Early evening summary
- Boris Johnson has suggested that Britain will spend decades dealing with the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference a year to the day after he announced the first national lockdown, he said he expected the country to be dealing with the fallout from the pandemic for the rest of his life. He is 56. (See 5.56pm.) Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, also said the deprivation triggered by the lockdown could have a “massive impact” on people’s health going into the long term. He said:
Much of what’s happened in lockdown has the risk of making people who are on the borderlines of deprivation in more difficult economic and other circumstances and we all know that has a massive impact on long-term health implications.
- Johnson appeared to rule out using retaliatory action against the EU in the event of it blocking vaccine exports to the UK. Hinting that his recent contacts with EU leaders suggested Brussels might back away from such a proposal, he said:
We’re all fighting the same pandemic across the whole of the European continent and indeed much of the world.
Vaccines are an international operation, they’re produced by collaboration between great national scientists, it’s a fantastic thing to see how they’ve been developed and will continue to work with European partners to deliver the vaccine rollout.
All I can say is we in this country don’t believe in blockades of any kind, of vaccines or vaccine material, [it’s] not something this country would dream of engaging in and I’m encouraged by some of the things I’ve heard from the continent in the same sense.
He also refused to deny reports saying the UK and the EU might share AstraZeneca supplies from a Dutch plant.
- Whitty said the UK death toll in the second wave would have been a lot lower if it had not been for the emergence of the new variant. The discovery of the so-called Kent variant, or B117, was first announced in December, and it is now the dominant variant in Britain because it is more transmissible than the original one it replaced. Whitty said:
The height of the [second] peak would undoubtedly have been a lot lower if that new, much more transmissible and probably more fatal - but that is more questionable, but the transmissibility I don’t think is questionable - had that not arrived, I think the pattern of the second wave in the UK would’ve been very different.
- Johnson said the government would say more about possible foreign travel rules over the summer by 5 April. He said:
A lot of people do want to know about what’s going to happen on the holiday front and I know there’s a great deal of curiosity and interest.
All I can say is it’s just too early to say and my advice is to everybody to wait for the global travel task force to report.
We’ve heard already that there are other European countries where the disease is now rising so things certainly look difficult for the time being but we will be able to say more we hope in a few days’ time, I certainly hope to say more by 5 April.
Previously the government said it would announce the outcome of its review of travel restrictions on 12 April.
- Johnson refused to admit that he should have ordered the original lockdown earlier. He has been criticised for delaying all three lockdowns, particularly the second, which came weeks after the government’s scientific advisers told him he should order an autumn circuit-breaker lockdown. But when asked if the lockdown should have started earlier, he did not claim to have made the right decision either. Instead he just said he acted from the best motives. He said:
These are very hard decisions and there are no good outcomes either way. All these consequences are very tough for people and all I can say is we took all the decisions with the interest of the British people foremost in our hearts and in an effort to protect the public and prevent death and suffering. Though doubtless there will be a moment to properly review, to learn lessons for future pandemics of a kind which I’m sure there will be.
- Johnson refused to say why Britain has had one of the worst records for deaths, saying it was too early to be making international comparisons. But Whitty was more candid. He said he agreed that people should be cautious about making international comparisons now. But he went on:
The general point is we had a bad outcome. Many other countries had a bad outcome.
Johnson’s argument was slightly vindicated by an ONS report published last week which showed that, while last summer England had the worst record for cumulative excess deaths out of 26 European countries, by December it was only the seventh worst for total excess deaths because it had been overtaken by other countries.
That’s all from me for today. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.
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Johnson says UK will be dealing with fallout from Covid for rest of his life
This is what Boris Johnson said to Sky’s Beth Rigby when asked how long Britain would be dealing with the aftermath of the Covid crisis. (See 5.26pm.) He replied:
I certainly think this is something that we will all remember and be dealing with in different ways – certainly in my case – for as long as I live. It’s an extraordinary moment in our history, a deeply difficult and distressing period.
Johnson is 56.
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Q: Is there a plan to share AstraZeneca supplies from the Netherlands with the EU?
Johnson says vaccines are produced by international cooperation. The UK will continue to work with international partners on the rollout. The UK does not believe in blockades. It would never engage in them. He is “encouraged” by some of the things he has heard from Europe on this topic.
Whitty says it is essential that scientists collaborate. This should be seen as an international issue.
Johnson ends by saying we need the whole planet immunised.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Johnson says the government will say more about likely travel rules for summer by 5 April
Q: Why has the UK had one of the highest death rates?
Johnson says the pandemic is, alas, not over. So international comparisons are premature, he says.
Whitty says the UK had a “bad outcome”.
Q: Should people buy a home abroad if they want to be allowed to have a foreign holiday, like your dad?
Johnson says he knows there is a lot of interest in this. Things look difficult, he says. But he hopes to be able to say more on the global travel rules soon, and by 5 April.
(That is earlier than had been expected.)
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Q: Is the goal to eradicate Covid, or to bring it down to the lowest possible level?
Johnson says the latter. He does not think eradication is realistic in a globalised economy.
Whitty says only one disease has been completed eradicated.
Vallance agrees. The chances of eradicating Covid are close to zero.
Whitty says lockdown-induced poverty could have 'massive impact' on people's health
Whitty says Covid will be “with us for the foreseeable future”.
He says the impact on the NHS will have some delayed effect.
Some people will have delayed screening.
They should take it up now, he says.
And he says much of what has happened in lockdown has made people poorer. That could have a “massive impact” on health in the long term, he says.
He says people already at risk from deprivation will suffer. We need to take that very seriously, he says.
Q: What are the main challenges for the future? And how long will we be grappling with them?
Johnson says he expects we will be dealing with these issues “for as long as I live”. (He is 56.)
He says children have lost between three and five months of education. Those who needed it most have lost out the most.
The government is addressing this with its catch-up fund, he says.
