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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Lucy Campbell (now); Sarah Marsh and Aamna Mohdin (earlier)

Coronavirus UK live: Dowden hints at bailout for theatres - as it happened

Evening summary

  • A fresh government bailout for theatres could be on the cards. Given they are likely to remain unable to open for some time due to social distancing requirements, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, said “other support” was being discussed. It comes as the West End producer Cameron Mackintosh announced he was delaying the return of shows including Hamilton and Les Mis to the West End and had started the redundancy process in the absence of any support, and 98 leading creatives signed a letter urging the government to issue emergency support for the creative sector, stressing it was “on the brink of ruin”.
  • A Union Jack makeover for the prime minister’s RAF Voyager will cost the taxpayer at least £900,000. The project was ridiculed and condemned by opposition parties as a waste of public money in the midst of an unprecedented national crisis. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman insisted the red, white and blue paint job provided “value for money” and that the rebranding would help promote the UK’s standing abroad.
  • No 10 was unable to say when the NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app would be ready for roll-out. The health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, had initially said it would be ready this month, but the PM’s official spokesman today said he had no update on when the app would be made available to the public.
  • The UK death toll surpassed 42,000 as another 184 fatalities were recorded. It brings the official total across all settings as tallied by the Department of Health and Social Care to 42,153.
  • And the long-awaited return of the Premier League kicked off this evening. Aston Villa v Sheffield United got off to a powerful start, with a minute’s silence for all victims of the coronavirus pandemic and all 22 players and the referee taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement immediately after the whistle blew. You can follow updates on the second half over on our Premier League live blog.

That’s it from us on the UK side. If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s coverage of the pandemic, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture.

Updated

Dowden hints at bailout for theatres, saying they could remain shut for some time

Here are the main points from Oliver Dowden’s press conference.

  • Dowden, the culture secretary, suggested that the government was planning a bailout for theatres. That was because they were likely to remain shut for some time, he said. He said that indoor venues providing live entertainment were even more constrained by social distancing rules that outside arenas, such as football stadiums. He said:

I know for theatres in particular as we open – and we’ve set the challenging target of July 4 [for a further relaxation of the lockdown in England] – it is going to be exceptionally difficult to open, consistent with social distancing. And that is why I continue to have discussions across government to see what further support we can give theatres during this challenging time.

Dowden said that cinemas might benefit from the 2-metre rule being replaced by a 1-metre rule “because I think they are better able to operate at lower capacities”. But he said that a 1-metre rule would not be enough to allow theatres to operate in a way that was financially viable. He went on:

It will still be immensely challenging for theatres – [they] really do rely, not just in terms of the atmosphere but the profit margins – they work on wafer-thin profit margins – they need lots of people packed in ...

So I think we may be looking at some time for theatres to be returning to a state where they can perform sensibly, which is why I’ve been discussing what other support we can provide them with.

Until now, when discussing help for theatres, ministers have generally stressed that the sector has gained from the support available to businesses generally, like the furlough scheme.

  • Dowden said he had asked experts to advise him on what could be done to pilot ideas that might allow live performances to continue in theatres and other arts venues. He said:

We do need greater flexibility to overcome some of the very specific and practical obstacles to the return of live performance. So that’s why over the next week we will be convening experts in a targeted way, bringing together our leading performers in theatres, choirs and orchestras with medical experts and advisers.

And the idea is that they will work together in detail to develop that roadmap which is so badly needed to performing safely – with a particular focus on piloting innovative ideas that may permit live performances.

  • He suggested that England could open for tourism after 4 July. Asked when domestic tourism would be possible, he said that 4 July was the next stage in the roadmap. He went on:

I very much hope that we will be able to stick to that roadmap and we will see tourism return to the UK.

  • He said that football fans would be able to return to stadiums by the time of the new season. He said:

I would really hope that by the return of the new season we might be in a position whereby some fans could start to return to stadiums.

And he said talks were already under way on how fans could return to stadiums. He said:

We are having intensive engagement to look at how that could be done safely.

Clearly we will not only look at the positioning of fans and where they are relative to each other but there is all the issues with how you get in and out of stadiums in a safe way, how you have access to conveniences and everything else.

I want to be clear on this, we are having these discussions – I am not at this stage indicating that this is going to happen but of course it is the final step in the five-stage process.

  • He said the return of Premier League football tonight was “an important step forward in our careful journey back towards normality”.
  • He rejected claims that the UK was particularly late in implementing the lockdown. Asked about claims that locking down late led to an extra 20,000 or more deaths, he said:

Ministers clearly made the decision [to order the lockdown], we were informed by scientific advice in doing so, we did so at a relatively similar stage in the progression of the disease as other countries did so.

  • He defended Boris Johnson’s decision to spend £900,000 repainting the RAF Voyager plane he uses in red, white and blue colours on the grounds that this was a way of promoting Britain. He said:

I think that we have always spent money on promoting the UK around the world. I see this with creative industries – we genuinely are a creative industries superpower and we should be promoting that and we’ve done that through the great campaign. I think that the work on Voyager is part of that promotion.

Oliver Dowden at the press conference.
Oliver Dowden at the press conference. Photograph: PA Video/PA

Updated

Matt Hancock has apologised for a “human mistake” after he broke 2-metre social distancing rules in the House of Commons.

Footage from the chamber shows the healthsecretary placing his arm around a fellow MP as he arrived for PMQs this afternoon.

He then stood well within 2 metres of his colleague while waiting to be seated, despite floor markings to guide MPs as they enter the chamber.

A third MP then appears to the pair’s right, and the MP Hancock had placed his arm around steps back, appearing to do so to stay socially distant.

After the incident, Hancock said in a statement:

I’m so sorry for a human mistake on my part.

Like all of us, I instinctively wanted to reach out to a friend I’d just seen - in this case, for the first time in many weeks. I realised my mistake and corrected myself.

It shows how hard social distancing can be but it is so important that we all keep trying to do our bit.

Parliament advice on proceedings during the Covid-19 pandemic states Commonsphysical proceedings should be socially distanced and “in line with public health guidance”.

Guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care states people should stay 2 metres apart from anyone outside of their household – rules Hancock has consistently promoted.

Updated

Covid-19 has been identified among inmates in a new prison, a daily update from the Ministry of Justice revealed.

As of 5pm on Tuesday, 503 prisoners had tested positive for the coronavirus in 81 prisons, compared to 502 inmates in 80 prisons on Monday. The number of infected staff increased by 0.7% to 978 workers across 105 prisons in the same period.

The numbers are not live cases and include those who have recovered. There are around 79,700 prisoners across 117 prisons in England and Wales, and around 33,000 staff working in public sector prisons.

The current regime, which has seen a ban on family visits, reduced time spent out of cells to about 30 minutes a day, suspended prison transfers and forced new arrivals to be quarantined for 14 days, has been hailed a success by ministers as deaths and infection rates behind bars have been significantly lower than expected.

At least 23 prisoners and nine staff are known to have died, as well as one prison escort driver and one NHS trust employee working in a secure training centre.

A new survey of family doctors, conducted by the GP magazine Pulse, found that 71% of GPs believe the government has eased lockdown measures “too quickly”, including 25% saying “far too quickly”.

Many GPs raised concerns about the government’s response to the crisis, including issues around the test-and-trace programme as well as shortfalls of PPE earlier in the crisis.

Six in 10 (61%) view the government’s response negatively, including 27% “very negatively”, according to the survey of 680 GPs.

More than half (55%) said the test-and-trace system would not stop the spread of the virus. And 81% of GPs said the Dominic Cummings affair has made people less likely to follow government advice – including 58% saying “much less likely”.

Commenting on the survey, Prof Martin Marshall, the chairman of the Royal College of GPs, told PA Media:

The pandemic is far from over and getting through the next phases of tackling it will necessitate healthcare professionals across the NHS having confidence in decision makers.

As lockdown restrictions are lifted, general practice will be at the forefront of dealing with any health consequences resulting from the pandemic - directly or indirectly.

Our profession needs to be told well ahead of announcements being made that will impact on our patients’ lives, and given appropriate, unambiguous guidance to support practices to implement any changes, so that we can prepare to give our patients the most appropriate health advice.

Updated

The Duke of Cambridge has thanked those involved in getting Premier League football going again as his beloved Aston Villa prepared to face Sheffield United in the first game of the restart.

He signed off the tweet from the Kensington Royal Twitter account:

So good to have football back, we have all missed it! Thank you to everyone involved for your hard work in making it happen. W.

An NHS nurse who spent 75 days in the hospital where he works with coronavirus has recovered. He walked out of the ward to applause from colleagues.

Felix Khor, 68, spent 45 days in the intensive care ward at Southend hospital where he has worked for 15 years, and was on a ventilator. He then spent several weeks on a different ward.

Khor was admitted to hospital in early April at the height of lockdown and was discharged on Monday.

