Senior Tories attack China over coronavirus misinformation

The senior Tory minister said Beijing had not been clear “about the scale, the nature, the infectiousness” of the virus.

Asked on BBC One’s Andrew Marr show why Britain did not have sufficient testing, despite the first case in China being known about in December, the Tory minister said: “We’ve been increasing the number of tests over the course of the last month.

“It was the case, you’re absolutely right, that the first case of coronavirus in China was established in December last year, but it was also the case that some of the reporting from China was not clear about the scale, the nature, the infectiousness of it.

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“We’ve always followed the scientific advice ... at every stage our scientists have been looking at the emerging evidence and then making recommendations to the Government on how to react.”

His comments came after the Mail on Sunday reported that senior Downing Street officials and ministers expect a “reckoning” with China over misinformation in relation to the outbreak.

The paper quoted a Cabinet minister as saying: “We can’t stand by and allow the Chinese state’s desire for secrecy to ruin the world’s economy and then come back like nothing has happened.”

Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith (above) used a column in the paper to accuse China of a “cover up”.

Smith, who has led a rebellion against the Prime Minister after he allowed Chinese firm Huawei into the 5G network, said the UK must rethink its relationship with the nation.

“As a result of Beijing’s cover-up and delay, global health experts are convinced the rest of the world had insufficient time to prepare for the pandemic, which means the effect of the outbreak has most likely been worse,” he wrote in the Mail on Sunday.

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“For too long, nations have lamely kow-towed to China in the desperate hope of winning trade deals.

“But once we get clear of this terrible pandemic, it is imperative that we all rethink that relationship and put it on a much more balanced and honest basis.”

Two victims of any change in approach to Xi Jinping’s regime could be in Tian Tian and Yang Guang, the two pandas in Edinburgh Zoo.

The decade long agreement between the zoo and the Chinese government comes to an end next year.

Labour deputy leadership candidate Richard Burgon (below) criticised the Tories.

“This is a Trump-style attempt to divert blame from the UK Government’s failures,” Burgon said.

Meanwhile, UK Government Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that the whole country was now on emergency footing.

“This is an unprecedented step in peace time, we haven’t done anything like this since the Second World War,” he said.

“This means that we are establishing strategic coordination centres across the whole country.”

Each would be led by gold commanders and have members of the armed forces embedded in them, he explained.

Meanwhile, Labour MP Stephen Kinnock was publicly shamed by police for visiting his father, the former Labour leader, Neil.

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Stephen, posted a picture of himself sitting on a chair outside his parents’ London home.

The chair was two metres away from his parents.

He tweeted: “Dad turned 78 today. Incredible, but true. [Stephen’s wife] @HelleThorning_S and I took a couple of chairs over, and sat in their front garden for a socially distanced celebration. As you do. Happy birthday, mate.”

South Wales police weren’t impressed: “Hello @SKinnock we know celebrating your Dad’s birthday is a lovely thing to do, however this is not essential travel. We all have our part to play in this, we urge you to comply with @GOVUK restrictions, they are in place to keep us all safe.”