Boris vows to carry on as he and 11 fellow Tory MPS told to self-isolate
ELEVEN MPS have been told to self-isolate along with the Prime Minister after one of them tested positive for coronavirus.
Downing Street officials have insisted that health and safety protocols were followed and the venue is a Covid-secure environment, despite 12 politicians being advised to quarantine after a meeting.
Concerns were raised after a picture emerged of the Prime Minister standing in No10 with Ashfield MP Lee Anderson, without wearing a mask and at a distance of what appeared to be less than two metres.
Mr Ashfield later tested positive for the virus, prompting Mr Johnson to isolate along with 10 other colleagues.
The Prime Minister has said he is “fit and well” and will stay in his Downing Street flat and continue to work while being “well looked after and served by staff”, his official spokesman said.
The spokesman insisted at a briefing for Westminster journalists yesterday afternoon that social distancing measures were “observed” at the 35-minute meeting on Thursday morning, and said No10 was a “Covid-secure workplace”.
“We take every possible step to ensure that hand sanitiser is made available to people as soon as they arrive at the building and it is available throughout the building as you travel through it,” he said.
“But as I say, factors such as the length of the meeting meant that it was the advice of Test and Trace that the Prime Minister should selfisolate, and he of course will follow that instruction.”
Asked about a photograph showing Mr Johnson and Mr Anderson standing less than two metres apart at the meeting, the spokesman said: “They are stood side by side, rather than face to face.”
The spokesman also defended the Prime Minister’s decision to hold the meeting in person, saying such meetings are allowed under the current coronavirus restrictions.
The Prime Minister had planned to start the week by relaunching his premiership after days of infighting which led to the exit of his top adviser Dominic Cummings and communications director Lee Cain.
On Sunday night, Downing Street said Mr Johnson would present a policy launch on social justice, “levelling up” and coronavirus over the coming weeks which would send a “clear signal of his ongoing ambitions for the United Kingdom”. It is also a pivotal week for Brexit, as negotiations with the EU reach their final phase.
The Prime Minister had been expected to lead a No 10 press conference last night, but UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock hosted it in his absence.