Up to 200 NHS staff lined the hospital’s main corridor to clap for him as he was wheeled out of intensive care last month.

Khor, who lives in Shoebury, joined Southend hospital in 2005 as part of the resuscitation training team. He continued working at the hospital following his retirement as part of the staff bank in the emergency department.

Recalling the moment he was clapped out of intensive care, Khor told the PA Media news agency:

There were consultants, doctors, matrons, nurses, domestics; every uniform you could think of.

I never realised that so many people cared about me. It was amazing to have been in lots of people’s prayers and thoughts; it has been a huge morale boost.

Waking up and everyone knowing your name has been a little bit surreal, but I thank everyone for their kind thoughts.

Staff have been so caring, supporting and encouraging.

I keep saying to people that, honestly, words cannot express enough my gratitude to the care I have been given.

He plans to retire after recovering from Covid-19 and is looking forward to gardening.

Updated

Q: What do you say to people who have lost their jobs? I have spoken to people in the hospitality industry going on benefits for the first time?

Dowden says the government has spent tens of billions trying to protect jobs.

We need to reopen business, he says. People need to get their jobs back.

Q: What would you say to a person I spoke to who has joined a group that thinks the delayed lockdown cost 20,000 lives. What have been the goverment’s worst mistakes?

Dowden says ministers made the decision, informed by the scientific advice.

He says the UK acted at about the same time as other countries.

And he claims it is too early to make comparison about which countries did best.

Q: Will there be an inquiry?

Of course there will be lessons to be learnt, he says.

When meaningful comparisons can be made, lessons from them will be learnt, he says.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

Q: Ministers did say we should not expect to have summer holidays abroad. Has that changed? Will people be able to go on holiday in August?

Dowden says the government is looking at air corridors. But it will be driven by the public health issues.

Q: When will Britain be open for tourism?

Dowden says the government has set out a roadmap. The next stage is 4 July. He says he very much hopes that we will be able to stick to that, and see tourism return to the UK.

He wants to be out there making the case for British tourism.

But it has to be safe, he says.

He says guidance will be published on this.

Q: Is £900,000 on repainting the RAF Voyager a good use of public money?

Dowden says he sees this as part of promoting Great Britain, which is a good use of money.

Dowden says his office has been in touch with the mayor of London’s office about the Churchill statue in Parliament Square. He says the mayor is in charge of that. But he hopes the mayor will allow it to be uncovered soon. He says he hopes that will happen before President Macron comes to London.

Dowden says a 1-metre rule would benefit cinemas. They can operate with smaller audiences. But theatres would still have problems.

He says he has been in touch with Andrew Lloyd Webber about what happens in Seoul.

He says it may take some time before theatres can operate sensibly. So they may need financial support, he says.

Updated

Q: What will the police do if people congregate outside football stadiums?

Dowden says the police have appropriate powers. He hopes they won’t be able to use them.

There is nothing to be gained from congregating outside a stadium, he says.

Q: Should Marcus Rashford get a knighthood?

Dowden says he has been very impressed by Rashford’s lobbying skills. But he says it is not for him to give out knighthoods.

Q: Are there security implications from the collision outside parliament?

Dowden says he is not aware of any security implications. But he can tell people the PM is unscathed.

Q: [From ITV’s Robert Peston] Is there any chance of people being back in stadiums and in theatres in a year? And if you cannot give an assurance that people will be able to return, what will you do about the many job losses that will hit soon?

Dowden says he wants people to be able to go back. But that can only happen when it is safe.

He says the government is looking at what can be done to help.

These are from my colleague Peter Walker on the press conference so far.

Dowden says football fans should not congregate outside stadiums.

Q: More than 1,500 paediatricians have written to the PM asking for a plan to get children back to school. (See 4.48pm.) What is your response?

Dowden says it is vitally important to get children back to school.

He says they need to reassure parents that it is safe for their children to go back.

(It sounds as if Dowden got the message from his boss at PMQs.)

Dowden goes on to say it is a shame that the unions, and the Labour party, are not so keen for children to go back.

(Labour and the unions both insist that they do want pupils to go back to school, but they say they want assurances it will be safe.)

Q: When will you let relatives visit people in care homes?

Dowden says he knows how difficult this has been for people. The health secretary is looking at this, he says.

Laura in Eastbourne asks how theatres can continue to employ staff.

Dowden says the job retention scheme has meant people in theatres have been able to keep their jobs so far. He says other Treasury help has been available.

It will be “exceptionally difficult” for theatres to open from July with social distancing. That is why he is still looking at what can be done.

Dowden says he has been looking hard at how live arts venues can start operating again.

He says the taskforce he set up has made a lot of progress.

But now the taskforce is going to take evidence from experts on what might be done, he says.

Dowden says he wants to get community sport back up and running. It will begin from the start of July at earliest.

Dowden says Premier League matches are resuming tonight.

He says this is an important moment.

But he urges fans to do their part - by watching from home.

Extended highlights of the matches will be available free to air, he says.

Dowden starts with the daily slides.

Here are the figures for testing and new cases.

Testing and new cases
Testing and new cases Photograph: No 10

Here are the death figures.

Death figures
Death figures Photograph: No 10

Oliver Dowden's press conference

Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, is taking the UK government’s daily press conference.

And here is more on what the health minister Lord Bethell told the Commons science committee.

Lord Bethell, the health minister responsible for the coronavirus testing programme, told the Commons science committee today that the contact-tracing app being trialled in the Isle of Wight might not be rolled out nationwide until the winter, Sky’s Rowland Manthorpe reports.

Updated

From the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Road traffic levels have surged to more than two-thirds of pre-lockdown levels as people avoid non-essential public transport journeys, PA Media reports.

The amount of traffic on Britain’s roads on Monday was 70% of the equivalent day in early February, according to new figures from the Department for Transport (DfT).

That is an increase of seven percentage points from the previous Monday and coincides with non-essential shops in England being allowed to open.

The use of trains and London Underground services on Monday was only at 8% and 14% respectively of levels on the same date in 2019, while bus use outside London was at 21% of the equivalent day in the third week of January.

Meanwhile, cycling in England had rocketed to 171% of what it was in early March.

Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said the data showed people were starting to heed official advice to use cars and bikes rather than public transport. He added:

If the volume of traffic is any indicator of the state of the economy then things may be recovering faster than we might have feared, fuelled this week by the reopening of more shops.

But it remains to be seen whether the legion of people still working from home will ever want to return to their daily commute to the office.

Given this data is a national average the likelihood is that some places might still be relatively quiet while others could be nearly as busy as they were pre-lockdown.

Dan Sabbagh on why Johnson's RAF Voyager revamp could cost government even more than £900,000

Boris Johnson’s £900,000 repainting of the RAF plane used by the prime minister on official business (see 2.57pm and 3.52pm) could end up costing more if it means it can no longer be used by the military as frequently as before.

The Voyager is used for military refuelling in combat zones such as Iraq and Syria as well to fly the prime minister, other senior ministers and members of the royal family - and like Johnson himself the RAF can’t get enough of it.

But if Johnson wants to increase the government’s access to the plane by buying more flying hours worth from the Ministry of Defence, it could increase the knock-on costs to the taxpayer because the military will be forced to charter aircraft for its own needs.

Andy Netherwood, a defence analyst, said: “The paint scheme gives away the fact that No 10 is re-purposing an aircraft acquired to provide defence. If Johnson wants a VIP jet fine, but make the argument and pay for it.”

The Voyager is one of a fleet of transport planes leased to the Ministry of Defence by a consortium of aerospace firms called Air Tanker, and was refitted with a VIP section when David Cameron was prime minister at a cost of £10m.

Another concern is that by repainting from grey it is that it will lose its military camouflage.

However, in an attempt at compromise, one source said that the body of the plane would be painted white with a blue stripe - while the tailfin would be painted in a union flag design.

This would make it look similar to a British Airways plane, but will present something of a headache for air force commanders who know that the Voyager would be more visible to enemy air forces as well as being identifiable as the UK’s principal VIP plane.

Updated

Close to 100 of the UK’s leading creative figures have signed a letter calling for an urgent government intervention to save Britain’s performing arts sector from imminent ruin.

Our colleagues Mark Brown and Lanre Bakare report that Phoebe Waller-Bridge, James McAvoy, Sharon D Clarke, Tom Stoppard, Wendell Pierce, Emma Rice and Andrew Scott are among the names backing the letter warning of the threat facing theatre, opera and dance amid the coronavirus crisis.

An extract reads:

British theatre is on the brink of ruin.

Theatre is one of the UK’s most dazzling success stories. In all its forms, whether drama, musical theatre, opera or dance, British theatre is a world-class cultural and economic force with productions filling venues from Broadway to Beijing.

The pandemic has brought theatre to its knees. Theatres do not have the money to operate viably with physical distancing. It is difficult to see venues opening before the end of the year.

