One of biggest threats to lockdown roadmap is 'misinformation spread by Covid Research Group', Starmer says

Sir Keir Starmer has said one of the biggest threats to Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown is coronavirus misinformation, much of which he said is spread by Tory MPs.

At PMQs, the Labour leader said the prime minister should "have a word" with members of the Covid Recovery Group, a collection of Tory MPs who have been campaigning for a swifter end to lockdown.

Sir Keir said he backed the prime minister's plan to cautiously move away from Covid-19 restrictions, but warned Mr Johnson "one of the biggest threats to that is misinformation about the risks of the deadly virus".

"For example, there have been people saying that the Covid statistics appear to have been manipulated, that Monday's road map is based on dodgy assumptions and false modelling.

"Does the prime minister agree that these kinds of comments are irresponsible and undermine our national recovery?"

The PM did not give a direct response, instead saying his roadmap will set the country on a "cautious but irreversible journey to freedom", adding the data supporting it has been made available to MPs.

In a PMQs in which neither leader landed any killer blows, Sir Keir hit back: "I think the prime minister dodged that question, no doubt because all those comments came from his own MPs - some of the 60 or so members of the Covid Recovery Group.

"Perhaps the prime minister should have a word with them."

The Covid Recovery Group, lead by senior Tories Steve Baker and Mark Harper, has called for an earlier exit from restrictions if infections keep falling and the vaccine rollout progresses.

The Tory MPs have been a thorn in the side of the government in the latter months of the pandemic and on a number of occasions have threatened to block Covid legislation from passing the Commons.

With only around 60 members, the group does not have enough MPs to defeat the government on its own, but it could with the support of opposition parties.

It's for this reason the prime minister has been keen to keep the group on side, where possible.

Former Tory chief whip Mr Harper, responding to the lockdown roadmap, accused ministers of basing their plans for easing restrictions on "dodgy assumptions" about the rate of uptake, which is actually significantly higher than had been expected.

He said it means the relaxation could be brought forward, two months earlier than is currently planned.

"The biggest flaw is they assume a very low uptake of the vaccine," he told LBC.

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"We know the uptake of the vaccine is over 90% in the top groups that have been vaccinated, above 95%, they've assumed 15% of the population don't take the vaccine.

"I have two problems with that; one is that isn't realistic, that's not what's happening, but secondly there is a real question about whether the rest of the country should be held back for two months because some people choose not to take the vaccine."

It appears the prime minister will resist any pressure to bring forward dates for reopening, insisting the path away from lockdown will be "cautious" and based on "data not dates".

Responding to the roadmap on Monday, Sir Keir said Mr Johnson should listen to his scientific advisers and not Tory lockdown-sceptics when deciding on the next steps. "If he does not, we will waste all the sacrifices of the last 12 months," he warned.