“Fiona Bruce and others were trying to make out that I was being political but I think they were the ones trying to be political in trying to write me off.

"I am a medic and a director of public health and I don't make statements that I can't justify...” https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/professor-mocked-views-uks-coronavirus-21858077

"The first mistake was not convening Cobra at the beginning of February when it looked like there was something serious going on and everything else follows on from that, like not getting a grip of our testing capacity and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).”

"Not getting a grip in the early days all flowed from the Prime Minister not taking it seriously enough and the advice he was getting depending on a narrow group of chums, the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientist."

‘There are still major questions about whether the UK government was seriously considering a so-called 'herd immunity' approach to dealing with the epidemic in this country.’

‘This apparent strategy didn't last long and was dropped as soon as Imperial College researchers predicted it could have led to as many as 250,000 deaths’

This led to a sudden U-turn from govt on social distancing on March 16... a full lockdown was introduced a week later.

‘Professor Ashton believes the herd immunity theory was something the government had effectively forced itself into because of its failures to prepare - and crucially begin mass testing - from an early stage.’

‘He said: "That idea only lasted a couple of days because obviously everyone reacted so strongly against it and they saw the numbers they would have been looking at.’

‘He said: "Yes they did do the lockdown too late.’