Labour calls on government to expand eligibility for self-isolation support

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth has called on the government to expand the eligibility criteria of the new Covid self-isolation support payments to include low-pay workers who are not claiming benefits.

The Shadow Health Secretary said he welcomed “the recognition that people need financial support to self-isolate” in his response to Matt Hancock’s Covid-19 update in parliament, but asked the government to include all people in need.

Low-paid workers in receipt of benefits will be able to claim £500 if they need to self-isolate under a newly announced support scheme – yet those who do not claim benefits have been left out of the new policy.

Ashworth also criticised the Health Secretary for suggesting that the public could be blamed for the rise in infections after not following Covid guidelines. He argued that “people have done everything they were asked to do” by the government.

Labour’s health spokesperson added: “They have missed birthday celebrations, missed weddings, missed funerals. They have sent their children, quite rightly, back to school. They’ve gone back to work.

“In return, ministers were supposed to fix test, trace and isolate so we could – in the words of the government’s own adverts – ‘get back to the things we love’.”

Ashworth suggested the real blame lay with government ministers who “were warned” of the risk of a significant rise in infections as lockdown eased but did not sufficiently increase testing capacity over the summer.

Below is the full text of the speech delivered by Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth in parliament this afternoon.

I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement and we particularly welcome his announcements on childcare. The presentation we saw today from the chief medical officer and chief scientific advisor earlier were stark and deeply concerning. The Secretary of State yesterday described this as a “tipping point”. I agree we are at a perilous moment. The exponential growth in the virus cannot be ignored. This virus takes lives and it leaves many with long-term debilitating conditions.

Every reasonable action must be taken to save lives, minimise harm and keep our children in school. That means a suppression strategy to drive infections down. So will he reject those siren voices who are telling him the virus has lost potency or that we should let it rip through the herd while the vulnerable shield? We support the local restrictions that he has had to impose, including in Chorley, Mr Speaker, and I understand why he has made that decision. Neither he nor I came into politics to place upon individuals a heavy burden of curtailments on our freedoms. And while we would always welcome greater parliamentary scrutiny of these restrictions, we will continue to work constructively on a cross-party basis where restrictions are necessary to arrest the spread of the virus.

But can I also say to him, that the tone of his remarks yesterday rather gave the impression he was blaming people for breaking the rules and allowing the virus to grow. When the reality is that people have done everything they were asked to do. They have missed birthday celebrations, missed weddings, missed funerals. They have sent their children, quite rightly, back to school. They’ve gone back to work.

In return, ministers were supposed to fix test, trace and isolate so we could – in the words of the government’s own adverts – “get back to the things we love”. Before the summer the government commissioned the Academy of Medical Sciences to scenario plan. They modelled the R-value could rise to 1.7 in September. That’s what Imperial estimated it to be as well. They recommended: “Significantly expanding the capacity of the test, trace and isolate programme to cope with increasing demands over the winter.” So ministers were warned. Yet testing capacity in pillar one and pillar two did not increase significantly over the summer.

In recent weeks only half of all tests were have been received in less 24 hours and he repeated his point about asymptomatic people asking for tests. Can he publish the pillar two data which breaks down how many were asymptomatic and how many were symptomatic when asking for those tests? Many parents report going to walk-in centres with sick children when themselves have had no symptoms and being given a test – was that a national policy and has that national policy been abandoned?

We welcome the recognition that people need financial support to self-isolate. But as I understand it it’s only available to those low-paid workers who are also on benefits but not all low-paid workers so will they consider expanding the eligibility criteria. We’ve always said that when testing breaks down, tracing breaks down. So we are now facing a second wave of infection, we don’t want a second wave of ministerial mistakes. Lockdowns – or circuit breaks – extract a heavy social and economic price especially on the poorest and most vulnerable. But controlling the virus and protecting the economy are linked objectives, not in conflict with one other.

So I understand he will tell us that we have to wait for the Prime Minister statement but can he confirm that we will use a lockdown, if we have one – he will use the time wisely. That he will expand NHS lab capacity, that he will he put public health teams in the lead on contact tracing, that he will quickly the assess the university pilots of saliva testing, that he will validate PCR pool testing so that when lockdown is lifted we can contain the virus for the future?

I welcome what he said about prioritising NHS workers, care staff and teachers today. But can he clarify why he has issued guidance to hospital trusts placing restrictions on the numbers of tests they can carry out? How will he protect care homes? According to reports today many care homes have had to wait over two weeks for their test results. Data from PHE shows that over 200 care homes have had outbreaks of Covid in the last two weeks. Will he ensure that no one is discharged into care homes without a Covid test? What is his advice for the shielding community? And what protections is he putting in place for BAME communities given that we know there is a disproportionate number from those communities in ICU today.

None of us wants to see another lockdown or circuit break but we, of course, understand if one becomes necessary. But test, trace and isolate should have been fixed. That failure has left us vulnerable and exposed. Now we must act with speed to save lives and minimise harm.