Fri 08 May 2020:
The leader of Britain’s Labour Party, Keir Starmer, says the UK needs to do “everything” to protect the most vulnerable from the novel coronavirus, especially those in care homes, he wrote in an op-ed marking VE day on the The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“We have all heard the harrowing stories of the virus spreading through care homes, with families unable to say their last goodbyes,” he wrote. “The crisis in our care homes has gone on for too long and we must do everything we can to protect our most vulnerable, many of whom protected our country in its darkest hour.”
Starmer had already criticized the British government for its handling of the coronavirus in care homes across the UK when he clashed with Prime Minister Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. In the op-ed, published on a Conservative-leaning newspaper that once counted the current Prime Minister among its columnists, the Labour leader seemed to double down.
“We owe so much to the generation of VE Day,” Starmer wrote. “We must do everything we can to care for and support them through the current crisis,” he also said.
The leader of the largest opposition party in the British parliament went on to set out his vision for a “better” United Kingdom, after it overcomes Covid-19. “After coronavirus, we cannot return to business as usual or continue as though nothing has changed,” he said. “We must go forward with the determination to rebuild a better society.
“That means repaying the debt we owe to our key workers, who are putting their lives on the line to keep us safe. It means having the courage to tackle the injustices that have existed in our society for too long,” Starmer added. “And it means writing a new settlement for social care, with dignity and respect at its heart.”
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