Minister defends UK’s 100k death toll and vows ‘we took action at the right time’

HOUSING Secretary Robert Jenrick has defended the UK’s 100,000 death toll and vowed “we took the right action at the right time”.

It follows Boris Johnson said he was “deeply sorry” for each life lost, saying he took “full responsibility” for the Government’s decisions in the pandemic.


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Minister defends UK’s 100k death toll and vows ‘we took action at the right time’
Robert Jenrick defended the Government’s record on coronavirus
Minister defends UK’s 100k death toll and vows ‘we took action at the right time’
Boris Johnson said he was “deeply sorry” for every life lost

Mr Jenrick said this morning there will be a time to look a “lessons learned”, but insisted now was not that moment, saying the Government had done everything it could to protect the country during the pandemic.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, the Housing Secretary said ministers had done “all we possibly could to shield people and to help the country through this period.”

When asked if some of the deaths could have been avoided, Mr Jenrick said: “I’m sure that we could or would have done some things differently with the benefit of hindsight, almost certainly. But there wasn’t a textbook.”

He added: “I can give you this assurance, that on each occasion they took the best possible scientific and medical advice, they took their responsibilities extremely seriously.”

And he said he was “proud” of how the Government has “looked after the most vulnerable in society like the homeless and the shielded”.

It comes as:

  • Boris Johnson is set to reveal a route out of lockdown on February 15
  • Parents are facing a “real danger” kids could be learning from home until the summer
  • The PM said he was “deeply sorry” for the more than 100,000 deaths from coronavirus in the UK
  • The EU row over vaccines deepened last night as Hungary broke out to try and grab its own supplies from the UK and Russia

And speaking to Sky News, Mr Jenrick lashed out at suggestions the PM had failed to admit mistakes had been made.

“The Prime Minister said he takes personal responsibility for the steps that have been taken, nobody has worked harder than the Prime Minister.

“He’s worked extremely hard to guide the country through the pandemic, but there were no easy answers.”

Mr Jenrick shifted the blame onto the new super-contagious variant of coronavirus, stressing the Government took “very fast” action once the full extent of its transmissibility was discovered.


Minister defends UK’s 100k death toll and vows ‘we took action at the right time’
Boris Johnson paid tribute to all the front line workers who have died

Making international comparisons was “difficult”, Mr Jenrick said, when asked about the UK having the fifth worst death toll in the world after Mexico, Brazil, India and the United States.

“I think these comparisons are difficult to make at the present time,” he told Sky News.

“There will come a time when we can reflect on what has happened, when we can and should learn lessons, but I think it is difficult to do so at this distance.”

But he admitted: “No doubt there will be some things that we could have done differently with the benefit of hindsight.”

It comes after the PM’s sombre address last night, where he said the huge death toll “exhausts the thesaurus of misery” and represents “an appalling and tragic loss of life”.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic – the years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended, and for so many relatives the missed chance even to say goodbye.

“I offer my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one: fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and the many grandparents who have been taken.

“To all those who grieve, we make this pledge: that when we come through this crisis we will come together as a nation to remember everyone we lost and to honour the selfless heroism of all those on the front line who gave their lives to save others.”


Minister defends UK’s 100k death toll and vows ‘we took action at the right time’