Boris Johnson was warned not to call testing target a 'moonshot', adviser reveals

Boris Johnson was warned not to call his mass testing plan a “moonshot” and encouraged not to set a target of ten million tests per day, a government medical adviser has said.

Sir John Bell said he warned the Prime Minister the idea of a “moonshot” could set the programme up to fail, suggesting it could end up more like Challenger - the space shuttle that exploded on takeoff in 1986 - than Apollo.

Sir John, who is Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and has been advising the Government on its antibody testing programme, said two or three million tests per day was a more realistic target.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “A month ago they had spare capacity in testing - significant spare capacity - but I think what has been underestimated was the speed at which the second wave would arrive, but also the pressure put on the system from children returning to school, and the testing demands associated with that, and people increasingly out and about.

"So, I think they are definitely behind the curve in terms of getting the necessary tests for what we need today."

Asked whether he had advised Mr Johnson not to call his programme a “moonshot”, Sir John replied: “Well, I do remember the space shuttle Challenger.

"So there are several ways to do moonshot. Apollo 13 (sic) was great, Challenger was not so great."

Pressed again, Sir John said: “That’s right. Yeah, I probably did.”

Mr Johnson set a target of millions of tests per day, with results delivered in as little as 20 minutes, in “the near future”.

Other medical experts have suggested the target is unrealistic, while a report in the British Medical Journal says leaked memos show the cost of the programme could be as high as £100bn.

Sir John said the Government should “back off” the idea of ten million daily tests, adding: “It'll be two or three million I think, in the first instance."

“The real question is whether they can get supply in a position where it can outpace demand, and that's the challenge at the moment."

The Government says it is prioritising areas with the highest infection rates, despite reports that there are no available tests in the UK’s ten worst-affected regions.

Mr Hancock has said the problems obtaining tests stem from a sharp rise in the number of people coming forward for tests who are not eligible, because they do not have symptoms.

It is thought that the return to school has placed pressure on the system because parents are requesting tests for their children if another student in their class has symptoms.

The Prime Minister’s latest testing target follows the 100,000 testing target set by Matt Hancock to be achieved by May 1.

The Health Secretary then promised 250,000 tests per day “very soon”.

The current target is 500,000 a day by the end of October.