Boris Johnson "didn't have an answer" when asked why Covid-19 testing has been cut in Bedford

The Prime Minister didn't have an answer when probed by the Bedford MP as to why test and trace has been cut in the town.

Last week, Bedford Today revealed how the mayor had blasted the Government's decision to cut Covid testing from seven days to four, despite a rise in cases.And yesterday in Parliament, the MP for Bedford and Kempston, Mohammad Yasin, questioned the Prime Minister on his reasoning behind the decision.

He said afterwards: "I asked the Prime Minister to explain why he keeps boasting that testing capacity is going up when in Bedford its actually going down.

"Boris Johnson didn’t have an answer and resorted to his customary waffling about how testing capacity is increasing despite the whole point of my question being to challenge him on why it was decreasing – especially when infection rates are going up.

"The test and trace system is still not up to speed and beset with problems – all because the Government is determined to bypass local test and trace teams to award contract after contract to the private sector – which is not working.

"The latest national data for test and trace shows it’s taking longer for people to get their test results if they’ve ordered home tests - and the service is still not reaching far too many contacts of those who test positive in non-complex cases.

"This is a word away from the world-beating service we were promised.”

During the debate, the Prime Minister promised to write to the MP about the Bedford centre, then said test and trace was expanding nationally.

You can watch the exchange here