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Q: Should you have locked down earlier?
Johnson says these are hard decisions. There are no good outcomes either way. He says he took decisions with the interests of the British people in his heart.
Doubtless there will be a time to learn lessons in the future, he says.
Q: What have you done to address the housing crisis [from ITV, which has been broadcasting an investigation into sub-standard housing]?
Johnson says as London mayor he built a large amount of social housing.
The government has increased the local housing allowance, he says.
He says the current mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, should be doing more.
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Johnson says he wishes 'many things' had been done differently
Q: What do you wish you had done differently?
Johnson says there are probably many things he wishes he had known, and many things he would have done differently.
I think in retrospect, there are probably many things that we wish that we’d known and many things that we wish we’d done differently at the time, because we were fighting a novel disease under very different circumstances than any previous government had ever imagined.
The biggest false assumption made was not understanding the reality of asymptomatic transmission. That meant the government had to work to catch up on lost ground.
Vallance says there are lots of things it would have been nice to know at the start, such as the asymptomatic transmission factor.
It would have made a big difference to have had more testing earlier.
Whitty says they did not have sufficient data in the UK until people started arriving in hospital and dying.
And they did not know how much Covid there was in Europe, in countries like Spain. They were not testing either. He says if that had been known, different measures would have been taken.
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Q: Antibodies only last a few months. Does that mean vulnerable people will need top-up doses before all adults have had a first dose?
Sir Patrick Vallance says natural antibodies last at least six months. Vaccine antibodies are holding up too. And antibodies are not the only benefit from vaccines, he says.
But he says there may be a need to revaccinate over the winter.
Whitty says that would be especially true if there was a new variant.
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Q: How will the government stop the third wave coming to the UK from Europe?
Johnson says we are seeing signs of a third wave on the continent.
We have very tough measures at our borders already, he says.
All measures are being kept under review, he says.
Whitty presents the chart showing deaths.
And he shows this slide, showing excess deaths. The new variant prompted a substantial second spike, he says.
The ONS says, to 12 March, 147,179 people have died from Covid. He says the number for excess deaths is 111,641.
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Prof Chris Whitty is showing the slides. He says the testing data goes back to September. Before that, we did not have the testing capacity we do now, he says.
The decline in cases is flattening off, which was to be expected, he says.
Here is the slide for hospital number.
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Boris Johnson starts by saying that when he asked the country to stay at home a year ago today, it was incredible it was the only way to fight a pandemic.
At the right moment we will build a memorial to those who have died, he says.
He says this has been like “fighting in the dark against a callous and invisible enemy”.
But the vaccine discovery and rollout has been fantastic, he says.
He restates the vaccine rollout programme.
We are “on the path to regaining our freedoms”, he says.
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Boris Johnson's press conference
Boris Johnson is about to hold a press conference at No 10. He will be with Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, its chief scientific adviser.
The Onward polling research mentioned earlier (see 3.55pm) was carried out by Hanbury, a consultancy set up by advisers who had worked for the Conservatives. James Kanagasooriam, a Hanbury partner who has worked for the Tories, has posted an interesting Twitter thread on its findings. It starts here.
Today our friends @UKOnward publish their report State of the Union with polling @hanburystrategy carried out across all 4 nations of the UK, with a sample of 6,500 and a huge range of issues covered, this is one of the most comprehensive surveys on the Union since '14 (1/18)
— James Kanagasooriam (@JamesKanag) March 23, 2021
Kanagasooriam has some bad news for the flag brigade in CCHQ who like waging their “war on woke” (or bad news assuming they want to stop Scotland voting for independence).
It’s clear the centre ground of Scottish politics, (values, institutions or policy), is very different to the wider UK and, in particular, to England. It suggests that to be successful the Unionist side has to meet the Scottish electorate on its own terms...(11/18)
— James Kanagasooriam (@JamesKanag) March 23, 2021
... not by obsessing about the impact of independence on institutions that most Scots don’t think will be affected or by allowing Unionism itself to be identified with Englishness or Conservatism. The "War on Woke" being prosecuted is a clear+present danger to the Union. (12/18)
— James Kanagasooriam (@JamesKanag) March 23, 2021
He has also got bad news for Labour in Wales.
Finally, a few striking findings from our rest of UK sample. There’s been discussion about the increase in support for Welsh independence. It’s striking that Welsh voters (even more so than Scottish voters) think their Gov't has done a good job in managing the pandemic (13/18)
— James Kanagasooriam (@JamesKanag) March 23, 2021
The Welsh FM and his politics is likely to lead to a mass transfer of votes from Labour to Plaid, it's been a long time coming - it's likely to consolidate the centre-right. It's paradoxical but very similar to Labour's position in Scotland in 2007 (14/18) https://t.co/7Yc05G2HQo
— James Kanagasooriam (@JamesKanag) March 23, 2021
Stephen Bush has more on this paradox in a good New Statesman article here.
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The UK has recorded 112 further coronavirus deaths and 5,379 new cases, according to today’s update on the government’s dashboard.
We will get the precise breakdown later but, on the basis of those voting numbers, it looks as though the SNP and the Greens voted for Sturgeon, the Scottish Conservatives and one other MSP voted against her, and the others - mainly Labour and the Lib Dems - abstained.
Sturgeon wins confidence vote in Scottish parliament by 65 votes to 31
The Scottish parliament has rejected the Tory no confidence motion in Nicola Sturgeon by 65 votes to 31, with 27 MSPs abstaining.
The vote in the Scottish parliament is now taking place.
Here is the motion.
That the parliament has no confidence in the first minister, in light of confirmation that the Scottish government ignored legal advice on its prospects of success in Alex Salmond’s judicial review case, and multiple credible witnesses indicating that the first minister misled the parliament.
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Tonight’s Downing Street press conference will be the 34th led by Boris Johnson in the past year, according to the Express’s Martyn Brown.
