Govt must publish evidence used for PM's announcement on Sunday

Following Thursday's press conference and having spoken earlier today to the Prime Minister in his call with Opposition Party Leaders, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

"As Sunday approaches, many will be anxious about what the Prime Minister will announce.

"With the number of cases remaining alarmingly high in care homes and the fact that the Government still doesn't have a comprehensive plan to test, trace and isolate to keep people safe, there will be serious questions about the consequences of any significant relaxation of lockdown measures.

"For the public to have confidence in the Government's plan for relaxing lockdown, they must be open and transparent. The evidence used to make these decisions must be published and available to all for proper scrutiny.

"The announcement on Sunday must include a strategy to hugely increase the UK's testing capacity, as well as increasing our ability to trace the virus and to provide protective equipment to frontline workers.

"Without a strategy to test, trace and isolate the Government will not be able to keep the British public safe from coronavirus."