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The new Labour Party leader has been critical of the government’s handling of coronavirus and said he would have sacked Dominic Cummings for “breaking the lockdown rules”. He was referring to Mr Cummings leaving London to drive to his parents in Durham at the height of lockdown and then driving a 60-mile round trip to Barnard Castle, which he claimed was required to check his eyesight.

Sir Keir has made it clear that he is becoming increasingly concerned about mistakes the government has been making and says he is worried about having an exit from lockdown “without a strategy”, even telling the country’s leader to “get a grip!”

Speaking to The Guardian, Sir Keir said: “My [worry] is that after a week or more of mismanagement, I’m deeply concerned the government has made a difficult situation 10 times worse.

“We’ve called for an exit strategy.

“What we appear to have got is an exit without a strategy.

“We want to see society reopen, we want to see more children back at school, obviously people want to see their families and we want to see businesses open.

“But like many people across the country, there is a growing concern the government is now winging it.

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“At precisely the time when there should have been maximum trust in the government, confidence has collapsed.”

The Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras claimed the controversy around Mr Cummings’ lockdown journey has led to the public losing trust in the government.

He accused the government of failing to show leadership over schools reopening and failing to consult widely enough with unions, teachers and parents.

He said: “I am putting the prime minister on notice that he has got to get a grip and restore public confidence in the government’s handling of the epidemic … if we see a sharp rise in the R rate, the infection rate, or a swathe of local lockdowns, responsibility for that falls squarely at the door of No 10.

“We all know the public have made huge sacrifices.

“This mismanagement of the last few weeks is the responsibility of the government.”

Sir Keir and Mr Johnson clashed during Prime Minister’s Questions today.

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When the Labour leader asked Mr Johnson why they eased the lockdown rules despite the alert level still being at stage four, the Prime Minister said: “He knows perfectly well that the alert level does allow it.

“And indeed he didn’t raise that issue with me when we had a conversation on the telephone.

“And he knows the reason we’ve been able to make the progress we’ve had is that the five tests had been fulfilled.

“So yes the alert level remains at four, as SAGE will confirm we have managed to protect the NHS, we’ve got the rate of deaths done, we’ve got the rate of infections done, the PPE crisis, we’ve dealt with care homes, the question of the R, they have been addressed.”

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