Keir Starmer @keirstarmer
The coronavirus outbreak is the most serious public health crisis our country has faced in a generation.
People are rightly anxious about the impact it will have on their loved ones and on their day-to-day lives. [THREAD]
It is more important than ever that the Government is providing clear communication to the public about the steps it is taking to mitigate the impact of the outbreak.
I am deeply concerned that over the past 48hrs ministers have been failing in their responsibilities to provide consistent and transparent public health advice.
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. This must be hosted by a Government minister or the Prime Minister himself, with experts and advisers available to answer questions as appropriate.
At a time of national crisis, we need a Government that is offering openness and transparency, not confusion and uncertainty. I hope the Prime Minister will listen to this request.
Also
Andy Burnham @andyburnhamgm
Here’s a thread to explain a little more 👇
A decade ago, in June 2009, I was appointed Health Secretary by Gordon Brown. Days later WHO declared a global pandemic. Swine flu was never as serious as the current situation. But, from where I was standing, it felt pretty scary ...
One of the reasons it felt like this was because two of the risk groups for H1N1 Swine Flu were children with disabilities & pregnant women. So concern was very high amongst certain groups. As things developed over that summer, communications quickly became my biggest problem ...
Two incidents stand out. First was an appearance on GMTV. Andrew Castle was the interviewer & his daughter had experienced an adverse reaction to Tamiflu. I could only point out that it was still the CMO’s advice to take it preventatively. But it was a car crash if I’m honest ...
The second was when I was preparing to make a Commons Statement. The experts had given me scary figures for deaths under the worse case scenario. We debated whether I should give them to the House. How would it look if I withheld them but they then found way into the media? ...
We concluded it would make people panic even more if they felt the Government wasn’t telling them the whole story. But I can still remember the gasp in the Commons chamber when I read out the numbers. And the newspaper headlines the following day did not make for good reading ...
That was when we changed tack. I remember a long call with the CMO when we diagnosed the problem. It was the mixing of political comms/briefings (& all the issues that go with that) with official government statements. It was time to dial down the former & up the latter ...
So we agreed that Liam Donaldson would front all media activity & that I would take a backseat. It was the right decision. From then on, everything became a bit calmer. And my time as Health Secretary was spent less on fighting media storms & more on plans for the vaccine ...
I was reminded of all of this last night when I saw the Health Secretary writing for a favoured newspaper. I tried to open it but found a paywall. It was lifted not long after - but still. And then, this morning, press briefings appear about draconian plans under development ...
I think we’ve hit the same moment as I hit in the summer of 2009. Bear in mind, there was little social media then & that was hard enough. So, now, we need to hear more from the CMO/CSO & less from the politicians. A daily press conference should start tomorrow at the latest. END
This is very reasonable and sensible.