On the basis of his calculations, out of 122 ministerial appearances at the No 10 briefings in the past year, only 3% of them have involved a woman - and it’s always been Priti Patel, the home secretary.
But a higher proportion of the scientists appearing have been women.
Tonight will be the 34th time Boris Johnson has done a Downing Street Covid Press Conference in the past year. That's 3 behind Matt Hancock (37). Next comes Dominic Raab (12), Sharma (7), Jenrick (6), Shapps (6), Sunak (5), Patel, Williamson, Gove & Dowden (4) and Eustice (3)
— Martyn Brown (@MartynDBrown) March 23, 2021
In the Scottish parliament the debate has now ended, and MSPs are moving on to the vote.
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The Scottish Conservatives do not have enough votes to win this vote, but a major polling study looking at Scottish attitudes to independence commissioned by the centre-right thinktank Onward and published today here suggests that the Salmond affair has already damaged the nationalist cause. It says:
Between the end of February and the first weekend in March, the Yes lead (in response to whether they would vote in favour of Scottish independence) fell by 6 percentage points from 56%/44% to 53%/47%. This was driven in large part by a 9 point drop among women and a 25 point drop among 18-24 year olds. This was the week that Nicola Sturgeon gave evidence to the Scottish parliament inquiry into the Salmond trial.
Summing up the findings of the study, Will Tanner, director of Onward and a co-author of the report, said:
The breakup of the United Kingdom is not a foregone conclusion. Headline support for Scottish independence may be worryingly high, but it is clear that Scots do not want a referendum until coronavirus has been eliminated and the economy recovered. In addition, the Alex Salmond trial appears to be sowing doubt in voters’ minds at exactly the moment the vaccine programme is proving the benefits of partnership within the union.
Patrick Harvie, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said the Holyrood committee investigating Nicola Sturgeon was partisan, and it sent the message to women who complain that their concerns will be turned into “tawdry political theatre”.
Updated
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, said the government had failed the complainers. But he said the Tories were only interested in bringing down Nicola Sturgeon.
He says his party would listen to see if John Swinney, the deputy first minister, addressed their concerns in his summing up before they decided how they would vote.
Updated
Anas Sarwar, the new Scottish Labour leader, said the report today was a litany of failure. There were no winners, he said.
He said he accepted the conclusions of the Hamilton report published yesterday. But he accepted the conclusions of the commitee’s report too, he said.
He said he had tabled an amendment to the Tory motion, but it was not accepted.
He said he did not have confidence in the government. But he did not have confidence in the Tories either, and they were playing games with this motion, and trying to obtain a “cheap, political scalp”. He said Labour would not be voting with them.
Sturgeon says she would have resigned if found to have broken ministerial code - but she was cleared
Nicola Sturgeon is responding now.
She says the Conservatives had decided she was guilty before the reports were even published.
She says the Holyrood committee’s report will be taken seriously by the government.
Serious mistakes were made by the government, she says.
She says she wants to apologise again unreservedly to the women who were let down by the failure of the Scottish government’s investigation.
She says she was confronted with an extremely difficult situation when the Salmond complaints were made. Some people may have acted differently, she says.
But she says she rejects entirely the claim that she misled parliament. She says James Hamilton cleared her.
Before the Hamilton report was published, all parties said they would accept its conclusions, she says.
She says, if she was found to have breached the ministerial code, she would have resigned. But she was cleared, she says.
She says Scotland needs strong leadership. If her opponents want to remove her, they should do so at the ballot box, she says.
Ruth Davidson opens no confidence debate in Sturgeon at Holyrood
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader at Holyrood, is now opening the debate on her party’s no confidence motion in Nicola Sturgeon.
She says nobody has come out well from the Alex Salmond affair.
She says Sturgeon said she would respect the verdicts of the investigations into her.
But now the verdict from the Holyrood committee is in, she says. As MSPs heckle, she says SNP members are disrespecting it, she says.
She says her party respected the findings of James Hamilton’s inquiry. But Hamilton said it was up to the parliament to decide if it had been misled, she says. (See 9.20am.)
She says the committee concluded Sturgeon misled the parliament. (See 8.36am.)
But she says the most difficult part of the report is the section setting out the views of the women who complained.
She says the honourable thing would be for Sturgeon to resign.
A total of 25,823,406 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between 8 December and 22 March, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 346,997 on the previous day.
As PA Media reports, NHS England said 24,137,423 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 282,561 on the previous day, while 1,685,983 were a second dose, an increase of 64,436.
Updated
NHS England has recorded a further 98 coronavirus hospital deaths. The details are here.
A week ago today the equivalent figure was 101 hospital deaths.
Updated
More than 149,000 deaths involving coronavirus have now occurred in the UK, PA Media reports.
A total of 149,117 people have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began, with more than a third of deaths (37%) occurring since the start of 2021.
The highest number of deaths to take place on a single day was 1,465 on 19 January.
During the first wave of the virus, the daily death toll peaked at 1,459 deaths on 8 April.
The European commission has announced it will adopt a “revision” of its vaccine export rules, with details due to be published tomorrow morning. Chief spokesman Eric Mamer told a Brussels briefing: “The commission will adopt tomorrow morning a revision of the export transparency and authorisation mechanism.”
Updated
A government watchdog led by the Bank of England’s chief economist has said Boris Johnson’s plans for “levelling up” Britain are unlikely to succeed because they rely too heavily on infrastructure spending and one-off funding schemes controlled from Westminster, my colleague Richard Partington reports.
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Updated
Nicola Sturgeon has thanked children and young people in particular for their sacrifices over the past year’s coronavirus pandemic.
Giving her final Covid statement to the Scottish parliament before Holyrood goes into recess for the election campaign, she emphasised the need to create a better and fairer country as Scotland emerges from the pandemic – a report from Audit Scotland this morning found the Scottish government had made “limited progress” on the attainment gap, with existing inequalities worsened by the pandemic.
