That’s all from the UK coronavirus live blog today, thanks for following along.
You can continue reading our coverage over on the global coronavirus blog, as France reports another record rise in cases and Spain closes nightclubs and late-night bars.
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Summary
Here is a quick recap of the latest coronavirus developments across the UK today:
- Parts of England to remain in tighter coronavirus lockdown. Large swathes of northern England and Leicester will remain under tighter lockdown for a third week as coronavirus infection rates continue to climb sharply in some districts, the Department of Health and Social Care announced.
- Gavin Williamson under pressure to resign over A-level results ‘fiasco’. The education secretary is facing increasing pressure over his department’s handling of this summer’s exam results in England, with the Liberal Democrats calling on him to resign and Labour demanding that the results be replaced by teacher assessments.
- France could quarantine British travellers in retaliation over new rules. British visitors to France could face a two-week quarantine, as the French government threatened to retaliate for being removed from the UK safe travel list following a rise in coronavirus cases across the Channel.
- UK reports 1,441 new coronavirus cases in a day. An additional 11 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus, meaning the country’s total death toll is now 41,358.
- Sushi chain Yo! to cut up to 250 jobs and shut 19 restaurants. The chief executive, Richard Hodgson, said the chain needed to take “decisive action to adapt to the lasting changes that the Covid pandemic has brought about”.
- Coronavirus infection rates levelling off, English data suggests. New data from the ONS, which covers the period from 3 to 9 August 2020, reveals about one in 1,900 people in the community are now thought to have the virus, with an estimated 3,800 new cases a day.
- Airbnb curb on under-25s could be discriminatory, UK lawyers warn. Airbnb’s decision to restrict under-25s in Britain, France and Spain from renting homes could leave the company open to legal challenges under discrimination laws, experts have said.
- Manchester crown court closed after coronavirus outbreak. One of England’s busiest criminal courts will remain closed until at least Tuesday after a coronavirus outbreak among staff. Eight members of staff, including six security officers, have tested positive for Covid-19 at the court.
- Orkney coronavirus cluster linked to fishing boat from Peterhead. A fishing boat from Peterhead on the north-east coast of mainland Scotland has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of Covid-19 in Orkney, as the local health chief said he was profoundly concerned that the virus was spreading rapidly across the island community.
- UK reaches agreements on access to 90m doses of potential Covid-19 vaccines. The government has reached agreements it says will give British citizens early access to 90m doses of two further potential Covid-19 vaccines.
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They are a lifeline for parents: somewhere affordable where children can exercise and play. But as soft play centres prepare to reopen on Saturday, industry experts have warned that many will shortly close their doors for good because of new government regulations.
Janice Dunphy, chair of the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attraction’s family entertainment centres’ committee, has said she is considering resigning over guidance issued by the government under Balppa’s name but without consultation over a crucial additional section.
We consulted with the government over the guidance and were happy with the version we had all agreed. But when they released it last night, it contained this extra regulation which we had no knowledge of.
This single section is going to lead to the closure of hundreds of soft play centres.
It’s a slow death for our industry. There’s no way we can survive this new regulation.
The controversial section in the operational guidance for England concerns ventilation in the centres. To achieve sufficient air flow to protect customers from infection from Covid-19, it states: “The maximum occupancy of each indoor facility should be limited by providing a minimum of 100 sq ft per person.”
Paul Kelly, CEO of Balppa, said that the regulation at issue, which he only saw a few hours before it was publicly released by the government, was inserted by Public Health England (PHE).
“We’re not ventilation experts and so we knew that PHE would be putting their expertise about the issue into the guidance, and that their input would be non-negotiable,” he said. “We will now put this guidance out to our members and, if any sticking points emerge, will go back to government and ask if there’s any movement possible.”
Conservative MP Sir Robert Syms said there is “clearly a big problem” over A-level results, with the approach creating a “number of unfairnesses”.
He said the government should see if the issues can be “swept up by a proper appeals procedure” or England will “have to go down the Scotland route”, which saw the SNP-led administration allow results estimated by teachers to be accepted.
Asked if he had confidence in education secretary Gavin Williamson’s handling of the issue, Syms told BBC Radio 4:
The difficult problem that Gavin had was the decision taken by the government as a whole back at the height of the crisis to cancel the exams - Gavin was on a hiding to nothing whatever he’s done.
He’s doing his best to defend the government line but Gavin’s a realist. I served with him in the whips’ office, [and] Nick Gibb I think is an excellent minister, I have no problems with the ministers, I just think they found themselves in a situation which is a consequence of the crisis.
What they need to do is to be a little bit more open-minded and to hear the pain of some of the students who are finding they actually have been treated badly by the process, a process which I think is flawed.
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Russia is not the only country pursuing domestic politics over global cooperation in the fight against coronavirus, writes Stephen Buranyi.
The WHO last week warned against “vaccine nationalism”, noting that unless countries cooperate, an actually successful vaccine could touch off a worldwide frenzy.
Similar to the scramble for PPE gear and testing reagents when governments seized exports, and the US reportedly tried to intercept other nation’s shipments at global ports, demand for vaccine supplies could result in another pitched battle for limited resources – with the added complication that no one knows which project will succeed, so no one is even sure what they’re trying to source yet.
And, while some vaccine projects have promised to make the results as cheap and widely available as possible, others are frighteningly marketised.
Rule-breaking pub landlords are facing a police crackdown for failing to properly record customers’ details as concerns grow about a rising Covid infection rate in Birmingham.
The latest data showed the second city had a rate of 23.6 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 10 August with the trend increasing, according to the NHS Digital progression dashboard.
A climbing rate has caused “concern” among health chiefs, placing Birmingham behind only Sandwell, which to date has been the worst-hit local authority area in the West Midlands.
But during a video-call with journalists on Friday, health bosses said the trend in Sandwell has been decreasing while Birmingham’s is rising.
The focus is now on getting that increase under control, particularly as “thousands of students” will be returning to universities next month, city council leader Ian Ward said.
Clive Wright, a West Midlands regional convenor for the Department of Health and Social Care, said Birmingham’s infection rate rise “right across the city” was down to multiple factors. He said:
It looks as though it’s a combination of people socialising and not maintaining social distancing and perhaps hospitality settings or other gatherings of people and this may be the underlying problem.
Wright said people could do their bit to protect one another by “following the rules”.
Councillor Ward added: “We cannot afford to drop our guard now.”
He urged businesses to contact Public Health England (PHE) as soon as they identified either a confirmed or suspected case of Covid-19 among staff or customers.
The council chief added it was the only way to make sure the test and trace system was effective enough to “keep on top of any outbreak”.
But he also turned the spotlight on licensed premises, some of whom have been flouting a legal requirement to take names, addresses and contact details of customers, so they can be traced in the event of an outbreak.
He added:
We are very keen to be working very closely with the police over coming weeks because what we’re noticing across the West Midlands is that as weeks go by the rigour in which pubs in particular are recording names and addresses of customers is dropping off in some locations.
