Afternoon summary
- The number of people in England estimated to have Covid-19 has dropped 40% in a week, according to new figures. As PA Media reports the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, which covers private households, shows an estimated 54,200 people were likely to have tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to 24 April, down from 90,000 the previous week. This means around one in 1,010 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to 24 April, down from one in 610. It is the lowest figure since the week to 5 September, when the estimate stood at one in 1,400. (See 12.37pm, 1.20pm and 1.28pm.) But the government has also published figures showing a slight increase in the estimate for the R number for England, taking it to between 0.8 and 1.1. Last week it was between 0.8 and 1. (See 2.31pm.)
That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.
Updated
YouGov has also published polling suggesting that half of voters, including almost a third of Conservative supporters, believe that Boris Johnson did say he would rather see “bodies pile high” than order a third lockdown.
Do Britons think Boris Johnson said the controversial “let the bodies pile high” comment?
— YouGov (@YouGov) April 30, 2021
ALL BRITONS:
Probably did - 50%
Probably didn’t - 26%
CON VOTERS:
Probably did - 29%
Probably didn’t - 47%
LAB VOTERS:
Probably did - 80%
Probably didn’t - 9%https://t.co/qWIE5Kckw4 pic.twitter.com/bJUr7QRlrw
But the Conservative lead in the polls is holding up. (See 4.45pm.) And YouGov has also found that Sir Keir Starmer’s favourability ratings have gone down more than Boris Johnson’s in April - despite the news being dominated recently by Tory “sleaze” stories.
Before the recent scandals broke, Boris Johnson had a net favourability rating of -11
— YouGov (@YouGov) April 30, 2021
After, the PM has a rating of... -11
YouGov's @PME_Politics looks at why public opinion seems to have shifted so little, despite high public awareness of the PM's woeshttps://t.co/5EBGmVUpBs pic.twitter.com/puJe2hSpKx
Why? In a useful analysis YouGov’s Patrick English offers this explanation.
So, why is vote intention not moving in the face of repeated negative news stories about the country’s prime minister? The answer could be as simple as the public expect nothing better. While there is certainly an amount of party-political framing going on, and a fair degree of uncertainty about what has actually happened, we already know that voters do not have very positive views about politics and politicians, and stories such as those dominating the news cycle this week do nothing to challenge that.
If the crisis deepens for Johnson and he finds himself facing potential charges and prosecution, this may well tip the balance. For now, however, the stories are certainly sticking in the minds of the public, but don’t appear to be changing them.
A week today the results from the 6 May elections will be coming in. There are elections for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, for police commissioners in England and Wales, for councils and mayors in England and for the London assembly. Local elections were cancelled last year because of Covid, and so this is effectively a double dose of elections. Most councils are not counting overnight, and so most results will be announced on Friday or Saturday. I’ll be here, of course, to cover them.
On the BBC’s World at One Prof Sir John Curtice, the leading psephologist, said that if Labour fails to make significant gains in these elections, that should be seen as a disappointing result.
Almost undoubtedly what we should be normally expecting to see in English local elections is for the Labour party to be making significant ground. After all, over half the seats were last fought in 2017 when the party was 20 points behind in the polls. But even the other half of these elections which were last contested in 2016 - even then the Labour party was only roughly even-stevens with the Conservatives in the polls, and indeed in the local elections.
We normally expect oppositions to be doing well in local elections, we expect governments to be in difficulty. So the truth is Labour should be wanting to demonstrate not only that they are doing better than they did in a really bad year, 2017, but also doing better than in 2016, which after all was the first set of local elections that were fought under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
And if Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership is meant to be about anything at all, it is meant to be about getting the Labour party back to being a more electorally effective party.
And if in the end we discover that actually he’s closer to 2017 than to 2016, this will not be good news for his leadership.
New polling by YouGov suggests that, when it comes to national voting intention, Labour is still struggling under Starmer. It gives the Conservatives an 11-point lead, up one point on the previous week.
Latest Westminster voting intention (27-28 April)
— YouGov (@YouGov) April 29, 2021
Con: 44% (n/c 21-22 April)
Lab: 33% (-1)
Lib Dem: 7% (+2)
Green: 7% (n/c)
SNP: 4% (-1)
Reform UK: 3% (+1)https://t.co/CSa4JFWZU8 pic.twitter.com/Rc80b0OJoV
The UK has recorded 15 further coronavirus deaths and 2,381 new cases, according to the latest update on the government’s coronavirus dashboard.
