Boris Johnson has hit out at anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists, describing them as “nuts”, as he set out his government’s plan for an extra 30 million people to get the flu jab this winter.
The prime minister also called on the public to lose weight this summer, saying it was one of the ways “you can reduce your own risks from Covid”. He is set to propose a ban on TV junk food ads before 9pm in a bid to tackle Britain’s obesity problem.
And in an interview with the BBC, Mr Johnson admitted the UK could have handled the coronavirus pandemic better - saying there were "open questions" over the timing of his decision to send the country into lockdown. He added: "I think it's fair to say that there are things that we need to learn about how we handled it in the early stages”.
It comes exactly a year after Mr Johnson assumed his role in Downing Street, a 365 stretch that has seen him win an outright majority in the commons during the 2019 election, trigger the start of the Brexit process on New Year’s Eve and launch a response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Elsewhere in a stinging attack on the nation’s readiness to split from Brussels, a former national security adviser claimed ministers are refusing to admit to the threat from terrorists and crime gangs if there is no Brexit deal.
In a report to the House of Lords, Lord Peter Ricketts said “Without a deal, the loss of operational effectiveness for UK law enforcement agencies – including in Northern Ireland – will be profound, undermining modern intelligence led policing and putting the safety of the public at risk.”
And UK and US defence chiefs have accused Russia of launching an anti-satellite space weapon. Defence secretary Ben Wallace claimed Britain remained “deeply vulnerable” to the “weaponising” of space.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of politics events across the UK and beyond.
Britain and US accuse Russia of firing anti-satellite space weapon
The UK and the US have accused Russia of launching a weapon-like projectile from one of its satellites – Cosmos 2543.
Gen Jay Raymond, head of the US space command, said there was evidence “that Russia conducted a non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon”. The head of the British space directorate, air vice-marshal Harvey Smyth, said the manoeuvres “threaten the peaceful use of space”.
What are we supposed to make of it? How big a deal is it? One defence source said: “They’ve crossed a line when it comes to the scale of this.”
Defence secretary Ben Wallace said Britain remained “deeply vulnerable” in space. He added: “The threat against space is regretfully real, our adversaries are weaponising space and we are deeply vulnerable in the West from those types of actions because we rely so much on space assets.”
Our defence editor Kim Sengupta has the details:
Britain and US accuse Russia of firing anti-satellite space weapon
Unprecedented intervention by UK as tensions with Moscow escalateBoris Johnson marks one-year anniversary at No 10
Boris Johnson is marking his first full year in office by holding talks with chancellor Sunak at Chequers, where they are expected to discuss infrastructure projects to help Britain recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.
The Financial Times reports the government is considering a new British infrastructure bank to assume the role of the European Investment Bank after the Brexit transition period.
The European institution is said to have lent more than €118bn (£108bn) to the UK for building infrastructure before Brexit.
Patel promises new bill will bring in tougher sanctions against spies
The home secretary has promised new laws against foreign interference amid a storm over Russia’s influence in the UK.
Priti Patel has said she is working on a Bill which will bring tougher sanctions against spies and their states. She told The Express: “Security is what we are about - protecting our people, our country, our state.”
Patel also claimed the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC)’s Russia report was out-of-date and Britain had since improved its position.
“When it comes to our adversaries, we are much stronger than we were.”
The ISC this week warned that successive governments “welcomed the oligarchs and their money with open arms” and allowed them to forge “connections at the highest levels with access to UK companies and political figures”.
Tory donor claims Russian-linked businessmen have “zero” political influence
Russian-born Tory donor Alexander Temerko insisted Russian-linked businessmen have “zero” influence on British politics. Temerko, who has donated more than £1m to the Tories, said his wealth gave him influence in the City but not Westminster.
Asked about the influence wielded by Russian-linked individuals like him in the capital - dubbed “Londongrad” in the ISC’s Russia report – Temerko, now a British citizen, said: “Influence where? In the City, it is quite significant - in energy sector, yes quite significant but on a political level, zero.”
In an ITV News interview, he denied buying influence with his political donations, saying that to discuss his company with government officials would be “very inappropriate behaviour” and “impossible”.
Temerko said he was “absolutely” an enemy of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The Times reported this week that 14 cabinet ministers and two Tory members of the ISC had taken money from figures linked to Russia.
Government ‘to announce ban on junk food advertising before 9pm’
Boris Johnson is expected to will announce restrictions on how unhealthy foods are sold in Britain as soon as next week, in a bid to tackle high levels of obesity.
