Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, responding to the government’s test and trace system announcement, said:

“We have long called for a functional testing and tracing regime as key to the safe easing of the lockdown. The government’s decision to abandon contact tracing in mid-March was a huge error leaving a huge gap in our defences against the virus.

“We will need everyone asked to cooperate fully with NHS Test and Trace’s stay at home instructions to keep all of us safe. It’s why Boris Johnson’s support for Dominic Cummings is both dangerously irresponsible and undermines vital public health messaging. It remains clear there is still one rule for Mr Johnson’s friends and another for the rest of us.”