Jenrick: 'We did everything that we could to protect people’s lives'
The Government took the “right decisions at the right time” through the pandemic, a Cabinet minister has insisted in the wake of the UK reaching 100,000 deaths from Covid-19.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said “we did everything that we could to protect people’s lives”, but admitted some things could have been done differently “with the benefit of hindsight”.
He told Good Morning Britain: “The government did everything we could on the basis of the information we had available to us."
He said there was no "textbook" for how to respond to a pandemic like this but said the government made the right decisions.
Mr Jenrick added he was "deeply sorry for every life that has been lost."
Yesterday the government said a further 1,631 people had died from Covid-19 pushing the UK total to 100,0162.
Professor Linda Bauld said the UK was underprepared for a virus like Covid-19, and Europe failed to learn from how south-east Asian countries responded to the pandemic.
She told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday: “I think we’re going to look back on this as a system failure, I think that we came into this pandemic underprepared for a virus like this.
“We at UK level chose not to follow the model of south-east Asian countries, and during the last year, the last 11 months, the response and some of the decisions that have been made have certainly directly contributed particularly to the second wave."
At a press conference on Tuesday Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he took full responsibility for the government's response to the pandemic.
Mr Johnson said: “I think on this day I should just really repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and of course as I was Prime Minister I take full responsibility for everything that the Government has done.
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York urged people to take a moment each day to pause and remember the more than 100,000 people across the UK who have died after contracting Covid-19.
It is almost a year since the first known coronavirus death occurred in the UK on January 30.
The Home Secretary is due outline tougher border measures on Wednesday amid criticism the move is too late.
Mr Jenrick said Priti Patel would set out “further steps” to control the flow of people arriving into England in a Commons statement later on Wednesday.
She is expected to announce a limited plan forcing arrivals from Covid-19 hotspots to quarantine in hotels.
The move is designed to protect the country against new coronavirus variants arriving from overseas – but these are said to be softer than Ms Patel had hoped, with The Times reported she had pushed for a temporary closure of the UK’s borders, but was overruled by Mr Johnson.
The Times reported that the committee rejected calls for a full border closure and will instead limit it to those returning from 30 countries already covered by the travel ban, including those in South America, Portugal and Cape Verde, as well as South Africa and neighbouring nations.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth criticised the Government for failing to impose strict measures at the borders soon enough.
He told ITV News: "It is ironic that Boris Johnson and Priti Patel tell us their big motivation in politics is to take control of our borders failed to protect our borders to keep us safe."