The government has been accused of throwing care homes “to the wolves” during the coronavirus pandemic by a damning new cross-party report.
The release of 25,000 people from hospitals into care homes in the early weeks of the Covid-19 crisis was an “appalling error”, the Public Accounts Committee has said, as individuals were not tested for the virus before they were discharged.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson is set to advertise for a £100,000-a-year media spokesperson.
‘Cruel’ migrant evictions in France to blame for rise in attempted Channel crossings, aid workers say
The number of migrants trying to cross the Channel has increased because of “cruel” evictions from camps in Calais, aid workers have suggested.
Campaigners in northern France criticised police tactics, adding that evictions were at their highest level since 2016.
Earlier this month, more than 500 migrants were bussed away from one site ahead of a visit by home secretary Priti Patel.
Clare Moseley, the founder of the charity Care4Calais, blamed Ms Patel and the French authorities for “only adding to the chaos in the Channel” through their lack of strategy.
Referring to the evictions, Ms Moseley said: "This policy is cruel and it is counterproductive. It succeeds only in increasing the numbers of people desperate enough to make a dangerous attempt to cross the Channel.”
Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont disagreed with her assessment, arguing that there is “no link” between evictions and crossing attempts.
According to an analysis from the PA news agency, more than 3,100 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK this year.
Keep booking holidays, says minister
Oliver Dowden has said the public should continue to book holidays to destinations on the government’s travel corridor list, while warning people to be mindful of the risks regarding quarantine.
The culture secretary told the BBC: “As long as people are aware of the risk they should continue to book holidays.”
“But just bear in mind that this may happen, and sadly it has happened in Spain,” he added.
The minister also suggested there was no “viable” alternative to two weeks of self-isolation for those returning from countries excluded from the quarantine exemption list.
The Independent's Ashley Cowburn has more on the story here:
Downing Street to bring in ‘White House-style’ press briefings
The Conservatives are looking to hire a new £100,000-a-year spokesperson to head its “White House-style” televised press briefings.
This follows Boris Johnson’s announcement earlier this month that his government was going to give the live broadcasts “a go”, as a result of the interest the public took in Downing Street’s daily coronavirus press conferences.
“We do think that people want direct engagement and want stuff from us, and so we’re going to have a go at that,” the prime minister said.
In response, Labour MP Chris Bryant condemned the move, saying: “I don’t like this idea of televised daily press briefings from Downing Street. We’re a parliamentary democracy, we have a prime minister not a president.”
Tui extends holiday cancellations
Tour operator Tui has announced that it is suspending its holidays from the UK to the Balearic and Canary Islands until 4 August.
In response to the move, Tui will increase flights to countries including Greece so that affected passengers can change their destinations.
Future for arts venues remains uncertain
Arts venues may have to wait until the autumn to find out whether they can reopen without the current social distancing rules, the culture secretary has said.
Oliver Dowden told the BBC that social distancing would be looked at again in November.
"We can't give a stronger commitment because, as we're seeing, the virus is rising in other countries around the world,” he added.
The minister also told the BBC’s Today programme that most of the government’s £1.57 billion support package for the arts would be awarded “over the summer”.
Venues that are at risk of “going under” can ask for help sooner, according to Mr Dowden.
Heathrow boss tells government to start ‘passenger-testing regime’
Heathrow’s chief executive has urged the government to start a “passenger-testing regime” to help the travel sector, writes Simon Calder.
John Holland-Kaye’s comments came after figures released by Eurocontrol showed that the UK’s busiest airport had fewer flights than Palma, Spain, on Monday.
“Today’s results should serve as a clarion call for the government: the UK needs a passenger-testing regime and fast,” Mr Holland-Kaye said.
The chief executive said that testing would allow travel to open safely, warning that without it the UK is “playing a game of quarantine roulette”.
“As many of our customers have experienced, it’s difficult to plan a holiday that way, let alone run a business,” he added.
Starmer urges extension to furlough scheme
Sir Keir Starmer has called for the job retention scheme to be extended, warning that Britain’s tourist towns are at risk of “falling through the cracks”.
Ahead of a visit to meet local businesses in Cornwall, the Labour leader said that those working in struggling sectors like the tourism industry should continue to receive furlough pay.
His comments came as a Labour analysis of official statistics found that areas which rely on tourism had seen a larger increase in unemployment than the UK as a whole.
Unemployment has risen by 174 per cent since February in places where at least a fifth of workers had tourism-related jobs, compared with just under 110 per cent in other parts of the UK.
No 'viable alternative' to two-week quarantine, minister says
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said that there is “no viable alternative to the 14-day quarantine”, days after the government imposed the measure on holidaymakers returning from Spain.
The government's abrupt decision to remove the travel corridor between the UK and Spain and make tourists go into self-isolation upon their return prompted a backlash.
In response, the minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday: "If we could avoid imposing quarantine in a way that it was safe to do so, of course, we would do that - that is why we keep it under review."
Mr Dowden also stressed that the risk of the virus spreading around the globe is “rising rapidly”.
PM seeks £100,000 a-year spokesperson
Boris Johnson is thought to be looking for a new media spokesperson, who will reportedly receive a salary of £100,000 a-year.
Applicants must send their CVs “and a statement of suitability” to Number 10 by 21 August , according to The Daily Telegraph.
The paper says Whitehall sources expect the successful applicant to earn more than £100,000 per year.
According to the job advert, Downing Street is seeking "an experienced and confident media operator” to front daily televised briefings.
Additional 1.5 million children should have free school meals, review finds
A further 1.5 million children should receive school meals and some young people should be fed during the school holidays following the financial impact of the pandemic, a government-ordered review has said.
The recommendations were given to the government by the National Food Strategy, which is led by Henry Dimbleby, the founder of the Leon restaurant chain.
“The effects of hunger on young bodies (and minds) are serious and long-lasting, and exacerbate social inequalities,” it warned.
The Independent’sJane Kirby has more on the story here:
Bike repair scheme gets off to faulty start
The government’s cycling scheme has got off to a faulty start, as a website offering £50 bike repair vouchers crashed at its launch.
As part of the £2 billion initiative to encourage active travel, 50,000 of these vouchers have been made available.
However, customers struggled to access them online on the Department for Transport’s website.
The site was supposed to go live at 11.45pm on Tuesday evening but people received an “Error 404” message when they attempted to apply for a voucher.
The number of complaints meant that the hashtag #FixYourBikeVoucherScheme was the number one trend on Twitter in the UK just after midnight.
Government condemned for throwing care homes 'to the wolves'
Ministers have been accused of taking a “negligent” approach to social care during the coronavirus crisis, writes Ashley Cowburn.
The criticism came in a damning report by the cross-party Public Accounts Committee, which listed a catalogue of mistakes, including the lack of testing for patients discharged from hospitals into care homes.
It described the discharge decision as a "reckless" and "appalling" policy error.
Committee chair Meg Hillier called the failure to provide adequate protective equipment for workers and volunteers “a sad, low moment in our national response”.
The Alzheimer’s Society said “catastrophic loss of life” had occurred in care homes after they were “abandoned” at the start of the outbreak.