Announcing that the Western Isles will move back to level 3 restriction from Wednesday, in line with other island communities, after their level was increased following local outbreaks earlier in the year, she confirmed that more retail services would reopen on 5 April, and a full reopening of shops on 26 April; hospitality starting to reopen on 26 April as well; travel restrictions in mainland Scotland coming to an end on the same date and hopefully all children back in school after the Easter holidays.
She also said that Covid updates would be less regular during the pre-election period, adding: “The government will still be monitoring the pandemic constantly – I will be doing so on a daily basis – and taking and announcing decisions as needed.”
Updated
Covid cases in English schools double in a week, DfE figures show
The number of pupils in England with suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 has more than doubled in the space of a week since schools fully reopened, according to official figures from the Department for Education published today.
The DfE figures for 18 March also show that the number of pupils in state schools having to self-isolate because of suspected cases in their class or year group has quadrupled over the same period. Around 127,000 pupils were self-isolating on 18 March, compared with 33,000 on 11 March.
Although the overall numbers remain small, the proportion absent last week for Covid-related reasons doubled from 1% to 2% of all pupils. That included the number with confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 jumping from 12,000 to 28,000 in seven days.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
As we have warned previously, this sort of disruption is likely to be a feature of school life for a while to come yet, and we are not out of the woods. Schools are working incredibly hard to manage Covid safety measures and ensure educational continuity for pupils in these difficult circumstances.
The DfE said that with more schools now fully open, schools last week saw “the highest reported attendance during the coronavirus pandemic”. Attendance at secondary schools remained around 89%, similar to the middle of the previous week. Around 4,000 pupils were absent because their entire school was closed for Covid-related reasons, compared with 2,000 the week before.
“While the testing programme continues to gather pace, with millions of tests now being conducted each week, we are only seeing a small increase in the numbers of students testing positive and self-isolating,” a DfE spokesperson said.
The Scottish government has said it will carefully study the recommendations of the Holyrood committee report about its handling of the Alex Salmond harassment complaints and that it apologises for the mistakes it made. In a statement on behalf of the government, John Swinney, the deputy first minister, said:
The Scottish government has acknowledged that it made mistakes and that these led to the judicial review being conceded, and I know that this had a real, and damaging, impact for the women who raised the complaints. We have apologised for this and we do so unreservedly again today.
I remain absolutely determined that the Scottish government should ensure this does not happen again and that together we create a culture where these behaviours do not arise.
Updated
No 10 defends in principle idea of requiring care home workers to be vaccinated
The Downing Street lobby briefing is over. Here are the key points.
- No 10 defending the principle of requiring care home workers in England to have a Covid vaccine. Last night it emerged that compulsory vaccinations for people wanting to work in care homes was being considered by the government. In interviews this morning Matt Hancock, the health secretary, confirmed that the proposal was being considered, but stressed that the “no decisions have been taken”. The PM’s spokesman echoed what Hancock said, but also insisted that there was precedent for a move like this. He said:
This is something that happens already; for example; doctors are required to have the hepatitis B vaccine. So there is a clear precedent for this proposition. Elderly people in care homes are the most vulnerable to this disease. And this is something that care homes have actually called for.
- Downing Street refused to back the Scottish Conservatives’ call for a vote of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon. Asked if Boris Johnson agreed with this, Allegra Stratton, his press secretary, said this was a matter for the Scottish party and for Douglas Ross, its leader. She also refused to say whether Johnson thought ministers should have to resign if they mislead parliament. The Scottish Tories are using this as a central part of their case against Sturgeon and their call for her to resign. (See 9.20am.) But they have been accused of hypocrisy because they have refused to apply the same logic to Priti Patel, the home secretary, who was allowed to stay in post by Johnson even though an independent inquiry found she bullied staff, in contravention of the ministerial code.
- Downing Street played down the prospect of the inquiry into the pandemic starting soon. Asked when it might commence, the PM’s spokesman said the government’s focus was still on tackling the pandemic.
During the briefing it also emerged that No 10 did not reveal details of calls that Boris Johnson had with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, at the weekend at the lobby briefing yesterday because those calls were considered “private”. That argument went down badly with lobby journalists because it is understood that government business was discussed during those calls and it has been normal for No 10 to give journalists a read-out after the PM talks to one of his counterparts. (Admittedly, these read-outs are often fairly bland, but it is important for the sake of accountability that people know the calls have taken place.) The “private” argument might be acceptable if Johnson had just called for a chat about his holiday plans, the weather in London and his latest Netflix recommendations, but no one is claiming that the Merkel/Macron calls were in this category.
Updated
Boris Johnson will hold a press conference at Downing Street at 5pm, No 10 has said. He will be joined by Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.
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Prof Neil Ferguson, the Imperial College epidemiologist whose modelling was instrumental in persuading Boris Johnson to order the original lockdown, has said people should plan summer holidays in the UK, not abroad.
In an an interview being broadcast on Radio 4’s World at One shortly, he said:
I think we should be planning on summer holidays in the UK, not overseas.
I certainly am in favour of relaxing border measures at a slower rate than we relax controls within the country and doing all we can to reduce the risk of importation of variants, which might undermine our vaccination programme.
Ferguson called for the existing border controls to be tightened. He explained:
At the moment there are a lot of exemptions. Nearly everyone travelling to and from France is exempt from quarantine and testing measures. I think we need to reconsider that; not the quarantine bit but for instance introducing testing of everybody coming back including essential workers.
And he also said the inquiry into the pandemic should start “in the next few months”. He said:
Frankly we need an inquiry to properly go through both the advice at the time but also what was going in within government at the time to address the issue about why we didn’t lock down a week or two weeks earlier ...
