Boris Johnson accused of misleading MPs on care home guidance

Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons

It came after exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions which saw the Labour leader quote guidance from early in the coronavirus outbreak which suggested there was little risk of care home residents being infected.

Figures revealed this week that over a third of coronavirus casualties in England have been in care homes. At PMQs, Mr Johnson announced an additional £600m to support care homes and conceded: “I’m not going to try and pretend that [death] figures, when they are finally seen, will be nothing but stark and deeply, deeply horrifying.”

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Mr Starmer told the Prime Minister that until 12 March, the government’s own advice stated that it was “very unlikely that anyone receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected”.

Mr Johnson replied that “it wasn’t true that the advice said that and actually we brought the lockdown in care homes ahead of the general lockdown”.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Starmer said that “at this time of national crisis, it is more important than ever that government ministers are accurate in the information they give. Given this, I expect you to come to the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity to correct the record and to recognise that this was official government guidance regarding care homes”.

Replying last night, Mr Johnson claimed the Labour leader had quoted from the guidance “selectively and misleadingly”, adding: “I would remind you of the commitment you made... to work constructively with the government in the face of this unprecedented pandemic.”

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