Yesterday, for the first time in this phase of the epidemic, the most recent seven-day total for deaths was actually up on the seven-day total for the previous week - although only by a tiny amount, 0.6%, or one single death. With today’s update the week-on-week death rate is falling again, by 18.5%. And new cases are down week-on-week by 10.7%.
The dashboard also shows that 122,039 people received their first dose of a vaccine yesterday, while 488,914 received their second dose.
More than 3,000 people were seen rough sleeping on the capital’s streets during the third coronavirus lockdown, PA Media reports. PA says:
Some 3,002 rough sleepers were identified by outreach teams in London between January and March, according to data from the Combined Homelessness And Information Network (Chain).
More than half (52%) of these were sleeping rough for the first time, and 11% were known to be permanently living on London’s streets, the figures show.
The total number of rough sleepers recorded during this quarter was down almost a fifth (19%) from the same quarter in 2020 and down 9% from September to December.
Coronavirus transmission prevention measures should be emphasised as community businesses open after lockdown, government scientists say. As PA Media reports, in an undated Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) document (pdf) released this afternoon, experts looked at transmission of Covid-19 with a focus on the hospitality, retail and leisure sector. PA says:
They analysed the best available evidence with respect to the risks of transmission in these settings.
The scientists found that overall the data suggests that the hospitality sector, compared to leisure and retail sectors seems to be associated with greater risk of transmission.
However, they add that population attributable fractions - the fraction of all cases in a population that is attributable to the setting - associated with transmission in hospitality, retail and leisure are relatively low.
“Thus, transmission happens in more than one setting and activity,” the document sets out.
Edwin Poots tipped to succeed Arlene Foster as DUP leader
The Northern Ireland agriculture minister, Edwin Poots, is expected to replace Arlene Foster as leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) after winning swift endorsements to his candidacy, my colleague Rory Carroll reports.
Outgoing Lord Speaker calls for public inquiry into Covid 'as soon as possible'
Norman Fowler, who has just stood down as Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, has said a public inquiry into how the Covid pandemic was handled by the government should be set up “as soon as possible” and should not be delayed, my colleague Sarah Marsh reports.
R number estimate for England rises slightly to between 0.8 and 1.1
The Government Office for Science has also published its latest weekly update for the R number and the growth rate for coronavirus in England.
R is now estimated to be between 0.8 and 1.1. A week ago it was estimated to be between 0.8 and 1, so this represents a slight increase.
This also means the scientists are no longer confident that R for England is at or below 1.
R is the measure that shows whether a disease is increasing or decreasing. As the government explains, “an R value between 0.8 and 1.1 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 8 and 11 other people.”
And the growth rate is now put at between -4% and -1%. A week ago it was estimated to be between -5% and -1%. So that also represents a slight increase - or a slowing of the rate at which the virus is decreasing. A growth rate of between -4% and -1% means infections are shrinking at between 1% and 4% every day.
As the prevalence of coronavirus falls, the R number is seen as a less useful measure. The government used to publish an R number for the UK as a whole, but it no longer does because of the differences in the situation facing the four nations of the UK.
The Government Office for Science has released a new set of papers from Sage, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, this afternoon. All the most recent papers are here. The Covid Fact Check UK Twitter feed has flagged up some of the ones that look most interesting.
Some important papers just published by the government:
— Covid Fact Check UK (@fact_covid) April 30, 2021
SPI-M-O medium term projections (14/4): https://t.co/8wxKtfCRek
NERVTAG on B.1.1.7 growth rate (22/4): https://t.co/x81CIIlfe5
EMG paper on transmission in retail, hospitality and leisure (8/4): https://t.co/pnJaIBQG1U
I will post extracts from them later.
The former Tory chancellor George Osborne has defended Boris Johnson over his use of his mobile phone.
Those attacking Boris Johnson for having a phone seem a bit confused - first they say it’s outrageous that business chiefs got his number; now they say it’s outrageous that everyone can get his number
— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) April 30, 2021
Starmer claims Johnson failure to change mobile phone number did present security risk
Sir Keir Starmer gave a broadcast interview this morning in Hull, where he was on a campaign visit, and he insisted that he believed Boris Johnson’s failure to change his mobile phone number when he became prime minister did pose a security risk. He said that that had been “clear from this morning”, in what seemed to be a reference to Lord Ricketts’ interview. (See 9am.) But Starmer also seemed keen to focus more on the “cronyism” aspects of Johnson’s mobile phone habits. He said:
It’s obviously a serious situation. It carries a security risk. And he was warned about it ...
