Labour leader criticises PM’s visit to Batley vaccination centre as “too little, too late”

Shabir Pandor, who represents Batley West, said Mr Johnson’s decision to meet staff and volunteers at the Al-Hikmah Centre was “too little, too late”.

Meanwhile Batley and Spen MP Tracy Brabin, who is also Labour’s candidate for West Yorkshire Mayor, called for an immediate review into the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Coun Pandor said: “The Indian Muslim Welfare Society has done remarkable work in the fight against the pandemic and I’d like to thank all the staff and volunteers who work there.

“They have shown community leadership and stepped up to the mark.

“However the Prime Minister’s visit is too little, too late.”

Coun Pandor’s comments came less than a week after a Kirklees doctor expressed frustration at the lack of Covid vaccines available in the borough.

Dr Mohammed Hussain, clinical director at 3 Centres Primary Care Network (PCN), which covers Dewsbury, Ravensthorpe and Mirfield, said his team was capable of carrying out 10,000 vaccinations.

But last week only 300 were available, with those earmarked for housebound people.

Coun Pandor added: “We have had many issues around PPE, getting a robust Test and Trace programme in place and issues around shielding the most vulnerable in our communities.

“We have also seen huge contracts worth millions of pounds that have been awarded with little if any scrutiny and due process.

“These are big questions that need answering. Millions have been spent in awarding private companies who have not delivered for the tax-paying public.

“I raised the issue of vaccines some weeks ago. Hopefully he will find out first-hand from GPs what the situation is.

“I said that I hoped that the government would listen. I am glad he is listening to us.

“Let’s hope that this visit is a lesson because there is still time for lessons to be learned. People are at their wits’ end so I hope that the next stage in fighting the pandemic will happen very quickly.

“The light is there at the end of the tunnel but some of that is due to the voluntary workers that have stepped up to fill the hole that others have not been able to.”

In calling for an immediate review Ms Brabin said lessons needed to be learned “sooner rather than later”.

She added: “West Yorkshire’s councils have stepped in and led where the government has failed but that isn’t enough – the government owes it to the thousands who have died and the thousands now suffering to learn from the mistakes made.

“There will be a public inquiry in due course but the immediate priority must be learning the lessons to better prepare us for the coming weeks and months.

“That means equipping our NHS to cope with the demands it faces; ensuring people have more security at work; and making sure no more money is wasted on government contracts that fail to deliver.

“These are all areas where the government has made serious mistakes and have to be addressed urgently.”