Labour calls for independent body to oversee future pandemic preparations

Everyone is talking about that interview. Before being broadcast in full on ITV last night, there was pressure on everyone to comment and indicate whether they were Team Meghan and Harry or Team Buckingham Palace. This is an obtuse way of looking at the situation, but it is how much of the discourse can be summarised. The Palace still hasn’t put anything on the record. Boris Johnson played it safe at the coronavirus press conference by refusing to comment on “royal family matters”, instead noting only that he has “the highest admiration for the Queen”. This made remarks from Keir Starmer all the more significant: the Labour leader said it was a “reminder that too many people experience racism in 21st-century Britain”. Labour frontbenchers have called for an investigation into allegations of racism.

Labour is today calling for an independent body to oversee our preparedness for future pandemics, which are described as “predicted and predictable” by Jonathan Ashworth. In a speech at the IPPR think tank, the Shadow Health Secretary will highlight that the UK went into the Covid crisis with 17,000 fewer NHS beds than in 2010, lower health spending than the historical average and a smaller health workforce than other advanced economies. His recommendations include pandemic planning via regular NHS ‘war games’, called ‘germ games’, with preparations being independently assessed and reported to parliament. These are practical suggestions that tie in with Labour’s broader message around resilience, which applies to the economy and particularly public services.

Other bits of Labour news. There have been a couple of changes to the opposition frontbench recently: Emma Hardy has stepped down as shadow universities minister; Matt Western is being promoted to the post. Hardy was known to be a supporter of the party’s pledge to scrap tuition fees, so many will be keen to know whether Western shares her enthusiasm for the policy. This comes after Alex Davies-Jones replaced Karin Smyth in the Northern Ireland team. As for the rows over the Liverpool mayoral selection process, an injunction by one of the originally shortlisted candidates was denied yesterday and Labour was awarded its legal costs. The contest continues with the new shortlist of two.