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No apology over Boris Johnson's 'cowardly' care home claims Boris Johnson faces pressure to apologise for care home ‘insult’
(about 4 hours later)
Both No 10 spokesperson and health secretary say PM’s remarks were ‘misunderstood’ Labour, unions and charities criticise comments No 10 insists were ‘misunderstood’
The government has repeatedly refused to apologise after Boris Johnson said many care homes did not follow proper procedures on coronavirus, comments the head of a leading social care charity condemned as “clumsy and cowardly”. Boris Johnson is under growing pressure to apologise for accusing care homes of failing to follow proper coronavirus procedures, with unions calling it “an insult” and Labour accusing the prime minister of trying to deflect blame for his own failures.
The prime minister’s remarks, on a visit to Yorkshire on Monday, prompted outrage and anger from the care sector, unions and opposition MPs. After Johnson’s remarks prompted outrage from the care sector, both Downing Street and the health secretary, Matt Hancock, brushed aside calls for an apology, insisting that the prime minister had been misunderstood.
Johnson said the Covid-19 outbreak had illustrated problems with care homes, where nearly 20,000 people are confirmed to have died from the virus, adding: “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but we’re learning lessons the whole time.” During a visit on Monday, the PM said coronavirus had highlighted issues with the care sector, adding: “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have, but we’re learning lessons the whole time.”
Mark Adams, the chief executive of Community Integrated Care, which provides care to a range of people in England and Scotland, said care homes were still having to provide much of their personal protective equipment (PPE), and were only now getting sufficient access to testing. The head of a leading social care charity condemned Johnson’s comments as “clumsy and cowardly”. Mark Adams, the chief executive of Community Integrated Care, told the BBC they reflected “a Kafkaesque alternative reality where the government set the rules, we follow them, they don’t like the results, and they then deny setting the rules and blame the people that were trying to do their best”.
Asked for his reaction to Johnson’s comments, Adams told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I probably can’t say on national radio, but let’s just say, unbelievably disappointed.” But Downing Street declined repeated suggestions that Johnson should apologise, saying only that the comments had been misinterpreted. His spokesman said care homes “have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances”.
He went on: “I think this, at best, was clumsy and cowardly, but to be honest with you, if this is genuinely his view, I think we’re almost entering a Kafka-esque alternative reality where the government set the rules, we follow them, they don’t like the results and they then deny setting the rules and blame the people that were trying to do their best. It is hugely frustrating.” Answering an urgent question on coronavirus in the Commons, Hancock was asked by the shadow health minister, Jonathan Ashworth, whether he could “understand why people are so insulted by the prime minister’s remarks” and whether he would apologise.
The prime minister’s spokesman repeatedly avoided giving an answer when asked whether Johnson regretted his choice of words given the upset it had caused. He instead reiterated No 10’s argument that the comments had been misunderstood. Instead of answering the question, Hancock repeated the government line that Johnson had been misunderstood. The prime minister’s spokesman claimed he was pointing out that nobody knew the correct procedures at the time because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known.
“Throughout the pandemic, care homes have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances,” the spokesman said. “What the prime minister was pointing out was that nobody knew what the correct procedures to put in place were at the time, because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known. We are learning about this virus all the time.” Ashworth said later that an apology was required. “Boris Johnson’s remarks were crass, insensitive, insulting and a blatant attempt to shift blame for his failure to put a protective ring round care homes.”
Answering an urgent question on coronavirus in the Commons, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, was asked by his shadow minister, Jonathan Ashworth, whether he could “understand why people are so insulted by the prime minister’s remarks”, and if he would apologise. Dave Prentis, the general secretary of the Unison union, which represents many care home staff, said the lack of an apology was an insult. He said: “Care staff have kept working throughout to help the vulnerable, putting their own health at risk with little or no protective kit and without testing. Many lacked full sick pay so couldn’t afford to stop home. Others went unpaid if they became ill, causing real financial headaches for doing the right thing.”
Instead of answering the question, Hancock repeated the government line that Johnson had been misunderstood. Rachel Harrison, a national officer for GMB, which also represents care staff, said the government’s stance was a disgrace: “I’m not sure quite how those comments could have been misinterpreted, to be honest.”
Adams, when asked on Today why he believed the prime minister’s comments were cowardly, said: “Because you’ve got 1.6 million social care workers who, when most of us are locked away in our bunkers, waiting out Covid, and really trying to protect our family, we’ve got these brave people on minimum wage, often with no sickness cover at all, going into work to protect our parents, our grandparents, our children, putting their own health and potentially lives at risk. Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said in a tweet that care homes had faced a lack of tests and protective equipment on top of a decade of underfunding. He said: “Shameful of Boris Johnson for trying to blame others for his government’s failures.
Adams, when asked why he thought the prime minister’s comments were cowardly, said: “Because you’ve got 1.6 million social care workers who, when most of us are locked away in our bunkers, waiting out Covid, and really trying to protect our family, we’ve got these brave people on minimum wage, often with no sickness cover at all, going into work to protect our parents, our grandparents, our children, putting their own health and potentially lives at risk.
“And then to get perhaps the most senior man in the country turning round and blaming on them what has been an absolute travesty of leadership from the government, I just think it’s appalling.”“And then to get perhaps the most senior man in the country turning round and blaming on them what has been an absolute travesty of leadership from the government, I just think it’s appalling.”
Adams said care homes had been let down on protective equipment, and “abandoned” when it came to testing. Adams said care homes had been let down on protective equipment and abandoned when it came to testing. “We’ve got a situation where the whole of the social care system has had to source 90% of its PPE since the beginning of the crisis, and that’s still the same,” he said. “We didn’t test social care until the end of May. So us, like most social care operators, had our losses before we’d even started having any testing at all.
“We’ve got a situation where the whole of the social care system has had to source 90% of its PPE since the beginning of the crisis, and that’s still the same,” he said. “Yes, the testing has now reached a point where most of our staff in care homes and most of the residents in care homes have been tested once, but once is absolutely useless, because if you get tested and then get on the bus back home, and you pick up the virus on the bus, within a week you’re potentially asymptomatic and infectious.
“We didn’t test social care until the end of May. So us, like most social care operators, had our losses before we’d even started having any testing at all. “We have been crying out for weekly or ideally twice-weekly testing for months, and we’ve only just got that commitment. It is a question of the horse bolting and shutting the stable door.”
“Yes, the testing has now reached a point where most of our staff in care homes and most of the residents in care homes have been tested once, but once is absolutely useless because if you get tested and then get on the bus back home, and you pick up the virus on the bus, within a week you’re potentially asymptomatic and infectious.
“We have been crying out for weekly or ideally twice-weekly testing, for months and we’ve only just got that commitment. It is a question of the horse bolting and shutting the stable door.”
Speaking later on the same programme, the business secretary, Alok Sharma, said Johnson was “certainly not blaming care homes” for coronavirus deaths, saying the comments had been misinterpreted.