It should start in the next few months … it is probably better to get initial conclusions from it sooner rather than later. An inquiry which lasts three years – the risk is in three years time people’s concerns will have moved on and it’s less likely to actually effect real change.
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Here are some more pictures of people participating in the minute’s silence at noon to remember those who have died from coronavirus.
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Hundreds of staff at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are to go on strike in a dispute over Covid-related safety, PA Media reports. PA says:
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the site in Swansea will strike from April 6-9.
The union said those involved will include operational staff who have not been working from home.
Further industrial action is planned if managers do not make the safety improvements the union is demanding.
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Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, has said that the last year has brought “many sad stories”, but “inspiring tales” too. Speaking in Cardiff, he said:
So much of our focus today is rightly on the huge loss of life the pandemic has caused.
Our thoughts are with all the families who are mourning the loss of a loved one – just as our thoughts have been with all the people whose lives lie behind the numbers reported every day.
They will be remembered in the hearts and minds of all those who knew and loved them. And today we remember them too.
Over the last year, we have heard too many sad stories. But we have also heard inspiring tales of resilience, bravery and determination from every part of Wales as communities support each other. And our everyday heroes – from bus drivers and shop workers to intensive care nurses and teachers – keep on keeping us safe.
In the darkest of times, we have come together as a country. Today, we mark this anniversary with a sense of hope. Our fantastic vaccine programme is protecting thousands of people every day and we’re relaxing the restrictions we have lived with for so long.
As the first shoots of spring appear, we can all have real hope that this year will be so much better than the last.
Sir Keir Starmer has restated his call for a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic. On a visit to Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London, he said:
We owe both the NHS staff and those on the frontline and all the families of those who have died to learn the lessons of the last 12 months, to have an inquiry and to learn what went wrong to make sure we never repeat that.
I think the government was very slow to react. They were slow in the first wave, slow to go into lockdown, very slow with protective equipment to the front line.
But then we went into the second wave and instead of learning the lessons they repeated the mistakes: too slow, not getting communications right and in the end in the second wave we had more deaths than in the first wave and I think there are some very, very important lessons there.
The government has said there will be an inquiry in due course, but Boris Johnson has said starting it now would be a distraction for those working on the pandemic response.
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People observe minute's silence to remember victims of Covid
People across the UK have taken part in a minute’s silence to remember Covid-19 victims, marking one year since the first lockdown began, PA Media reports.
MPs and peers in both houses of parliament and ministers in the devolved nations marked the solemn anniversary at midday, while NHS and social care workers also joined the pause for reflection.
Cathedrals in Blackburn, Winchester, Gloucester and York Minster also fell silent in honour of those who have died during the pandemic.
The London Eye, Tate Britain, Blackpool Tower, the Scottish Parliament, Belfast City Hall and other buildings will be lit in yellow on Tuesday evening to mark the occasion.
The public is also being urged to stand on their doorsteps at 8pm with a candle or light.
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The Queen has reflected on the “grief and loss felt by so many” as she marked the poignant Covid lockdown anniversary by sending flowers to the hospital where the Duke of Edinburgh had heart surgery, PA Media reports. PA says:
The Queen is understood to have wanted to mark the day during which Covid-19 victims are being remembered across the nation with a minute’s silence at midday. She chose Barts to receive the flowers following the duke’s successful procedure and recent stay.
The message read: “As we look forward to a brighter future together, today we pause to reflect on the grief and loss that continues to be felt by so many people and families, and pay tribute to the immeasurable service of those who have supported us all over the last year.”
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This is from Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and a member of the Holyrood committee on the Scottish government’s handling of harassment, on the report published today.
This report makes for sober reading. Never in my 22 years in parliament have I witnessed a report such as this, which details the catastrophic failings of the Scottish government on a matter of the utmost seriousness and sensitivity. Despite the obstruction of the Scottish government, the committee has managed to get beyond its veil of secrecy.
We must never forget that at the heart of this matter are women who were failed by the Scottish government. Three years on, nobody has yet taken responsibility for this failure.
The thread that runs through the rushed development of the harassment policy and the flawed implementation of the handling of complaints is the permanent secretary. [See 9.53am.] She was involved in every aspect of the procedure and must bear much of the responsibility.
The Scottish government still does not have a robust and functioning harassment complaints procedure and women continue to be let down. There is an urgent need for reform to ensure that the complaints procedure is fit for purpose and lawful.
If you interested in reminder of what it was like a year ago today, when the national lockdown was first announced, it’s all here in the live blog from 23 March 2020.
Some of it is very familiar. The day started with Matt Hancock, the health secretary, doing a morning broadcast interview round and rejecting claims that Boris Johnson had been too slow to introduce restrictions (this was before the lockdown was announced in an evening TV broadcast). But the Times that day was running a leader saying Boris Johnson’s performance so far had been “chequered” and wondering whether he was “up to the job”. That critique has changed little, but the death toll did over the next 12 months; on 23 March 2020 54 UK deaths were recorded - a relatively small number compared with what was to come.
The blog also shows that, a year ago today, No 10 told journalists at the daily lobby briefing that Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, would take over if Johnson fell ill. I can’t remember the question that prompted this response, but I don’t recall anyone seriously expecting that Johnson would soon end up fighting for his life in intensive care.
Johnson tells cabinet year of Covid has shown 'great strengths of British public'
Downing Street has sent out a summary of what Boris Johnson told cabinet this morning about the first anniversary of the original Covid lockdown. A No 10 spokesperson said:
The prime minister began cabinet by reflecting on what he said had been a very dark and difficult year for our country.
The prime minister said that we mourn all those we have lost and send our deepest sympathies to their families, friends and loved ones. The prime minister said the last year had also shown the great strengths of the British public, which had demonstrated such resilience and fortitude and had shown such willingness to work together for a common good.
The prime minister and cabinet paid tribute to the extraordinary service of everyone in the NHS, social care and in the public sector over the past year, along with all those who had kept the country going - from bus drivers to shop workers.