The industry is asking the government to continue the job retention scheme, establish an emergency relief fund and come up with a new package of support for the army of freelancers who help create so much of the sector’s work.

Most UK theatres have been closed since mid-March as the country began to lock down to curb the spread of coronavirus, with at least four saying they will not reopen. Others are beginning to make redundancies. As they burn through cash reserves, about three-quarters of venues say they will have run out of money by Christmas.

The full story is here.

In the latest instalment of the Politics Weekly podcast, Jonathan Freedland and Frances Perraudin look at the latest in a series of government U-turns. Why did Boris Johnson decide to drag his feet on the issue of making sure children in England are fed? And does this signal the end of embarrassing U-turns? Listen to the episode here:

Updated

In a statement about the collision outside parliament involving the prime minister’s car (see 3.11pm), the Metropolitan police say a man was “arrested at the scene for offences under section 5 of the Public Order Act and for obstructing the highway”.

A police car colliding into the Jaguar carrying the PM as it stopped quickly to avoid a protester.
A police car colliding into the Jaguar carrying the PM as it stopped quickly to avoid a protester. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

UK death toll exceeds 42,000 as further 184 deaths recorded

The DHSC said 42,153 people have now died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Tuesday. That is a rise of 184 from 41,969 the day before.

The government figures don’t include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 53,000.

The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Wednesday, 140,359 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,115 positive results. Overall, a total of 7,121,976 tests have been carried out and 299,251 cases have been confirmed positive.

The figure for the number of people tested has been “temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting” across all methods of testing.

The opposition parties have condemned Boris Johnson’s decision to spend £900,000 repainting the RAF Voyager plane used by ministers in union jack colours. (See 2.57pm.)

This is from Louise Haigh, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary.

When families across the country are worried about their jobs, health and the education of their children, they will rightly question the government’s priorities when they are spending almost a million pounds redecorating a plane which in all likelihood has been grounded for months because of the coronavirus.

This is from the SNP MP Stewart McDonald.

It is beyond shameful that Boris Johnson vigorously fought calls to prevent children receiving free school meals - before eventually caving - he continues to resist calls to strengthen financial support for struggling families, households and workers during this crisis, and cuts international aid support - yet is intent on wasting nearly £1m of taxpayers’ money to repaint his private plane red, white and blue.

And this is from the Lib Dem leadership contender Layla Moran.

This is a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money. The same money could be spent providing an extra £15 school meals voucher to 60,000 children.

Boris Johnson has insulted our closest allies, scrapped the foreign aid department and is ploughing ahead with a self-destructive no deal Brexit. Repainting his plane won’t undo the damage he’s done to the UK’s reputation abroad.

The RAF Voyager aircraft used by the prime minister and the royal family - before it received its red, white and blue make-over.
The RAF Voyager aircraft used by the prime minister and the royal family - before it received its red, white and blue make-over. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

The BBC has invited staff to apply for voluntary redundancy as it attempts to make £125m in savings this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The broadcaster has asked its public service staff - not those in its commercial subsidiaries - to make a voluntary redundancy expression of interest.

In an internal message to staff, the BBC director general, Lord Hall, said delaying means-testing of the free TV licence for over-75s would cost a “significant sum at a time when revenue from the licence fee is also down” because of the broadcaster’s ability to collect the fee during lockdown. He added that commercial operations had also been “severely affected”.

A BBC spokesman said:

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic means the BBC needs to make £125m of savings this financial year, in addition to the considerable efficiency savings the corporation had previously committed to and planned for.

The BBC’s challenge is to keep delivering programmes and services for the whole country while continuing to adapt and change.

The BBC is therefore inviting public service staff to express an interest in voluntary redundancy.

The BBC suspended plans to cut around 450 jobs in BBC News because of the demands of covering the pandemic but the cuts will still take place at a later date.

The £125m is in addition to the efficiency savings the broadcaster has committed to - £800m by 2021/22.

James Purnell, director of radio and education, recently told MPs that the corporation would have to air repeats and the pandemic’s effect on schedules would be starker next year.

Updated

Opinion polls suggest people are not enthusiastic about the lockdown being eased. In an article for Prospect, Peter Kellner, the former YouGov president, argues that No 10 should avoid drawing the wrong conclusions from these findings. Here’s an extract.

When the lockdown was imposed in March, Opinium found that 65 per cent approved of the government’s handling of the crisis, while 23 per cent disapproved—a net rating of plus 42. By last week, the figures were: approve 30 per cent, disapprove 48 per cent. A net rating of minus 18. The 60-point change in the net rating in less than three months is the biggest, fastest shift I can recall for any government on any issue. The only comparable shift I can recall is the public disillusionment with the Iraq war in 2003, and that took longer ...

How does all that relate to views about relaxing the lockdown? Here is how. Trust in the government is low and falling. Voters are increasingly suspicious of ministers’ motives when they talk about rethinking the two-metre rule or schools and shops reopening. The underlying message is NOT “hold off; don’t take any risks”; it is “after the way you have screwed things up so far, we don’t trust you to get this right.” Put another way, suppose that Johnson’s government was as trusted as Angela Markel’s (Germans’ rating of their own government is plus 61, according to Kekst—a far cry from the minus 26 that we award ours). In those circumstances, going forwards we would be far more likely to credit ministers for getting the health/economy trade-off right, and less likely to blame them for relaxing the lockdown too fast.

Kellner argues that, on this issue, ministers should ignore the polls and press ahead with easing the lockdown. “The public verdict that will matter will be that, sometime next year, when it becomes clear that the government has or has not steered Britain towards a healthier, more prosperous future,” he says.

A few more pictures from the scene outside parliament after Boris Johnson’s car was involved in a collision:

A large dent is seen in Boris Johnson’s car after the incident.
A large dent is seen in Boris Johnson’s car after the incident. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Police officers detain a protester near parliament.
Police officers detain a protester near parliament. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Updated

NHS England has said a further 77 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 28,138. The full figures are here.

All but two of the 77 had underlying health conditions, NHS England said.

For comparison, here are the equivalent daily NHS England figures for hospital deaths for the last two weeks.

Wednesday 3 June - 179

Thursday 4 June - 115

Friday 5 June - 123

Saturday 6 June - 75

Sunday 7 June - 72

Monday 8 June - 59

Tuesday 9 June - 129

Wednesday 10 June - 88

Thursday 11 June - 83

Friday 12 June - 70

Saturday 13 June - 67

Sunday 14 June - 27

Monday 15 June - 28

Tuesday 16 June - 79

No reports of injuries after PM's car involved in collision outside parliament

Boris Johnson’s convoy was targeted by a protester as the prime minister left the Palace of Westminster this afternoon.

The demonstrator, who had been protesting about Turkish action against Kurdish rebels, ran into the road outside the gates to parliament.

This forced the lead vehicles in the convoy - a police motorbike and the prime minister’s Jaguar - to stop, with a support vehicle running into the back of the luxury saloon carrying Johnson.

The vehicles drove off shortly afterwards in the direction of Downing Street, with a large dent visible on the rear of the Jaguar.

Downing Street said there were no reports of anyone being injured in the incident.
The protester was detained by police and taken into the Palace of Westminster by officers.

Here is footage of the incident, posted on Twitter by Steve Bray, aka ‘Mr Stop Brexit’.

Updated

No 10 unable to say when contact-tracing app ready for roll-out

Here are the main points from this afternoon’s Downing Street lobby briefing, as reported by PA Media.

The prime minister, according to Downing Street, was “fully aware of the issue” that sparked Marcus Rashford’s campaign to extend the children’s food voucher scheme into the summer holidays.

It came after Boris Johnson said at the daily press briefing on Tuesday he had heard of it “today”.

The PM’s official spokesman said:

I think he watched the BBC Breakfast interview with Marcus Rashford for the first time yesterday.

He spoke to Marcus Rashford on the telephone and said how he found it a powerful interview and he congratulated him on his campaign.

Asked whether he had read the initial open letter by Rashford on the issue, the spokesman added:

The PM was fully aware of the issue but he only saw the actually BBC Breakfast interview yesterday morning.

The spokesman confirmed the PM had seen repeats of the interview with the England footballer, which had first aired on Monday.

Downing Street said work to paint “national branding” on a military plane used by the prime minister will cost “around £900,000”.

The red, white and blue Union flag-style paint job will allow the RAF Voyager to continue to participate in military work, according to No 10.

The spokesman said:

The RAF Voyager used by the royal family and the prime minister is currently in Cambridgeshire for pre-planned repainting.

This will mean that the plane can better represent the UK around the world with national branding, similar to many other leaders’ planes, while also retaining its military air-to-air refuelling capability.

The spokesman defended the near £1m cost to taxpayers, telling reporters:

That incorporates the cost of creating a design that will promote the UK around the world without compromising the plane’s vital military role.

At every stage we have worked to ensure value for money for the UK taxpayer and all of the work has been undertaken in the UK, directly benefiting British suppliers.

