Top story: Covid scare adds to crisis inside No 10
Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories today.
Boris Johnson will be forced to manage what could be a pivotal week in his premiership from self-isolation in Downing Street after meeting a Conservative backbencher who later tested positive for coronavirus. The prime minister, who survived a spell in intensive care with Covid-19 earlier this year, was said to be “well” and symptom-free. But the obligatory isolation comes at a difficult time for him as he tries to reset his government’s course in the wake of last week’s dramatic departure of his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings. Not only is he facing mounting pressure to ensure that the lockdown in England succeeds in reducing coronavirus infections, but also a decision could be made this week about whether a Brexit deal with the EU is achievable. He is also expected to announce a series of green initiatives aimed at phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles within a decade.
However, many Tories remained buoyed by the departure of Cummings, who was seen by many as having a baleful influence on Johnson. One MP cited a truce with ITV’s Good Morning Britain show – which No 10 had boycotted since April – as an example of a less confrontational approach. Our media editor looks at how Cummings’ attempt to reshape the relationship between the government and the media ended up playing a key role in his downfall.
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Vaccine trial – Some 6,000 British volunteers are to be injected with a vaccine developed by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson and modelled on an Ebola jab. It is the third Covid vaccine to enter large-scale clinical trials in the UK, and comes as the scientist behind the first potential vaccine said his treatment could halve Covid transmission. Ministers hope that two new laboratories set to open early next year could more than double testing capacity in the UK. The facilities in Leamington Spa and a yet-to-be-disclosed location in Scotland will employ up to 4,000 people, and will increase the number of PCR tests that can be processed daily by 600,000, from 520,000 today. Follow all the overnight developments in the pandemic at our live blog here, including the shop in Japan that has delpoyed a robot to check whether customers are wearing a face mask.
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America’s crisis – Pressure is mounting on Donald Trump to allow transition talks to begin with US president-elect Joe Biden’s team amid a terrifying surge of coronavirus cases that is pushing the country’s hospital systems to the brink of collapse. The US recorded 166,000 cases on Saturday but Biden’s new Covid taskforce is hamstrung until the Trump administration allows the federal bureaucracy to begin a period of transition. Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases expert in the US, said Trump had not attended a Covid taskforce meeting “for months”. The president came the closest yet to admitting defeat in the election when he tweeted yesterday that Biden “won because the election was rigged”. He qualified it by repeating baseless claims of election fraud but did not mention that his campaign has dropped part of its legal challenge to the results in the key state of Pennsylvania.
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Taxi for Nasa – Elon Musk was obliged to watch from isolation as his SpaceX rocket blasted off with four astronauts to the International Space Station on the first full-fledged taxi flight for Nasa by a private company. Musk, the entrepreneur behind the company, said he “most likely” had a moderate case of Covid-19 and could not be in Florida to watch the Falcon rocket take off on Sunday night. Its Dragon capsule is due to reach the space station after 27-and-a-half hours and remain there until spring.
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Housing reform – The government is preparing to unveil social housing reforms for England this week which could see million of tenants offered greater protection from wrongdoing by landlords more than three years after the Grenfell Tower disaster. The policies are expected to include a strengthened regulator with a mandate to check council and registered social landlords in England, listen to tenants and maintain the standards of homes. Tenants are also set to be given a more direct way of raising complaints without having to go through local councillors or MPs.
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Weather bomb – Don’t be fooled by the balmy feel across much of the country today: a weather “rollercoaster” is on the way that will bring heavy rain, snow and freezing temperatures to many parts. The mercury will fall markedly by Thursday, the Met Office says, and flood warnings are in place in western Scotland and down England’s west coast from Carlisle to Cornwall. There is also a chance of snow in mountainous areas.
Today in Focus podcast
A slew of initiatives from local councils has meant drivers are being moved off residential streets and on to busier main roads. But while many residents support the schemes, the measures have provoked protests.
Lunchtime read: How Ethan Hawke took flight again
In what may be his “best performance yet”, Ethan Hwake comes to our small screens in The Good Lord Bird, a dramatisation of the American abolitionist John Brown that Hawke has also co-written and co-produced. Hadley Freeman talks to him about race, avoiding drugs, and how his mother pushed him “towards a British understanding of acting as a craft and away from American ideas of celebrity”.
Sport
Dustin Johnson’s career has reached new highs after the 36-year-old became a multiple major champion with a Masters scoring record. The world’s No 1 golfer won at Augusta National by five shots, at 20 under par, and it was every bit as comfortable as the figures suggest. Lewis Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world championships on Sunday by winning the Turkish Grand Prix and said afterwards that he hoped his success as a black man in an almost exclusively white sport would act as inspiration to children everywhere.
Gareth Southgate insisted England could draw encouragement from their display against Belgium and the performance of Jack Grealish, despite their interest in this season’s Nations League ending with a 2-0 defeat in Leuven. Tributes have poured in for the former Liverpool, Tottenham and England goalkeeper Ray Clemence, who has died at the age of 72. Eddie Jones has warned his players of the “massive step up” against Ireland on Saturday, suggesting England are at a disadvantage because of the lack of quality opposition this autumn. Former league and union forward Sam Burgess has been in court in Australia on the first day of his trial for stalking or intimidating.
Business
Matthew Moulding, chief executive of The Hut Group, is in line for one of the biggest payouts in UK corporate history after the share price of the recently listed online retailer rose, hitting targets set when it floated in September. Moulding, who founded the company in 2004, will receive at least £830m in shares, bringing calls for higher taxes on the super-rich. The FTSE100 itself is due to rise by 0.5% this morning while the pound is worth $1.326 and €1.115.
The papers
Boris Johnson’s health is the lead on many front pages. The Guardian’s splash reads “PM forced to isolate again as crucial week begins”, the Telegraph has “Johnson isolating after Covid warning”, and the Sun says “Bojo told to isolate”. The i has a slightly different take – “Johnson’s charm offensive” – as does the FT with “Johnson moves to reassure Tory donors after Downing Street turmoil”.
The pink paper is the only one that doesn’t carry a picture of Des O’Connor, the veteran entertainer who died on Saturday. His passing is the lead in the Mirror – “He will be up there in heaven laughing” – while the Star’s headline “Look out Ern .. he’s going to sing” is one perhaps best understood by the over-60s, referring as it does to a long-running gag by the great 70s comedy duo, Morecambe & Wise.
The Mail carries on its Christmas campaign with the headline “We just want to hug our children”, the Times leads on “Charges for using roads to fill £40bn budget hole”, and the Express screams: “Boris tells EU: Stop the bullying or we quit talks”. In Scotland the Herald’s splash is “Lawyers call for 50% in legal aid fees”, while the Record details what it says was an avoidable Covid death: “Fatal flaw”.
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