Boris Johnson was accused of being “missing in action” during the crucial early weeks of the pandemic as the Government failed to prepare for the crisis.
The Prime Minister was not at the first five Cobra meetings as the first coronavirus cases arrived in Britain. Instead they were led by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who said after the first, on January 24, that the scientific advice was the risk to the British public was “low”.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “None of us expect the impossible, we understand that mistakes will be made in a crisis of this nature, but there are serious questions as to why the Prime Minister skipped five Cobra meetings throughout February, when the whole world could see how serious this was