Opposition leader Keir Starmer urges UK govt to publish lockdown exit strategy

UK Leader of Opposition Keir Starmer has urged the government to publish its exit strategy asking them to be open and transparent about how it believes the lockdown will ease and eventually end. In a letter to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Stramer said that there should be no dispute over the lockdown measures to contain the virus but people need a sense of what comes next to maintain their morale and hope. The Labour leader said that while there is a lot of scientific advice, analysis and forecasting on COVID-19, it is eventually the political decisions taken by ministers that will determine the future.

Starmer said that it is more important than ever that those decisions are taken swiftly and transparently during a national crisis. The 57-year-old leader, who took over the Labour party leadership recently, called for three commitments from the government. Starmer urged the government to clearly set out the criteria it will be following to inform how and when it intends to ease the lockdown measures. He asked Raab to publish the exit strategy so that it can be subject to proper parliamentary scrutiny.

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'Clear plan to protect workers'

Starmer also wants the government to outline the sectors of the economy and core public services that will most likely witness ease in restrictions. He added that the outlining should be accompanied by a clear plan to protect workers and family members as well as an assessment of the impact such measures will have on the economy and existing government support schemes.

“I hope you will give this request serious consideration and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss it with you further,” the letter read.

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Britain has concluded 382,650 tests so far of which 93,873 tested positive and 12,107 hospitalised patients have died due to the infection. Raab, who has been working as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s deputy in his absence, suggested that the lockdown could last at least another month as the country struggles to flatten the curve.

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(Image source: AP)