Coronavirus: Ministers to take questions from the public at Downing Street press conference

The public will have the chance to put questions to ministers on the handling of the coronavirus crisis at the daily Downing Street press conferences, the government has announced.

From Monday, one question will be selected each day from a pool of suggestions from members of the public, which are understood to be selected by independent pollsters YouGov.

The government will not be involved in choosing questions and ministers will not see the queries ahead of time, No 10 said.

One question will be selected at midday each day and the person will be asked to record a video of themselves asking it, which will be shown live during the daily briefing.

Anyone over 18 can apply to ask a question. They will be informed by 3pm whether they have been successful, when they will be asked to either record a video clip with their question or opt for it to be read out on their behalf.

The prime minister’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing: “Coronavirus is the biggest health crisis the UK public have faced in a generation.

“We know the public are making significant sacrifices every day and we recognise the huge disruption this is having on their lives, jobs and businesses and so it is absolutely right that the public gets the chance to put their questions to the government and its experts.”

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was mocked by Tory MPs when he put questions from members of the public to his Tory opponent David Cameron and later Theresa May during prime minister’s questions.

But Boris Johnson began holding “People’s PMQs” sessions on Facebook after he became prime minister in December.

The decision to allow the public to ask questions at the daily Covid-19 briefings comes amid some criticism on social media over the tone and content of queries from journalists.

The move is understood to have been in the pipeline for a while and comes as Boris Johnson returned to work after a three-week convalescence from coronavirus.

In his first public statement since his return to Downing Street, the prime minister said the lockdown could not yet be lifted as the UK was at the point of “maximum risk” risk in its fight against coronavirus.

But he promised the “maximum possible transparency” over his plans on easing restrictions, saying the government would be sharing more on this “in the coming days”.

Mr Johnson is facing pressure from within his own party to lift draconian lockdown measures due to fears of the economic hit from a sustained period of shutdown.

Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk