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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Aamna Mohdin, Andrew Sparrow and Frances Perraudin

'I hope, hope, hope' for a vaccine, but it is not guaranteed, says Johnson — as it happened

There is no guarantee of a Covid-19 vaccine, Boris Johnson said at this evening’s press conference, though he said the UK is at the heavily involved in the work to develop one.

I’m hearing some very encouraging things from what’s going on at Oxford to achieve a vaccine [but] this is by no means guaranteed. I believe I’m right in saying that, even after 18 years we still don’t have a vaccine for Sars. What I can tell you is that the UK is at the forefront of concerting international activity to try to deliver a vaccine.

He said the UK government is putting “huge sums” into finding a vaccine, but added:

If you ask me am I absolutely certain that we won’t be living with this for a long time to come, I can’t say that.

It may be that we have to become ever more flexible, ever more agile, ever smarter in the way that we tackle, not just this infection, but potentially future infections as well.

While he agreed the development of a vaccine cannot be guaranteed, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said:

I’d be surprised if we didn’t end up with something.

Two of the UK’s biggest care home operators have reported falling death rates from Covid-19, raising hopes that outbreaks which have devastated some of the most vulnerable and elderly people may finally be abating.

The number of residents who have recovered from the virus has now eclipsed the numbers of deaths from it across 220 care settings operated by MHA, the largest charitable provider of homes, which by Monday had recorded 359 deaths in total. It said fatalities peaked around 22 April and have fallen gradually since. Meanwhile HC-One, the largest commercial operator which has lost 829 residents to confirmed or suspected Covid-19, said deaths had fallen from a peak of 31 a day on 19 April to four on Monday.

A manager at a separate nursing home in Ealing that saw 27 residents killed in an outbreak last month told the Guardian she has recorded no new infections for a fortnight.

And that’s the end of the press conference.

Updated

Guardian political editor Heather Stewart said as low-skilled workers are four times more likely to die from the coronavirus, is the burden of the crisis falling on the most disadvantaged?

Johnson said we’ve got to look very carefully all the impact this virus has had on society. He added that workplaces must be “Covid-secure” and employers will not get away with forcing people to work in places that are not safe.

The government will have random spot checks and Johnson called on employees to report unsafe work environments.

Updated

“We have an ambition to get at least some hospitality going by July 4th,” Johnson said.

He added British people are an “ingenious bunch” and will find ways to keep the economy going if a vaccine isn’t found soon.

Johnson said the Common Travel Area will remain between Northern Ireland and the republic of Ireland.

Johnson said it is right that devolved nations are taking slightly different approaches to the lockdown as the virus is spreading at a different pace across the UK.

“You’ve got to respect local issues, local flare up, local problems,” he added.

When asked when will the public be allowed to see their family members, Johnson said: “There are new flexibility to ensure that people can see somebody who isn’t in their household, but you have to do it one by one, outdoors and obeying social distancing.”

Updated

“What we said to over-70s – who in my experience are often in rude, robust health – was they should take care. We didn’t say they should be shielded,” Johnson said.

People with serious underlying health condition must be still protected, he added.

Updated

Whitty said he is confident there will be a solution to the coronavirus, “but it will take time.”

Boris Johnson: 'I hope, hope, hope' we will have a vaccine

Patrick Vallance, the government chief scientific adviser, said “there’s been great progress made” on vaccines across the world.

He said he would be surprised if there wasn’t either a vaccine or therapeutic drug.

Updated

When asked whether he approved of the change of guidance, professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer, said Professor Chris Whitty, said: “We’ve been involved in all stages of the process.

“Neither Sir Patrick and I would consider ourselves to be comms experts so we’re not going to get involved in actual details of actual comms strategies.”

Whitty could be responding to the Guardian’s story that they were both not asked to approve the controversial new “stay alert” message

Updated

I don’t think any of us expect that suddenly tomorrow there will be a flood of people back to work, Johnson said. “We’re taking baby steps.”

In response to a question on childcare arrangements for people who have been asked to return to work, but are not key workers and can therefore not send their children to schools, Johnson said it was an obvious barrier to work and employers should be understanding.

The Guardian’s political correspondent Kate Proctor tweeted what stay alert means.

First question asks if people can see friends and families in the park if they maintain social distancing.

Johnson said people can go to the park to exercise alone or with members of their own household, but if someone want to meet a person outside of your household, it must be them and another person - as a pair.

“If everyone stays alert and follows the rules, we can control the coronavirus by keeping the R down,” Johnson said.

The R, or the “effective reproduction number”, is a way of rating a disease’s ability to spread.

Johnson: “Yes, staying alert, for the vast majority of people still means staying at home as much as possible.”

Johnson reiterates: “Those who cannot work from home should now speak to their employer about going back to work.”

Throughout the period of the lockdown, the UK has been in level four of the government’s Covid alert levels, Johnson said.

The UK is now in the position to take careful steps to go to level three.

Johnson starts the press conference with the latest update on coronavirus cases and deaths. There have been been another 210 coronavirus deaths in the UK, taking the total to 32,065.

Boris Johnson press conference

Boris Johnson’s evening presser is about to start. The prime minister will be taking four questions from journalists and eight from members of public.

Updated

Branches of Burger King and Starbucks will reopen this week, as the UK’s cafes and restaurants begin to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown, Hilary Osborne and Rebecca Smithers report.

The Guardian’s political correspondent Kate Proctor explains what the new lockdown rules are

Updated

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the prison estate continues to rise, the daily update from the Ministry of Justice shows.

As at 5pm on Sunday, 397 prisoners had tested positive for the coronavirus across 74 prisons, a 2% rise since Wednesday, when the data last published, while the number of infected prison staff rose to 479 workers across 69 prisons, an increase of 7% in the same period.

The number of prisoners who have contracted Covid-19 and died stands at 21, while eight staff have died, including one prisoner escort and custody services worker.

There are around 81,000 prisoners across 117 prisons in England and Wales, and around 33,000 staff working in public sector prisons.

'A roadmap needs clear directions' - Starmer says PM's coronavirus plan too vague

The BBC has broadcast a short speech by Sir Keir Starmer responding to the prime minister’s address last night. It will be on BBC One later, but it has already been on Radio 4. Here are the main points.

  • Starmer accused Johnson of failing to provide enough clarity about the way forward. “If we’re to complete the journey safely a roadmap needs clear directions,” he said. Here is the passage in full.

What we needed from the prime minister last night was clarity and reassurance.

We needed to hear that nobody would be asked to go to work or send their children to school without it being safe to do so.

We needed to know that the huge problems we’ve seen with protective equipment are over.

That the crisis in our care homes has finally been gripped.

That everybody who needs a test can finally get one.

Above all, we needed know when we could see our loved ones again.

The prime minister said he was setting out a road map, but if we’re to complete the journey safely a roadmap needs clear directions.

  • He highlighted a series of questions that he said the government had failed to answer. He said:

How can we be sure our workplaces are now safe to return to?

How can we get to work safely if we need public transport to do so?

How can millions of people go back to work while balancing childcare and caring responsibilities

How do our police enforce these rules?

And why are some parts of the United Kingdom now on a different path to others?

  • He said that he was committed to “working constructively with the government in the national interest”.
  • He said that there should be no return to “business as usual” after the crisis was over. He said:

After all this, all the sacrifice and the loss, we can’t go back to business as usual.

We can’t go back to a society where we clap our carers once a week but where half of our care workers are paid less than the real living wage.

We can’t go back to a society where we pay tribute to the heroes of the Second World War, but see our care homes as an afterthought.

And we can’t go back to a country where we don’t invest in our public services, but expect our frontline workers to protect us.

I’m finishing now. For the rest of the evening, including for the Boris Johnson press conference at 7pm (where most of the questions will come from members of the public, not from journalists), Aamna Mohdin is in charge.

Updated

Nicola Sturgeon said “risks are too great” to ease the lockdown in Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said the “risks are too great” to ease the lockdown and that too many people are still dying in her address to the nation.

Sturgeon said the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has fallen by almost two thirds in the last four weeks, while the number of deaths registered in a single week fell last week for the first time since the epidemic started

The first minister welcomed this progress, but described it as fragile. She said:

If we ease up too soon, the virus could run out of control again.

That would mean more people dying and all of us staying in lockdown much longer.

There will of course be risks whenever we start to ease the lockdown.

But my judgement right now is that the risk is still too great.

Sturgeon said too many people are still dying in Scotland and the situation in care homes remains a serious concern.

The R number, the rate at which the virus reproduces, is still close to one, she added. If it exceeds one, the virus could rapidly take off again.

The Scottish government announced one change to the rules yesterday; allowing people to exercise outdoors more than once a day. But the rest of the lockdown remains in place, despite some easing announced in England.

Sturgeon said:

As First Minister, I know the impact this has on all of you. And as a citizen, I miss my family too.

But I won’t risk unnecessary deaths by acting rashly or prematurely.

So I am asking you please, for the moment, to continue to do what you have been doing so responsibly.

I also want to say a special thank you to children. Not being at school, or seeing your friends, or hugging your grandparents is really tough.

For all of us, I know it’s getting harder but let’s keep supporting each other even as we stay apart.

Sturgeon emphasised the important of people in Scotland remaining at home, describing the measure as key to protecting loved ones. She said:

Let’s remember what matters most - health, family, community.

Staying at home now is an expression of love, kindness and solidarity. We are doing it for each other, not just ourselves. It is how we protect each other, protect our NHS, and save lives.

And it will also bring forward that moment when we can begin a return to normality.

So once again, my thanks to each and every one of you.

Updated

At the Downing Street lobby briefing this afternoon the prime minister’s spokesman confirmed that, when Boris Johnson spoke about testing a town’s water supply for Covid earlier (see 4.28pm), he was talking about sewage. “Waste water” was a polite term for it, the spokesman said.

It sounds as if Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, was not convinced by Boris Johnson’s denial of the Guardian report saying that Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, its chief scientific adviser, did not sign off the new “Stay alert” slogan.

Davey has posted his question on Twitter.

In response, Johnson just said:

Mr Speaker, that’s not right.

Boris Johnson's Commons statement - Summary

Boris Johnson’s statement to the Commons contained a few new insights, although nothing that substantially transforms the picture given by the government’s coronavirus recovery plan published earlier. He faced some robust criticism from the opposition, but what was missing was any evidence of a backlash from Conservatives. Some Tory backbenchers are reportedly concerned that the lockdown is being allowed to continue for too long. But we did not hear that this afternoon. Partly that might be a function of the new format (there is no “mood of the house” on Zoom, as James Forsyth pointed out recently), but maybe they’re just reserving judgment.

Here are the main points.

  • Johnson rejected claims that people did not understand his new “Stay alert” slogan. Yesterday Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister, said she did not know what this meant. But when the SNP’s Chris Law asked Johnson to explain this, he insisted it was clear. He said:

It will be perfectly obvious to the house what we’re trying to do, and what we’re saying by “Stay alert”. What we’re now saying is we’re emphasising, or re-emphasising, the importance of those who cannot work from home going to work, provided their workplaces are Covid secure, provided that they observe the rules of social distancing on public transport, or however they go to work. That is what staying alert means.

Staying alert is going to be absolutely vital to our continued success in beating this virus. I think the British public understands exactly what we are trying to do.

In response to another claim that his new guidance was not clear, Johnson said he trusted the British public to apply “good, solid British common sense”. (See 3.59pm.)

  • Johnson said the Health and Safety Executive would be enforcing the new “Covid secure” guidance for employers, using spot checks. He said:

The Health and Safety Executive [HSE] will be enforcing it and we will be having spot inspections to make sure that businesses are keeping their employees safe, and of course it’ll be open to employees who do not feel safe to raise that, not just with their employers but with the HSE as well.

  • He hinted that the government would use sewage testing to monitor for new coronavirus outbreaks. This is what he seemed to be referring to when he told the Conservative Robert Courts that there would be monitoring for local flare-ups. Johnson said:

The intention is the Covid alert system in time will be sufficiently sensitive and flexible as to detect local flare-ups, so that for instance if Covid is detected in the water supply of a certain town, then steps can be taken, or in a school, in an area, then steps can be taken on the spot to deal with that flare-up. Measures can be taken to keep the R down locally as well as nationally.

  • He said the 18,000 new contract tracers being recruited by the government would be in place by 18 May.
  • He said people should not use the new guidance on outdoor exercise as an excuse to visit second homes. He said:

We don’t want to see people, let me repeat, we don’t want to see people travelling to another home for a holiday or to a second home, that is not what this is about.

  • He said parents without childcare should not be expected to go to work. He said:

I want to stress if you can’t get the childcare you need to get to work then that is plainly an impediment on your ability to work and your employer should recognise that.

  • He said there would be “very substantial reductions in capacity” on public transport as a result of social distancing.
  • He rejected a claim that Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, its chief scientific adviser, failed to sign off the new “Stay alert” slogan.
  • He rejected claims he had been reduced to acting as the prime minister of England, not of the UK. (See 4.07pm.)
Boris Johnson in the Commons.
Boris Johnson in the Commons. Photograph: Uk Parliamentary Recording Unit/EPA

Sir Richard Branson has agreed to sell shares worth around $500m (£405m) in his Virgin Galactic space business to raise funds for his struggling airline and leisure businesses, PA reports.

The businessman, who has previously suggested he would be willing to remortgage his private Caribbean island to raise funds, said the cash would be reinvested into firms including Virgin Atlantic.

Announcing the plans via the New York Stock Exchange, Virgin Group said it would sell 25m shares via Credit Suisse, with the process expected to cost the business $167,000.

The shares, sold via Branson’s British Virgin Islands-based shell company Vieco 10, account for around a fifth of the billionaire’s stake in the space tourism business.

Updated

The easing of some lockdown rules is a particularly tricky matter for the golfers of Llanymynech, on the border of England and Wales.

Boris Johnson’s exit plan means golfers in England have begun to dig out their gear in readiness for tee-off time on Wednesday, but clubs in Wales are expected to remain closed.

The problem for Llanymynech, a hilly course located between Welshpool and Shrewsbury, is that some of it lies in England and some in Wales.

Fifteen holes are wholly in Wales and two in England. On the fourth hole, the golfer hits his or her first shot in Wales and putts out on a green in England.

The course has been closed since the start of lockdown but members are beginning to wonder if there is any way they can argue that it ought to reopen.

The club secretary, Sian Whiteoak, said: “We’re trying to work it out. We have some holes in England and some holes in Wales, so we don’t know what we can do.”

The photographer Jill Mead has been documenting the quirky, unusual and downright strange occurrences in her local neighbourhoods and other parts of the capital.

Kevin KcKeons “We’re all in this together” tribute to keyworkers sculpture in South London. Kevin has made some incredible signs during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kevin KcKeons’ ‘We’re all in this together’ tribute to key workers sculpture in south London. He has made some incredible signs during the coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian
Sandra Esquilant, landlady of the Golden Heart pub in Shoreditch, London. Sandra was touching up the pub with Farrow and Ball ‘Downpipe’ for the VE celebrations. She had also put up some bunting outside. “I’m so bored of this coronavirus lockdown. I just wanted to make an effort”.
Sandra Esquilant, landlady of the Golden Heart pub in Shoreditch, London. Sandra was touching up the pub with Farrow and Ball ‘Downpipe’ for the VE celebrations. She had also put up some bunting outside. ‘I’m so bored of this coronavirus lockdown. I just wanted to make an effort.’ Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian
Electric Avenue in Brixton was packed with people shopping.
Electric Avenue in Brixton was packed with people shopping. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

Updated

Dan Sabbagh and Severin Carrell report on how the coronavirus biosecurity centre will monitor local outbreaks.

Schools and businesses in a local area could be forced to close if the new coronavirus biosecurity centre identifies a new disease outbreak, according to the government’s action plan for overcoming the pandemic.

The Whitehall centre is to have an “independent analytical function” to assess the rate of infection community by community – and recommend urgent lockdown measures if deemed necessary.

“It will identify specific actions to address local spikes in infections” according to the 60 page document and advise ministers “to close schools or workplaces where infection rates have spiked” to tackle unexpected outbreaks.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre will also have responsibility for measuring a five-tier coronavirus alert system announced by Boris Johnson last night for England, and will be based in the Cabinet Office, responsible for cross-government coordination.

But there was little other fresh detail about the centre in the plan, such as who would staff or run it. Its initial announcement on Sunday had already been criticised by the Scottish government for not briefing it in advance.

Updated

Far from the moment of clarity and reassurance many were hoping for, Boris Johnson’s Sunday evening address to the nation seemed to raise more questions than it answered. What day were people supposed to return to work? How many individuals were allowed to meet outdoors?

Metro’s front page on Monday invoked the prime minister’s passion for classics with the headline “It’s all Greek to us Boris”, and the Mirror described lockdown Britain as “chaos”. From a public communications perspective, it was not – it is fair to say – a success.

Chris Whitehouse, the managing director of the Whitehouse Consultancy communications agency, said:

I am normally a Boris fan and I backed him for the Conservative leadership, but I thought his address yesterday was a dog’s dinner in terms of communication.

It sowed doubt, confusion and uncertainty.

Ahead of the prime minister’s speech on Sunday evening – an embargoed copy of which was shared with the media – government sources briefed political journalists with details of some additional measures that were included in the 50-page guidance to be published 24 hours later.

Whitehouse added:

I would have published the document first, embargoed to the media so they had time to read it and see precisely what it said, and then I would have kept the messaging very simple and very clear.

Equality campaigners, including the former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, have warned that the change in lockdown measures will hit black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people harder because they are less likely to be able to work from home and more likely to to be forced to use public transport to travel to their place of work.

Abbott said: “Low-paid workers across the board are going to be hit by this recklessly premature move to exit the lockdown. This will also disproportionately affect black and Asian workers. No one should be forced to risk death at work. Workers need to know they will be supported if they refuse to do so.”

BAME people have already been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Figures published last week showed that black people in the UK are more than four times more likely to die from coronavirus than white people. After taking into account age, measures of self-reported health and disability and other socio-demographic characteristics, black people were still almost twice as likely as white people to die a Covid-19-related death. Bangladeshi and Pakistani men and women were more than 1.5 times likely to die than their white counterparts, when other factors were accounted for.

Recent research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that a third of all working-age black Africans are employed in key worker roles – 50% more than the white British population.

Sabby Dhalu, the Stand up to Racism co-convenor, said: “With the previous lockdown Britain already had one of the worst capita death rates in the world. The government’s easing of the lockdown is creeping herd immunity and will inevitably lead to more deaths and infections, with BAME communities disproportionately hit once again.”

Updated

The UK government has given permission for the Premier League and other professional sports to return behind closed doors from 1 June, providing its five tests on controlling the coronavirus are met, Paul MacInnes reports.

Around 3% of ambulance service staff with no Covid-19 symptoms have tested positive for the virus during a pilot scheme, PA reports.

Figures released by West Midlands ambulance service (WMAS) said 16 of 543 asymptomatic members of its frontline staff had tested positive during a two-day trial.

A spokesman said:

West Midlands ambulance service can confirm that it has been taking part in a national project to understand better whether Covid-19 is prevalent among NHS staff and patients who do not have symptoms.

Testing of ambulance service staff is the third phase of the project.

In total, 543 frontline ambulance staff who did not have symptoms of coronavirus were tested over two days. Just over 97% came back negative.

While the number of positive results is very small –16 in total – it does show the importance of us all continuing to practise social distancing.

WMAS has been at the forefront of testing staff displaying symptoms of Covid-19, with almost 1,500 employees and immediate family members tested.

Updated

Moves to reopen garden centres this week in England have been welcomed by the horticulture industry, PA reports.

Garden centres in England are being allowed to open their doors follows months of closure. Many businesses have faced ruin as the market for seasonal plants shut down at a time when people normally flock to outlets to restock their gardens.

Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) chairman James Barnes described the reopening of garden centres in England as “a positive economic move” and called for Scotland to follow suit.

Barnes said:

This is not only a positive economic move but gardening benefits the mental health and wellbeing of so many people isolating at home and the importance of having something to do at home keeps you at home.

The Church of England said it was examining what steps were needed for churches to safely reopen following the publication of government’s coronavirus recovery strategy, which said places of worship could be closed until July 4 at the earliest.

In a statement, the Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally said:

We look forward to the time when we are able to gather again in our church buildings.

We are examining what steps we will need to take to do so safely and are actively planning ahead in preparation.

We strongly support the Government’s approach of continuing to suppress the transmission of the virus and accordingly, we recognise that at this time public worship cannot return in the interests of public health and safety.

The government’s plan to ease certain aspects of lockdown in England is “too fast, too confusing and too risky,” according to British Medical Association (BMA).

The trade union has warned the government’s measures risks a second spike of this virus.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said:

There is no detail of how those being asked to return to work will be protected from the infection or prevented from infecting others and there are mixed messages about returning workers not using public transport when many will not own cars. These pose serious risks of further spread of the infection.

There is no clarity on how social distancing will be monitored and enforced when lifting restrictions to visiting parks and public places and opening travel to any part of the land.

Meanwhile the level of testing to monitor spread remains far below the capacity needed and there is still no agreement even about the best app for testing and tracing.

Peter Aldous, a Conservative, says constituents worry that reopening primary schools could be a significant threat, both in the classroom and at the school gate. Will the PM address these concerns?

Johnson says 1 June is a possible date for schools, on the advice of the scientists. But that is only provisional, he says. And he says special guidance for schools will be published.

And that’s it. The statement is over.

Updated

Johnson rejects claims people don't understand new 'Stay alert' slogan

Johnson says he thinks the public understand exactly what “Stay alert” means.

Updated

Maria Eagle, the Labour MP, says the government originally said it would give the councils to cover all the money they spent on coronavirus. But now it is only saying it will pay them for tasks the government wants them to carry out. Will councils get everything they need?

Johnson says he will consider this point, and take it up with the communities secretary.

Sir Edward Leigh, a Conservative, says the country faces the biggest recession for centuries. Will the PM put in place effective accounting to ensure public money is not being wasted?

Johnson says he will. But he says the biggest risk at the moment would be the virus returning.

Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem MP, says the government has produced figures on items of PPE supplied, but not items of PPE needed. Will the government release these figures?

Johnson says he will consider this point. There have been no national stock-outs, he says.

Johnson says the more relaxed rules on exercise do not mean that people should be travelling to second homes, or to the countryside for holidays.

Labour’s Kate Green asks Johnson to confirm that there is no intention to change the rules on benefit conditionality. She says no one should be penalised for not taking up a dangerous job.

Johnson agrees. He says no one should be penalised for doing the right thing.

Updated

Johnson suggests sewage testing could be used to monitor coronavirus

Johnson says, if Covid is detected in the water supply of a town (presumably he means in the sewage), new restrictions could be imposed locally.

UPDATE: He did mean sewage. See 6pm.

Updated

The SNP’s Chris Law asks if the PM will support above-inflation pay settlements for civil servants because of what they have done.

Johnson says he will not comment on pay, but he says he wants to thank the civil service for their work “from the bottom of my heart”.

Labour’s Karen Buck asks if Johnson thinks everyone travelling on public transport in the capital should wear a face covering.

Johnson says the government is not making it compulsory. But the government does view this as “advisory”.

Andy Carter, a Conservative, asks what will be done to help parents with childcare.

Johnson says the government wants to bring some primary school pupils back in June. And it wants all primary school pupils to have at least a month in school before the end of July, he says.

This what the coronavirus recovery plan says about schools.

The government expects children to be able to return to early years settings, and for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to be back in school in smaller sizes, from this point. This aims to ensure that the youngest children, and those preparing for the transition to secondary school, have maximum time with their teachers. Secondary schools and further education colleges should also prepare to begin some face to face contact with Year 10 and 12 pupils who have key exams next year, in support of their continued remote, home learning. The government’s ambition is for all primary school children to return to school before the summer for a month if feasible, though this will be kept under review. The Department of Education will engage closely with schools and early years providers to develop further detail and guidance on how schools should facilitate this.

The SNP’s Drew Hendry asks Johnson to confirm that the value of the furlough scheme will be reduced by a quarter.

Johnson says Hendry should not believe everything in the press. The chancellor will make a statement on this tomorrow, he says.

Alexander Stafford, a Conservative, asks if this plan is flexible enough to adjust to different circumstances.

Johnson says the government will of course be flexible. If there are local flare-ups, “we will not hesitate to put on the brakes”.

Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, says the PM’s announcement will make inequalities worse, because workers will not be safe in the workforce.

Johnson does not accept that. He says now is the time to take some small steps forward.

Johnson says there is a “huge opportunity” for the UK to have a cleaner, greener transport system after the crisis is over.

Health and Safety Executive will use spot checks to enforce coronavirus safety rules, says Johnson

Johnson says the government is committed to keeping employees safe. He says the Health and Safety Executive will be enforcing the new guidelines. And there will be spot inspections, he says.

Henry Smith, the Conservative MP for Crawley, asks what will be done to protect aviation. He says his constituents will lose out because of the impact on Gatwick.

Johnson says he wants to keep Britain flying, but first the government has to tackle coronavirus.

Johnson says the new, increased fines for people breaking lockdown rules will be £100, or £50 if paid early (instead of £60/£30). And they will rise to a potental maximum of £3,600 for repeat offences, he says.

(In reference to these measures Johnson is speaking as prime minister of England.)

Johnson denies he is acting as prime minister of England, not UK

Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader at Westminster, says there is now a three nations approach; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all agree. Can the PM confirm he is acting as prime minister of England?

Johnson rejects that. He says he is offering good advice for the whole of the UK. But he says he accepts why in different places different policy may be needed.

Johnson denies claim Whitty and Vallance refused to sign off new 'Stay alert' slogan

Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, asks Johnson to confirm that neither the chief medical adviser nor the chief scientific adviser signed off the new “Stay alert” slogan.

“That’s not right,” says Johnson.

Updated

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says the PM has generated confusion. He says: “Mixed messaging risks lives.”

First, he asks the PM to confirm that in the devolved nations the “Stay at home” advice still applies.

He says the PM said last night he had consulted with the devolved administrations. But will he confirm he did not consult on the slogan.

Can he promise not to deploy the slogan in Scotland?

When will quarantine be enforced? And is it true that Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, told the airline industry that if this was too complicated, it would not be enforced.

And will the PM confirm people in Scotland should follow Nicola Sturgeon’s advice?

Johnson says the answer to question one is yes, and the answer to question four is no.

On other points, he says the four nations have more in common than Blackford implies.

Updated

Johnson says people will apply 'good, solid British common sense' when applying new rules

Johnson says different approaches from the devolved nations are to be welcomed when needed because R, the reproduction number is different in different places.

Referring to Wales having different rules on exercise, he says there will be many examples of anomalies like this.

But he says everyone understands what the government is trying to do.

He says he thinks people will apply “good, solid British common sense”.

Updated

Johnson says guidelines on places of employment will be published tonight. And the transport ones will be out tomorrow, he says.

Johnson says parents without childcare should not be expected to go to work

Johnson is responding to Starmer.

He says until now people have been following the “Stay at home” advice.

People may have followed it more thoroughly than in other countries, he says.

But now we have to take “small, limited steps” to come out of the lockdown.

He says, when you are coming out of a message that is so “gloriously simple”, there will inevitably be complexities.

On childcare, Johnson says the government expects employers to be reasonable. If people do not have childcare, they cannot be expected to go to work.

  • Johnson says parents without childcare should not be expected to go to work.

Updated

Starmer is still speaking.

He asks what rules will apply to public transport.

And what about childcare? Will childcare workers go back on Wednesday?

Starmer turns to the quarantine plan. Johnson says this would apply to people arriving by air. But the document says it will cover all arrivals?

And is it England, or for the whole of the UK?

He says there is no consensus on messaging between the UK government and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

He asks Johnson to confirm that people won’t be able to travel to Scotland for exercise. Won’t this make enforcement hard?

Starmer says PM's speech has caused 'considerable confusion'

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, is responding to Johnson.

He starts by saying he accepts how difficult these decisions are.

The country needs clarity and reassurance. At the moment both are in short supply, he says.

He says the PM’s statement caused “considerable confusion”.

He says No 10 put out a press release on Sunday implying construction and manufacturing would go back on Monday.

But the document says a wider set of employees (see 3.38pm) should go back on Wednesday.

But safety guidelines are not ready.

Will they be ready tomorrow? Have they been agreed? And will they only apply in England?

Updated

Johnson sums up by using the “Stay alert” slogan.

Johnson says in July, if the data supports this, the government will move to stage three.

It will then open some hospitality and leisure businesses.

But that will only be if they can maintain social distancing, he sayss.

And he says the government will not hesitate to put on the brakes if necessary.

Johnson says from Wednesday there will be no limits on the outdoor exercise people can take.

He is referring to England only, but does not make this clear.

He says people can do this with members of their own households, or with one other person.

And people can drive as far as they want to exercise this right, provided that they observe the rules of the devolved administrations.

(In other words, they should not drive to Scotland or Wales, he means.)

And he says people who are clinically vulnerable should continue to observe the current rules.

This is what the document says about this group.

It remains the case that some people are more clinically vulnerable to Covid-19 than others. These include those aged over 70, those with specific chronic pre-existing conditions and pregnant women. These clinically vulnerable people should continue to take particular care to minimise contact with others outside their households, but do not need to be shielded.

Those in the clinically extremely vulnerable group are strongly advised to stay at home at all times and avoid any face-to-face contact; this is called ‘shielding’. It means not leaving the house or attending gatherings at all, with very limited exceptions.

Johnson says the government is now advising people to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces where social distancing is not possible.

But he says this does not mean people should wear medical face masks.

Updated

Johnson says Dido Harding, a peer and chair of NHS Improvement, will take charge of a programme that will oversee mass testing.

He says the government wants workers who cannot work from home to return to work.

This is what the document says about this.

All workers who cannot work from home should travel to work if their workplace is open. Sectors of the economy that are allowed to be open should be open, for example this includes food production, construction, manufacturing, logistics, distribution and scientific research in laboratories. The only exceptions to this are those workplaces such as hospitality and non-essential retail which during this first step the government is requiring to remain closed.

Updated

The challenge now is to find a way forward, Johnson says.

He says the government has a “supremely difficult balance to strike”.

He says there may need to be divergence in different parts of the UK.

But any such divergence should be short term, he says.

Johnson says the British people have faced a grave threat.

They have changed their way of live.

Tragically many families have lost loved ones.

Yet the NHS has not been overwhelmed. Many more lives would have been lost if it had been, he says.

He says the reproduction number has been cut to between 0.5 and 0.9.

Updated

Boris Johnson's Commons statement

Boris Johnson is starting his Commons statement about the coronavirus recovery plan now.

No 10 plans 'rapid re-engineering of government’s structures' in response to coronavirus crisis

“Never let a good crisis go to waste” is sound political advice, normally attributed to the former Barack Obama aide Rahm Emanuel, and it seems from the government’s coronavirus recovery plan, that Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, is taking it to heart.

Cummings has for years been a fierce critic of the way Whitehall is structured and the civil service operates. He used to say Brexit would be “an exercise far beyond Whitehall as it currently works”. His critics think he was right about that one. Now the government is proposing “a rapid re-engineering of government’s structures and institutions” to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

Here is the relevant extract from the government’s coronavirus recovery plan (pdf).

Covid-19 has been perhaps the biggest test of governments worldwide since the 1940s. As the government navigates towards recovery, it must ensure it learns the right lessons from this crisis and acts now to ensure that governmental structures are fit to cope with a future epidemic, including the prospect of an outbreak of a second epidemic - for example, a pandemic flu - while the government is still responding to Covid-19.

This will require a rapid re-engineering of government’s structures and institutions to deal with this historic emergency and also build new long-term foundations for the UK, and to help the rest of the world.

Updated

The government have published further guidance on what the public can and cannot do as the lockdown is eased. Check out the update to the frequently asked questions on how they will apply in England.

Updated

The IWGB union, which represents some of workers hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic such as security guards and cab drivers, is taking legal action against the government for its failure to provide income protection and sick pay.

The union’s general secretary, Jason Moyer-Lee, said:

The fact that security guards and private hire drivers have one of the highest death rates from Covid-19 is unfortunately not very surprising.

The workers on the front lines, who cannot work from home, and often work for some of the worst employers in the UK are at extreme risk. Their health and safety needs to be treated with far more care. That is why the IWGB is taking legal action against the government over its failure to provide proper income protection and sick pay to millions of precarious workers.

Updated

Sky’s Sam Coates has a useful summary of more lines from the government’s coronavirus recovery plan.

Our colleague Dan Sabbagh is interested in a passage at the end of the coronavirus recovery plan.

Updated

Dominic Ponsford, the editor of the Press Gazette, says No 10 has backed down on its plan for Boris Johnson not to take any questions from the press later today (see 9.48am).

We have not been told yet when this will be, although there are suggestions that it might be later than the usual 5pm.

Updated

A female worker at a meat processing plant in Northern Ireland has died of coronavirus, prompting union demands for the factory to be temporarily shut down.

It is understood she died five days ago and was originally from East Timor.

After learning about her death, the Unite union called for Moy Park’s site in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, to be shut down while its workforce and their families are tested for the virus.

Unite also said the Health and Safety Executive of Northern Ireland must be instructed to carry out “unannounced physical inspections” of all meat processing sites across the region.

Sam McKeever, Unite’s regional officer, said the union had been raising concerns for some time over alleged failures to ensure proper physical distancing on meat production lines at Moy Park plants in Dungannon and Portadown.

Updated

The coronavirus recovery plan says the UK should become self-sufficient in PPE, the Spectator’s James Forsyth reports.

Obviously this is a reference to manufacturing capacity, not just people at home sewing their own along the lines set out at 2.42pm.

Updated

Government gives advice on how to make your own face covering

As Heather Stewart reports, the government is also offering advice on how to make your own face covering. She has posted a link on Twitter to the relevant page on the government’s website.

The government is talking about face coverings, not face masks, because it does not want people buying up surgical face masks needed by the NHS.

Updated

Public advised to wear face masks under UK lockdown easing plan

Here is our first story on the government’s coronavirus recovery plan. It’s by Heather Stewart.

This is how it starts.

The public will be advised to wear face coverings in crowded places and wash their clothes regularly, as the government imposes “smarter controls” to limit the spread the coronavirus until a successful treatment or vaccine is found.

After Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Sunday, which a backlash from unions and opposition politicians about the lack of a clear message, the government has published a 60-page document called Our Plan to Rebuild.

More outdoor activities are being allowed from this week but the public will be expected to take extra caution, including by wearing face coverings in some situations.

One union leader has said Boris Johnson is treating workers like expendable guinea pigs by failing to set rules over workplace safety and social distancing. The PCS’s general secretary, Mark Serwortka, said:

Boris Johnson has issued confusing advice, and that confusion will cost lives. But he has clarified one thing – that the government views those he is telling to go back to work as expendable.

Employers are not fully prepared for masses of people to return to workplaces safely.

Guidance is only just being issued today and unless trade union health and safety reps are a key component of this, workers will have no confidence in the safety and social distancing measures being put in place.

Ministers are treating workers like guinea pigs and gambling with peoples’ lives.

Updated

UK coronavirus death toll rises by 210 to 32,065

The Department for Health and Social Care says there have been been another 210 coronavirus deaths in the UK, taking the total to 32,065.

This figures just covers people who have tested positive for coronavirus and died. There will be many people who have died from coronavirus without testing positive.

Government publishes coronavirus recovery plan

The government has just published what it calls its coronavirus recovery plan. It’s here (pdf). It runs to 60 pages.

We will be posting highlights here on the live blog shortly.

Updated

BBC gives Starmer opportunity to deliver his own message to nation tonight in response to PM's

The BBC is going to broadcast a message to the nation from Sir Keir Starmer tonight, giving the Labour leader a right to reply to what Boris Johnson announced last night.

The imminent return of jury trials has been widely accepted as necessary. (See 11.39am.) David Lammy, Labour’s shadow justice secretary, welcomed the move and called for remote justice hearings to be made accessible to the public. He said:

Safety is rightly the priority during this pandemic, but the justice system must still be able to do its job.

There is still more the government can do.

Many public buildings, including university lecture halls, school buildings and leisure centres are currently sitting empty. Labour is calling on the Ministry of Justice to co-opt these buildings to carry out further socially distanced jury trials according to public health advice.

Amanda Pinto QC, chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, said:

It is very encouraging to see that jury trials will start up again from mid-May. Jury trials are essential to our criminal justice system and to the rule of law.

It is reassuring that efforts to restart jury trials have involved a painstaking and cautious approach, that prioritises practical measures to ensure the safety of all those involved in the delivery of criminal justice.

Judging by the comments, a lot of readers enjoyed Piers Morgan’s clash with the Tory MP Andrew Bridgen on Good Morning Britain this morning. Bridgen was defending the PM and his record on coronavirus. You can watch it in full here.

Andrew Bridgen on Good Morning Britain.

The stark contrast between death rates for care home workers and their NHS counterparts, revealed today by the Office for National Statistics, has triggered an angry reaction from the care sector.

The ONS found that 45 men and 86 women working in social care died from Covid-19 in England and Wales, based on death registrations up to 20 April. (See 12.16pm.) This was around twice the mortality rate from the virus experienced among NHS workers whose likelihood of being killed by the virus was in line with the general population.

Care England, which represents many of the largest care home providers, said it was wrong to blame its members for a failure to supply enough personal protective equipment because their ability to buy kit was hampered at the start of the pandemic by central government moving to commandeer supplies for the NHS.

“The government completely stopped our supply chain,” said Martin Green, the chief executive of Care England.

Everything was being sent to the NHS. Our normal supply chains were being disrupted by the government. They focused every single bit of energy on the NHS. Why weren’t care staff given the same protection as NHS staff?

By 24 April there were 5,890 deaths from Covid-19 in care homes in England and Wales, according to ONS figures based on what is written on death certificates. On Sunday, HC-One, the largest provider of private care homes, said it alone had lost 829 residents to confirmed or suspected cases of the disease. Boris Johnson conceded in his Sunday evening TV address that there had been “awful epidemics in care homes”.

Care home staff have also been struggling to get tested and tests for residents with suspected cases have been limited, operators say, with tests not carried out after an outbreak has been confirmed in a home.

Updated

Starmer says cancelling rent for coronavirus unemployed would mean state having to compensate landlords

As our colleague Rowena Mason reported yesterday, Momentum, the Labour group set up to promote Jeremy Corbyn and his brand of politics, has criticised Sir Keir Starmer for not advocating rent cancellation for people who cannot afford to pay their landlords because they have lost work because of coronavirus.

Our colleague Owen Jones, a prominent Labour leftwinger, also tweeted on this last week.

This might seem like an arcane policy dispute in a party that is out of power, but it is interesting because it is the first serious indication of Starmer falling out with the Labour Corbynite left. A lot will depend on whether this becomes the norm, and, if so, who prevails.

During his LBC phone-in this morning Starmer was asked about this by a Labour party member who is also renting who asked why he should support Starmer when Starmer was prioritising his landlord’s income over his own. Starmer said he was glad the issue had been raised, because we wanted to clear this up. He made two arguments.

  • Starmer said that, if the government cancelled rents, landlords would be entitled to compensation. That would not be a good use of public money, he argued. He said:

If all rents are suspended full stop, then the government will have to pay to compensate landlords. There’s no question about that. And therefore public money will be paid to landlords for the fact that they haven’t got rent, even where people don’t lose their jobs.

  • He said that, if renters did lose their job, he favoured helping them through the benefits system. He said:

If somebody does lose their job, then the benefits system should be paying the rent at a better rate.

Almost 400,000 people have signed a petition demanding that parents should be given the choice about whether or not to send their children back into schools once they start reopening to more pupils next month.

The petition was launched following Boris Johnson’s announcement on Sunday that the government plans to press ahead with opening primary schools in England from as early as June 1, starting with reception and years 1 and 6, followed by the rest of the primary year groups.

Currently schools are only open to a tiny minority of pupils, who are either children of key workers or pupils classed as vulnerable, and many parents and head teachers are concerned about the safety implications of opening up to more pupils - particularly younger pupils who struggle to observe social distancing rules.

The Change.org petition, which was started by London parent Lucy Browne, states:

I’m calling on the UK government to give parents and guardians the option of not sending their children back to school if they reopen in June - as Boris Johnson has suggested this could happen in England.

As a mum I don’t want to face serious repercussions for making a choice I feel affects the safety of my daughter during a global pandemic. The UK now has the highest death toll in Europe and second highest in the world.

Many of us have lost confidence in the government’s handling of this crisis and feel it is too early to return children to schools. It seems it could pose risks not only to children but also teachers and those they live with - grandparents, parents and those underlying health conditions.

The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, has expressed concern that Boris Johnson’s announcement on changes to lockdown could lead to more coronavirus cases in Wales.

Drakeford said he was worried that the prime minister was not as clear as he ought to have been on what the changes meant across the UK.

He warned people not to travel from England to Wales to exercise and said there had been an increase in traffic in Wales over the weekend.

Speaking at the daily press conference in Cardiff, Drakeford said he still believed that all parts of the UK were moving in the same direction, making small adjustments to the lockdown.

But he said:

There are some differences in the messaging between England and Wales which I am concerned may cause confusion.

Drakeford said the four Welsh police forces had reported a “distinct increase” in activity over the bank holiday weekend and suggested this was after many UK national newspapers reported that a major easing of the lockdown was on the horizon. There was also an increase in traffic and alcohol-related violence associated with VE Day celebrations.

While Johnson has said people will be able to travel to exercise, the message in Wales is that people should exercise locally.

Drakeford said:

We have concerns that traffic flow into Wales could continue to increase as a result of the prime minister’s announcement that travel to exercise will be allowed in England.

I want to be clear in Wales it is Welsh law that applies. Travelling to Wales to exercise is not to exercise locally.

He said signs would inform motorists of this on major routes in Wales but he said there were no plans to actually shut the border.

Drakeford said he had sympathy with people who would not grasp the differences between what was allowed in England and Wales. “I do have sympathy with people who haven’t heard that message with sufficient clarity because of the way it was announced yesterday,” he said.

He added:

I wish the UK government were sometimes clearer about when they are speaking for England and when they are speaking for the UK. I didn’t think that was as clear as it could have been all the time yesterday.

He once again called for more regular meetings between the four UK nations.

Asked if he was worried that the tone of Johnson’s announcement could have an impact on the number of Covid-19 cases in Wales, he said: “I have to be concerned about that.” He added that he didn’t want to see the “headroom” Wales currently has in dealing with the crisis eroded “because people are exercising freedoms they have elsewhere but not in Wales.”

Asked whether the furlough scheme would remain longer in Scotland, Sturgeon said she wants the financial government to stay as long as needed.

“If we have different parts of the UK on slightly different timelines, then the schemes have to recognise that,” she added.

An estimate published last week suggests 26,000 people in Scotland have been infected with the virus, Sturgeon said.

Sturgeon said there is not any plan or any need for increased policing at the Scottish border.

It’s not for me to judge whether these actions are premature for England, Sturgeon said, but insisted actions to ease the lockdown are premature for Scotland.

“I can’t judge the right speed for England, but it is my responsibility to judge the right speed for Scotland.”

Updated

Sturgeon said she still wants as much alignment as possible with all four UK nations, but it has to be guided by science and advice as it applies in Scotland.

When the Guardian’s Scotland editor, Severin Carrell, asked whether Scotland would also be adopting England’s five colour alert system, Sturgeon said she didn’t have a definitive answer yet.

