Culture Secretary responds to criticism over government's response to the coronavirus pandemic

The Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden addressed the criticism that the government should have cancelled large events and gatherings a lot earlier by saying that the decision not to do so was "based on scientific evidence and advice."

Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain, Mr Dowden referred to a statement he made in early March where he said the Cheltenham Festival was still going to go ahead despite being aware of Italy's decision to quarantine their citizens in an attempt to tackle the pandemic.

"I was aware of the situation that was going on in Italy at the time. We based it on scientific evidence. The scientific evidence we were being given was that the threat at a mass gathering relates to the people that immediately surround you - in front of you and behind you," he said.

"The risk at mass gatherings was no greater or no less than it would have been in pubs or restaurants and at that point, the advice was we did not need to ban mass gatherings."

Explaining how scientific advice changed as the situation developed, the MP added: "We changed our guidance off the back of it, but mass gatherings are not different to any of those other events I described and at the appropriate moment, we took the decision to close pubs, to close restaurants and other measures."

During the interview, the Culture Secretary was also asked by Susanna about the claims that the government "missed the boat" on personal protective equipment (PPE).

Responding, Mr Dowden said: "In terms of PPE, just to give some context, at the beginning of this crisis we were just providing PPE for hospitals - that's 233 hospitals. We're now providing up to 58,000 different institutions - over a billion pieces of equipment. That's a huge ramping up. It's true that at the beginning of the crisis, we gave some equipment to China - that was before it hit us. It didn't take away from any of the stocks that we needed."

He added: "In contrast, we've had huge amounts of more back from China and indeed we're expecting a further 25 million gowns coming from China later this week."

In response to Dr Rachel Clarke - a palliative care doctor - who called for the government to be "honest" about the lack of PPE, Mr Dowden said: "The first thing we are doing is getting the resources - over a billion pieces - and we're working both nationally and internationally to get more equipment.

He added: "This isn't a challenge unique to the United Kingdom. In a global health crisis, there's going to be a huge demand for that equipment."