We’d like to encourage the police to re-emphasise to the pubs that they do need to be recording that information.
It is vital that if there is an outbreak they have the names and contact details of all of their customers.
Waheed Saleem, the West Midlands deputy police and crime commissioner, said pubs, bars and clubs needed to act “in a responsible manner”.
He added:
Pubs and clubs - they also have a very clear responsibility to ensure they’re following the guidelines, that they are getting information on those individuals who attend.
We will work closely with the licensing authorities to crack down on those premises that don’t follow rules and are breaking rules.
These rules are there for everyone and they’re there for a reason.
The virus is still out there. We must remember that.
Saleem also said the force was “giving a very clear warning” to organisers of illegal parties and raves, and those thinking of attending them.
“We will not tolerate these gatherings,” he said. “They are illegal and they pose a significant risk both to those who attend and also the people they care about.”
The force had closed down 125 parties and raves since May this year, added Saleem, receiving more than 3,000 calls about events in the same period.
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Coronavirus infection rates levelling off, English data suggests
Rates of people testing positive for Covid-19 in England still appear to be levelling off, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest.
The new data, which covers the period from 3 to 9 August 2020, reveals about one in 1,900 people in the community are now thought to have the virus, with an estimated 3,800 new cases per day.
While these data are similar to last week’s figures, the ONS warns they are not directly comparable, as the modelling approach has changed.
Nonetheless the ONS says the results indicate no clear sign of a rise or fall in rates of people testing positive for Covid-19 in England since the week before.
“There is some evidence of a small increase in the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in July, following a low point in June, but this appears to have now levelled off,” the ONS team report.
France has been added to the UK coronavirus quarantine list meaning anyone returning to the UK after 4am on Saturday will have to quarantine for 14 days or face a fine.
With some travellers desperately trying to return before the deadline, others have decided to stay in France.
The Guardian has spoken to British travellers in France about their response to the new rules.
Airbnb’s decision to restrict under-25s in Britain, France and Spain from renting homes could leave the company open to legal challenges under discrimination laws, experts have said.
The company announced that as part of its crackdown on rowdy parties it would begin testing in Britain, France and Spain a ban on under-25s with less than three positive ratings from renting entire homes close to where they live.
A lawyer has said that the ruling could, however, potentially be in breach of the Equalities Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination based on their age.
Mark Woloshak, head of the dispute resolution department at Slater and Gordon, said:
There are certain protected characteristics that you cannot discriminate against and one of those is age. A good example of this is car insurance. It used to be that companies would charge young men higher premiums because they were considered worse drivers and more likely to get into accidents. So if you were under 25 and a man you would pay more, but it was seen as illegal.
Airbnb could change it in such a way that everyone has to have positive reviews to rent a whole house but they would not be keen on that as it would limit the amount of houses they put through … If the question was that you cannot rent due to negative responses they would have more of an argument.
But it imposes something on them [under-25s] and makes it more difficult than would ordinarily be the case, based on a person’s age so that falls outside the Equalities Act.
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Sushi chain Yo! to cut up to 250 jobs and shut 19 restaurants
Sushi chain Yo! has said it plans to shut 19 of its sites and cut up to 250 jobs in a bid to protect its long-term future.
The chain, which has 59 restaurants and 10 concessions across the UK, announced the cuts as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) restructuring process.
It said that sites earmarked for closure are “no longer financially viable” and have unsustainable rental costs in the current trading environment.
Richard Hodgson, chief executive officer of Yo!, said:
Like the rest of the sector, we need to take decisive action to adapt to the lasting changes that the Covid pandemic has brought about.
While we have already taken measures to reduce costs, rents remain an issue. In the current climate, it’s just not viable for us to keep any sites that no longer perform.
While it’s been a very difficult decision to make and I am very sorry that it will mean losing many of our team members, a CVA has become an essential measure to secure our business for the future, and enable us to protect as many jobs as possible.
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UK reports 1,441 new coronavirus cases in a day
A further 1,441 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK, taking the country’s total to 316,367.
An additional 11 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus, meaning the country’s total death toll is now 41,358.
The death toll in England was revised down by more than 5,000 earlier this week, after it came to light thousands of people who may have recovered from the virus before they died were still counted in the headline number.
According to the latest government data from, a total of 169,857 tests have been processed in the past 24 hours.
Previously the government quietly removed 1.3m coronavirus tests from its data because of double counting.
In the government’s daily coronavirus update on Wednesday, it announced it had lowered the figure for “tests made available” by about 10% and discontinued the metric.
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A total of nine fines have been issued at the border since quarantine restrictions were introduced, the Home Office said on Friday.
The department counts the number of fixed penalty notices issued by Border Force under the regulations.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council, which holds details of the number of quarantine fines issued by forces in England and Wales, was unable to provide the latest figure.
Previously the body said just one person had been fined by police between 8 June, when the rules were introduced, and 27 July.
Home secretary Priti Patel previously said there had been a high level of compliance with the measures.
But in a report earlier this month the Commons Home Affairs Committee said it remained “unconvinced” by Home Office claims that an estimated 99.9% of the public subjected to quarantine restrictions were complying with the rules and called for the findings to be “better evidenced” and routinely published.
John Lewis’s Grand Central department store in the heart of Birmingham, which had been closed since lockdown, will never reopen, according to the West Midlands mayor, Andy Street.
Speaking on a weekly video call with journalists, Street said:
A sad piece of news that is to do with John Lewis in central Birmingham.
We were contacted yesterday by them and they have indeed confirmed to their staff that the proposal to close the central Birmingham shop has become a reality and it will not now reopen.
That is despite myself, [leader of Birmingham city council] Ian Ward and [chief executive of the West Midlands Growth Company] Neil Rami having met with them and put forward what we believe were very viable alternatives which they have chosen not to accept.
Street, a former managing director of John Lewis, had been urging the chain to reverse what he called the “dreadful mistake” of closing its Grand Central branch, since the proposal was announced at the end of July.
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There have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales, health officials have said.
The total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 1,586.
Public Health Wales said the total number of cases in the country had increased by 18, bringing the revised total of confirmed cases to 17,516.
The reproduction number, referred to as R, for the UK as a whole remains unchanged from last week and is between 0.8 and 1, latest figures show.
Data published on Friday by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has also revealed the growth rate of coronavirus transmission is between minus 4% and minus 1%, changing from between minus 5% and zero last week.
The growth rate reflects how quickly the number of infections is changing day by day, as a way of keeping track of the virus.
In England, R is between 0.8 and 1, although Sage has indicated it is not confident that R is currently below 1.
The R number represents the number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.
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A further eight people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 29,452, NHS England said.
The patients were aged between 75 and 90 and all patients had known underlying health conditions.
One other death was reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
The education secretary’s handling of the A-level results has all the hallmarks of Johnsonian government. He’ll probably get promoted, writes Guardian columnist Marina Hyde.