In the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday, 113,107 tests for Covid-19 were provided, Downing Street confirmed. Of those, 28,186 were antibody tests. The latest available details of testing capacity in the UK was 241,540 on Monday.

Asked about the gap between actual tests carried out and capacity, the PM’s spokesman said:

We always said testing numbers will fluctuate daily.

We have publicly appealed for anyone who thinks they might have symptoms of coronavirus to come forward and to get a test.

It is important if anyone is concerned they might have coronavirus symptoms that they do contact us, they do get a test and if they are found to have coronavirus, that they share with us their contacts and we are able to advise people to self-isolate for the protection of the public.

No 10 said it had no data on how many people had been fined for breaking travel quarantine rules after arriving in the UK.

When asked about the numbers of quarantine fines handed out, the spokesman said:

No, we’re as we were on that in that the Home Office are looking at the information they publish. And again, I’m not aware of any fines being issued or anecdotally of anyone refusing to give details when asked.

Downing Street said it had nothing new to add on Johnson’s conversations with Spain and France about creating “travel corridors” to allow travel between the UK and the two European nations.

Downing Street has said there are no reports of any injuries after Boris Johnson’s car was involved in a collision outside the Palace of Westminster.

A protester was detained after running in front of the silver Jaguar as it left parliament. Video showed the car being hit by a Range Rover travelling behind.

The spokesman confirmed Johnson was travelling in the car at the time, adding:

I think the video speaks for itself as to what happened. No reports of anybody being injured.

Downing Street said there was “no update” on when the NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app would be ready for roll-out.

Matt Hancock had initially said it would be ready last month. The spokesman, asked when the app would be made available to the public, said he did not have a date.

Asked to confirm what the problem was with the app, he said:

The latest test and trace numbers will be published tomorrow, tomorrow morning I believe. There may well be the opportunity for you to ask further questions about the app during the course of the day, but I’ve not got any update.

Updated

A man wearing a face mask shelters from heavy rain inside a phone box in London as violent thunderstorms swept across the UK.
A man wearing a face mask shelters from heavy rain inside a phone box in London as violent thunderstorms swept across the UK. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Updated

The UK government has ordered an urgent review of the potential ability of vitamin D to reduce the risk of Covid-19, our colleague Mattha Busby reports.

It comes amid growing concern over the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people, who make up 94% of all doctors killed by the virus.

A delayed Public Health England review into the reasons behind the disproportionate impact on people from BAME backgrounds which pointed to historical racism was said not to have yet reviewed the role of diet and vitamin D.

Here is the full story.

Updated

One further death with coronavirus has been has been recorded in Northern Ireland, bringing the total reported by the Department of Health to 543. There were eight new confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing the total there to 4,862.

Public Health Wales said a further 10 people had died after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,466. The total number of cases increased by 53 to 14,922.

Updated

The 2-metre distancing rule is threatening the future of the UK’s largest private zoo, its managing director has said.

Dr Dominique Tropeano, of Colchester Zoo, said that in a normal summer season the Essex attraction could expect 5,000 to 6,000 visitors per day. But the number is currently limited to around 2,000 to comply with social distancing guidelines, he said.

The way it is at the moment, unless the 2 metres becomes 1 metre, 2,000 is going to be about the number. That will not allow us to save money. If we have only 2,000 people per day it will only pay maybe the wages and the expenses.

What we are not going to have is that reserve of finances that we need in order to survive through the winter.

If the 2-metre distancing rule was relaxed to one metre then visitor numbers could “probably go to 4,000” per day, he said.

Colchester Zoo opened to invited pass-holders and donors on Wednesday ahead of opening to the general public on Thursday.

Staggered arrival times were in place, with groups of 200 people allowed in each half-hour and a one-way system operating around the park.

Feeding times and organised entertainment were cancelled, and some indoor attractions had to remain closed, including the giraffe and elephant houses and the orangutan building. The giraffes and elephants can still be seen when they are in their outdoor enclosures.

Dr Tropeano said he was excited to see people coming through the zoo’s gates, but warned:

I believe that the hardest time is to come. We’re now coming into the real world. We’re opening up after we’ve been closed. We’ve had furlough, we have money in the bank, people are giving us money, we have survived.

But what worries me is October, November, December, January, February, March - survival until Easter 2021.

He is calling for the government to reduce VAT for zoos from 20% to 5%, adding that it could take “anything up to five years to recover” from the hit during the pandemic.

Updated

Cameron Mackintosh has announced he is delaying the London West End return of the shows Les Misérables, Mary Poppins, Hamilton and Phantom of the Opera until 2021 and is starting a consultation process over potential redundancies.

In a statement, Mackintosh said the decision was heart-breaking but with no tangible government support he had no choice.

The performing arts, including theatre, opera and dance, have been particularly badly hit by the lockdown because no-one has found a way of successfully operating with social distancing.

A report by global forecasters Oxford Economics has forecast that UK theatre will this year suffer a £3bn revenue loss (61%) and the loss of 12,000 jobs (26%).

In his statement Mackintosh says:

This decision is heart-breaking for me, as I am sure it is for my employees, as everyone who has worked with me over the last 50 years, on or off the stage, knows how much I care about what I do and how I do it.

Despite the government engaging with the desperate pleas from everyone in the theatre industry, so far there has been no tangible practical support beyond offers to go into debt which I don’t want to do. Their inability to say when the impossible constraints of social distancing will be lifted makes it equally impossible for us to properly plan for whatever the new future is. This has forced me to take drastic steps to ensure that I have the resources for my business to survive and enable my shows and theatres to reopen next year when we are permitted to ...

The commercial theatre provides billions of pounds of revenue to the economy. It is time this is recognised and the government takes action to ensure this priceless resource at which the British people excel is helped to survive. Without our theatres being ablaze with life, London cannot properly reopen as one of the world’s greatest cities.

Updated

Student nurses angry to learn paid placements ending early

In the Commons Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said it was not true that student nurses were being made redundant. (See 12.51pm.) But students are finding that their paid placements are ending early. Here is a story on this from PA Media.

Thousands of student nurses recruited to work on the front line against Covid-19 have been told their placements will be cut short, plunging some of them into financial despair.

Nurses took to Facebook and Twitter to express outrage at a decision from NHS England that their paid placements will now finish at the end of July instead of running until the end of September.

One nurse calling herself Becky Jane said nurses had been told by Health Education England - which oversees training - that the NHS can no longer afford to keep the paid placements going until the end of September as originally promised.

She wrote on Facebook: “Some of us left jobs for this. Many of us have children and families to care for.”

She said nurses could graduate with around £30,000 debt already and had signed up for the six-month placements at the start of April despite being “terrified” of contracting Covid-19.

She added: “Please do not clap for your NHS. Please in future consider voting to fund it properly.”

Another nurse, Sarah Flynn, wrote on Facebook: “We saved your life Boris or have you forgotten?”

In mid-April, NHS England reported that nearly 15,000 student nurses, midwives and medical students had joined “frontline NHS teams as part of the nationwide coronavirus fightback”.

More than 25,000 students across the UK were deployed to the front line on extended and paid clinical placements to assist with the Covid-19 response.

According to the website NursingNotes, one university told its student nurses: “We have now had final confirmation that the 31st of July 2020 will be the end date for all students on paid placements in all placement areas.”

Here is our colleague Peter Walker’s story about PMQs.

Number of excess deaths in Scotland at their lowest level since April

The number of excess deaths in Scotland last week were at their lowest level since the beginning of April according to new figures released by the National Records of Scotland.

There were 1,032 deaths recorded in Scotland in the week ending 16 April, compared with the five-year average of 1,000 deaths, or 3.2% above the norm, the lowest excess death rate recorded in 11 weeks.

Excess deaths in Scotland last week were almost in keeping with the 5-year-average.
Excess deaths in Scotland last week were almost in keeping with the 5-year-average.

At its worst point in the week ending 12 April the number of excess deaths - the total number of people whose deaths were registered in 2020 and comparing it to the average number of deaths in the five years prior - was running at almost 80% above the norm.

But as this tweet by Severin Carrell demonstrates, while excess deaths in hospitals have now fallen below the five-year-average, and care homes are about the same, excess deaths in peoples’ private homes are still higher than in previous years.

There were 70 Covid deaths in the week ending 8 June the lowest figure recorded in Scotland since early April.

Updated

Hancock said the government would look into air pollution as they investigate why Covid has had such a devastating effect on the BAME community.

Updated

PMQs - Snap verdict

That was Boris Johnson’s best performance at PMQs against Sir Keir Starmer so far. And it was also his first since his return to the Commons since his illness where he exhibited enough verve to make you believe that he might have fully recovered. (There have been credible reports saying that he has been more ill in recent weeks than anyone is publicly admitting, and that may well be part of the explanation for his below-par Commons performances in recent weeks.) That does not mean Johnson was statesmanlike or inspiring; the core weaknesses - flippancy, inattention to detail etc - remain; but today Johnson sounded like someone who had found a chink in Starmer’s armour, and he exploited it reasonably successfully.