The prime minister has a number, he is told that for security reasons he has to change it, and he doesn’t do it. That tells its own story.
The real question is, who’s been using that number, because we know there’s been privileged access to the prime minister. There are lots and lots of people who’ve struggled through this pandemic, many people who’ve lost their jobs or are struggling - who would have loved to have been able to get that privileged access to the prime minister and they haven’t had it.
Starmer said that he changed his own mobile phone number when be became director of public prosecutions and that since then he had kept it secure.
Figures on Covid deaths post-jab show vaccine’s success, scientists say
A small number of people vaccinated against Covid have been admitted to hospital with the disease and died, researchers have found, but most were frail and elderly and caught the virus before the jab could have taken effect, my colleague Sarah Boseley reports.
Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine from the University of East Anglia, has said that today’s ONS coronavirus infection survey figures are significant because they suggest the lockdown easing on 12 April has not had a negative impact. He said:
What makes this week’s results particularly important is that this would be the first week when there would be any evidence that the relaxation of April 12 would have had a negative impact on the epidemic.
That there is in fact no evidence of an increased transmission risk is reassuring that for the time being at least it looks like the current road map is still on target.
ONS estimated Covid rates for England by age
And here are the ONS’s Covid rates for England by age. Again, the figures come from the data tables (pdf) and they show the estimated rate of people who would have tested positive for Covid on 21 April.
Age 2 to school year 6: 1 in 660
School year 7 to year 11: 1 in 380
School year 12 to age 24: 1 in 440
Age 25 to 34: 1 in 680
Age 35 to 49: 1 in 730
Age 50 to 69: 1 in 1,540
Age 70+: 1 in 2,830
ONS estimated Covid rates for England by region
Here are the figures for Covid rates in England by region from todays ONS coronavirus infection survey. The figures come from the data tables (pdf) and they show the estimate rate of people who would have tested positive for Covid on 21 April.
North-east: 1 in 1,300
North-west: 1 in 900
Yorkshire and the Humber: 1 in 530
East Midlands: 1 in 790
West Midlands: 1 in 1,170
East of England: 1 in 1,620
London: 1 in 910
South-east: 1 in 1,080
South-west: 1 in 2,980
Updated
As the detailed ONS figures (pdf) show, the estimate Covid rate in England has not been as low as it is now (see 12.37pm) since the week ending 5 September, when one person in 1,400 was estimated to have the virus. On the basis of the counting system now being used, the rate was at its lowest in July, when one person in 2,300 was estimated to be infected.
These are from John Roberts from the Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group on today’s ONS infection survey figures.
The latest ONS infection survey shows dramatic falls across the UK, with England falling by over 40% and Wales by 50% in just one week. (Data is to 24th April.)
— John Roberts (@john_actuary) April 30, 2021
E falls from 0.17% to 0.10% or 1 in 1,010.
W falls from 0.12% to 0.06% or 1 in 1,570
1/6 pic.twitter.com/GLpS39nEEb
There are slightly less dramatic falls in Scotland and Northern Ireland, though still very encouraging.
— John Roberts (@john_actuary) April 30, 2021
NI falls from 0.15% to 0.11% or 1 in 940
S falls from 0.18% to 0.16% or 1 in 640.
2/6 pic.twitter.com/LxL01N7iGB
In England there were just 151 positive tests out of 136,078 tests over the most recent two week period.
— John Roberts (@john_actuary) April 30, 2021
Overall these are an exceptionally encouraging set of numbers as the gradual easing of restrictions continues. Good news!https://t.co/3vcxyvCGqu
6/6
This is from the ONS on today’s coronavirus infection survey figures. (See 12.37pm.)
Commenting on today’s results, Sarah Crofts, head of Analytical Outputs for the #COVID19 Infection Survey, said: pic.twitter.com/gLLdkMFVxo
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) April 30, 2021
Covid rates below one person per 1,000 in England and Wales, ONS figures suggest
The Office for National Statistics has just released its latest coronavirus infection survey. This is seen as one of the most reliable guides to the prevalence of the virus in the country, because it is based on the results of survey that involves people being tested at random, and it shows the number of people estimated to have the virus is now estimated to be fewer than one in 1,000 in England and Wales.