When Gavin Williamson was sacked as Theresa May’s defence secretary for leaking information from the National Security Council, he swore his innocence “on his children’s lives”. This seems to have been the gateway drug to the lives of other people’s children, with an entire A-level generation the latest batch of youngsters to experience the Williamson effect.
Gavin is now Boris Johnson’s education secretary – because really, why not? – and his handling of the pandemic year’s A-level results has been a disasterclass even by his own standards.
On the one hand, gotta feel for him. He’s had a mere five months’ notice that students would not be sitting their exams and to come up with ways of handling the situation as fairly and accessibly as possible.
On the other, the upshot is such a demonstrable shambles that the prime minister has felt moved to come out and call the grade system “robust” and “dependable”. As bad as all that, then. You’ve heard of the Kitemark – any Johnson imprimatur is the guaranteed shitemark.
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The shadow education secretary, Kate Green, has said there could be a “deluge” of appeals from students unhappy with their A-level results.
She said it may prove impossible to get them all processed in time for students to take up their university places.
She told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One:
I am concerned that if we have a deluge of appeals, which I think is quite likely given the fiasco we have seen over the last day-and-a-half, there just won’t be time for students to have those appeals processed and completed, and universities will fill up those places.
As a one-off measure this year, we have to do something for these young people otherwise we are writing them off for the whole of their life chances.
I think it is right that this year we take exceptional measures, give those young people every possible opportunity to progress with their lives and make use of teacher assessments where we can’t be confident that the algorithm and the government’s model has delivered fairness to very, very large numbers of students.
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Two months after falling ill with Covid-19, Julie had her first hallucination. “It started slowly. I was struggling to track the plot of a TV show, then I couldn’t read the words on my phone screen,” she said.
Things deteriorated, with an overwhelming sense of her mind and body being consumed. “I know it sounds crazy, and I don’t know how to properly articulate it, but in the moment it really felt like something was taking over my brain and my body.
“I was so convinced that was happening that I made my sister promise to remember a code word so she’d know if I was still in my body.”
Julie, 36, from Minnesota, was eventually taken to hospital by her family. “My mom told the ER doctor that I was recovering from Covid and that they were concerned this was a strange side effect. He agreed it was possible, but didn’t seem to have any treatment to suggest.”
Julie is not alone. As the long and lingering effects of Covid-19 on physical health are emerging, so too are its impacts on mental health.
Research from Italy found that more than half of those admitted to hospital with Covid-19 had a psychiatric disorder a month later, with 28% showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, 31% depression and 42% anxiety. Insomnia and obsessive-compulsive symptoms were also common.
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Sir Matthew Bourne’s production of Nutcracker! at Sadler’s Wells theatre has become the latest Christmas production to be postponed.
The choreographer’s dance company, New Adventures, announced that both the show’s 2020/21 national tour and Christmas season had been pushed back by a year.
It cited “the inevitable knock-on effect” of the pandemic and ongoing uncertainty over when indoor performances can resume without social distancing.
Venues including the Hackney Empire, Lyric Hammersmith and Birmingham Hippodrome have already axed or postponed their pantomimes over similar concerns.
Bourne said the decision was “heartbreaking” for New Adventures, which he founded in 2002 and specialises in contemporary dance.
“We love our loyal audiences throughout the UK and we feel a great sense of sadness that we will not get to perform for you on our annual tour at this time.”
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Parts of England to remain in tighter coronavirus lockdown
Large swathes of northern England and Leicester will remain under tighter lockdown for a third week as coronavirus infection rates continue to climb sharply in some districts, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced.
The decision was taken by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, in collaboration with local leaders after cases failed to drop sufficiently.
The measures – originally brought in with a few hours’ notice on 31 July – would “help protect local residents, and allow more time for the changes to have an effect, cutting transmission among households”, the DHSC said.
The restrictions continue to affect residents in Greater Manchester; Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford in West Yorkshire; Leicester; and the following areas of east Lancashire: Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Preston and Rossendale.
Casinos, skating rinks, bowling alleys, exhibition halls, conference centres and indoor play areas will not be permitted to open in these areas. Elsewhere in England they can open from Saturday.
People in the affected areas will not be permitted to mix with other households (apart from those in their support bubble) within private homes or gardens. They will still able to meet others in groups of up to six individuals, or two households, in outdoor public places.
Pools, indoor gyms and other leisure facilities, as well as nail bars, spas and beauty salons, will remain closed in Bradford, Blackburn with Darwen, and Leicester.
Shielding will also continue for individuals in Blackburn with Darwen, and Leicester.
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The government has announced the criteria arts organisations will have to meet to receive a share of its £270m repayable finance scheme.
Applicants will be assessed against rigorous cultural and economic standards, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said.
Organisations will need to demonstrate national or international significance and prove they can engage with local communities through education and outreach.
They will also have to demonstrate their efficiency and that they have “ongoing viability for the future”.
The money comes from the government’s £1.57bn funding package for the arts.
Each eligible organisation will be able to apply for a minimum of £3m in funding on loan terms. This includes a payment term of up to 20 years, an initial repayment holiday of up to four years and a 2% interest rate per annum.
Arts Council England will review applications, along with the British Film Institute, Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Decisions will be made by the independent Culture Recovery Board, chaired by Sir Damon Buffini.
The culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: “This repayable finance will be the helping hand some of our largest venues and attractions urgently need.”
The DCMS also announced details of further funding allocations, including a £50m heritage stimulus fund from Historic England.
Money will go to restarting construction and maintenance on heritage sites, and providing work for the sector’s specialists and contractors.
Sir Laurie Magnus, the chairman of Historic England, said:
The heritage stimulus fund will kickstart repair works at both nationally and locally cherished historic sites, protect livelihoods of skilled heritage professionals hit hardest by the pandemic and help to save vulnerable sites on our Heritage at Risk register.
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Manchester crown court closed after coronavirus outbreak
One of England’s busiest criminal courts will remain closed until at least Tuesday after a coronavirus outbreak among staff.
Eight members of staff, including six security officers, have tested positive for Covid-19 at Manchester crown court.
The court has been closed since Monday, with urgent hearings taking place at Minshull Street crown court, also in Manchester city centre.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service confirmed on Friday that the court would remain closed until at least Tuesday and would only reopen after a safety assessment.
The outsourcing firm, OCS, which runs security at the court, confirmed that six of its employees were among those who had tested positive. The other two are understood to include a court usher.
The closure will add to the growing backlog of cases in England’s judicial system, with Manchester crown court dealing with many of the most serious offences in the area.
It is understood that Public Health England staff carried out an assessment at the court on Friday.
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Al Murray, Ed Gamble and Kerry Godliman are among the comedians who will take to the stage in front of a live audience for a charity gig, as socially distanced indoor performances are allowed to resume in England.
The government had previously given the green light for performance spaces to welcome back audiences last month. However the move was delayed amid a rise in the prevalence of coronavirus in the community.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, has now given the go-ahead to resume indoor performances from Saturday, except in locations such as Manchester where additional restrictions have already been imposed.
Earlier this month the Clapham Grand in London hosted a livestreamed comedy show as an online fundraiser, without an audience present.
But the next scheduled fundraising gig in the Save Live Comedy series, due to take place on 16 August, will now have a small audience present, as will the next show on 23 August.
The proceeds of the three shows will be split across a network of comedy clubs and promoters who are financially struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ally Wolf, manager of the Clapham Grand, said: “The first physically distanced live comedy show being streamed to the world whilst helping Save Live Comedy in the process. How cool is that?
“This allows us now to have an audience enjoying entertainment safely inside our venue whilst broadcasting to thousands of people around the world, giving us the chance to implement our vision for how the Clapham Grand can reopen safely and successfully with physical distancing and full Covid compliance in line with all government guidelines.”
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A group of protesters, including students who received their A-levels on Thursday, marched down Whitehall in central London towards the Department for Education building.
Around 100 demonstrators had gathered outside Downing Street, chanting “sack Gavin Williamson” and “teachers not Tories” while holding placards.
Harry Mayes, from Stoke Newington in north London, missed out on a place at both his firm and insurance university places after receiving A, B and C in his A-levels.
The 18-year-old, who had been hoping to study neuroscience at the University of Bristol and had grades of A*, A and B submitted by his teachers, called the system a “complete injustice”.
“I’m a free school meals student and it seems like people like me have been lowered the most,” he told the PA news agency.
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With raucous pub crawls and UV paint parties off limits due to the pandemic, first-year students at universities across the country can expect freshers’ week with a twist this autumn. An online, booze-free and sexless twist.
But, perhaps showing a scintilla of wishful thinking, some students’ unions claim the new fresher’s week is much better suited to a generation Z who are less interested in drinking and smoking.
Events organised by Covid-conscious unions to welcome undergraduates include virtual DJ sets, cooking and yoga classes, bingo and movie nights, as well as online escape rooms.
While some in-person events will still go ahead, the experience is likely to prove a toned-down affair, with food markets and open-air cinemas being posed as alternatives to boozy club nights.
Francesco Masala, president at the University of Bath’s students’ union, said organisers were trying to use social distancing measures as a chance to veer away from traditional freshers’ week events to less alcohol-focused ones, in line with what young people wanted.
“They tend to drink less, smoke less and like doing different activities,” he said, adding that this year offered a chance to “move towards a fundamentally new model with more day activities not concentrated on drinking”.
Nicola Sturgeon has dismissed concerns about the academic appointed to lead an independent review of the exam grading debacle, following reports that Mark Priestley, a professor at Stirling University, had previously publicly declared support for the SNP as well as a candidate ditched by the party following allegations of antisemitism.
The Scottish Conservatives have already called for Priestley to be removed.
Asked about the appointment at her daily briefing, the SNP leader and first minister said:
I can’t interrogate how people vote and nor should I.
On the basis of current opinion polls, more than half of the Scottish population intend to vote SNP, so there would obviously be an issue if we started to exclude [them].
I don’t think [voting intention] should be relevant in terms of someone’s ability to do a particular job that requires a particular specialism.
Meanwhile, pub crawls and venue music are off in Scotland, as the Scottish government issues new statutory guidance relating to hospitality, while the public have been warned again to avoid house parties and sleepovers – particularly with older children – that exceed limits for indoor gatherings.
Today it became mandatory for hospitality businesses, including cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars, to collect contact details from customers, and Sturgeon announced the new guidance at her daily briefing – this doesn’t actually place additional burdens on businesses but does put things on a statutory footing as Scottish government contemplates a succession of new clusters over the past week.
Sturgeon reiterated the guidance – which includes no indoor queueing; no standing together in a bar or restaurant; people should be seated only, with table service and maintaining 1 metre distancing, no background music or television, so people don’t have to lean in to each other to hear – and encouraged people to minimise the number of premises they visit in one day.
She also reminded businesses and customers of the current law on gathering sizes. Friends should not be meeting indoors in groups of more than eight people from no more than three households, she said, referencing house parties and sleepovers particularly.
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It remains to be seen whether our ‘alfresco revolution’ is sustainable or just another of No 10’s overoptimistic, short-term fixes, writes Guardian columnist Andy Beckett.
The part-escapist, part-essential move outdoors fits a trend that has been building in Britain for decades.
It’s a trend that might give our insular, nationalist government pause for thought, not that it seems terribly inclined to pausing or thinking.
The modern British shift towards outdoor living has involved acknowledging that other countries – often other European ones – sometimes know how to live better.
When the Brexit transition period ends in January, we’ll see whether trying to live more like continental Europeans feels quite the same once we’ve cut ourselves off from the continent.
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Amanda Hill lives with her husband in France, and her brother-in-law Simon is currently visiting them on holiday with his wife and their six-year-old twins.
Amanda got in touch earlier to describe her brother-in-law Chris’s tricky situation after some confusion over the timing of its introduction, and we’ve spoken to her to get more details.
On Thursday night, Simon saw a MailOnline report that the quarantine would kick in on Sunday – which appeared to have been based on official briefings and came alongside an interview the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, gave to Sky News also giving Sunday as the day the rules would change (as well as a tweet, since deleted, to the same effect).
You can watch the interview here:
Hill told the Guardian:
They were due to drive back on Monday, so they bought another Eurotunnel ticket for Saturday to get ahead of the quarantine.
And then this morning my husband had to tell him – no, it’s actually Saturday morning at 4am that it comes in.
He was absolutely staggered. None of us could believe it. We’re just apoplectic. Grant Shapps has cost him £230.
Simon and his family thought about trying to get to Calais on Friday, but concluded that the six-hour drive to the coast with young children would be foolhardy when Eurotunnel was already warning that everything was booked.
“So he’s going to try to get the money back for the ticket he booked late last night, at least,” Hill said. “He’s having to give the reason why he booked it as ... Grant Shapps.”
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Gavin Williamson under pressure to resign over A-level results 'fiasco'
Gavin Williamson is facing increasing pressure over the education department’s mishandling of this summer’s exam results in England, with the Liberal Democrats calling on him to resign and Labour demanding that the results be replaced by teacher assessments.
Layla Moran, the Lib Dems’ education spokesperson, said Williamson should go because of the disruption caused when thousands of students were given lower grades than expected on Thursday.
She said Williamson had “pushed ahead with plans which ignored teachers’ advice”, and she also cited previous blunders over free school meals and IT provision during the lockdown.
Gavin Williamson is an education secretary out of his depth and out of excuses.
He must take responsibility for his mistakes and step down with immediate effect. Our young people and our country cannot afford these blunders to continue into September ahead of a potential second wave.
Fires caused by portable barbecues, wild flowers being dug up, the disturbance of shorebirds, and an avalanche of rubbish. These are just some of the threats to Britain’s wild places as record numbers enjoy coastal and countryside “staycations”.
Beleaguered rangers complain that a new generation of holidaymakers are treating the countryside like a festival site, leaving behind tents, chairs and excrement, as well as endangering rare habitats and wildlife.
“It’s like no previous law of behaviour applies,” said one warden in Devon, whose coastal nature reserve has been the busiest he has seen it in 40 years. “Anything you would expect people to understand, such as littering or people using the countryside as a lavatory, they ignore.”
Conservationists and landowners are particularly concerned by the escalating fire risk with tinderbox conditions at many beauty spots, and a surge in wild campers – or “fly-campers” – lighting fires and portable barbecues.
A fire destroyed 140 acres of heathland on Chobham Common, Surrey, last weekend. During the last bank holiday weekend, more than 20 serious moorland and grassland fires devastated areas in the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and New Forest.
In Dartmoor, one of the few places in England where wild camping is legal, the Dartmoor National Park Authority has deployed emergency powers to temporarily ban wild camping after a dramatic increase in “fly-camping” at Bellever, where more than 50 fire pits were dug into the moor on one night. The authorities hope the August-long ban will give the beauty spot time to recover.
A fishing boat from Peterhead on the north-east coast of mainland Scotland has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of Covid-19 in Orkney, as the local health chief said he was profoundly concerned that the virus was spreading rapidly across the island community.
The head of NHS Orkney, Michael Dickson, said: “We have five positive cases from a fishing vessel and more than nine contacts. Our understanding is they travelled from mainland Scotland, from Peterhead, before arriving in Orkney.”
Contact tracers are working to isolate those who may be affected following an incident management team meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Dickson assured the local population that health authorities were taking the outbreak “extremely seriously. “We believe there is a real risk to the people of Orkney, including those on the remote isles, and urge them to take care,” he said.
An endurance swimmer looking to break the men’s record for the number of English Channel crossings is hoping the UK government does not scupper her post-challenge celebrations.
Chloe McCardel, 35, is due to leave British shores at around 10am on Sunday, arriving in Calais around 10 hours and 21 miles (34km) later.
It would be her 35th successful Channel crossing, passing the men’s record of 34 held by British athlete Kevin Murphy.
The Australian said she will spend less than 10 minutes on French soil, and is hoping she will not have to quarantine when she returns to Dover with her support crew later that evening.
It follows an announcement on Thursday evening that people arriving in the UK from France after 4am on Saturday will be required to spend 14 days in self-isolation due to rising numbers of coronavirus cases across the Channel.
McCardel told the PA news agency:
I have made some inquiries about what happens when I get to France.
Literally, I reach the shore and stand up on land for a couple of minutes, then it’s back in the water, swim to the support boat, and head back to England.
We don’t go anywhere near the border officials or passport control, so I’m hoping technically the quarantine thing won’t apply.
I’ve got a little celebration planned in England with the support crew, the team, the volunteers who have been so supportive throughout this.
So I am hoping the government allow us to do that without having to quarantine.
McCardel was given special dispensation from Australian authorities to travel to the UK to complete three Channel crossings in recent weeks, taking her level with Murphy.
Congratulations from us all in Rick’s goes out to Chloe McCardel .
— Big Ricks Swim Team (@RicksSwim) August 9, 2020
#34 English Channel solo done .
Simply Amazing . , #channelswimmer #ChloeMcCardel - #MarathonSwimmer #picoftheday #instadaily #inspirational #girlpower #oceanswimming #channelswimmer pic.twitter.com/VV8YqNWKXH
The Melbourne-raised athlete still has some way to go until she reaches the record of 43 crossings set by English swimmer Alison Streeter.
Private jet charter company PrivateFly said demand for flights out of countries being removed from the UK’s quarantine-exemption list has trebled since the announcement was made on Thursday night.
Chief executive Adam Twidell said:
Following the changes to the UK’s quarantine list overnight, we’ve received a surge in demand for private jet travel out of affected countries, with three times the average number of enquiries and bookings for flights to the UK from France, the Netherlands and Malta, before 4am on Saturday morning.
We’ve also had a number of inquiries from clients booked to travel to these destinations in the coming weeks to change their travel plans in order to avoid quarantine zones.
He added that availability is limited as the spike in demand coincides with the peak summer season.
France could quarantine British travellers in retaliation over new rules
British visitors to France could face a two-week quarantine, as the French government threatened retaliation after being removed from the UK safe travel list following a spike in coronavirus cases.
But the Netherlands, which was also removed from the travel corridor list late on Thursday, has ruled out reciprocal measures.
From Saturday 4am BST, arrivals from France and the Netherlands to the UK must go into quarantine for two weeks, or risk a fine, the UK government has announced.
France’s European affairs minister, Clément Beaune, tweeted that the government regretted the British decision that “will lead to a reciprocal measure”, while adding “hoping for a return to normal as soon as possible”.
Transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari echoed these words, tweeting: “I told my counterpart Grant Shapps of our willingness to harmonise health protocols to assure a high level of protection on both sides of the channel.”
But the Dutch government ruled out tit-for-tat measures, although it has added the UK to an orange list, which advises travellers from the Netherlands against non-essential visits, because of the 14-day quarantine they face in the UK.
“We will not take reciprocal measures,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said. “Our travel advisory specifically states that travellers from the UK to the Netherlands do not need to go into quarantine upon arrival in the Netherlands.”
The government is expected to confirm shortly that Greater Manchester, parts of east Lancashire and West Yorkshire will remain subject to tighter lockdown restrictions than the rest of England.
On Thursday there were concerns among officials in Oldham that the town — one of Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs — might be locked down further by central government after case numbers continued to rise much faster than than the rest of the region.
Between 2 and 8 August Oldham had a rate of 107.5 per 100,000 population, which increased from 57.8 the previous week.
To put that into context, the UK government is making people quarantine coming back from France because its rate rose above 20 per 100,000 people.
Over the 28 days leading up to the 7 August, numbers of positive cases were highest in those in the working age population, according to this handy data analysis from Oldham council.
At his weekly press conference on Thursday, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said he didn’t think it would make sense to single out Oldham for any extra measures — yet.
Closing the pubs and shops wouldn’t necessarily make a difference because most infections are coming from different households mixing — for example at house parties, which are currently illegal according to the guidelines — or by people getting infected at work and then bringing Covid back to their family members.
The latter has been a particular issue in Oldham’s Asian communities who tend to live in large, multi-generational households near the town centre.
Over the 28 days leading up to the 7 August, the highest number of cases in Oldham were in the Asian/Asian British group. But when you look at the pandemic as a whole, the majority of cases were in Oldham’s white community.
UK reaches agreements on access to 90m doses of potential Covid-19 vaccines
The government has reached agreements it says will give British citizens early access to 90m doses of two more potential Covid-19 vaccines.
The vaccines are being developed by US biotech company Novavax and pharmaceutical business Janssen, which is headquartered in Belgium and owned by Johnson & Johnson.
Under the in-principle agreements, the UK has secured 60m doses of the Novavax vaccine, with it supporting a Phase 3 clinical trial with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
Some 30m doses have been secured from Janssen and ministers have agreed in principle to co-fund a global clinical study of its vaccine.
The new agreements, on top of earlier deals, mean the UK now has access to six different Covid-19 vaccine candidates in development, across four different types, representing some 340m doses.
Despite the scale of the government’s potential stockpile, Kate Bingham, chair of the Government’s Vaccines Taskforce, warned that it was still not known if any of the vaccines would be effective.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Friday, she said
The issue is we don’t know which, if any, of these vaccines may work, because there have been no vaccines against any human coronavirus.
So what we’re doing is we’ve chosen six of the most promising vaccines across four different vaccine types and we’re hoping that one of those will work.
It would be a nice position if they all work, but that’s not likely. The reality is that most will fail and we want to be sure that if any one is shown to be effective and safe that we have rights to it.
Bingham said she was “reasonably confident” of a vaccine being found that will reduce the severity of coronavirus symptoms and reduce deaths.
The government’s latest agreement follows on from 90m doses in the pipeline under deals with an alliance between the pharmaceutical giants BioNtech and Pfizer, as well as the firm Valneva.
Some 100 million doses of vaccine could come from a vaccine being developed by Oxford University in partnership with AstraZeneca, while a deal has been struck for 60 million doses of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur’s potential Covid-19 vaccine.
The deals cover four different classes: adenoviral vaccines, mRNA vaccines, inactivated whole virus vaccines and protein adjuvant vaccines.
Business secretary Alok Sharma said
The government’s strategy to build a portfolio of promising vaccine candidates will ensure we have the best chance possible of finding one that works.
Today’s agreements will not only benefit people in the UK but will ensure fair and equitable access of a vaccine around the world, potentially protecting hundreds of millions of lives.
Alex Harris, the Wellcome Trust’s head of global policy, said while he welcomed Sharma’s statement, it is “urgent” that the government explains how it will ensure fair and equitable access to a vaccine.
Without this clarity, the risk increases that other rich countries will seek to strike similar bilateral deals, potentially securing significant oversupply, leaving insufficient volumes of vaccine for the rest of the world.
The government must take the global lead to ensure any advances to test, treat and prevent Covid-19 are available for all nations, rich and poor, alike. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s in our best interest.
Unless every country has access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, the whole world is at risk.
The government said that if the Novavax and Janssen vaccines are proven safe and successful in clinical trials they could be delivered to the UK in mid-2021.
The vaccines would first be given to priority groups such as front-line health workers, those with serious diseases, the elderly and ethnic minorities.
The first train to arrive from Paris on Friday was not full, those who travelled on it said, and not many of those aboard were British holidaymakers coming back.
Carina Ignatiuc, who had been with her two children in Paris staying with her mother and was due to be there until the 21st, was one of the few who got the news and managed to make the booking in time to catch the 0743 from Gare Du Nord - having no choice but to return for family reasons, she said.
I saw it online at about half eleven last night.
We didn’t have anything booked. We had to find the money, book the tickets, and Eurostar just immediately changed the prices - within minutes.
They were £80, then I looked a few minutes later and it was £160, and then £290 a few minutes after that.
Ignatiuc, whose children cheerfully clambered over the luggage trolley as she spoke, said she was “exhausted. I started packing at about one o’clock, and then I had to get the kids up at five, and they had no idea what was going on… I was like, hi girls! We’re going to the train!”
The timing of the announcement was ridiculous, she added. “I don’t think it’s fair on anyone to give this kind of notice,” she said. “If I’m infected today, I’m infected today - what’s so different about tomorrow?”
Still, as she headed off, she seemed wearily relieved to have made it.
If the Eurostar tickets seem steep, spare a thought for travellers trying to make the same journey by plane.
At the time of writing, there were only two seats left with British Airways today from Charles De Gaulle to Heathrow - yours for £451 each.
As for the sudden spike in the cost, a Eurostar spokesperson said, “it’s down to demand, and that’s how our pricing always works.”
Updated
Airline reps slam new quarantine rules as "devastating blow" to travel industry
Representatives from the airline industry have criticised the introduction of quarantine rules for travellers from a raft of new countries, including France and the Netherlands, saying it is “another devastating blow” to the industry.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, said:
It’s another devastating blow to the travel industry already reeling from the worst crisis in its history.
Having the political will to move to a sub-national approach to quarantine, in addition to a testing regime for arriving passengers so that those testing negative can avoid having to self isolate - which other countries like Germany have already implemented - is urgently needed.
He added that weekly changes to quarantine rules on a national level “have proven so disruptive to airlines and passengers”.
Gloria Guevara, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), said:
WTTC is deeply disappointed that thousands of British holidaymakers have had their holidays ruined, now the UK Government has added more countries to its quarantine list, including popular summer holidays destinations France and Malta.
While we agree public health should remain the top priority, this move will crush what little confidence there is left in the fragile travel and tourism sector.
She said the UK “clearly lags behind other countries” by using quarantines instead of comprehensive testing programmes.
“International co-ordination and programme of testing for anyone who wants to go on holiday to help stop Covid-19 in its tracks are crucial in order to rescue three million jobs in the UK alone,” she added.
Updated
A new YouGov survey has found that four in ten Scots (40%) oppose English people coming to Scotland if they don’t have to quarantine on arrival, with the poll revealing a significant discrepancy in opinion along political lines.
More than half (54%) of SNP voters surveyed said they do not want English tourists to be able cross the border without quarantining, compared to 37% of Scottish Labour voters and 19% of those who voted for the Scottish Conservatives at the 2019 election.
Those opposed to no quarantine are marginally outnumbered by the 47% of Scots who are comfortable with English tourists still being allowed in.
Last month, first minister Nicola Sturgeon refused to rule out introducing quarantine or screening for travellers coming from England if infection rates rise south of the border.
She also urged the handful of independence supporters who have held sporadic protests at the border, waving banners reading “keep Scotland Covid free”, to cease their activities, describing them as “not sensible or helpful”.
Former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Jackson Carlaw laid the blame with the Scottish Nationalists, who he accused of “stoking division at every turn”.
This is the direct result of the SNP stoking division at every turn.
— Jackson Carlaw MSP (@Jackson_Carlaw) August 14, 2020
Desperately sad. https://t.co/nyP2Af6HnP
People living in one of the areas under stricter Covid-19 measures have been given a stark warning that action is needed to stem rising infections rates.
As the government moved to ease restrictions across England as a whole, the worsening situation in Calderdale in West Yorkshire was set out in detail by regional public health director Debs Harkins.
Harkins issued a plea to the 200,000 residents of the borough as Calderdale Council was due to launch its own contact tracing service to run alongside the national programme.
She said the particular concern was in Halifax, where infection rates in some areas of the town are now higher than any part of Leicester, Blackburn with Darwen, or Luton.
Harkins said:
Being the voice of doom doesn’t come naturally to me.
But I’m sorry to say that I’m writing this today to stress how serious the situation in Calderdale is, and to ask for your help to tackle Covid-19.
