Keir Starmer demands ministers KEEP free Covid tests
Keir Starmer sides with Scotland and Wales as he demands ministers KEEP free Covid tests in England after legal curbs end next week despite massive £10billion annual cost to the Treasury
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out his plan to ‘live with Covid’ next week
- Reports suggest that the PM will scrap free coronavirus testing under the plan
- But Labour leader Keir Starmer warned against the move, labelling it a ‘mistake’
Sir Keir Starmer has warned against scrapping free coronavirus tests as Boris Johnson prepares to unveil his ‘living with Covid’ plan next week.
The Prime Minister will deliver a Covid statement to MPs on Monday amid reports that free lateral flow and PCR tests will be ditched.
But Sir Keir, the Labour leader, has told The Guardian that it would be ‘a mistake to end free Covid tests’.
The PM is also expected to lift the legal requirement for people who test positive to self-isolate as all remaining Covid rules in England are axed.
Sir Keir told the newspaper that Labour will oppose the end of free testing but he is said to have stopped short of calling for self-isolation rules to continue.
The devolved governments in Scotland and Wales have both warned against scrapping free testing.
The Treasury believes the estimated £10billion a year cost of the testing operation is not sustainable and has been pushing for it to be scaled back.
Sir Keir Starmer has warned against scrapping free coronavirus tests as Boris Johnson prepares to unveil his ‘living with Covid’ plan next week
The Prime Minister will deliver a Covid statement to MPs on Monday amid reports that free lateral flow and PCR tests will be ditched
However, ministers have been warned that the public could be left ‘flying blind’ if the free tests are ditched.
LBC Radio reported that everyone – including vulnerable people, children and health and care workers – would have to pay to access tests under the Government’s plan.
Ministers will reportedly rely on Covid surveillance schemes instead of testing to keep track of the spread of the virus.
The Government has previously said ‘universal free provision’ of lateral flow tests will come to an end at some stage.
In its autumn and winter plan, published in September 2021, the Government said: ‘Rapid asymptomatic testing is an important tool to help reduce the spread of the virus, while supporting people to manage their own risk and the risks to others.
‘The Government will therefore continue to provide the public with access to free lateral flow tests in the coming months.’
It added: ‘At a later stage, as the Government’s response to the virus changes, universal free provision of LFDs (lateral flow devices) will end, and individuals and businesses using the tests will bear the cost.
‘The Government will engage widely on the form of this model as it is developed, recognising that rapid testing could continue to have an important, ongoing role to play in future.’
Liberal Democrat MP and health spokeswoman, Daisy Cooper, said scrapping free tests while case rates were ‘still sky high’ would ‘leave the public and scientists flying blind’.
‘If there’s one sure-fire way to put the country at risk of another lockdown, it’s scrapping all the warning lights like this,’ she said.
A Government spokesman said no decisions had been made on ending free testing.
They said: ‘We’ve previously set out that we’ll keep the provision of free testing under review as the Government’s response to Covid-19 changes.
‘No decisions have been made on the provision of free testing. Everyone can continue to get free tests and we are continuing to encourage people to use rapid tests when they need them.
‘Testing continues to play an important role in helping people live their day-to-day lives, keep businesses running and keep young people in school.’
The PM is also expected to lift the legal requirement for people who test positive to self-isolate
The Scottish government has urged the UK Government not to scrap free Covid testing.
Scotland’s health secretary Humza Yousaf said Downing Street has the right to make decisions on testing in England but funding for the tests elsewhere in the UK should be maintained if devolved administrations want to continue.
He said: ‘I don’t know the detail of what the UK Government’s going to announce, but if they are going to, for example, withdraw the universal offer for testing – which I don’t think they should do at the end of February – if they do that, then of course tests, as you know, are procured on a four-nations basis.
‘And that could effectively force our hand to respond in a way we don’t want to do at this immediate time.’
Meanwhile, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has said his government is ‘well placed’ to continue to provide tests in Wales and demanded devolved nations be consulted before any decision is made in Westminster.
He said last month: ‘If the UK government is contemplating charging people for those tests in future that is a decision that should be made by us all. I’ve seen no proposition of that sort.’
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