Johnson’s key strength as a politician has been his talent as a campaigner, and campaigning involves finding a line that resonates with the public and then banging on about it remorselessly. This is what he did today, accusing Starmer of being unable say it is safe for children to return school out of deference to the teaching unions. Johnson has used this line before, but what was new about today was his determination to return to the theme ad nauseam, like an obsessive. It is the sort of tactic that looks cheap and ridiculous, but it works as a means of ramming home a message. (David Cameron played this trick at PMQs successfully quite often.) There is enough ambiguity in Labour’s position to make this a plausible line of attack, and Johnson’s argument will certainly appeal to the Tory MPs (see 10.39am) and rightwing papers who feel strongly on this issue. How much wider resonance this will have is not clear. Last month polling showed many parents did not want their children to go back to class. But after weeks without any real attack line against Labour at all, at least today Johnson had something.

The drawback, of course, is that this is the sort of play you only require if you are on the defensive. Starmer was probably sensible not to engage with the PM’s questions and twice he ended up deploying the well-used line about it being the PM’s job to answer the questions, not to ask them. As ever, his performance was assured and his questions were pertinent. Perhaps he should have pursued the child poverty line more persistently and aggressively, and in his final question - exposing a blatant government failure to follow-up on a promise made about the NHS surcharge - he recovered the upper hand by forcing Johnson into an abrupt change of tone. (Johnson effectively admitted that people were still paying a charge they should not have to.) But, generally though, Johnson’s ebullience survived largely unpunctured.

Updated

When asked about the 14-day quarantine for visitors and why airports can’t instead take temperature checks instead, Hancock said temperature checks has been inadequate in other countries.

When asked if the government would increase funding for mental health survivors, Hancock said the government had been increasing funding for mental health services and it was “a very important part of this response”.

Updated

When asked if he accepted responsibility for the high Covid-death rate in care homes, Hancock said he takes responsibility for all health matters.

He added that although the challenge in care home had been very challenging, the UK had had a lower fatality rate in care homes than other countries.

Updated

Labour MP Zarah Sultana asked whether the government will end the complacency that has lead to tens of thousands of deaths.

Labour Mike Kane said the country is proud of the efforts taken by Marcus Rashford as others tease Hancock for getting his name wrong in the morning rounds.

Hancock said he was reading Harry Potter to his child and sends his apologises to Rashford

Conservative MP Robert Largen asked what the government is doing to be part of other global efforts to find a vaccine.

Hancock said the UK has contributed significant funds for the global effort to find a vaccine as well as the Oxford University vaccine.

Conservative MP Jo Gideon said impact of coronavirus has been more severe in areas with high inequality. She asked if the government will prioritise tackling health inequalities.

Hancock said the stark inequality has been laid bare by the virus and the government is committed to its “levelling up” agenda.

Hancock said the government is rolling out a risk assessment across England for all those with a higher risk of suffering from coronavirus, including BAME staff.

Conservative MP Jack Breteton asks if his constituents are safe to go out and shop.

Hancock said the virus transmission is going down and it is perfectly safe for people to go to the shops as long as people follow social distancing.

Hancock said we have enhanced the supply of PPE across the country.

He added that demand for PPE rose exponentially in this crisis across the world and it was challenging, but the government has come a long way.

The SNP’s Philippa Whitford asked why a 108 million of the personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts has been awarded “without being advertised” to Crisp Websites Ltd, which trades as PestFix - a “small pest extermination company”.

She added in the Commons: “Why was such a large contract awarded to a company with no expertise in trading or supplying any PPE, let alone highly-specialised equipment for NHS staff?

Updated

Jeremy Hunt said 20% of the people with the coronavirus are estimated to have caught the virus while in hospital. He asked when will the government plan to introduce weekly testing for all front line staff in hospitals and care homes.

Hancock said the government will bring forward the next policy for those shielding very soon.

Hancock said it is wrong to say student nurses are being made redundant, they are completing their placement and have been paid for it.

On lifting the lockdown, he said the government will “move carefully and cautiously.” He added: “We are winning the battle against this disease”.

Hancock said the government is working with local authorities on local lockdowns.

Ashworth also asked when the Public Health England recommendations on the impact of covid-19 on BAME communities be implemented? “Surely, now this is a matter or urgency,” he said.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said the country can me immensely proud of the science researchers working on drug treatments and vaccine.

He said the good news is tempered by the high death rate, pointing to the 58,000 excess deaths across England.

He asked: “why are student nurses who’ve joined the front line six months ago as part of the coronavirus effort now seeing their paid placement schemes terminated early leaving them with no income?”

Updated

Matt Hancock speaking at Commons urgent question on coronavirus.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is reading a statement during Commons urgent question on coronavirus.

He praises British scientists for the “live-saving breakthrough that was announced yesterday”.

Here’s more information on the recovery on Dexamethasone, a cheap steroid that has become the first life-saving treatment in the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that 240,000 doses of the drug dexamethasone are “in stock and on order”.
He said: “It is not by any means a cure but it is the best news we have had.”

He added: “Seven other drugs are currently being trialled as part of the Recovery Trial and a further nine further drugs are in live clinical trials as part of the Accord Programme which is looking at early-stage treatments.”

Hancock said 592,204 people as of Tuesday have now had an antibody test on the NHS.

Updated

Half of companies would have to lay off staff within three months if the furlough scheme came to an end, according to a new poll.

PA Media reports:

A YouGov survey of more than 500 business leaders found 51% of companies would let employees go, including 21% who said they would lay off three in 10 or more of their workforce. Just 34% said they would not have to get rid of anyone.

From August, businesses will be expected to contribute some of the 80% of their employees’ salaries that the Government is currently paying, with the scheme set to end in October.

Government data shows that around 1.1 million businesses have claimed cash to help support their staff.

The poll also suggests one in 10 businesses would not be able to operate if staff have to stay two metres apart or continue to work from home.

According to the research, 28% of companies would be able to operate “completely effectively” under current social distancing measures.

A further 38% believe their business would be able to operate “largely effectively”, while 24% said they would operate “somewhat effectively”.

The Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael asks about a rule that allows beef to be labelled as British if it is packaged here.

Johnson says that, if that is correct, the EU must be to blame.

Carmichael shakes his head.

Johnson says Carmichael would take Britain back into the EU. He says he won’t.

And that’s it. PMQs is over.

Julie Marson, a Conservative, asks about social impact bonds.

Johnson says he pioneered these as mayor of London. Those schemes are now being used in seven projects across the country to tackle rough sleeping.

The SNP’s Alan Brown asks about a company exploiting the furlough scheme.

Johnson says he is worried about reports of the scheme being abused. Firms should do what they can to help workers, because their workers will repay that loyalty.

Labour’s Stephen Timms asks the PM to suspend the “no recourse to public funds” rule, so that people covered by it can take advantage of the new school voucher scheme announced yesterday.

Johnson says this group should be able to take advantage of the school voucher scheme.

And he says there are other funds available to help people covered by the “no recourse to public funds” rule.

Johnson says the government will soon bring in legislation to protect veterans from vexatious prosecutions.

Labour’s Tulip Siddiq asks about furlough support for newly-shielding people. She says the PM said people who were newly-shielding should be able to apply. But the government has not confirmed that, she says. Has there been a U-turn?

No, says Johnson. He says the scheme should be available.

Labour’s Christian Matheson asks the PM to confirm that his advisers did not have any discussions with Robert Jenrick about the Richmond Desmond planning application.

Johnson says he did not have any discussions with Jenrick about this, and as far as he is aware is officials did not either. But he says the cabinet secretary will respond to Matheson’s letter on this.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative, asks the PM to support a summer programme for pupils, and a catch-up plan for the autumn.

Johnson agrees. And he says all MPs should say schools are now safe. He accuses Labour of “wibble, wobble” on this.

Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, asks the PM to accept the need for an extension of the Brexit transition.

Johnson says Brexit will bring benefits. The government should get on with it, he says.

Bim Afolami, a Conservative, asks Johnson if he will look at the ideas Afolami published in a report today to help business.

Johnson says he has studied the report. Afolami should wait for what the chancellor has to say, he says.

The SNP’s leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, says Macus Rashford has shown more “moral leadership” on child poverty in days than the government has in a decade. Will the government uplift the child element of child tax credit and universal credit by £20 a week?

Johnson says it has already been increased. But he says he is “fully aware” that there will be tough times a week.

Blackford says £20 a week to help families with children is what he is asking for. that would make the difference between families having to pay bills or feed their children. He says the PM is more interested in spending money on vanity projects, like a VIP plane. Is he saying he won’t spend £20 a week to help families survive?

Johnson says that is not the case. He says the government has put its arms around people to support them.

