Boris Johnson has been accused of sowing “confusion” over his own self-isolation, after No 10 changed its story about when the prime minister headed into quarantine at his country pile in Buckinghamshire.
The prime minister is currently isolating at Chequers until 26 July after he was identified as a close contact of health minister Sajid Javid, who was tested positive for Covid on Saturday morning.
Mr Johnson was condemned for initially trying to take advantage of a pilot scheme which would allow him to avoid self-isolation – before a U-turn on Sunday saw him submit to the same rules as the rest of the public.
Since then, Downing Street has gotten into quite a muddle over Mr Johnson’s movements in the past few days – sparking a series of awkward questions about who knew what when.
Labour demanded to know exactly when Mr Johnson headed to Chequers, and whether Mr Johnson knew Mr Javid was feeling ill when the pair met at Downing Street on Friday.
So how did the confusion begin? When did Mr Johnson head up to Chequers? And what do we know about the murky pilot scheme which allowed ministers to avoid the usual rules around self-isolation?
So when did the PM ditch the pilot scheme to avoid self-isolation?
On Sunday morning, around 8am, Downing Street announced that both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak would not be self-isolating due to their previously unannounced participation in a special pilot programme that replaces isolation with Covid testing.
It sparked immediate and furious backlash. “Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have been busted yet again for thinking the rules that we are all following don’t apply to them,” said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Around 10.45am, just two hours and 38 minutes after No 10 announced the prime minister and chancellor would be exempt from normal self-isolation rules due to the pilot scheme, it was
Laster on Sunday afternoon Mr Johnson claimed from his Chequers retreat that he had only “briefly” considered participating in the pilot. But Labour said that was “completely inconsistent” with the Downing Street press release that said they were participating.
When did Boris Johnson leave No 10 for Chequers?
On Monday the prime minister’s spokesman initially told a Westminster briefing that Mr Johnson departed No 10 was at “the start of the weekend” – then said he left for the retreat on Friday morning.
After it was pointed out to him that Mr Johnson had met Mr Javid at No 10 early on Friday afternoon, the spokesman correcting himself again by stating Mr Johnson left for Chequers at 3pm on Friday.
When did Sajid Javid test positive for Covid?
Mr Javid had said he took a lateral flow test on Saturday morning and it came back positive.
The No 10 spokesman said he did not know “specifically” when Mr Johnson discovered when Mr Javid had tested positive for coronavirus.
The official also said he could not confirm what day or time Mr Johnson was contacted by NHS Test and Trace over the weekend and told to self-isolate – only that he was already at Chequers at the time.
Did Boris Johnson already know Sajid Javid was feeling ill?
Asked whether Mr Johnson knew if his health secretary was feeling ill when he left London for Chequers – after the Friday lunchtime meeting between the pair – the No 10 spokesman did not answer directly.
“The correct process has been followed,” the spokesman said. “Once contacted by NHS Test and Trace over the weekend, he has isolated and has not travelled subsequently because he did not want to travel across the country.”
But the Labour leader said there were still questions to be answered on the saga, asking: “Did Boris Johnson travel to his country retreat after Sajid Javid first had symptoms?”
Sir Keir added: “We know the prime minister likes to look for a loophole. We need to know when the prime minister was contacted and where he was.”
