A top Tory has admitted the government "chose" not to test people for coronavirus in care homes for more than a month while the pandemic spread.
Robert Buckland accepted "we needed to make a choice" about what to do with the capacity the government had back in March. The Justice Secretary added there are now "huge issues" in care homes - at least 38% of which have a Covid-19 outbreak with more than 11,000 deaths.
He told Sky News: "We’ve seen a great tragedy in our care homes which is a matter of huge regret." It is a rare admission from the government that it was a choice to stop widespread testing in care homes.