“Ideally, it would be good if the whole of the UK had the same system of phasing, maybe not the same dates and timescales,” Sturgeon said. “We would certainly be very open to looking at what the UK government publishes today.”

Updated

Sturgeon said she doesn’t want to play “Russian roulette” with people’s lives in response to Scotland’s different response to the easing of the lockdown.

Sturgeon said the differences in easing the lockdown are not down for political reasons, but factor in the different spread of the virus across the UK.

Updated

“I think the prime minister has to make it clearer when he is talking only for England,” Sturgeon said.

“What I don’t think is right for any government to do is to say we’re encouraging people to go back to work who haven’t worked so far before the guidance on what a safe working environment is has been published. That’s the bit that should come first,” Sturgeon said.

When asked about a Scottish resident who works on a construction site in England and been told to return to work, Sturgeon said the position in Scotland has not changed.

“We are saying to businesses that have not been operational so far, we are not encouraging you to get back to work right now,” she added.

Scotland’s R number is between 0.7 to 1, Sturgeon said. She believes that R number has come down from above 3.

People coming from England to Scotland for non-essential reasons could be breaking the law

Nicola Sturgeon said if you’re coming from England to Scotland for reasons not deemed essential purposes you may be breaking the law.

“If you are in Scotland, the law of Scotland applies and the law states right now you can only be outside of your house right now for essential reason.”

Updated

When asked if Scotland is remaining in lockdown because it is slightly behind on the infection curve, Sturgeon said:

Based on our assessment of the R number, we think we are slightly higher than the rest of the UK.

During the press briefing, Sturgeon specified that in Scotland, people should not be sunbathing or having a picnic during lockdown

Updated

Throughout the briefing, Sturgeon warned against lifting the lockdown too soon as it would it only result in the country in being in some form of a lockdown for much longer and lead to the loss of many more lives.

Updated

Sturgeon called on Scottish people not to be distracted by other messages from other nations within the UK.

Sturgeon reiterates that the lockdown measures will remain the same in Scotland. “To combat this virus we still need to stay apart from each other, we still need to stay at home.”

Nicola Sturgeon says Boris Johnson lockdown changes not safe for Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon said the key message remains the same in Scotland: “Stay at home.” Businesses and schools are not being encouraged to open.

Speaking of Boris Johnson’s road map to reopen the country, Sturgeon said:

I want to reiterate that those announcements do not apply yet here in Scotland. That is not let me stress for any political reasons. It is because the Scottish government is not yet confident that these changes can be made safely in Scotland yet without running the risk of the virus potentially running out of control again.

Updated

The second coronavirus bill set to go through Scottish parliament will provide more financial support for carers, Sturgeon said.

Five people die from coronavirus in Scotland

In the past 24 hours, five more people have died after contracting the coronavirus in Scotland bringing the total number to 1,862, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said in her daily press briefing.

She added 13,627 people had now tested positive for the virus in Scotland, a rise of 141 from 13,486 the day before.

There are 1,453 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, down 31 from 1,484 the previous day. Of these patients, 80 are in intensive care, a fall of two.

Updated

One of Britain’s biggest undertakers has seen the proportion of clients choosing lower-cost funerals during the coronavirus pandemic triple.

Dignity, which operates more than 800 funeral locations across the UK, said that in April the proportion of clients choosing a “ simple” funeral jumped to 60% of all services conducted, up from 20% between January and March.

The company charges up to £3,578 for a full service funeral and about £2,047 for a basic package.

It said the restrictions on funeral services meant that the average cost of its full service reduced by about £400 in April to £3,150, as it withdrew add-ons such as limousines. The company performed 20,000 funerals in the first quarter this year.

Overall, Dignity said the average income per funeral fell from £2,648 in the first quarter to £2,200 in April.

Updated

Social care workers twice as likely to die from coronavirus as average workers, ONS says

The ONS report out today (see 9.54am and 11.24am) also looks at the coronavirus death rate amongst healthcare workers and social care workers.

Although coronavirus deaths amongst NHS workers have (rightly) received a lot of media attention, the ONS says that the death rate amongst this group is about the same as it is amongst the working-age population as a whole. It says:

Among healthcare workers, rates of death involving Covid-19 were not found to be statistically different to rates of death involving Covid-19 in the general working population, with 10.2 deaths per 100,000 males (43 deaths) and 4.8 deaths per 100,000 females (63 deaths).

But social care workers are roughly twice as likely to die from coronavirus as other workers, the figures show.

Here are the figures for men working in social care and healthcare. The thick black line shows the average for working-age men.

Death rates from coronavirus for male social care workers and male healthcare workers
Death rates from coronavirus for male social care workers and male healthcare workers Photograph: ONS

And here are the figures for women working in social care and healthcare.

Death rates from coronavirus for female social care workers and female healthcare workers.
Death rates from coronavirus for female social care workers and female healthcare workers. Photograph: ONS

Lockdown fines will remain unchanged in Scotland after the nation’s government found no evidence to suggest an increase was required, PA Media reports.

People found breaking lockdown rules in Scotland will be first fined £30 by police, which rises to £60 if not paid within 28 days. Cumulative fines for repeat offenders are capped at £960.

A Scottish government spokeswoman said:

We do not have evidence which suggests that increasing the fixed penalty notice (FPN) amount is required in Scotland. The total levels of FPNs being passed down in Scotland are proportionately lower than in England.

The approach being taken by Police Scotland is that enforcement is the last option and the vast majority of the public have been cooperating with lockdown regulations throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Only on a minority of occasions has it been necessary to issue a fixed penalty notice.

Regulations and guidance continue to be kept under review.

Updated

The boss of British Airways owner said he heard “nothing positive” from the prime minister’s proposal to quarantine people flying into the UK.

In last night’s address to the nation, Boris Johnson said it would “soon be the time” to bring in a quarantine period for air passengers to limit Covid-19 infections from abroad.

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA’s parent company, International Airlines Group, said there was “nothing positive” in the address, PA Media reports.

Giving evidence to the Commons transport select committee about the demand for air travel, Walsh said:

The announcements yesterday of a 14-day period (for people) coming into the UK, it’s definitely going to make it worse.

There’s nothing positive in anything that I heard the prime minister say yesterday.

We had been planning to resume - on a pretty significant basis - our flying in July.

I think we’d have to review that based on what the prime minister said yesterday.

Johnson and the French president, Emmanuel Macron ,have agreed that quarantine measures would not apply between France and the UK “at this stage”, according to a joint statement issued after the address.

Walsh admitted he was surprised by the proposal, which did not mention arrivals by sea, and did not make clear whether it would include passengers on internal UK flights or on flights from the Republic of Ireland.

Walsh said:

Despite the fact that there had been some rumours about this quarantine period, I don’t think anybody believed that the UK government would actually implement it if they were serious about getting the economy moving again.”

Updated

Brexit trade and future relationship talks resume today with the agenda, below, showing fisheries, level playing field and governance issues centre ground. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negogiator, will give an update on progress on Friday.

The GMB union has described the ONS figures showing raised rates of deaths involving Covid-19 among men in certain occupations (see 11.24am) as “horrifying”.

John Phillips, acting GMB general secretary, said:

These figures are horrifying, and they were drawn up before the chaos of last night’s announcement.

If you are low paid and working through the Covid-19 crisis you are more likely to die - that’s how stark these figures are.

Ministers must pause any return to work until proper guidelines, advice and enforcement are in place to keep people safe.

Updated

Jury trials to partially resume in England and Wales from next week

Jury trials, suspended in March due to the coronavirus crisis, will resume under new safety conditions in a limited number of crown courts in England and Wales from next week, the lord chief justice has announced.

Lord Burnett of Maldon said the first courts in which juries can be sworn in from 18 May will include the central criminal court at the Old Bailey in London and Cardiff crown court.

Special arrangements to maintain the safety of all participants and the jury have been agreed with the Ministry of Justice in line with Public Health England and Public Health Wales guidelines.

Part-heard trials, suspended due to the pandemic, will begin cases before then “where this can be done safely”, according to the announcement.

The lord chief justice said: “It is important that the administration of justice continues to function whenever it is possible in an environment which is consistent with the safety of all those involved.”

Small numbers of trials are expected to take place initially. Other courts around the country are being assessed for use.

Trials will involve juries being spread out to allow social distancing and the use of a second courtroom linked by closed circuit TV, “to enable reporters and others to watch the proceedings”. The number of jurors has not been reduced and will remain at twelve.

Welcoming the move, the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, said:

I am pleased that the courts are now in a position, with approval from Public Health England and Public Health Wales, to take some first steps towards the resumption of jury trials.

A limited number of trials will take place, conducted safely and observing social distancing rules, at courts including the Old Bailey in London and at Cardiff crown court. These will also help us to understand how it might be possible to conduct trials more widely as the situation with coronavirus develops.

Any person who plays a part in a criminal trial – including victims, witnesses, jurors, and legal professionals – is making a huge contribution to society that is rightly recognised as an essential reason to leave their home. They have our gratitude and they deserve our protection – and measures are being put in place to support everyone who comes to court, in whatever capacity, to do so without putting themselves at unnecessary risk.

Updated

Police across the UK have had a nightmare bank holiday weekend trying to police the lockdown, particularly in tourism hotspots — and are now frantically trying to work out what the relaxation of restrictions means for enforcement.

In Cumbria, more than 100 fines were dished out from Friday to Sunday, assistant chief constable Andrew Slattery told the Guardian. “That’s more than we have issued in the entire rest of the lockdown period,” he said.

“That comes down to a number of factors. One, I’m sad to say, is the newspaper headlines on Thursday last week, which very much gave the impression that lockdown was over and set the tone for the weekend. Then we had the hot weather and VE day on Friday, a lot of street parties and people drinking in the street. Our number of incidents doubled on Friday. Then into the weekend we had a large number of people who decided lockdown no longer applied and that they were free to drive the length and breadth of the country and had spurious reasons for doing so.”

He said his force was trying to work out what Boris Johnson’s “soundbite” meant for policing, when the prime minister told the nation on Sunday: “You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household.”

Slattery said it would be hard to enforce social distancing in the most popular destinations in the Lake District: “If people come en masse to the Lake District next weekend it will make social distancing very difficult if they congregate in the same car parks, go on the same busy footpaths in the honeypot areas,” he said.

Latest figures show that Barrow in Furness in west Cumbria has by far the highest infection rate in England with 804 cases per 100,000 people. Lancaster, on the other side of Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, is second with 513 and South Lakeland third with 482.

Updated

Almost 30 million people watched Boris Johnson’s TV address last night, according to Darren McCaffrey from Euronews.

Updated

Men in low-skilled jobs almost four times as likely to die from coronavirus as professionals

Turning back to the ONS report showing that lowest paid workers are most at risk of dying from coronavirus (see 9.54am), here are two charts from document showing the death rates from men and women by profession.

Amongst men, who are more at risk of dying from coronavirus than women anyway, low-skilled workers in “elementary occupations”, like construction, cleaning and security, are almost four times as likely to die from coronavirus as professionals.

Death rates for men from coronavirus by profession
Death rates for men from coronavirus by profession Photograph: ONS

Amongst women, those in the caring professions are more at risk, but the differences between employee groups is less stark. Carers face nearly twice the risk of dying from coronavirus as the “safest” workforce group, female managers.

Death rates for women from coronavirus by profession
Death rates for women from coronavirus by profession Photograph: ONS

Updated

Jury trials in England and Wales are to resume from next week, the lord chief justice, Lord Burnett, has announced, according to PA.

Updated

Buses and trains in London remain relatively empty despite PM's new guidance

Fears of repeat scenes of overcrowded tube carriages and platforms failed to materialise in London today despite Boris Johnson’s messages that those who cannot work from home such as construction workers and manufacturers should be “actively encouraged” to return to work.

A snapshot of tube stations across London between 7.30am and 9.30am revealed passenger levels were either slightly up on last week or the same.

Christian Vergara, driver of the 388 bus from Stratford City to London Bridge, said:

This morning on the first journey at 5.50am I had maybe 10 people, last week the bus might have been empty or had two or three people. I think it’s too early for people to go back to work.

Key worker Mohammed Thaniyan, who works in food supplies, was waiting for a central line with about 50 others at Stratford, one of the busiest commuter hubs in the capital. He said he noticed it was “busier than last week” but that every week was a little busier on the bus and tube.

Another man, who asked not to be named, was returning to work for the first time. Why? “I need the money. I was furloughed,” he said. He works in a company providing documentation for the NHS and said he had not been told to go back to work.

Updated

Pedestrians crossing the road on Southwark Bridge during what would normally be rush hour this morning.
Pedestrians crossing the road on Southwark Bridge during what would normally be rush hour this morning. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Raab says people in England will be allowed to meet up with another person outside if they socially distance

In his speech last night Boris Johnson said the lockdown rules for England were being changed so that people could play sports, “but only with members of your own household”.

But at the same time No 10 briefed journalists separately that people would be allowed to meet one other person from outside their household outdoors, provided they kept two metres apart.

As already mentioned, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, confirmed this when he gave interviews this morning. He told BBC Breakfast:

If you’re out in the park and you’re two metres apart, we’re saying now, and use some common sense and you socially distance, you can meet up with other people.

The key thing is people want to get outdoors, particularly with this weather, particularly I think for mental health and, frankly, the frustration people feel if they’re cooped up for too long for protracted periods.

We want to make sure that that people can enjoy the outdoors more ... but people must stay alert, because the more we do some of the things that we want to do, the more we need to just be careful about this social distancing.

Asked if people could meet both their parents outside like this, at one point he agreed with a suggestion that you could meet one parent in the morning, and another in the afternoon. But in another interview he said you could meet both at the same time, provided you kept two metres apart. (See 8.59am.)

UPDATE: As BuzzFeed’s Alex Wickham and the BBC’s Nick Eardley report, Raab’s team subsequently retracted what he said about people being allowed to meet two other people outside at the same time. It is just one person (including just one parent) you’re allowed to meet.

Dominic Raab arriving at Downing Street this morning.
Dominic Raab arriving at Downing Street this morning. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

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Northern Ireland likely to publish its roadmap for ending lockdown tomorrow, says Foster

Ministers in Northern Ireland aim to publish their plan for exiting lockdown tomorrow, Arlene Foster, the first minister, said this morning. And she said restrictions on outdoor activities would be eased before indoor ones.

She told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme the position around when to reopen schools has not yet been decided but suggested it could be in late August or early September. She said:

We looked at our medical evidence here in Northern Ireland and decided that, for the public health of the people of Northern Ireland, that we proceeded to reimplement those [coronavirus] regulations whilst at the same time looking at a roadmap for our destination to the new normal.

I don’t think there is any surprise at all that we are trying to make sure that that plan comes out, hopefully tomorrow if we get signed off.

Starmer says PM's back-to-work strategy 'unravelling' because of lack of clarity

In a phone-in on LBC this morning Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said that the new strategy announced by Boris Johnson last night seemed to be “unravelling” this morning. Starmer explained:

I accept that for some things, like when can a school open, that’s going to be conditional, but on this business of going back to work, the suggestion was last night that people go back to work today if they can’t work at home, but don’t use public transport - and that’s really difficult, particularly if you’re in a city like London - and without guidelines in place as to how work places need to operate.

You know, simple things like how do you keep people two metres apart? What about sanitation, protective equipment?

These are things that were discussed in a consultation document last weekend but not resolved yet.

I was actually quite surprised the prime minister said, effectively in 12 hours’ time, start going back to work without those bits in place.

We needed that clarity and it is unravelling a bit this morning because I think the foreign secretary has now said, ‘Well, go back to work doesn’t really mean until Wednesday’, so suddenly it has shifted.

Keir Starmer taking part in an online phone-in last week.
Keir Starmer taking part in an online phone-in last week. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Some lowest paid workers most at risk of dying from coronavirus, ONS says

Some of the lowest paid workers have the highest Covid-19 death rate according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Security guards, care workers, taxi drivers, bus drivers, chefs and retail workers are all at a greater risk of dying from Covid-19, according to new analysis.

Among people of working age men are at a greater risk of dying from the virus than women, with 9.9 deaths compared to 4.2 fatalities per 100,000 people. However the figures show men working in the lowest skilled jobs face the greatest risk of dying from the virus.

Men working as security guards had one of the highest rates, with 45.7 deaths per 100,000, followed by taxi drivers and chauffeurs (36.4), bus and coach drivers (26.4), chefs (35.9), and sales and retail assistants (19.8).

Care workers and home carers had higher death rates, with 23.4 deaths per 100,000 men and 9.6 deaths per 100,000 women. However healthcare workers, including doctors and nurses, were not found to have a higher death rate when compared to the general population.

The figures come as the government has directed workers in some sectors to return to work if possible.

Updated

The government will not be holding a press conference this afternoon, journalists are being briefed. Instead Boris Johnson will just take questions from members of the public. The daily press conference now seems to have become a daily Q&A.

We don’t have a timing for this yet. It might be at 5pm, when the press conferences usually take place, or possibly later, because Johnson is making a statement in the Commons at 3.30pm on his coronavirus strategy. This will coincide with the publication of the government document setting out details of the plan Johnson announced in outline last night.

Of course there is nothing wrong with politicians doing Q&As with members of the public. Sometimes they pose harder or more interesting questions than journalists. But normally they don’t, and if you believe that it’s beneficial having a media that holds politicians to account, you might be concerned about Johnson avoiding the press on the day of such a major government announcement.

