IAN Blackford has vowed that the SNP will hold the UK Government to account over reports of “jaw-dropping” negligence from Downing Street in response the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the Sunday Times, Boris Johnson missed five Cobra meetings in early 2020 as Number 10 missed a series of opportunities to try and prevent the UK from becoming an epicentre of the pandemic.
SNP Westminster leader Blackford pledged to scrutinise decision making at the highest levels of Government once MPs meet via video link this week.
He said: “The reports of complacency and negligence around the UK Government’s immediate response to the coronavirus pandemic are jaw-dropping. We have been working constructively during this health emergency and we will continue to do so, however no government is above scrutiny.
“There are a number of legitimate questions that need to be put to the UK Government around its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. When Parliament returns next week, the SNP will stand ready to hold this Government to account and prioritise the protection of the public, frontline services and businesses.”
Cobra meetings, typically chaired by the PM, bring together ministers, intelligence chiefs and military generals to discuss threats to the UK. But Johnson did not attend any of the meetings between January 24 and March 2.
The criticisms levelled at his administration also include failing to heed warnings from top scientists and failing to properly implement its own pandemic strategy – which had been hampered by a decade of austerity, meaning PPE stocks were dwindling or out of date.
The problem was exacerbated by the UK shipping 279,000 items of its depleted stockpile of protective equipment to China in the early stages of the outbreak.
A Government source said: “Almost every plan we had was not activated in February. Almost every Government department has failed to properly implement their own pandemic plans.”
In the early 2000s, the UK’s pandemic plans were described by the source as “the envy of the world”. But they added: “Pandemic planning became a casualty of the austerity years when there were more pressing needs.”
READ MORE: Michael Gove's Cobra meetings claim rubbished by ex-scientific adviser
Another major flaw according to the Sunday Times account is the Prime Minister himself, who was said to be prioritising Brexit and Cabinet reshuffles, showing little or no urgency in response to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
Johnson was also criticised for his work ethic, with one source claiming the PM refused to work weekends.
A senior Downing Street aide told the newspaper: “There’s no way you’re at war if your PM isn’t there.
“And what you learn about Boris was he didn’t chair any meetings. He liked his country breaks. He didn’t work weekends. It was like working for an old-fashioned chief executive in a local authority 20 years ago. There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning. It was exactly like people feared he would be.”
Both “Boris out” and “Boris resign” trended on Twitter after the story was published online.
But Johnson’s team rubbished the reports. A Number 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been at the helm of the response to this, providing leadership during this hugely challenging period for the whole nation.”
However, asked about the claims this morning, Michael Gove initially told Andrew Marr merely that “there are one or two aspects of the Sunday Times report that are slightly off-beam”. He later said it was “grotesque” to claim the PM had missed emergency meetings.
A Downing Street spokesperson was more emphatic.
They said: “The Government has been working day and night to battle against coronavirus, delivering a strategy designed at all times to protect our NHS and save lives.
“Guided by medical and scientific expertise, we have implemented specific measures to reduce the spread of the virus at the time they will be most effective. Our response has ensured that the NHS has been given all the support it needs to ensure everyone requiring treatment has received it, as well as providing protection to businesses and reassurance to workers.”
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