Former British prime minister Tony Blair gives a speech on the future of the Labour Party and progressive politics at the Hallam Conference Centre in central London, Wednesday Dec. 18, 2019. The Labour Party has deep divisions within its members following the lack of popular support in the Dec.12 general election. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

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Tony Blair says a re-structuring of government is required to deal with the coronavirus crisis to end the lockdown as he said Britain was “too slow” in trying to suppress the outbreak of the compared to other countries.

Last night, the former Labour leader said the UK needed to be “ahead of the curve” as soon as medical and scientific conditions allowed it to emerge from the lockdown into a “new normal”.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, Blair said that the government has “never faced a more complicated challenge than this” and that he had sympathy for those making decisions but we have got to be prepared as we are in the suppression stage for easing the lockdown.

Conceding that he himself has never come across something more complicated than the outbreak in his time in politics, he said that the government needed a senior figure along with a team which included outside experts to handle each component of the crisis, including, for example, mass testing, tracing and the re-opening of schools.

The ex-Prime Minister, who was in office from 1997 to 2007, said on the programme: “Allowing each minister to deal with the issue isn’t good enough.

“If you look at each of the components, my suggestion would be that you have a senior figure in charge of these things with a team of experts around them who will be a combination of people from in government and outside and oversight from senior politicians.

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© Provided by Yahoo! News UK British Prime Minister Boris Johnson points at performers dressed as lions as he welcomes members of the British Chinese community for Chinese New Year celebrations outside 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. The Chinese New Year will start on Saturday with 2020 being the year of the rat. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

“Mass testing is a critical part of getting out of this, technologies, how you communicate this with the public, inventing vaccines. If you break this down, there has never been a more complicated challenge.”

It comes as his Tony Blair Foundation for Global Change laid out a possible exit plan for easing the lockdown restrictions brought in last month.

“There are two basic phases to tackling the COVID-19 crisis: suppression of the disease; and managed revival of the economy,” he said yesterday.

“The ‘normal’ that we return to will be a new normal.

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“The suppression is absolutely necessary to save lives; and there will continue for some time to be a raft of rules and restrictions necessary to follow.

“But because of the immense collateral damage done by the lockdown – economic and health related – we must ensure that on easing the restrictions, we are fully prepared and ahead of the curve the moment that the medical and scientific advice allows us to start the process.

© Provided by Yahoo! News UK A NHS (National Health Service) worker is tested for Covid-19 at a drive-through testing centre in a car park at Chessington World of Adventures, Greater London, Saturday, April 4, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

“In the suppression phase we can see with hindsight, that we were slow compared with the best of other countries.

“In this next phase, we must position Government to roll out the revival of the economy and as much of normal life as is possible, with efficiency and clarity of strategy.”

Read more: When will the lockdown end?

Blair also said that regarding personal protection equipment (PPE) that “mask acquisition and production on a vast scale” was “essential” for the safety of frontline staff.

On the development of a vaccine, Mr Blair called for “utilisation of every means nationally and globally to identify those treatments which can reduce the severity of the disease”.

The Blair Foundation also suggested age segmentation with younger people at much lower risk being allowed to return to work sooner.

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His paper comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was heavily criticised along with other ministers including Matt Hancock for the early response to the crisis in yesterday’s edition of the Sunday Times.

The publication chronicled perceived failings by the Cabinet which led to a shortage in Personal Protective Equipment, missed opportunities to properly prepare for the impact of the virus.

The paper highlighted the fact that Mr Johnson did not attend the first five Cobra meetings in the run-up to the coronavirus outbreak in the UK

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It was implied in some instances that his personal life got in the way, with unnamed source saying he was “missing in action”.

The claims have been refuted by the Conservative government, including Micheal Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who said on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday that the piece had numerous inaccuracies.

He also said it not uncommon for a Prime Minister to miss Cobra meetings.

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