Here are the key figures.
England
The rate of coronavirus is still decreasing.
In the week ending Saturday 24 April, it is estimated that around one person in 1,010 had Covid (or 54,200 people in total). The previous week it was one person in 610.
Wales
The rate of coronavirus is decreasing.
In the week ending Saturday 24 April, it is estimated that around one person in 1,570 had Covid (or 1,900 people in total). The previous week it was one person in 840.
Northern Ireland
The rate of coronavirus is decreasing.
In the two weeks ending Saturday 24 April, it is estimated that around one person in 940 had Covid (or 1,900 people in total). A week ago the figure for the most recent two weeks was one in 660.
Scotland
The rate of coronavirus is still decreasing.
In the week ending Saturday 24 April, it is estimated that around one person in 640 had Covid (or 8,200 people in total). The previous week it was one person in 560.
Sunak praises Johnson for being 'approachable' after security expert questions PM's use of mobile phone
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has rejected claims that Boris Johnson’s use of his mobile phone has presented a security risk. (See 9am.) Speaking speaking on a byelection campaign visit to Hartlepool, Sunak said:
As far as I’m aware, all security protocols have been followed.
Part of what makes the prime minister special is that he is an incredibly approachable individual.
You see it wherever he is out and about - people feel they can relate to him, they can talk to him, they can tell him what’s on their mind.
Updated
Drakeford confirms further lockdown easing in Wales to go ahead as planned on Monday
Gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools will be able to reopen from next Monday as planned, the Welsh government has confirmed. Organised children’s indoor activities and indoor adult fitness classes will be allowed to resume and two households will also be able to form an exclusive bubble and be able to meet indoors.
Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, said:
The public health situation continues to improve and our vaccination programme remains a success. Thanks to the efforts of people across Wales, we are in a position to further ease the restrictions, in the way we have previously signalled, to allow more elements of normal life to return.
In the comments BTL tlswimmer asks for an update on the meeting that opposition MPs were having with the Speaker about Boris Johnson’s refusal to correct the record when he makes false claims in the Commons. We wrote about their concerns here.
A meeting did go ahead and the issue has now been referred to the Commons procedure committee. This is what PA Media filed on the story on Wednesday.
A cross-party panel of MPs will be asked to consider how misleading comments in the Commons should be corrected over concerns from opposition MPs that Boris Johnson is consistently dishonest.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle backed a proposal for the Commons procedure committee to look into “how perceived inaccuracies could be corrected” in a bid to improve transparency.
He met six opposition party leaders over their concerns on Tuesday, including the Lib Dem’s Sir Ed Davey, the SNP’s Ian Blackford and Green MP Caroline Lucas.
Lucas said the rules for honesty at the despatch box are designed for a less “Trumpian” era, as she accused the prime minister of being a “serial liar”.
MPs are concerned that Johnson has given misleading statements during PMQss and that there has been a failure to correct the record.
A spokeswoman for the Speaker’s Office said: “Mr Speaker welcomed the meeting and the proposal to ask the procedure committee to look into how perceived inaccuracies could be corrected.
“He hoped such a measure would improve transparency in House of Commons proceedings.”
The opposition MPs are writing to the committee chaired by Tory MP Karen Bradley, asking it to consider how misleading statements should be corrected.
If the committee did agree to consider the request, and then proposed rule changes, a Commons vote would be required in order to approve them.
I was going to post on this on Wednesday, but then Arlene Foster resigned and this fell through the cracks. I’m sorry about that. But, given the interest, I thought it was worth posting now.
All adults in Northern Ireland to get £100 prepaid card to spend in local shops, minister announces
And Diane Dodds, economy minister in the Northern Ireland executive, has confirmed that it is going ahead with plans to give every adult in the region a prepaid card worth £100 to spend in local shops.
The high street stimulus (HSS) scheme is due to launch at the end of the summer and, with up to 1.4 million people eligible for a card, it should put £140m into the local economy. People will not be able to use the vouchers for online retail.
Confirming the scheme, which was originally announced last year, Dodds said:
Our high street stimulus scheme will provide a timely boost to this recovery. It will provide eligible applicants with a prepaid card worth £100. This means up to 1.4 million people will spend an extra £140m on our high streets rather than online. This has a multiplier effect which will help bring many more customers back through the doors of local retail, hospitality and other sectors.
