Dominic Raab denies UK trying to take ‘Swedish approach’ to coronavirus

Minister responds to claim by top Oxford scientist that new rules suggest ‘move towards Sweden’

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has denied the UK government is shifting to a Swedish approach the coronavirus pandemic by learning to live with the spread of the disease.

One leading scientist at the University of Oxford said the latest restrictions suggested “a move towards Sweden” — with a greater emphasis on personal responsibility and a greater acceptance that cases will rise.

“I don’t accept that characterisation,” Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme when asked if Britain was following a Swedish model.

“We’ve just introduced a suite of changes. The one thing I would accept is that we as individuals have got some responsibility to comply — it’s not just what the government does that matters.”

The Swedish government has avoided any lockdowns and emphasised personal responsibility to socially distance and follow good hygiene in a bid to slow rather than hope to eradicate the disease.

Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at Oxford, claimed a “shift in policy” was emerging from government. “If you look at some of the policies, what you’re starting to see is a move towards Sweden,” he told the Today programme. “When you look at bars and restaurants, that’s the policy there — they have table service.

“So what I’m hoping we now start to see is a more coherent, consistent policy … there will be an inevitable rise in cases as we go into winter. The key is not to panic. If we panic, we’ll talk ourselves into lockdown.”

Boris Johnson announced new measures on Tuesday to try to control the increasingly rapid spread of the virus, including a 10pm curfew in pubs and restaurants, along with mandatory table service.

“There will always be people who will say we’ve done too little or too much,” said Mr Raab.

“What we don’t want is to have to take even more severe measures as we go through Christmas. And that’s why we need to take the proportional, targeted measures we’re taking now.”

Although Sweden is the only country is Europe not to have used lockdowns, the country’s public health agency has reportedly discussed new restrictions in Stockholm after the city’s health chief warned of “worrying signs of increasing infection”.