The prime minister said the ability of British scientists to respond to the pandemic had been incredible.
He said that, if asked last March, he would not have believed it would have been possible to have developed a vaccine and delivered it to half of the UK adult population within 12 months.
The prime minister said this was an absolutely astonishing achievement, which is a tribute to British science but also to British business.
Covid travel rules will include 'Stanley Johnson loophole' for second homes
People will be allowed to leave the UK to prepare a second home for sale or rent, according to new coronavirus regulations coming into force later this month, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports. This is being described as the “Stanley Johnson loophole”.
Hancock: no plans to put all European countries on travel 'red list'
There are no plans to put all European countries on the travel “red list” as a third wave of cases grows in countries such as Germany, France and Italy, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said. My colleague Alexandra Topping has the story here.
This is from Adam Tomkins, a Scottish Conservative MSP, on today’s Holyrood committee report.
Staff bullied, dissent silenced, evidence withheld, Parliament misled, women badly let down, serious flaws in process, a culture of secrecy and cover-up from beginning to end. All this we know. Yet not one head has rolled. Not one. What would have to happen for someone to resign?
— Adam Tomkins (@ProfTomkins) March 23, 2021
England and Wales no longer recording excess deaths for first time in more than six months, ONS says
For the first time in more than six months, England and Wales are no longer recording excess deaths, the Office for National Statistics reports.
It says in the week ending Friday 12 March the number of deaths registered in England and Wales was 4.4% below the five-year average for this time of year. This was the first time this had happened since the week ending 4 September.
Of the 10,987 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 12 March, 1,501 (13.7%) involved coronavirus being mentioned on the death certificate. The previous week it was coronavirus was a factor in 18.2% of deaths.
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As the BBC’s Glenn Campbell reports, the Holyrood committee report (pdf) is quite damning about the performance of Leslie Evans, the Scottish government’s permanent secretary.
The Holyrood harassment committee’s report makes very uncomfortable reading for top civil servant, Leslie Evans @PermSecScot
— Glenn Campbell (@GlennBBC) March 23, 2021
See, for instance, their unanimous conclusions on @scotgov defence in legal challenge by Alex Salmond pic.twitter.com/rLxlYwqny0
Ministers will seek to calm tensions over a potential EU ban on vaccine exports to the UK in a diplomacy blitz this week as sources raised the possibility of sharing jab supplies from a Dutch plant, my colleagues Jessica Elgot, Daniel Boffey and Peter Walker report.
Why Holyrood committee thought Hamilton better placed to adjudicate on ministerial code
At paragraph 716 in its report (pdf) the Holyrood committee says:
For all these reasons, the committee believes that James Hamilton’s report is the most appropriate place to address the question of whether or not the first minister has breached the Scottish ministerial code.
This morning SNP figures have been quoting that line repeatedly, on grounds that it means the yesterday’s Hamilton report, which said Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code, over-rides today’s committee report, which says (on a majority verdict) she committed a potential breach of the ministerial code. (See 8.36am.)
Here is a passage from today’s report (pdf) explaining why the committee thought Hamilton was better placed to rule on the ministerial code issue.
We would also observe that Mr Hamilton has more scope than this committee to receive evidence in private. Our evidence sessions in relation to this section have been held in public and the evidence we received has as far as possible been published online. This brings with it particular legal obligations. Mr Hamilton has taken evidence entirely in private and in his published report he can reach conclusions without requiring to place the evidence considered in the public domain. We think this may make it easier for him to obtain the information he needs to reach conclusions on his inquiry.
This is from Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader.
James Hamilton said it was up to the Scottish Parliament to decide if the First Minister told the truth.
— Douglas Ross MP (@Douglas4Moray) March 23, 2021
The verdict of the Parliament committee is in - Nicola Sturgeon misled the public.
This sorry affair has already done enough damage. When will someone take responsibility?
Ross is referring to a sentence in paragraph 7.11 of the report (pdf) from James Hamilton yesterday saying: “It is for the Scottish parliament to decide whether they were in fact misled.” That came in section in which Hamilton concluded that Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to tell MSPs about a meeting where she was told about allegations against Alex Salmond was not a breach of the ministerial code.
The ministerial code (pdf) says: “Ministers who knowingly mislead the parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the first minister.” The word knowingly is crucial; Hamilton concluded that Sturgeon inadvertently misled MPs.
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Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, has said Labour MSPs will read today’s report before deciding how they will vote in the proposed no confidence debate, the BBC’s Andrew Kerr reports.
I should add that earlier, @jackiebmsp told @bbclauramaxwell that she would wait until her party colleagues had seen and digested the report before they would consider next steps - as the Conservatives plan their vote of no confidence in the FM.
— BBC Andrew Kerr (@BBCandrewkerr) March 23, 2021
Speaking to reporters as she left home this morning, Nicola Sturgeon said that she wanted to “leave politics to others today”. She said, on the first anniversary of lockdown, her thoughts were with the almost 10,000 families in Scotland who have lost loved ones to coronavirus, and that she was focusing on getting the country through the pandemic. This is from Sky’s James Matthews.
Nicola Sturgeon this morning @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/CYvNgKOWQ9
— James Matthews (@jamesmatthewsky) March 23, 2021
Murdo Fraser, a Scottish Conservative member of the Holyrood committee, has said the committee struggled to get to the truth, the BBC’s Andrew Kerr reports.
.@murdo_fraser says to @BBCGaryR the committee struggled to get a full picture of what was going on - but they eventually found serious and catastrophic failings in the Scottish Government's role and that no one has resigned.
