Coronavirus: Judge Rinder says government’s advice is ‘as helpful as a fart in a spacesuit’

Legal professional accuses government of ‘negligence’ in confusing public

Legal professional Judge Rinder has accused the government of “negligence” in their response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The TV personality who hosts the US reality courtroom series Judge Rinder, appeared on This Morning alongside Janet Street-Porter on Monday (18 May) when he shared his damning opinions on the government’s response to the crisis.

“The government has one fundamental obligation which is to have a drivingly clear message that everybody understands,” he said.

“It’s not political, it’s just a fact, just as the way you have to communicate clearly in court. The government’s messaging has been about as useful and helpful as a fart in a spacesuit.”

Rinder continued: “The situation is quite clearly, on any view, that if you’re going to suggest that there’s going to be a vaccine, you can only do that with confidence. You can’t possibly do that with confidence if, on the one hand, you say, ‘It could be available in the autumn, but it might not be and it might not be available at all.’”

Referencing comedian Matt Lucas’ viral parody of the Prime Minister’s lockdown speech, Rinder argued: “It’s not dissimilar from the change in regulations we got last week. Some of you may have seen Matt Lucas’ brilliant spoof of Boris Johnson’s announcement.

“If I don’t understand it, if you don’t understand it, then the government haven’t been clear. That’s not just problematic, it seems to me that that’s pretty negligent.”

Johnson came under fire last week after many viewers of the PM’s speech claimed that he had made things less clear as the government’s “stay at home” messaging was replaced with warnings to “stay alert, control the virus, save lives”.