When we look at the trends in confirmed cases in Calderdale, it’s clear that too many restrictions were lifted too quickly.
In parts of Halifax particularly the infection rates are amongst the very highest in the country.
The situation can change rapidly and, at the time I’m writing this, there are no areas in Leicester, Blackburn with Darwen or Luton where the infection rates are higher than those we can see in some parts of Halifax.
There’s no evidence at all that these higher rates are because people in Calderdale are less likely to observe social distancing than people in other areas of the country; in fact, the opposite is true.
Harkins said the borough had some of the lowest infection rates in the country during lockdown, and the information available seemed to indicate that new cases are in people who have been working in essential roles.
“These are the people who care for us, feed us, serve us and transport us,” she said.
“Since lockdown has eased, these are the people who are more likely to come into contact with Covid-19. These are the people who should be celebrated rather than blamed.”
Calderdale was due to launch is own contact tracing service on Friday, subject to final government approval, which will work hand in hand with the national NHS Test and Trace service.
Harkins said: “It’s also important that we all understand that if we are to successfully implement these actions, our infection rate will increase before it reduces. This is because we need to find more people with Covid-19, so that they can be supported to isolate to reduce the spread of the virus.”
Calderdale is one of three areas of West Yorkshire placed under stricter lockdown measures a fortnight ago, along with a number of local authorities on the other side of the Pennines.
Data published on Wednesday showed Calderdale as a whole had the ninth highest number of new cases in England at 44.5 per 100,000 people in the seven days to 9 August. This was a rise from 39.7 in the previous period.
Still lots of confusion over when the quarantine for travellers from France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks & Caicos and Aruba comes into force, after the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said on Sky News last night it applied from Sunday – despite the official announcement stating 4am on Saturday.
Here’s a clip showing the moment Shapps says the rules start on Sunday:
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says the French government has reported a 66% increase in the number of positive #COVID19 cases in the country in the last week alone.
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) August 13, 2020
France is among the new countries added to the UK's quarantine list.
More here: https://t.co/Xg47KTuZ0F pic.twitter.com/ToT0MhINCK
This is in direct contradiction to Shapps’ own tweet, which clarifies the date as 4am on Saturday.
However, a number of newspapers have previously reported the new rules as kicking in on Sunday, suggesting even official briefings have been getting it wrong.
Updated
And it’s goodbye from me and hello to Jessica Murray, who is taking over now.
Another dissatisfied holidaymaker in France:
My brother in law and family are currently staying with us at our house in France. They were due to leave Monday evening but last night saw Honest Grant’s announcement on Sky News.
They promptly went online and managed to buy a new Eurotunnel ticket for tomorrow afternoon, paying £230. They were of course shocked to wake up and find out the quarantine starts from 4am tomorrow morning.
They are of course extremely upset and angry and now have to quarantine with 6 year old twins. Why hasn’t he acknowledged his mistake and the impact it has had ?
Kind regards, Amanda Hill
Just had an interesting but also deeply worrying email from a reader revealing what it’s like to be in quarantine in the UK:
My name is Tim and I recently returned from Belgium. There seems to be a widespread belief that the UK government has some type of control over those returning from the countries on the list. This is untrue.
I do not intend to boast about the fact that I have not complied to ‘the rules’ but that is the truth.
The form that you fill out asks for your permission to phone or text you - your permission! If they do phone you they ask you a few questions, “Are you at home?”, I was not but answered “Yes, I am”. That is it.
If this is compared to other nations, for instance, Singapore, where you are locked inside your room, or former CIS nations where you have to download an app and share your location, the UK is a joke.
My neighbour who returned from a nation ‘on the list’ arrived to Stansted Airport where they did not ask him to show the form. He returned to work and told his boss that he had been in Scotland (despite his tan).
Aaaand - someone else who took ‘Honest’ Grant at his (original) word that the quarantine would come in on Sunday:
When does this come into affect? You just said on sky news we have to be back by Sunday! Is it 4am Saturday or 4am Sunday? Have a crossing booked on Saturday afternoon......
— chris almond (@chris1almond) August 13, 2020
Oh no! Another victim of Grant Shapps’ inability to understand that 4am Saturday doesn’t actually mean Sunday:
Hi Amelia, YES! We were naive enough to actually believe ‘Honest’ Grant. Our ferry leaves France at 08.30 on Saturday. So, main dilemma right now is whether to choose Cummings’ “I used my best judgement” line, or the Shapps-ian ‘my word is my bond’ pledge. Yours, Trevor of Brexitland
I’m still keen to hear from anyone else caught out by ‘Honest’ Grant, who clearly needs to go back to Y1 to learn the difference between am and pm.
I’ve had a helpful email from Michael Cosgrove in Lyon, France:
Here’s some info for people driving back up from the South of France today. The official French traffic monitoring authority (Bison Futé) has announced that due to heavy traffic drivers are advised to avoid the main motorway (the A7) between 9am and 9pm, particularly between Marseille and Salon-de-Provence. Traffic will also be dense from 10am to 8pm between Orange and Lyon.
In other words and in simple terms, British tourists going home by car from the South of France should leave early and give themselves plenty of time to reach the north of the country.
So there you have it: if you’re fleeing France today - flee fast and flee early.
Further to the Saturday/Sunday mystery of French quarantine. It seems that Shapps himself doesn’t understand what 4am on Saturday actually means:
Grant Shapps can’t fathom why traffic is busier on Monday than Sunday, and thinks 4am Saturday is on Sunday, so...yeah. pic.twitter.com/qUPsUokPHX
— I’m Still Benny From The Block (@twitbenn) August 14, 2020
Another James has just been in touch, regarding my earlier post that British tourists in France are being charged hundreds of pounds to return home before quarantine restrictions are imposed.
James says:
Hey Amelia - just regarding your post on the live blog about airfares from France. EasyJet are flying from CDG to Gatwick for £39 tonight, and even BA are flying CDG to LHR for £66 today too.
I’m very happy to be corrected – and to help direct those looking for a way home today, to find one without paying through the nose.
Updated
Oh now this is interesting. Grant Shapps told holidaymakers yesterday that the new quarantine rules would come in on SUNDAY not Saturday, as has now been confirmed.
I’ve had a tweet from James, currently in France. He says this - and has helpfully provided the video in which Shapps said Sunday was the key date..
I just wanted to drop you a quick message because I saw your coverage of the travel chaos in France and thought you may be interested in our story.
We’re on holiday in France now saw the news about an impending quarantine. As a result, we spent all yesterday waiting for an announcement so that we could back before.
When it came via a Grant Shapps interview on Sky News, he said it would be from Sunday. We promptly booked our channel tunnel for Saturday afternoon, but now we’ve woken up today to see it’s been changed to Saturday.
So not only are we down hundreds of pounds, we’re also going to have to quarantine when we get back. We’re so angry and upset as we won’t be able to see family as planned. We don’t know what to do as all the tickets for today are now booked.
