Openness urged on Government lockdown timetable
Ministers are underestimating the public by refusing to discuss exit strategies for ending the coronavirus lockdown, senior Tory MPs have warned
The Government has set out what needs to happen before it will consider lifting the measures, but there has been no detail on how the easing of restrictions will take place.
Tory backbenchers and former ministers say there needs to be "strategic clarity" and that the argument put forward by the Government about not wanting to "confuse the message" is not the right way forward.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis told the PA news agency: "Other countries have been very open about what they've done.
"There's really no reason, there's no argument for not debating and discussing with all the facts available.
"There are lots and lots of benefits of being open about this. The argument that was put, that we don't want to confuse the message, I think is just wrong. It underestimates the public. The public understand that there are phases to this."
Mr Davis said the data underlining the strategy should also be put in the public domain.
Reflecting on how much is going on - teams working on a vaccine and some working on other aspects of the next stage of the pandemic - he said: "There's actually comparatively little data in the public domain, and there should be much more."
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the Government should stop treating people "like children" by refusing to discuss exit strategies.
He told The Times: "The Government is going to have to accept and admit we are coming out of lockdown.
"We need to trust the British people and not treat them like children. We must respect their common sense. They need to know that the sun is rising at some point, in an economic sense."
Published: by Radio NewsHub