Lisa Nandy postpones campaign events in response to coronavirus

Lisa Nandy has announced that her leadership campaign has taken the decision to postpone scheduled members’ campaign events in response to the spread of coronavirus, or Covid-19, in the UK.

The contender to be the next Labour leader made the announcement on Twitter this morning, stating that “leadership is about taking responsibility and showing consideration for others”.

Commenting on the announcement, a spokesperson for the campaign said: “Public safety and the wellbeing of members is our absolute priority. In light of the spread of COVID-19, we have taken the decision to postpone upcoming public events in order to minimise any potential risk to public health.

“We’ll be continuing to use digital platforms, social media and our phone banking app to speak directly with members over the coming weeks.”

On the type of events that this will affect, the campaign stated: “We have cancelled all our member’s events including planned rally’s and smaller members events across the all regions of the UK.”

LabourList understands that the campaign for Rebecca Long-Bailey is also postponing public members’ events, and will instead organise more online events to make sure members can still participate.

The announcement from Nandy comes after the World Health Organisation declared the virus a pandemic, with the total number of diagnosed cases worldwide exceeding 126,000.

Boris Johnson is set to hold another emergency COBRA meeting this afternoon, in which he is expected to escalate the UK’s response to Covid-19 to the next phase – focusing on delaying rather than containment.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced this morning that the country would be closing all schools, childcare facilities, colleges and universities and strongly advised against indoor meetings of more than 100 people.

Voting in the Labour leadership and deputy election is currently ongoing. Those eligible have until April 2nd to complete and return their ballot either online or by post. The result will be announced on April 4th.