3 official "smoking guns", all showing how the Tories massaged the test figures to fake-reach the target of 100,000 tests a day.
1. Definition quietly changed on 27 April Twitter update released by the Department of Health (see footnote). Vanished again by the next day.
1. Definition quietly changed on 27 April Twitter update released by the Department of Health (see footnote). Vanished again by the next day.
2. Government's public guidance updated after 29 April to expand the definition of the number of tests.
29 April
web.archive.org/web/2020042904…
30 April
web.archive.org/web/2020043017…
29 April
web.archive.org/web/2020042904…
30 April
web.archive.org/web/2020043017…
3. Slide at 1 May 2020 press conference (a new one, presumably designed to show off a spike in testing) includes a revealing footnote.
gov.uk/government/pub…
gov.uk/government/pub…
To be fair, testing HAS massively expanded since 1 April.
But it's not unreasonable to expect 100,000 actual tests when 100,000 "carried out" tests were promised.
The propaganda is like claiming to have run a marathon when you were taken by taxi the last 7 miles to the finish.
But it's not unreasonable to expect 100,000 actual tests when 100,000 "carried out" tests were promised.
The propaganda is like claiming to have run a marathon when you were taken by taxi the last 7 miles to the finish.
Added: there's some confusion surrounding what was initially promised.
The PM tweeted about "100,000 people". But both Matt Hancock and the Department of Health consistently talked about "100,000 tests" since the beginning. So the difference might be over-exuberance.
The PM tweeted about "100,000 people". But both Matt Hancock and the Department of Health consistently talked about "100,000 tests" since the beginning. So the difference might be over-exuberance.