His government is set to propose a ban on online and TV advertising of unhealthy foods before the 9pm watershed and introduce new restrictions on supermarket promotions, executives briefed on the plans told the Financial Times.
Proposed new rules are also thought to include the introduction of compulsory calorie counts on restaurant and takeaway menus.
Government ‘to announce ban on junk food advertising before 9pm’
Boris Johnson said to believe tough steps needed to tackle UK’s obesity problemPolice ‘don’t have the capacity’ to enforce new face covering rules
Today’s the big day face coverings become the norm in enclosed public spaces in England – including shops, supermarkets, banks and post offices.
After several days of confusion, the government finally clarified that they must also be worn when buying takeaway food and drink. People who refuse to wear a mask covering their face and nose in places set out by the government could face a £100 fine for today.
Yet the chair of the Police Federation has warned police “just don’t have the capacity" to enforce new face mask rules. John Apter called on businesses to help educate people on the new regulations as a joint effort.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I think the unfortunate thing is there’s an expectation that the police are almost the first port of call when it comes to enforcement ... We just don’t have the capacity, we simply can’t do it, not to the level some people expect which is for us to be almost in every high street, in every store, ensuring that people are wearing a face covering.”
Junk food crackdown ‘coming soon’, says minister
The care minister Helen Whately has been discussing the government’s new anti-obesity drive.
“The Department of Health has been consulting on the best way to protect children for instance from the advertising of unhealthy food,” she said.
“There will be an announcement about it imminently … the announcement is coming soon.”
Sugar tax extension needed to make junk food crackdown work, PM told
Health campaigners have warned the government that a refusal to slap a sugar tax on more products will fatally undermine a new crackdown on junk food.
Boris Johnson – who once vowed to fight any curbs on unhealthy foods – is expected to propose a ban on junk food ads online and before the 9pm watershed.
The National Obesity Forum said the existing levy on drinks, introduced in April 2018, had been “extremely successful”, driving down the sugar consumed by about 28 per cent.
The group said there was “very hard evidence that levies on industry, as opposed to taxing the people at the shop, is the way to go”.
Tam Fry, the group’s chairman added: “There are many products which would work for this kind of levy.”
Earlier this morning the health minister Helen Whately refused to discuss why a sugar tax extension appeared to have been ruled out, while admitting she was “well aware of the argument”.
Sugar tax extension needed to make junk food crackdown work, PM warned
Ban on advertising before 9pm watershed, plus warnings on labels, branded too weak for 'national emergency'‘Not sensible to relax restrictions’ in Blackburn, council leader says
The leader of Blackburn with Darwen council has told local residents it is “sensible not to relax” lockdown restrictions, as the rate of Covid cases in the borough has shot up.
Councillor Mohammed Khan urged the community to “keep up the momentum” in combating the disease as 122 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the seven days to 20 July.
Public Health England (PHE) has upgraded Blackburn with Darwen to an “area of intervention” following the increase, which means increased support.
Mr Khan said the reopening of council leisure facilities in the area would be delayed, alongside new “localised prevention measures”.
‘Not sensible to relax restrictions’ in Blackburn following Covid-19 spike
Luton council also says gyms, pools, and other leisure facilities will not reopen as planned on FridayStarmer has made Labour ‘competitive’ again, says Blair
Keir Starmer has returned Labour to being a “politically competitive” party which is in a position to win a general election, Tony Blair says.
The former Labour PM praised his successor’s performance in the three months since he won the contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn. He told the PA news agency: “Keir is doing a good job - a very good job actually - and I think he has put Labour back on the map. He has made them competitive again.
“He will know and we all know that there’s a long way to go before a general election and many things to be done.
“But in these months since he has become the leader, he has I think completely changed the image certainly of the Labour leadership amongst the public and he deserves respect and admiration for that.”
Asked if Sir Keir had made Labour a party that can win again, the former PM said: “He has put it in a position where it can.”
Anti-vaxxers are ‘nuts’ says Johnson
The prime minister was overheard calling opponents of vaccines as “nuts”, as he warned the coronavirus “could come back again”.
“There’s all these anti-vaxxers now,” said the PM while speaking to nurses at the Tollgate GP surgery in east London.
“They are nuts, they are nuts.”
Boris Johnson says anti-vaxxers are 'nuts'
The PM has hit out at anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists describing them as “nuts”.Fixing social care ‘very, very difficult’, says PM
Boris Johnson also said cross-party proposals on social care will be brought forward in the next few months during his visit to east London.
He told Sky News: “Well, obviously we’re investing massively in social care, in protecting social care, in making sure that people are well looked after in the social care sector, so an overall package of about £3.7 billion has gone to local councils.
