response to the Black Lives Matter protests.
David Lammy, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said Boris Johnson’s latest racism review was a plan “written on the back of a fag packet”
He warned: ”The time for review is over, the time for action is now.”