Starmer repeats the point about it being Johnson’s job to answer the questions.

He turns to the NHS surcharge. Migrant health workers are still having to pay it, even though the government was supposed to abolish it for health and care workers. When will it go?

Johnson says it is vital NHS or care workers get helped. If they have had to pay it since May, it will be reimbursed.

Starmer says Johnson does not recognise how serious this is. Councils have done everything asked of them. The government hasn’t. Will the PM do something?

Johnson says the government is supporting councils. But some councils are not doing that. Labour councils won’t open schools. Will Starmer says schools are safe?

Starmer says if Johnson wants to swap places, he is welcome.

Johnson mentioned £3.2bn going to councils. But councils say they need £10bn, he says. He says Tory council leaders have said this. Why has Johnson been so slow to act?

Johnson says he has acted. He says he wants kids to go back to schools. The teaching unions won’t let Starmer say schools are safe, he says.

Starmer says the PM does not know what the report said. He says Johnson has performed three U-turns. He says Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, told councils the government would do all it could to help them. Has it kept its promise?

Johnson says Starmer did not answer the question. Will he say if schools are safe?

Starmer says he was quoting from a government report. He refers to the social mobility commission report. He says he is sure the PM has read it. What is the PM going to do about it.

Johnson says Starmer is talking about an anticipated rise. That is a new concept, he says. He says he is talking about what has happened.

He says this government has protected the workforce of this country. There have been £30bn of business loans. He says the government intends to minimise the impact of coronavirus on the poorest. One thing that might help would be for Labour to accept pupils should go back to schools.

Sir Keir Starmer starts by welcoming the success of the trial of the new coronavirus treatment. That’s fantastic news, he says. And he welcomes the U-turn on school meals.

He quotes research saying 600,000 more children are living in poverty. What caused that?

Johnson says he is glad that Starmer is finally paying tribute to what the government has done on coronavirus.

He says the government is doing the right thing on school meals.

But Starmer is wrong on poverty, he says. It has not gone up.

Johnson says he can confirm that the government is considering new legislation to tackle people who vandalise war memorials.

The SNP’s Martin Docherty-Hughes asks about the PM’s policy adviser Munira Mirza that previous inquiries into racism have fostered a culture of grievance.

Boris Johnson says he is a huge admirer of Mirza’s. He says he has ordered another inquiry before more work needs to be done.

PMQs

PMQs is about to start.

The list of MPs down to ask a question is here (pdf).

This is what the Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis said at the Commons education committtee as he started posting questions to the union leaders giving evidence. He was the most critical MP, although he was not the only Tory on the committee to accuse the union leaders of being obstructive. Gullis said:

I have never been so frustrated in my entire life sitting in this committee listening to what’s been said. As someone who spent eight years in the teaching profession, Dr [Patrick] Roach, I’ve had nothing but respect for you for my entire career. I joined the NASUWT, because a school trade union rep, and yet I’m sorry these five conditions are effectively five tests.

As for the NEU, running a political campaign which came to all MPs’ inboxes to basically make sure that schools did not open, I just think it’s utterly disgraceful ...

[A] union’s job is to protect staffers, health and safety. But it is also the job of a union rep, and unions, to come to the table and speak with the Department for Education, head teachers. For the unions to say to staff, don’t engage with their schools at all .... I am absolutely outraged at the sheer damage the unions have done to the teaching profession, and I think there’s a lot of questions for unions to answer in this regard.

Teachers have worked incredibly hard. They have been unbelievable. But the unions have acted, I’m sorry, in a way that is not in the interests of working with people.

In response Patrick Roach from the NASUWT and Mary Bousted from the NEU accused him of misrepresenting their unions’ positions. See 10.39am.

The UK is refusing to negotiate defence and security in Brexit talks, the EU ambassador to UK, João Vale de Almeida, has said.

“The UK has chosen not to open that table of discussion,” he told Bloomberg on the eve of a meeting between French president Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson at which the issue is expected to be raised.

“My experience tells me that relationship and co-operation between the EU and the UK is absolutely critical, important, very relevant for world stability,” he said.

At the Commons transport committee hearing Tim Bowles, the Conservative mayor for the West of England, said that changing the two-metre social distancing rule to one metre would only boost bus capacity by one passenger per vehicle. He explained:

First Bus have done work and trials ... They did modelling on two-metre distancing, one-and-a-half-metre and one metre. If you think about how tight buses are, even if you reduce that to one metre they’ve worked out you will get one additional passenger on a bus.

If you’re around about 25% capacity on the bus, it means a double decker can really only accommodate around 20 or just over 20 people.

We would only see one more on one of those routes, if they’re following the rules.

Bowles also said the demand for bus services has increased in recent days. On June 8 it was up to 15% of normal levels, rising to 19% on Tuesday.

At the end of the Commons education committee hearing Robert Halfon, the Conservative committee chair, paid tribute to the work done by teachers.

But he said 4m children from disadvantaged backgrounds were getting very little contact with teachers. Why was that, he asked. He said his “huge worry” was the state of vulnerable children.

He stressed that he did not mean the question as a criticism.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said she thought vulnerable children should have been a priority this term. They should have taken priority when pupils were going back, she said. She said schools knew who these pupils were.

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said her members had been trying hard to help this group. But these children often had complex and difficult home lives, she said. It could be difficult to engage with work at home even when that work was set.

It was “incredibly difficult” to learn if you were at home with a large family, little space and no technology, she said, particularly if your parents were having a difficult time too.

At the education committee Robert Halfon, the chair, asked Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, if the NEU supported the reopening of schools in Wales from 29 June.

Bousted said the NEU were still in negotiation about this. But she stressed that the union had been consulted as the decision was being taken.

Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 through the national testing programme will be asked to join a blood plasma trial, PA Media reports. A major trial is ongoing to assess whether convalescent plasma donations can be transfused into patients who are struggling to develop their own immune response. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), which is collecting the plasma for the trial, said people confirmed with the virus through the “Pillar 2” national testing programme will receive a text message 21 days after their result to see whether they are willing to donate plasma. The text messaging service started this week and saw more than 10,000 people enrol in the trial.

Here are some more lines from the Commons education committee hearing.

At the Commons education committee Tom Hunt, another Conservative MP, also strongly accused the teaching unions of resisting school reopening. He said people felt the teaching unions “had actively obstructed the reopening of schools”. And he said you could not blame people for thinking that. As an example, he cited what Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said in early May that suggested that schools should not open until September. Roach said:

The NASUWT urges ministers to act to end speculation on the reopening of schools beyond the current restrictions prior to September 2020.

And yet this morning the teaching unions were presenting themselves as constructive, he said.

Roach said he stood by the quote cited by Hunt. He said he wanted the government at that point to end speculation. The speculation was damaging, he said. He said he was not opposing reopening in principle.

Hunt said, in the light of the Roach quote, the claim that his union wanted schools to go back was “difficult to swallow” for people.

Dominic Hook, Unite national officer, said: “The question that must be asked today is ‘Why now HSBC?’

It comes as the banking giant said it will resume plans to cut around 35,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

“At present, vast numbers of HSBC staff are making massive sacrifices working from home or taking risks travelling into offices and bank branches to help customers,” Hook said.

He added: “Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis colleagues across HSBC have worked tirelessly as key workers to ensure that consumers continue to access financial services to meet their banking needs.

“Now is the time for HSBC to stand by its workforce and recognise these mighty efforts, and see that the bank’s strength lies within its workforce.”

Updated

Tory MP tells teaching union leaders he is 'outraged' at their stance on schools reopening

At the Commons education Jonathan Gullis, a Conservative MP and former teacher, is asking the questions now and he starts with a fierce attack on the teaching unions. He says he used to respect Patrick Roach from the NASUWT. But he says the union’s five conditions for opening schools sound like five tests. And he accuses the NEU of campaigning to keep schools closed. That was “utterly disgraceful”, he says.

He quotes from an email sent by the NEU to members saying they should not engage with headteachers on the wider opening of schools. He goes on:

I am absolutely outraged at the sheer damage that unions have done to the teaching profession.

Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, says his union has not been campaign to keep schools closed.

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, says the ASCL did not campaign against schools opening.

Gullis says there may not have a formal campaign. But this was the impact of the stance its members were taking, he claims.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, confirms that at one stage her members were told not to engage with headteachers on school re-opening. But at that point there was no government guidance. When that guidance was produced, the NEU did tell members to engage, she says.

UPDATE: See 11.55am for a longer version of the opening quote from Gullis.

Updated

At the Commons education committee Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said it is “close to a national scandal” how little access some pupils have to online learning.

She accepts that the government has set up a scheme to provide laptops to some disadvantaged year 10 pupils. But she says this is only helping a “tiny” proportion of those pupils who need help with this.

At the Commons education committee Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, says the vast majority of her members have been setting online learning for their pupils.