— BBC Andrew Kerr (@BBCandrewkerr) March 23, 2021
.@murdo_fraser was asked about the leak - he says he didn't leak the info and would welcome any inquiry into the leaker. Says it was unhelpful and a breach of the code of conduct. Adds there has been a complaint about 3 SNP MSPs for their news release on Friday about the cmte
— BBC Andrew Kerr (@BBCandrewkerr) March 23, 2021
.@murdo_fraser says the commmitte found an inability to get to the truth and there was a whole circus around the committee because of the Scottish Government's unwillingness to work with it.
— BBC Andrew Kerr (@BBCandrewkerr) March 23, 2021
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, John Swinney, Scotland’s SNP deputy first minister, said:
I accept the conclusion of the report, that was agreed unanimously, which agreed that the best place to address if the first minister had breached the ministerial code rests with James Hamilton, and he reported yesterday and cleared the first minister of any wrongdoing.
In a statement about the committee’s findings, its convener, the SNP’s Linda Fabiani, apologised for some of the fact that some of the evidence given to the committee in private by women who complained about Alex Salmond was leaked. She said:
Throughout this inquiry there has been speculation and rumour around the work of our committee.
I have always been clear that at the heart of this inquiry are two women who made complaints of sexual harassment.
These women were badly let down by the Scottish government, but they have also been let down by some members of our committee. I am truly dismayed by the hurt some of the committee leaks will have caused them. I apologise to them unreservedly. This is not who we should be as a committee of this parliament.
Our inquiry was a chance to reflect on what went wrong with the Scottish government processes and ensure that the failings these women experienced never happen again.
There are undoubtedly some extremely serious findings in our report and it was clear to the committee that there were serious flaws made in the government’s application of its own process. The government must address these to ensure anyone who experiences sexual harassment has the confidence to come forward.
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Here is our story by my colleagues Severin Carrell and Libby Brooks on the findings in the Holyrood committee report.
Sturgeon's ongoing meetings with Salmond 'inappropriate', says non-SNP Holyrood committee majority
And here is the fourth conclusion on which the committee was split. A majority backed this finding:
The committee notes the first minister’s explanation that it would have been inappropriate for her to have reported the meeting on 2 April 2018 to the permanent secretary given that a) it concerned the revelation of an investigation into complaints under the Scottish government’s procedure, b) the first minister had no role in that procedure and c) the first minister took the view that to have intervened would potentially have prejudiced the investigation. However, the committee is concerned that it took until 6 June 2018 (and several meetings and messages exchanged) for the first minister to inform the permanent secretary of the fact of her meetings with Mr Salmond at the point that legal action was being contemplated. Given the sensitivities of the matter and the fact that it related to internal government complaints handling, the committee believes that it was inappropriate for the first minister to continue to meet and have discussions with the former first minister on this topic. She should have made the permanent secretary aware of her state of knowledge of the complaints and the facts of the meetings at the earliest opportunity after 2 April at which point, she should have confirmed that she would cease to have any further contact with Mr Salmond on that subject.
And the press release notes:
Alasdair Allan MSP, Linda Fabiani MSP, Stuart McMillan MSP and Maureen Watt MSP all disagreed with this paragraph.
Sturgeon's 'inaccurate' account of meeting 'potential breach of code', says says non-SNP Holyrood committee majority
Here is the third conclusion on which the committee was split. A majority backed this finding:
The committee notes that there is a fundamental contradiction in the evidence in relation to whether, at the meeting on 2 April 2018, the first minister did or did not agree to intervene. Taking account of the competing versions of events, the committee believes that she did in fact leave Mr Salmond with the impression that she would, if necessary, intervene. This was corroborated by Duncan Hamilton, who was also at the meeting. Her written evidence is therefore an inaccurate account of what happened, and she has misled the committee on this matter. This is a potential breach of the ministerial code under the terms of section 1.3 (c).
The press notice notes:
Alasdair Allan MSP, Linda Fabiani MSP, Stuart McMillan MSP and Maureen Watt MSP all disagreed with this paragraph.
Updated
Here is the second conclusion on which the committee was split. A majority backed this finding:
The committee notes that there are contradictions as to the purpose of the meeting on 29 March 2018 and what took place at that meeting. However, the first minister’s failure to recollect this meeting in the weeks following her statement to parliament on 8 January 2019 and her account of this meeting is at odds with that of Mr Salmond who asserts that his former chief of staff told him that the first minister was so informed on 29 March. The committee accepts that there may be differing recollections of this meeting and is not in a position to take a view on whether the former first minister’s or the first minister’s version of events is the more persuasive, although it notes that the former first minister’s version has the benefit of being confirmed by others.
The press notice notes:
Alasdair Allan MSP, Linda Fabiani MSP, Stuart McMillan MSP and Maureen Watt MSP all disagreed with this paragraph.
Updated
'Hard to believe' Sturgeon did not know about Salmond concerns, says non-SNP Holyrood committee majority
The news release issued by the committee highlights four conclusions that were backed by a majority of the committee, but not supported by the four SNP members.
The non-SNP committee majority says it is “hard to believe” Nicola Sturgeon had no prior knowledge of concerns about Alex Salmond’s behaviour.
The final section of the committee’s report covers the mnisterial code. The committee agreed that James Hamilton’s report is the most appropriate place to address the question of whether or not the first minister has breached the Scottish ministerial code and made the following observations, agreed to by majority: “The committee finds it hard to believe that the first minister had no knowledge of any concerns about inappropriate behaviour on the part of Mr Salmond prior to November 2017. If she did have such knowledge, then she should have acted upon it. If she did have such knowledge, then she has misled the committee.”
Alasdair Allan MSP, Linda Fabiani MSP, Stuart McMillan MSP and Maureen Watt MSP [the SNP members of the committee] all disagreed with this paragraph on the grounds that it does not distinguish between bullying behaviour and sexual harassment. Some evidence to the inquiry indicated that the former first minister could display bullying behaviour, the first minister explained that he could be very challenging to work for but there has been no suggestion the first minister was aware of sexual harassment.