“And you know about the social care action plan to stop the spread of Covid, of coronavirus, in social care, which is being very successful.”
Johnson then addressed what he called “the long-term plan for the funding of social care to make sure that people are protected from the risk of having to sell their homes to pay for the possibly exorbitant costs of social care that some people do face”.
He said: “That’s, if I may say, that’s a separate thing. We will be bringing forward proposals.”
He added: “This is something we haven’t been able, as country, to fix for 30 years. It’s a very, very difficult ... but we will be bringing forward cross-party proposals in the next few months.”
PM calls for ‘summer of weight loss’
Boris Johnson has been discussing his anti-obesity drive during a visit to Tollgate Medical Centre in Beckton, east London.
The PM called for a “summer of weight loss” amid anti-obesity drive.
Johnson was asked about suggestions the Government may ban junk food adverts before the watershed, and said: “I’m not normally a believer in nannying ... type of politics.
“Losing weight is, frankly, one of the ways that you can reduce your own risks from Covid.”
Johnson also said he had lost about a stone and a half recently.
Boris Johnson backs calls for 'summer of weight loss' amid anti-obesity drive
The PM has suggested Britons should lose weight this summerPM: Coronavirus crisis will be here until ‘middle of next year’
Boris Johnson has suggested the coronavirus crisis will still be with us in the middle of 2021, as he tried to talk about being over the worst by then.
“I think by the middle of next year, we will be well on the way passed it, but I must be clear with people – I do still think we have tough times ahead in keeping this virus under control and we have tough times ahead in coming through economically.”
He said we should “rely” on the “common sense” of the public to follow the guidelines on face coverings – and said he couldn’t say how long people would have to wear them in shops and public transport.
England’s poorest areas suffered more than twice as many deaths as richest
The poorest areas of England have suffered more than twice as many deaths from coronavirus as the richest, a new analysis shows.
The mortality rate was 139.6 per 100,000 in England’s most deprived parts – compared with 63.4 deaths in the most prosperous, the ONS found.
The figures also reveal that London has been hit by far the hardest overall, with 141.8 deaths involving Covid-19 per 100,000 residents – 30 per cent higher than the next worst region, the North West.
Poorest areas in England suffered twice as many coronavirus deaths as the richest, analysis shows
London hit by far the hardest, with 141.8 deaths involving Covid-19 per 100,000 residents – 30 per cent higher than North West, the next worstGreens take control of Brighton council from Labour
Brighton has gone Green after Labour lost its status as the largest party amid antisemitism claims.
The Green group officially took over power on Thursday evening at a time when the city faces a loss of up to £39m as a result of coronavirus.
New council leader Phelim Mac Cafferty said the outlook for local government in the UK “has never been bleaker” but said his party “stand ready to serve the city”.
The change in political control follows the resignation of two members of the council's Labour group and the suspension of another from the party.
The Green group holds 19 of the seats on Brighton & Hove City Council, with the Labour group now on 18.
Where does Johnson stand so far in the pantheon of PMs?
It’s now exactly one year since Boris Johnson took office and vowed to banish “the doomsters, the gloomsters” that were holding back our nation.
Despite the rollercoaster ride over the past 12 months, our associate editor Sean O’Grady thinks this prime minister has done the same as most before him – losing the public’s approval within his first year.
So how does he compare to his predecessors? Read more here:
£100,000 raised for ‘legal fund’ for Jeremy Corbyn
Campaigners have contributed more than £100,000 to a “legal fund” for ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as he faces being sued by Panorama presenter John Ware.
The GoFundMe page was created on Wednesday, shortly after Corbyn had criticised the Labour’s decision to pay “substantial damages” to former party employees who took part in the BBC programme’s expose on antisemitism claims under his leadership.
Ware, who made the programme, is said to be taking legal action after Corbyn’s claim that the Labour payout “risks giving credibility to misleading and inaccurate allegations”.
The crowdfunding campaign attracted huge support via social media. The page reads: “The relentless attacks on Mr Corbyn, a man of integrity, honesty and humility cannot be allowed to continue and we have an opportunity here to offer him support in a practical way.
“It will also let him know that his supporters have not forgotten him, nor have they gone away.”
‘Boris Johnson is good at being lucky’
Our chief political commentator John Rentoul says Boris Johnson, however fortunate, has shown remarkable personal and political resilience. The PM’s approval ratings in opinion polls have fallen back, but he remains “relatively popular” for a midterm leader, he writes.
Read more here:
