LIVES could have been saved if the government had acted earlier to impose a national coronavirus lockdown in England, Sir Keir Starmer said today. 

The Labour leader took Prime Minister Boris Johnson to task in the Commons over his 40-day delay to implement a “circuit-breaker” that the government’s own Sage scientists recommended in September.

Sir Keir pointed out that on September 21, when the scientists recommended an urgent two- to three-week lockdown, there were 11 deaths from Covid-19 and just over 4,000 new infections.