Tracing will test our trust in Boris
■ Mr Johnson refuses to answer questions about Mr Cummings and relies on bluster and bluff. The whole affair has been hopelessly badly handled, so it won’t go away as the PM wants it to.
Announcing the early start of the new NHS Test and Trace system was a transparent attempt to distract from the massive disaster that is Cummings’ behaviour and the way the PM has handled it.
He and his Cabinet of yes men can say what they like about civic duty but they have totally undermined the importance of this by their actions and their message has no conviction whatsoever. Harriet Jordan, South London
■ Having watched blustering Boris Johnson speaking to the Liaison Committee, I’m pleased this is not the Second World War otherwise we would have lost.
When he mentioned Test and Trace, and said Dido Harding was in charge, I immediately cast my mind back to when she was the CEO at TalkTalk, the communications company which had the worst customer services record of all similar firms, and presided over a data breach scandal while there. Apparently, the tracing system has already had problems – this is no surprise. With Boris in charge and Dominic and Dido tagging along, we are in for a rough ride.
Roy Madin Chesterfield Derbys
■ I wonder how many trust this government with access to sensitive data that will be stored on the NHS tracing app? I don’t. Time and again they have let down the public with their dismal handling of this pandemic and attempted to cover up their mistakes.
This crisis would have been hard for the best of governments, so it has been made a thousand times worse by having this one. More than 37,000 are now dead before their time. I believe history will judge them harshly for it.
D Watson, Bristol
■ Although it is welcome news that a Test and Trace system to help stop the spread of coronavirus has been launched, I really can’t help thinking that it is three months too late.
This should have been introduced at the start of the pandemic back in March, as it was in other countries which have coped better, and then the horrific death toll in Britain would have been greatly reduced.
Ken Pennington Stalybridge, Cheshire
■ I can’t help wondering how many people will adhere to the Government’s new Test and Trace system. And a big well done to Yvette Cooper for easily the best performance at the Liaison Committee. You could see Johnson squirm as she grilled him.
Mick Waites, Portsmouth
■ Boris has a nerve telling us we must do our civic duty to curb the spread of the virus while he is still backing his aide Dominic Cummings who broke the rules. He has a choice to put the national interest first but he is failing to do so. Does he really expect everyone to obey the rules after this fiasco? Dave Mellor, Warrington, Cheshire
■ The PM keeps urging us to “move on” but to what? What will be the point of spending masses on test and trace if people pack on to beaches, some of them wearing Dominic Cummings’ masks? Eddy Hunt, Rhondda Cynon Taf