Jack Blanchard from Politico Europe has a good summary of Johnson’s aversion to scrutiny in his London Playbook briefing. Blanchard writes:

A note on scrutiny: Astonishingly this afternoon’s session will mark the first time Johnson has even made a statement in the Commons on coronavirus, and only the second time he has turned up to make a statement on anything at all since this year. We’re also still waiting for his first appearance before the Commons liaison committee, eight and a half months into his premiership. More pressingly the PM has refused to give a press conference or a media interview for the past 11 days, and has managed just one presser since March 25, having been off sick for much of April. Aides say he will only take pre-recorded questions from the public tonight.

Boris Johnson has been taking what has become his daily morning walk around St James’s Park. But he’s replaced the Costa cup he was carrying last week with a china mug.

Boris Johnson taking a morning walk in St James’s Park, London.
Boris Johnson taking a morning walk in St James’s Park, London. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

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

The Times’ Matt Chorley has some snap YouGov polling on the PM’s announcement last night, and his new “Stay alert” messaging.

Updated

Burnham says PM has given 'no clarity' on how firms should keep people safe

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, seems exasperated with the vague instructions from the government.

He has repeatedly asked to be included in the government’s emergency Cobra planning meetings, given that the infection rate in the north-west is currently higher than London and everywhere else in England apart from the north-east.

Appearing on Sky News, Burnham said the changes announced by Boris Johnson on Sunday night were “quite substantial” and posed challenges particularly for the police.

How do the police enforce this, given that it is a significant loosening? I honestly don’t know how they will do that.

He said the chief constable of Greater Manchester police, Ian Hopkins, had already rung him up asking how his officers should enforce the new rules.

It’s going to be difficult, in his words. Because we are saying to people, ‘you can go to a park and stay two metres apart’ and apparently they can be anybody, but you can only play golf with someone from your household. It feels contradictory. I think the police are going to have difficulties enforcing it, and the worry about that of course is that you lose the discipline.

Burnham also said there was “no clarity” on how businesses were supposed to open up again and keep their staff safe. “People are being encouraged to go back to work this morning without the clarity about what safe working means,” he said.

The north-west of England currently has the second highest rate of infection in England, with 22,342 confirmed cases (306.4 per 100,000 people — compared with 290 per 100,000 in London). The north-east has the worst infection rate in England, with 336.7 cases per 100,000 people.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Updated

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Raab appeared to say that people could meet up with their two parents in a park, as long as you stay 2 metres away from them. This not only contradicts what the prime minister said last night (that just two people from different households could meet up outside), but it also contradicts what he told BBC breakfast earlier.

Updated

Not clear 'on what basis' the rules are being relaxed, says BMA

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), has been speaking to BBC Breakfast. He said he did not know “on what basis” the government had decided to relax the lockdown rules, as there is still “a considerable amount” of the virus in the community .

“At the moment we have more people dying on Saturday than we had at the beginning of the lockdown,” he said. “We’ve also seen about 4,000 new cases every day over the weekend, and that’s just a fraction of the real number of new cases because of the limited testing so there’s a considerable amount of community circulation of the virus going on.”

If we now allow the public to go to local parks in an unlimited sense, and to go outdoors ... what we’ve not heard is how the government will enforce social distancing and how it will avoid a whole neighbourhood playing in a park, with footballs moving from one group to another, and spreading the disease. So, I’m really concerned that there is no clarity.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA Photograph: Handout

Updated

'Words matter. Clarity is essential,' says Miliband

Labour’s shadow business secretary, Ed Miliband, has tweeted about the confusion over when people are being encouraged to return to work. Responding to Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, saying that the government was a return to work for people who could not work from home from Wednesday (see 8.17am), not from today as the PM implied, Miliband said the government should have been clearer.

Updated

The general secretary of a leading teachers’ union has said the profession has “very serious concerns” about children returning to school on 1 June.

Patrick Roach, of NASUWT, told BBC Breakfast:

The fact of the matter is the government has announced a date but hasn’t come forward with a plan about how schools will ensure that they’re safe for pupils and safe for staff to be in from 1 June.

And the prime minister said that it would be madness to risk a second spike in relation to transmission of the virus. Well the profession has got very serious concerns about that announcement of June 1, whether indeed it is possible to achieve it, but also how to achieve that in a way which is safe for pupils and staff.

He said there is strong evidence schools are lacking personal protective equipment (PPE), and that parents were going to want to know how schools were being made safe for their children.

NASUWT of their new general secretary Patrick Roach.
NASUWT of their new general secretary Patrick Roach. Photograph: Simon Boothe/NASUWT/PA

The National Education Union’s website crashed last night after being overwhelmed by applications – in a further sign of concern among teachers.

Updated

Premier League could return in June – report

Government sources have briefed the Telegraph that the Premier League could return in June. The paper says a government paper on elite sports is expected to be published on Tuesday.

These will give the green light for professional sports to return next month, including the Premier League’s planned resumption on June 12, subject to safety conditions being met and coronavirus infection rates not rising. However Boris Johnson’s go-ahead comes as up to eight Premier League clubs are expected to argue against the use of neutral venues and call for ‘Project Restart’ to be put back at a crucial meeting today.

In light of that clarification from Raab – that people will be encouraged to go to work from Wednesday, not today – here is an image of the Jubilee line on London’s Underground network this morning, courtesy of the BBC’s transport and environment correspondent.

Updated

New measures kick in on Wednesday, clarifies Raab

First secretary of state Dominic Raab has told the BBC that the new measures – including urging people to go to work if possible – would come in to effect from Wednesday, despite reports they were in place today. “That won’t start until Wednesday,” he said. “There will be guidance out. We have been working with employers to make sure it can be done in a safe way.”

Unions and business groups have expressed alarm following the prime minister’s address yesterday that the guidance was being changed with 12 hours notice. This was from Ed Miliband, now shadow business secretary, last night –

On the new rules about seeing people from outside your household, Raab told the BBC:

If you are out in the park and you are two metres apart – and use some common sense and you socially distance – you can meet up with other people.

He said people wanted to get outdoors for their mental health, “but we must stay alert”.

He said you could meet multiple people each day, individually, outside, as long as you are socially distanced. But households still cannot mix indoors. He said they had asked Sage for more advice on that issue.

Raab said that under the new regulations, you can drive as far as you like to a beauty spot, as long as it’s not across a border. He said people would not be able to play football in the park, as it is difficult to stay two meters apart, but that the could play a sport like tennis.

Dominic Raab on BBC Breakfast
Dominic Raab on BBC Breakfast Photograph: BBC Breakfast

Updated

Boris Johnson famously dislikes disappointing the people around him, writes the Guardian’s deputy political editor Rowena Mason in this analysis.

The result is this weekend’s barrage of confused messaging over whether the lockdown is ending, as he tries to please both sides in the battle raging within the Tory party about how to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

On the one hand, the rightwing hawks in his cabinet have been pushing him towards a swift return to business as usual to save the economy, setting out a roadmap to lifting the lockdown sooner rather than later. On the other, the more centrist doves, including the health secretary, Matt Hancock, have been pulling him in another direction, urging caution for fear of a second peak and more lost lives.

The received wisdom is that Johnson is now on the side of the doves following his brush with death during a four-day spell in intensive care suffering from Covid-19.

Updated

Martin Farrer has a roundup of this morning’s UK front pages –

Updated

Boris Johnson to give more detail on lockdown changes

Good morning. I’m Frances Perraudin and I’ll be guiding you through this morning’s developments in the UK’s coronavirus crisis.

Boris Johnson is set to explain his plan for easing coronavirus restrictions to parliament today, following criticism that yesterday’s address to the nation was vague and confusing. It will be the first time the prime minister has ever made a statement in the commons on coronavirus.

Johnson will publish a 50-page “blueprint” for the next stage in tackling the virus this afternoon, before heading to the chamber for a one hour session with MPs at 3.30pm. He’ll then take part in a Q&A, answering questions submitted by the public.

He announced yesterday that people who can’t work from home should start returning to work from today if they can – “if possible” avoiding public transport and instead using a car, walking or cycling. We’ll see how that goes this morning.

Unions have raised alarm that asking people to return to work before proper guidance is in place risks lives. Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said:

The government still hasn’t published guidance on how workers will be kept safe. So how can the prime minister – with 12 hours’ notice – tell people they should be going back to sites and factories? It’s a recipe for chaos.

Johnson also announced that he was hoping for a rapid reopening of primary schools in England on 1 June while older pupils remain at home. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) – which represents most primary school heads in England – said there was “little explanation of why or how such a return is considered to be safe”, and that the announcement would not convince parents or school leaders.

The first minsters of both Scotland and Wales have said they will not be reopening schools so soon, and are both sticking with the “stay at home” message, rather than the UK government’s new – widely criticised – “stay alert” alternative.

You can read about Johnson’s other announcements – including that two people from separate households can meet outside, providing they they stay 2m apart – in this explainer from Guardian political correspondent Peter Walker.

Updated

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