We have commissioned research into when the HSS would be most beneficial to our economic recovery. We expect there will be pent up demand following the easing of restrictions. Therefore we believe that the end of the summer is the appropriate time to deliver this spending boost.
Originally the executive had intended to launch the voucher scheme in early 2021.
Dodds also announced that, under a holiday at home voucher scheme, households in Northern Ireland will be able to get 50% off the cost of a stay for two nights or more in certified accommodation, up to a value of £100. And vouchers will also be available offering 50% off visits to tourist attractions up to a value of £20.
These holiday at home vouchers will be allocated on a first come first severed basis, with households allowed to apply for one of each. The scheme will launch in the autumn, to maintain demand after the summer tourist season is over.
Updated
Outdoor hospitality resumes as Northern Ireland lifts key lockdown restrictions
Northern Ireland has taken a major stride out of lockdown as many hospitality and retail outlets reopened their doors after four months of closure, PA Media reports. PA says:
Publicans, cafe owner and restaurateurs are now able to trade outdoors, while all non-essential retailers can pull their shutters up once again.
There were long queues outside popular retail outlets such as Primark in Belfast from early on Friday morning as hundreds of shoppers returned to the city centre.
Licensed and unlicensed hospitality premises can now serve customers in outdoors settings in groups of six from no more than two householders.
It means publicans and restauranteurs who have outdoor space can resume operating.
Curfews on takeaways and off-licences have been removed while gyms and swimming pools can reopen for individual activities.
The limit on outdoor gatherings in domestic gardens has increased to 15 people from no more than three households.
Self-contained tourist accommodation, such as caravans and rented holiday homes, can also operate.
Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Updated
Voters have little interest in row about PM's flat refurbishment, minister claims
Victoria Atkins, the Home Office minister, was on ‘minister for broadcasting’ duty this morning, and she was a bit more interesting than many of the ministers put up to perform this role by No 10. Here are the main points she made.
- Atkins suggested broadcasters should not be running stories about Boris Johnson’s mobile number being available online. She told Times Radio:
I’m slightly surprised that a national broadcaster felt it appropriate to advertise the fact that that mobile phone is on the internet, if indeed it is.
This seemed to be a reference in particular to the BBC, which has been running this story prominently this morning.
- She rejected claims that Johnson’s use of his phone showed that he was casual about security. (See 9am.) She told Times Radio:
The prime minister, more than anyone, knows his responsibilities when it comes to national security ...
The moment any prime minister walks through that door for the first time they are given national security briefings. This is an extraordinary responsibility that he has to bear. He’s fully aware of his responsibilities in that regard.
- She claimed that the controversy about the refurbishment of the PM’s flat was not generating a lot of interest with voters. She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:
We’re doing a lot campaigning across the country at the moment, because obviously we have got local elections, really important elections, next Thursday, on May 6, and I’m not sure it’s getting quite the pick-up that perhaps it is in Westminster.
- She told Sky New that Johnson has answered questions about the flat refurbishment.
Summary of Victoria Atkins’ interview on Sky News on No 10 flat
— Ashley Cowburn (@ashcowburn) April 30, 2021
“He’s answered the questions that were put to him”.
“The PM has answered those questions.”
“He has very much given his answers to the House”.
“It would be nice if we could focus on that [Domestic Violence Bill]”.
Actually, the key point is that Johnson hasn’t answered a series of questions about the flat refurbishment - particularly who paid for it in the first place. That is why PMQs was so excruciating for him on Wednesday.
- She criticised Sir Keir Starmer for holding posing for a photograph in John Lewis yesterday. She told LBC:
Didn’t he sum it all up? I mean, the leader of the opposition is there, as you said, performing a stunt with wallpaper charts, whilst the prime minister ... was visiting a school yesterday to listen to the students about their experiences through the pandemic, but also to talk about how we can raise education and attainment.
Keir Starmer has turned up at John Lewis... pic.twitter.com/PKZ10Tx4Jz
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) April 29, 2021
Atkins is not alone in criticising the photo-call. This is from Steve Richards, a prominent political commentator generally sympathetic to the left.
K Starmer’s photo op at John Lewis shows a bizarre misreading of the political rhythms ..with lots of voters wrongly dismissing rows about B Johnson’s misconduct as a Westminster game.. K Starmer plays a game...reinforcing a lot of voters’ views that it’s all a bit of a laugh.
— steve richards (@steverichards14) April 30, 2021
- Atkins said she loves John Lewis and was there last week buying make-up.