Updated
This is what the report says in a section entitled “Overall conclusions”. This passage does not mention Nicola Sturgeon, illustrating how the allegations that she broke the ministerial code were not central to what it was investigating.
The Scottish government must have policies and procedures in place to tackle and eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace.
Scottish government employees must have the confidence to be able to report inappropriate behaviour and to know that they will be taken seriously. Complaints must be dealt with fairly, sensitively and robustly regardless of who is being complained about.
It was right that the Scottish government reviewed its procedures; indeed, it would have been extremely remiss if they had not. It is clear there was a determination to change the culture of the organisation and to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
However, two women brought forward complaints and they were badly let down. This was a policy and procedure in which they should have had confidence. Instead, their complaints were thrust into the public domain in a way they could never have imagined, through the leaking of the allegations, a subsequent judicial review and ultimately this inquiry.
These were the first complaints to be taken forward under this new procedure and they were significant in terms of the person being complained about. It was imperative that everything was done to make sure that the procedure was robust and fair and, just as importantly, seen to be robust and fair.
However, fundamental errors were made which called the procedure into question. These errors were compounded by the way in which the judicial review was dealt with by the Scottish government. This resulted in over £500,000 of public money being spent on defending a judicial review that ultimately had to be conceded.
However, this is not just about procedures or public money. It is about ensuring that, in the future, anyone complaining about sexual harassment is not let down in the way these women have been.
We know that Laura Dunlop QC has concluded her review of the procedure and made recommendations. We also know that neither Ms A nor Ms B was asked about their experiences as part of this. Therefore, we think the Scottish government should give them the opportunity to comment on the recommendations of that review.
Having robust policies and procedures in place is only one side of the equation. Equally important is that the culture and leadership of any organisation are such that people feel able to come forward. The Scottish government must be clear about what behaviour is acceptable and not acceptable in the workplace and make sure people feel able to call out inappropriate behaviour and know their complaints will be dealt with seriously and sensitively.
Here are more tweets from journalists about the report.
BREAKING: Holyrood harassment committee report confirms its view that Nicola Sturgeon misled committee & therefore parliament & is potential breach of ministerial code @SkyNews
— James Matthews (@jamesmatthewsky) March 23, 2021
The Holyrood inquiry report is out - it's 192 pages long, so may be less in the way of "hot takes" today, but it flags up "serious flaws" in the Scottish government's handling of harassment complaints...
— Philip Sim (@BBCPhilipSim) March 23, 2021
Details now @BBCBreakfast https://t.co/qxuuRudPZb
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) March 23, 2021
The report is out. This is from the BBC’s Nick Eardley.
NEW: Just published by Holyrood committee on @NicolaSturgeon evidence pic.twitter.com/t693eQL8uJ
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) March 23, 2021
Updated
Good morning. Yesterday Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, was cleared of breaching the ministerial code, on various issues relating to how she responded to the sexual harassment allegations against Alex Salmond, her predecessor, in a report by James Hamilton, the independent adviser on ministerial standards. After being dogged by the scandal for months, the report marked an important moment of vindication and it means there is no chance of her losing a vote of no confidence in the Scottish parliament.
But this morning, at 8am, a second report into the affair will be published. It is from the Scottish parliament’s committee on the Scottish government’s handling of harassment complaints. The committee, like the parliament, does not have an SNP majority (there are nine members: four SNP MSPs, two Tories, one Labour, one Lib Dem, and an independent/former Green who effectively holds the swing vote) and, according to a leak last week, one of its conclusions is that Sturgeon did give a misleading account to MSPs of a meeting with Salmond - although, according to the leak, the committee did not conclude she did this deliberately.
We will find out what the committee has to say shortly, but there are at least five reasons why it already clear that the moment of peril has passed and Sturgeon should be able to see off further criticism quite comfortably.
1) The Hamilton report conclusions weren’t qualified, or ambivalent; on the issues that mattered, Hamilton came down very firmly in favour of Sturgeon.
2) Parliamentary committee conclusions carry maximum clout when they are unanimous; if this morning’s report is split along party lines, then its conclusions may amount to little more than a party political press release.
3) The committee is already facing criticism because some of the evidence it received in private from the women who complained about Salmond was leaked.
4) The Hamilton report led the Scottish Greens to say they would not be supporting a motion of no confidence in Sturgeon, meaning that it now has no chance of being passed.
5) The Scottish Conservatives, the largest opposition party in the parliament, were calling for Sturgeon’s resignation before the Hamilton report was published. This stance may have enthused their anti-Sturgeon supporters, but was less appealing to more neutral voters who felt due process meant they should have waited to see what Hamilton had to say first.
Here is my colleague Severin Carrell’s overnight story.
And her is my colleague Libby Brooks’ summary of what’s in the Hamilton report.
Here is the agenda for the day.
8am: The Scottish parliament’s committee on the Scottish government’s handling of harassment complaints publishes its report.
9.30am: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet.
9.30am: The ONS publishes its weekly death figures for England and Wales.
10am: Nicola Sturgeon speaks at a virtual renewable energy conference.
12pm: A minute’s silence is being observed across the country to mark the one year anniversary of the first lockdown, and in honour of those who have died.
12pm: Downing Street is expected to hold its daily lobby conference.
12pm: Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, gives a speech to mark the first anniversary of the lockdown.
After 2pm: Sturgeon makes a statement to the Scottish parliament on Covid. Later MSPs are expected to debate a no confidence motion in her tabled by the Scottish Conservatives.
3.15pm: Lord Richards and Lord Houghton, who are both former heads of the armed forces, give evidence to the Commons defence committee about global Britain.
5pm: Downing Street is expected to hold a press conference.
Politics Live has been mostly about Covid for the last year and I will be covering UK coronavirus developments today, as well as non-coronavirus Westminster politics. For global coronavirus news, do read our global live blog.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
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