Already a subscriber? Log in
RB: Going to a national lockdown would be a nuclear option… I think the British public now know that by taking a combination of different measures, we can get though this period.
International law enforcement is ‘a world away’ from day to day UK law
The government has introduced the ‘rule of six’ to stop large social gatherings at a critical time, as the Covid ‘R’ number – measuring the rate of infection – has risen above 1 for the first time since the height of lockdown. Ridge put the irony to Buckland that the government was demanding the public make difficult choices when, at the same time, it was proposing its own potential breach of international law:
RB: We don’t want to have to resort to enforcement proceedings, but we will do if we see egregious breaches… We’re talking about a difference between international law and domestic law on a political scale. It’s a world away from the law and regulations on a day to day basis.
Covid marshals will not be ‘surrogate police officers’
Marr asked Buckland about the introduction of new ‘Covid marshals’ to help ensure that social distancing and other Covid guidelines are followed in towns and cities across England:
RB: The marshals are there to help encourage people to do the right thing. They’re not there to be surrogate police… I think most people will follow advice, but where you need intervention the police will get involved.
Simon Coveney – The UK’s reputation is ‘being damaged in a very serious way’
Marr also interviewed Simon Coveney, the Irish Foreign Minister, who was distinctly unimpressed by the UK government’s intention for the Internal Market Bill. Coveney accused the UK of operating in bad faith and ‘creating enormous tension’ in the post-Brexit trade negotiations:
SC: The British government, in my view, is behaving in an extraordinary way, and the British people need to know that… The reputation of the UK as a trusted negotiating partner on important issues like this is being damaged in a very serious way.
Northern Ireland ‘blockade’ is ‘inflammatory language’ and ‘not the truth’
Marr asked Coveney about Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator’s logic. The Sun recently reported that Barnier threatened to ban exports from Great Britain into the EU’s customs union, of which Northern Ireland will remain a part. Coveney denied any plans for a ‘blockade’ and argued that the UK government was reneging on its own agreements:
AM: Are you seriously suggesting that the EU… would actually blockade goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland…?
SC: There is no blockade proposed, and that is the kind of inflammatory language coming from No. 10 which is spin and not the truth… What is agreed is… there will be limited checks on goods… We have to make sure that goods are not travelling from GB into the EU single market through the Republic of Ireland.
Louise Haigh – Covid testing regime ‘beggars belief’
Ridge spoke to the shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haigh, who told her that the government’s testing scheme was not fit for purpose:
LH: What should have happened to underpin [our] gradual returning to normality was an effective and mass testing system, an effective track and trace system, and the financial ability for people to self-isolate… It beggars belief that the government… haven’t put in place that testing capacity… to make it safe.
Latest Brexit arguments are ‘last thing the country needs’
Haigh also criticised the latest Brexit impasse and laid the blame at No.10’s door:
LH: I think the country wants to stop talking about Brexit… These issues that we were told were settled are now being reopened… and the government are unnecessarily inflicting this again on the country, and quite frankly this is the last thing the country needs right now.
Peter Openshaw – Vaccines could be ready in nine months time
And finally, Peter Openshaw, the immunologist working at Imperial College London, suggested that despite setbacks, there is still reason to be optimistic about the prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine:
PO: I do think that we will probably have positive results of at least one of these vaccine trials – probably more than that – by Christmas, and that means that with rapid scaling up, we might have rapid vaccination programmes which we can roll out… over the next nine months.
Because you read about coronavirus
Also by Matthew Taylor
Latest
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in