Sir Keir Starmer demands clarity from government over coronavirus advice

11 May 2020, 09:42 | Updated: 11 May 2020, 09:51

Keir Starmer: we didn't get clarity from the Prime Minister's address

Sir Keir Starmer told LBC that the Prime Minister failed to give clarity to the British people over the coronavirus lockdown during his broadcast last night.

Boris Johnson made a 13-minute televised speech yesterday to outline the future of the UK as we look to beat coronavirus, insisting it's too soon to come out of lockdown.

The Labour leader said the UK was crying out for clarity over what's next, but was only left with more questions.

Speaking on the first edition of Call Keir, he said: "What I think everybody wanted to hear was something that was pretty clear and a sense of all the countries - England, Scotland, Wales - pulling together.

"And we didn't get clarity.

"I accept that for some of the things, like when can a school open, that's going to be conditional.

"But on this business of going back to work, the suggestion yesterday was that people would go back to work if they can't work from home, but don't use public transport - and that's really difficult, particularly if you live in a city like London.

"But without guidelines in place for how places need to operate. Simple things like how do you keep two metres apart, what about sanitation, protective equipment. These were things which were discussed in a consultation document last weekend, but not resolved yet.

"So I was actually quite surprised the Prime Minister said essentially in 12 hours' time, start going back to work, without those bits in place.

"We needed that clarity.

"What I wanted to see was this detail pinned down. I know this is difficult and any government would struggle, but you almost need more clarity at this stage than you did when you put in the lockdown.

"Coming out, you need real clarity and it's all over the place."

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