But she says some pupils do not have access to the internet. Sometimes the technology does not work, she says. And she says it is hard for teachers to know if the work has actually been done.

She says schools need a better offer from the government on digital learning. And she says more pupils need to be provided with laptops.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has said that he is taking a 10% pay cut as a contribution to addressing the funding crisis facing City Hall. But he said London needed more help from central government. He said:

Londoners did the right thing to tackle Covid-19 by following the rules, staying at home and helping to save lives.

But now the government is punishing them with a new era of austerity.

Unless ministers act, the current number of police officers will need to be reduced and it will be impossible to tackle youth violence or make the changes to the London fire brigade that are desperately needed after the awful Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Khan is paid £152,734, and he will lose almost £15,300. He has also frozen pay for senior figures at City Hall. Our colleague Rajeev Syal has more details here.

In the education committee Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, says her union wants schools to go back as soon as possible. But she says there is a need for a recovery plan.

One problem is that England has very high pupil/teacher ratios, she says.

She suggests that other public buildings could be used. And she says the government should explore plans for blended learning, she says.

If the government retains its social distancing rules, schools will not be able to open as normal in September, she says.

Tim Bowles, the metro mayor of the West of England combined authority, talked about how local lockdown might look. He said that more communication with government would be needed.

Most of the ONS data talks about bigger areas ... Take my region as an example. I am literally probably 10 miles from a completely devolved country with their own rules and we have a of people who commute back and forth from south wales into the region.

How do you lockdown rail, motorways and highways? ... How do we look at things like that? Bearing in mind the focus today is on transport ... how do we bring those pieces into it? We have to be able to be flexible to look at local lockdown but at the moment we need to do more work with government about how they judge and announce things.

We work really well with our transport operators.. but at the moment we need a lot more clear thinking from government.

Updated

Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP who chairs the education committee, asks why children will get access to Primark in the next few months, but not access to schools.

Bousted said schools are following the government guidance. If Halfon objects, he should take it up with the government, she suggests.

Commons education committee takes evidence from teaching unions

In the Commons the education committee has just started taking evidence from the teaching unions about school reopening. The witnesses are: Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union; Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT; Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders; and Jon Richards, national secretary for education at Unison.

The session started with questions about the risk of returning.

Updated

Interview with the husband of Mary Agyapong today in the BBC, where he says that the hospital should have done more to protect her. Nurse Agyapong died while pregnant and her child was delivered through c-section. The trust say she received the “best possible care”.

Updated

Mayor of Manchester said that capacity is going to be a problem on transport and so companies may need to restructure the working day and re-think when people are expected to come in.

Andy Burnham said that they could put funding “to put more buses on the road”, noting that the coach industry would be brought in to help.

However, he said it would be hard to get change without looking at demand. “That is about restructuring the working day and giving people extra flexibility and being clear with businesses that we need people to sign up to come in at different times of the day or we will get chaos at tram stops.”

The transport committee is underway with Andy Burnham and Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram.

“Given social distancing and so on we are still unable to meet demand even on some of our routes. We have a good relationship with our bus operators... but on key routes they are still finding we are at capacity already due to social distancing,” Rotherham said

He said that if social distancing was relaxed to 1m on buses they would still only be able to “get one more passenger on buses”.

He said that they must see bus services support grants being properly devolved to transport authorities in their areas.

“We know what our main routes are and what routes need supporting and we can be flexible as opposed to directly paying operators to continue delivering in the old manner. We have to start using this as an opportunity to change how we work.”

Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s chief adviser, arriving at Downing Street this morning.
Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s chief adviser, arriving at Downing Street this morning. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Banking giant HSBC has said it will resume plans to cut around 35,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years after putting the redundancy programme on hold amid the coronavirus crisis.

In an internal memo to its 235,000 staff, chief executive Noel Quinn said the cuts first announced in February are “even more necessary today”.

He said the group would will also freeze the “vast majority” of external recruitment.

Quinn said: “We could not pause the job losses indefinitely - it was always a question of ‘not if, but when’.”

Updated

Agenda for the day

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, joining the blog for the day.

Here is the agenda showing what’s coming up.

9.30am: Metro mayors Andy Burnham (Greater Manchester), Steve Rotheram (Liverpool city region) and Tim Bowles (West of England) give evidence to the Commons transport committee on coronavirus and transport.

9.45am: Teaching unions leaders Patrick Roach (NASUWT), Julie McCulloch (ASCL), Jon Richards (Unison) and Mary Bousted (NEU) give evidence to the Commons education committee on school opening.

12pm: Boris Johnson faces Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.

12.30pm: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is due to answer a Commons urgent question on coronavirus.

1.15pm: Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, makes a Commons statement on the prospect of the UK joining the TPP Asian free trade deal.

2.30pm: Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA, is among the witnesses giving evidence to the Commons women and equalities committee on the impact of coronavirus on BAME people.

5pm: UK government press conference.

Updated

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said he may have had “Harry Potter on the mind” when he mistakenly praised “Daniel Rashford” for his work on free school meals.

The Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford led a campaign to extend the children’s food voucher scheme into the summer holidays, which forced a change in policy with a £120m fund to feed 1.3 million children in England over the six-week break.

Denying that the government made an embarrassing U-turn on the subject, Hancock told Sky News on Wednesday morning: “”Righty-ho, I will tell you what happened, the prime minister talked to Daniel Rashford, he considered it and made his decision - I think it’s terrific.”

The minister later told the radio station LBC that his child’s fondness for the JK Rowling novels may have been to blame and “maybe I had Harry Potter on the mind”.

Harry Potter was played by Daniel Radcliffe in the movie adaptions of the popular books. Hancock added: “My seven-year-old listens to Harry Potter and reads Harry Potter avidly, including at 5.30 this morning when I got up to do this morning’s media round.”

He suggested it had been “too early in the morning” and laughed as he told BBC Breakfast: “I completely misspoke.”

England star Rashford, 22, appeared to joke about the incident, responding on Twitter by saying “I’ve been called much worse over the last couple of days” with a laughing face emoji.

Marcus Rashford.
Marcus Rashford. Photograph: Eddie Keogh for The FA/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

The mayor of the West Midlands and Birmingham airport chief executive have called for a re-think on quarantine measures amid concern about the economic damage they could cause.

Andy Street and Nick Barton have written to the home secretary, Priti Patel, warning that making people self-isolate for 14 days after entering Britain from abroad could have a long-term impact on the travel industry in the West Midlands.

It comes as the airport industry has seen a 90% fall in passenger numbers due to the pandemic.

The quarantine restrictions are due to come under review later this month, but the pair have asked the government to employ a more flexible approach, particularly with regard to those arriving from low risk countries or locations. Suggestions include offering testing on arrival, or the introduction of air bridges with key countries that have low transmission rates.

Mayor Andy Street, who signed the letter on behalf of the region’s Economic Impact Group (EIG), said:

What the government is trying to achieve from a public health perspective with these measures is absolutely right, but the 14-day quarantine will have unintended and severe consequences for our regional economy. The EIG and Birmingham airport believe these public health outcomes can be achieved through other measures, such as testing on arrival and air bridges.

As well as the impact on both the tourism and business tourism sectors, there are concerns about the damage these measures will to do Birmingham airport, which has already had to pause its ambitious £500m expansion plans because of coronavirus.

Nick Barton, the chief executive of Birmingham airport, said:

We fully support the need to protect public health. However, the longer the blanket quarantine policy is in place, greater and more damaging impacts will be felt by our business and industry as a whole. We are urgently calling for this policy to be amended to take a risk-based approach, such as using air bridges or similar initiatives, to make it effective. We need urgent clarity on the travel restrictions to stimulate demand so that airlines have the confidence to restart services and support the UK’s economic recovery.

In 2018 tourism was worth £836 million to the regional economy and is considered to be especially important for popular destinations like Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick.

Aircraft parked at Birmingham airport.
Aircraft parked at Birmingham airport. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Updated

The Guardian’s Patrick Butler and Sally Weale look at what the free school meal scheme means, concluding that it will still leave many children to go hungry. Please give the story a read.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock declined to apologise to footballers over his past call for them to “play their part” in the coronavirus response, and said he is “really proud” of Marcus Rashford.

“I think the way that Marcus Rashford conducted this campaign was just exemplary. I’m really proud of him,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He was pressed about his previous call for Premier League footballers to contribute to the Covid-19 response amid concerns over the furlough scheme.

Asked if he owes Rashford and other players an apology, Hancock told Today:

I think he’s been absolutely brilliant and I think he absolutely has played his part. I owe him thanks.

Updated

Hancock: government will write 'very shortly' to 2.2m who are shielding

Hancock was also asked about whether shielding would end soon. (See 8.02am.) He said an announcement was coming very soon and that the government would “very shortly” write to 2.2 million people who are staying in because they are most vulnerable to getting unwell due to the virus.

The health secretary was also asked about a second wave and whether people would comply with another lockdown. He said that the answer was controlling local outbreaks by shutting things down in specific areas where there are a rise in cases.

