Sunday shows round-up: ‘every confidence’ future lockdowns can be avoided, says Dowden

Oliver Dowden – We have ‘every confidence’ there will not be future lockdowns

The Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden was in the hot seat this morning amid reports that a third wave of Covid-19 is engulfing much of continental Europe. Many of the UK’s close neighbours, including France, Germany and the Netherlands, are re-introducing or extending measures to combat the so-called ‘Kent variant’ of the disease. Andrew Marr sought to get reassurance from Dowden that the government would not end up plunging England back into a fourth nationwide lockdown:

OD: [Our] aim… is to make sure this is irreversible… You can’t rule things out, but we have every confidence that we won’t have to have another lockdown… That is why we’re taking a more cautious approach.