Priti Patel appears to have a short memory when it comes to the government’s ‘herd immunity’ strategy

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Home Secretary Priti Patel on ‘The Andrew Marr Show’ (BBC)

The home secretary, Priti Patel, has apparently “denied claims made by Dominic Cummings that the government’s original plan to deal with coronavirus was to let the virus rip through the population to spread herd immunity” (News, 23 May). Asked by Andrew Marr on Sunday morning “if the government would now admit to these accusations”, Ms Patel said simply: “Absolutely not.”

Ms Patel is either being “economical with the truth”, or has a surprisingly poor memory. On 13 March, the Financial Times ran an article with the headline: “UK’s chief scientific adviser defends ‘herd immunity’ strategy for coronavirus”. On 16 March, The Atlantic lamented “The UK’s herd immunity debacle”. On 20 March, Robert Peston wrote: “British government wants UK to acquire coronavirus ‘herd immunity’”, while the BBC pondered: “Coronavirus: Did ‘herd immunity’ change the course of the outbreak?”

There are plenty more references. Before her next interview, perhaps Ms Patel should consult a search engine.