“That level of intensive local action is best way to keep a lid on any outbreaks,” he said.

When asked about test and trace, Hancock said he was pleased with the figures of the first week of operation but noted their ability to trace those who may have came in contact with someone who had the virus would get stronger over time. “The most important thing is that those with symptoms come forward to have a test,” he said.

He added that the government had been open about the fact it would take a while for the programme to be fully operational and operating at a world-class level.

Updated

Hancock says there is still 'long way to go' in terms of getting coronavirus infections down

Matt Hancock, speaking on the BBC Today programme, said that there was an “awfully long way to go” for the whole world in terms of tackling coronavirus.

There are some other countries where the curve is going up and it appears to be going up exponentially. That is a real worry ... There is a long way to go to keep the numbers going down here.

The number of new infections each day has come down ... That is well down on the peek but we are still seeing 4,500 new infections ... It is clear, to summarise, that we are making progress and winning the battle but there is still a long way to go.

Hancock was then asked if the public have stopped listening to government rules and whether they would follow them in future.

“I don’t think that is true,” Hancock said. “You can look at individual photographs [of people at beaches or in crowds] ... but if you look at the overall movements and the amount of traffic, for instance, of course it is going up but it is not nearly where it was because the lockdown continues.”

Hancock was then asked about when the two-meter rule would be eased, amid pressure on the government to do so to help boost the economy.

We are undertaking a scientific led review into it, taking into account all other considerations and the impacts as well ... It is all a matter of the difficult judgement about how we can reduce the social distancing measures while keeping the virus under control and continuing to go down.

With regards to the summer and holidays, Hancock responded to questions about whether the quarantine measures imposed by government would be eased. The measures mean anyone going abroad must self-isolate for 14 days upon returning, even if they do not experience any symptoms of Coronavirus.

Hancock suggested that travel may take place between countries where numbers are low, using travel corridors. He said:

The quarantine policy is important and I know it was controversial when it came in... there are some countries around the world where this virus is not under control and the number of infections is going up sharply. However, there are other countries where it may be safe to not have a quarantine in place in the same way... I am working with Grant Shapps [transport secretary] on whether countries that have a low rate of infection, where we trust their figures and can have discussion with that country on a travel corridor.

Matt Hancock.
Matt Hancock. Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

The husband of a pregnant nurse who died from coronavirus has argued that his wife should not have been working at the start of the pandemic.

Mary Agyapong worked at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital in Bedfordshire and was diagnosed with coronavirus in early April, dying a week later.

Doctors were able to save her baby by an emergency C- section but her husband, Ernest, told the BBC his wife should not have been working at the the start of the pandemic as she was heavily pregnant.

The Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We have carried out a full internal review into the circumstances surrounding her death and we are confident that she received the best possible care and support from the Trust.

“We have sent our deepest condolences to Mr Boateng, and are currently working through a number of issues he has raised.”

Updated

UK inflation fell to its lowest level in four years last month after a record drop in fuel prices and as clothing and energy costs continued to tumble, official figures have shown.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 0.5% in May from 0.8% in April -
the lowest since June 2016.

But the ONS said that using an alternative basket of goods, which removes items not available due to the coronavirus crisis, CPI would have been even lower – at 0.4% in May.

It comes as fuel prices tumbled by 16.7% in May – the biggest fall on record – while energy costs dropped 7% and clothing and footwear price tags fell 3.1% as retailers resorted to heavy discounts amid the lockdown.

Larry Elliott has more here.

Updated

Health secretary Matt Hancock said an announcement on shielding would be coming “very soon”.

He told BBC Breakfast:

I want to say to your viewers, if you are in the shielded category we will announce very soon what the plans are and we will write to you personally through the NHS so that you can get the direct clinical advice.

Last night the Health Service Journal reported that the shielding programmee would end at the end of July.

But the government said no final decision had been taken.

Updated

Drugs offences in England and Wales rose by 27% during lockdown despite total recorded crime dropping by a quarter, figures suggest.

Data obtained by the PA news agency under Freedom of Information laws showed that thousands more crimes linked to banned substances were recorded by police between March 23 and May 25 than in the same nine-week period last year.

There was also a rise of 9% compared with the number of recorded offences between January 20 and March 23 this year.

In total, 26 forces that responded recorded a total of 25,297 drugs offences, including trafficking and possession, between March 23 and May 25 this year, compared with 19,840 in the same period in 2019.

There were 23,113 drug crimes recorded between January 20 and March 23 this year. The latest total national figures for all crime reported by the National Police Chiefs’ Council showed a 25% drop in England and Wales in the four-week period to May 10.

Good morning to anyone joining the live feed today, in which I will bring you the latest information and updates on Coronavirus in the UK. Please do share your thoughts, comments and news tips with me today, it’s always really valuable to hear from our readers.

I hope everyone has a good start to their Wednesday!

Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com

Cabinet not consulted about decision to merge DfID with FCO, says Hancock

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Boris Johnson made the decision to merge the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office without discussing it with the cabinet.

Asked if the cabinet was consulted, he told Sky News:

No, it wasn’t, it’s absolutely right, it’s a prime ministerial decision. All these machinery of government changes are decisions individually made by the prime minister.

Updated

Health Secretary Matt Hancock blamed the early start for wrongly calling Marcus Rashford “Daniel” when praising him for prompting the government’s U-turn on free school meals.

“I completely misspoke,” he told BBC Breakfast, laughing. “Too early in the morning.”

Responding on Twitter Rashford wrote:

A delayed report into the reasons why black, Asian and minority ethnic people (BAME) are disproportionately contracting and dying from Covid-19 has increased pressure on the government to act immediately to address the problem.

The Public Health England (PHE) review, based on stakeholder engagement with more than 4,000 people, says historical racism may make BAME individuals less likely to seek care when needed or, as NHS staff, to speak up when they have concerns about personal protective equipment (PPE) or increased risk.

Dr Jennifer Dixon, the chief executive of the Health Foundation, said:

Black and minority ethnic communities speak loudly in this report and say discrimination is among the fundamental causes of ill health. They should be listened to.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will update its clinical guidelines after a trial showed that a low-dose steroid treatment can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus.

“This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortalityin patients with Covid-19 requiring oxygen or ventilatorsupport,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday.

Results from Tuesday’s trial are still preliminary, but it showed that dexamethasone cut death rates by by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth.

The English Premier League is set to return today, with football matches played behind closed doors to prevent any spread of the virus.

The boss of Reading and Leeds festivals has called for mass coronavirus testing in order to reopen the hospitality sector and boost the ailing economy.

Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, proposed testing should be increased to 400,000 per day to have the programme up and running in November.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

I think people would be queuing up to be tested if it gave them the opportunity to go to football matches or entertainment venues or to restaurants or to cinemas, etc.

So we can go through the winter with all the venues, all the restaurants, all the stadiums open at full capacity and beginning to put the economy back on track.

A summary of the news

  • In China, Beijing city reported another 31 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 137 in the past week. Before the recent rise, the Chinese capital had gone 57 days without a locally-transmitted case. The outbreak is believed to have started in the massive Xinfandi food market that supplies 80% of the city’s meat and vegetables.
  • Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said: “The growth in consumer prices again slowed to the lowest annual rate in four years ... The cost of games and toys fell back from last month’s rises while there was a continued drop in prices at the pump in May, following the huge crude price falls seen in recent months. Outside these areas, we are seeing few significant changes to the prices in the shops.”
  • Boris Johnson made a remarkable u-turn over providing food vouchers for some of England’s poorest families, due to pressure from a campaign led by the footballer Marcus Rashford. In an embarrassing about-face, the prime minister said that on Tuesday he had called the England and Manchester United striker to explain the reversal, and made the remarkable claim that he had only become aware of Rashford’s interest in the issue earlier in the day.
  • A group of Conservative-run councils has told ministers that a second wave of coronavirus would leave them with a multibillion-pound budget shortfall, triggering a wave of insolvencies and forcing a fresh round of emergency cuts to local services.

Charities call for clarity over 'shielding programme'

Healthcare charities have called for clarity amid growing confusion over government plans to end the coronavirus shielding programme in England.

The scheme affects roughly 2.2 million “clinically extremely vulnerable” people, a category which includes those who have had transplants, are having certain cancer treatments, have severe lung conditions or have immune systems are particularly vulnerable to infection.

Matt Hancock has been criticised for referring to footballer Marcus Rashford as “Daniel” in an interview on Sky news on Wednesday.

Rashford has been praised for his campaign on free school meals, which led to a u-turn by government to provide a new £120m voucher scheme keeping children from some of the most deprived families fed during the school holidays.

Updated

Morning and welcome to the Guardian’s UK coronavirus live feed, bringing you the latest information and updates on the health pandemic. Please do share your thoughts, comments and news tips with me today, it’s always really valuable to hear from our readers.

Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com

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