Labour calls for daily update by PM

Senior Labour figures have called on the UK government to begin holding daily press conferences on the coronavirus outbreak and stop anonymous briefings of journalists to end confusion over its advice.

Boris Johnson last held a press conference with his top scientific and medical advisers on Thursday, with news leaking out about a possible quarantine of over70s over the weekend.

Labour leadership frontrunner Sir Keir Starmer said information should be set out on camera by the Prime Minister or senior ministers, and expert government advisers.

“I am deeply concerned that over the past 48 hours ministers have been failing in their responsibilities to provide consistent and transparent public health advice,” Mr Starmer said.

“To allow anonymous and speculative briefings to journalists about a significant step-change in the government’s response to the outbreak is irresponsible. That is why I am urging the Prime Minister to promise an end to anonymous briefings about this issue. It’s time the government commits to a daily press conference about its handling of coronavirus.”

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who served as health secretary during the 2009 swine flu outbreak, said the crisis had “hit the point where we need a daily televised press conference led by the Chief Medical Officer. This needs to be put in place from today.”

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said it was “utterly unacceptable for government sources to be briefing journalists overnight on issues which are very, very fundamental to how we deal with this virus”.

Mr Ashworth said that if the advice had changed since Mr Johnson’s last televised appearance, “then really the Prime Minister should be doing another press conference today and explaining why things have changed”.