- She dismissed the suggestion that the Conservative party is “very sleazy and disreputable” - despite a poll in today’s Times (paywall) saying this is what more than half of people think about the party. Asked about this, she told Times Radio:
I’m a product of the Conservative party, I’ve been a member for most of my life. I have very, very dear friends and that description does not describe the people that I know and work with and volunteer with.
- She dismissed as “absolute nonsense” a report in the Evening Standard saying that she has made a “disparaging remark” in private about Carrie Symonds, the PM’s fiancee. In his Standard column Tom Newton Dunn said that as a result Atkins’s expected promotion to the cabinet is in jeopardy. Newton Dunn wrote:
Carrie is all-hearing. And Atkins has apparently now acquired the dreaded black mark, and faces a sideways move to Siberia instead. “Woe betide poor old Vicky now,” one minister tells me. We’ll see in July, when most now expect the reshuffle to come.
Asked about the report, Atkins said:
It’s absolute nonsense ... I cannot quite believe that that was published, but I’m very happy to say on the record it’s absolute nonsense ...
I don’t know [Symonds] very well, but what I do know is we’ve got several friends in common. She is a great friend to them, very kind, very supportive and sounds to be great fun.
Updated
And in Northern Ireland there are some slots now available for people aged 30 to 34 to book a coronavirus vaccine, the Department of Health there has announced.
📢Aged 30 to 34?
— Department of Health (@healthdpt) April 30, 2021
💉Early opportunity to book a #Covid19 vaccine.
💻The vaccination programme has some limited availability for those aged 30 to 34. Booking opens at 10.00am.https://t.co/oDAiZ4nELN pic.twitter.com/n5WtaJIEyb
Robin Swann, health minister in the Northern Ireland executive, said:
In less than five months we have vaccinated almost one million people, and thousands of our citizens have been able to receive the vaccine well ahead of schedule. I know that we all long for a sustainable return to more normal times and vaccination offers the best hope for this.
Uptake is very encouraging, and I’m pleased that we are moving so quickly through the cohorts.
We have a limited number of slots that we can now offer to those aged 30 to 34, so, if you’re eligible, I would urge you to step forward and take the opportunity to get the jab.
People aged 40 and over now invited for Covid jabs in England
In England people aged 40 and over are now being invited to book a coronavirus vaccination. As PA Media reports, text messages are being sent to 40 and 41-year-olds allowing them to arrange their vaccination appointments.
With people aged 42 to 44 having already been texted this week it means 2.5 million more people have been invited for their jab, NHS England said.
Boris Johnson’s failure to protect mobile number may have posed risk, says former national security adviser
Good morning. One of the many aspects in which Boris Johnson is unusually casual about the conventional obligations imposed on prime ministers has been his determination to keep doing business via his mobile phone. Last week No 10 refused to deny reports that he had ignored a suggestion from Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, that he should change the number. And last night it emerged that his number has been available online for years in a dusty corner of the internet.
Does this matter very much? One assumes the Russians and the Chinese had the number already anyway, and so probably not, but on the Today programme this morning Lord Ricketts, a former national security adviser, said this was a matter of some concern. Asked if this mattered, he replied:
Yes it does matter, because access to the prime minister is a very valuable commodity and if this same mobile phone number has been used for 15 or 20 years, then hundreds if not thousands of people must have access to it, and that gives them privileged access to someone who is no longer the MP for Henley but the prime minister of the country.
Asked if there were security implications, Ricketts replied:
Well, there could be, because if his mobile phone number has been that widely available you can’t rule out that others who you really don’t want to have his number, like hostile states with sophisticated cyber capabilities or criminal gangs, may have it as well. That’s the risk you run if you don’t take care of your digital security in the same way as your physical security when you’re prime minister.
Anyone calling the number now just hears a message saying the phone has been switched off and inviting them to try later or send a text.
Parliament has now prorogued ahead of next week’s elections and the Queen’s speech, and so there is not a lot on the diary for today. Here is the agenda.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The ONS publishes figures on the social impacts of coronavirus.
11am: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, gives a speech to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services spring conference.
12pm: The ONS publishes its weekly Covid infection survey results.
Covid is the issue dominating UK politics this year and often Politics Live has been largely or wholly devoted to coronavirus. But I will also be covering non-Covid politics, and today the blog is likely to be a mix of Covid and non-Covid. For global coronavirus news, do read our global live blog.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
Updated
