Latest updates: levelling up secretary says he thinks Boris Johnson was right to hold off on imposing additional measures before Christmas
Good morning. Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, was making a rare appearance on the morning interview round today. He was mostly talking about the announcement about the £4bn support package for leaseholders hit by excessive cladding-removal costs, which will be the subject of a Commons statement later. But he was also asked about Covid, and in an interview on the Today programme he effectively admitted that he was wrong, and Boris Johnson was right, when the cabinet considered the need for tougher restrictions for England in the week before Christmas. When it was put to him that he had favoured tighter restrictions, but that developments since then suggested they were not needed, he replied:
From some of the things that I’ve said and written people will know that, in the spectrum of opinion, I was at the more cautious end. Perfectly legit to draw that inference. But the prime minister, who’s had so many different things to balance, publicly that we would be able to get through this with the booster campaign. So if more were required, then we would be ready to put in additional measures. We always keep that under review. But his judgment has been vindicated.
