Via The Guardian: Starmer: we’ll work with PM to fight Covid-19 in national interest. Excerpt:
Keir Starmer has vowed to work with Boris Johnson “in the national interest” to guide Britain through the mounting coronavirus outbreak, after the prime minister published a letter urging leaders of opposition parties to “work together” with the government.
In a phone call with the prime minister after being elected Labour leader, Starmer offered to work constructively with the prime minister and not provide “opposition for opposition’s sake”. However, with pandemic experts warning this weekend about the difficult route out of the lockdown, Starmer said he would “call out” the government over failings in its strategy.
Starmer has agreed to meet the prime minister this week. Johnson remained in self-isolation on Saturday with a temperature after he contracted the virus. The pledge between the party leaders came as:
• Numbers of daily new cases of Covid-19 dropped from 4,450 on Friday to a total of 3,735, leading to hopes that the disease’s spread could be levelling off. Total numbers of UK cases of the disease now stand at 41,903. An additional 708 people died.
• It emerged that 212 patients in the Midlands have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours – more than London, which has been hit hardest so far, which had 127 deaths.
• There were signs of a slight drop in public confidence in the government’s handling of the pandemic. An Opinium poll for the Observer found that approval of the government’s handling dropped from a net approval of +42% last week to +23% this week.
• Michael Gove, the cabinet office minister, warned that there was evidence that the young were less compliant with social distancing orders, as he pleaded with the public to show “self-restraint” and follow the lockdown measures.
• It was announced that the Queen will praise the nation for its “self-discipline” and “resolve” during the coronavirus pandemic in a rare televised address broadcast on Sunday.