I hope to god they revert, as my mum has cancer and we were planning on seeing her on the way back.
Any other holidaymakers out there who have been hoist by the same Shapps-petard, please drop me a line: @byameliahill or amelia.hill@theguardian.com
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces Brits coming from France will have to quarantine from Sunday pic.twitter.com/OB7B7NHwEZ
— The Sun (@TheSun) August 14, 2020
Updated
My colleague Archie Bland is at the London Eurostar terminal this morning. He’s just filed this:
The quarantine news had broken so late that not every traveller at St Pancras was aware of it.
“What did you say? Oh no, no…” said Sonata Kralikaite, who was about to check in for a few nights in Paris with her mother - who had already made the journey to London from Lithuania. “We will maybe change our plans. We still have an hour and a half before our train. Oh God!” She threw back her head and laughed. “We’ll have a chat, a very serious chat.”
Approached during a huddled conference twenty minutes later, the pair said that they had decided to rebook for Christmas.
Updated
British tourists in France are being charged hundreds of pounds to return home before quarantine restrictions are imposed.
Air fares are more than six times higher than normal for flights from Paris to London on Friday, with the cheapest British Airways tickets being sold for £452. The lowest priced Eurostar tickets available on Friday morning are £210.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted the government had taken “a practical approach” to the new restrictions.
He said an estimated 160,000 holidaymakers are expected to try to return to the UK from France on Friday. There “had to be a cut-off”, he told BBC Breakfast.
The move, which applies throughout the UK, comes after Boris Johnson promised to be “absolutely ruthless” in decisions about imposing new quarantine restrictions.
Updated
Coronavirus: social impacts on Great Britain
This week’s ONS survey asked people what they felt were the most important issues facing Britain at present. They also asked if people could afford to have a holiday away from home, and views on travelling abroad in the light of rules on self-quarantining if returning from some countries.
Covering the period 5 - 9 August 2020, the survey continues to look at aspects of life such as the precautions people are taking to prevent the spread of the virus, and how they are adapting to restrictions lifting.
Findings include:
- The coronavirus pandemic was the single most important issue facing Great Britain, according to 37% of adults, followed by the economy (23%).
- The pandemic continues to affect 40% of respondents’ well-being. Of these, 18% said they were worried about a possible job loss, a slight increase from 14% saying this last week.
- Over 6 in 10 (62%) adults said they were very unlikely to travel abroad on holiday if they had to self-isolate at home for two weeks upon their return to the UK. 1 in 5 (20%) adults reported cancelling travel plans abroad because of rules around self-isolation after travelling to certain foreign countries.
- 4 in 10 adults (40%) said they would feel comfortable or very comfortable eating indoors at a restaurant – this compares with 34% last week. Of adults who had left their homes this week 28% said they had visited a café, pub or restaurant. This is up from 10% nearly a month ago (8 to 12 July 2020).
Updated
The government is being urged to extend the furlough scheme for struggling sectors of the economy such as the arts and entertainment to prevent “significant” job losses.
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) said workers have returned relatively quickly in areas such as hospitality, including accommodation and food services.
Construction and retail have also seen large numbers of workers return from furlough in recent months with 70% estimated to be back at work, said the report.
But arts, entertainment and recreation are continuing to struggle, with only 29% of workers having returned from furlough, according to the study.
This includes venues such as theatres, cinemas and nightclubs, as well as gyms and leisure centres, many of which are yet to reopen, let alone benefit from support equivalent to the Chancellor’s “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme, said the RSA.
Fabian Wallace-Stephens, senior researcher at the RSA, said: “The government needs to give continued, focused support for these sectors of the economy, linked to a clear recovery strategy.”
The furlough scheme, which has sustained the jobs of millions of workers, is ending in October.
Updated
Migrant children face hunger over free school meal restrictions
Thousands of children from migrant families are at risk of hunger when schools reopen in the UK unless the free meal provision is extended, according to a group of 60 organisations.
The Children’s Society, Action for Children, Project 17 and Unison are among the organisations that have written to the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, calling on him to extend free school meals to pupils from low-income migrant families classed as having “no recourse to public funds”.
Sam Royston, director of policy and research for the Children’s Society, said: “It is unacceptable that thousands of children, whose lives have already been turned upside down by the pandemic, could lose out on free school meals [when they return to school in September].
There is a protest planned outside Downing Street today at noon to protest against the downgrading of A-levels in England.
Protest 12 noon tomorrow opposite Downing Street. Backed so far by Islington and Newham sixth form colleges with hopefully other schools and colleges coming on board. See some of you there tomorrow. Please bring banners and placards if you've got or can make them ✊🏽
— Louise Regan (@LouRegan1) August 13, 2020
If you can go, and can go safely, please consider attending this. If not for yourselves, for the 300,000 pupils who had to live through today.
— Steve Jones 🇪🇺 (@antoniosteve) August 13, 2020
WHAT: Protest 12 noon
WHEN: Tomorrow, Friday
WHERE: opposite Downing Street.
WHO: Called by a number of London schools and colleges.
Some 36% of exams results were one grade lower, while 3% were down two grades, after adjusted estimates replaced exams cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Students in poorer areas were more likely to have their results downgraded.
Boris Johnson has shrugged of the anger caused by the downgrading. He is, notes students planning the protest, going on holiday any day now and so, they say, the protests need to take place asap.
#examshambles #WilliamsonResign
— Shoshana...3.5%...Let's get into #GoodTrouble (@shoshanade) August 13, 2020
WHAT: Protest 12 noon
WHEN: Tomorrow, Friday
WHERE: opposite Downing Street.
WHO: Called by a number of London schools and colleges.
Bring banners and placards
Bring masks and yourselves
********#3Point5Percent - we are just the beginning!
Updated
Despite the quarantine news, a few determined holidaymakers at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station in London on Friday morning were going ahead - and hoping their employers would be understanding when they got back.
Ben was taking his girlfriend Bella to Paris - a surprise trip whose destination she had only just been told of. “I didn’t know until literally five minutes ago,” said Bella. “It’s thrown us off a bit now. We wouldn’t be coming if we’d known. But I’m still excited.”
“We’re just hoping stuff doesn’t close. We’ll be wearing masks and using hand sanitiser and everything,” said Ben, considering the risks of catching the virus. “I’m more nervous about how work are going to take it than getting sick, to be honest.”
Trisha Hansen was travelling with her granddaughter Lacey to Disneyland. “It is what it is,” said Hansen, who was sporting a Mickey Mouse face mask. “You can’t let the children down.
“We were gutted, really upset when we heard the news. But you’ve just got to make the most of it,” she said. “We could just postpone it, but 14 days is not the end of the world. Fortunately I work from home, if I want shopping I’ll just order it online and have it delivered.
“I don’t think it’s fair how little notice they’ve given us - they only tell you the night before, you can’t really do anything about it,” she added.
Lacey - whose mother is also coming - communicated her continuing enthusiasm for the trip by nodding vigorously, but noted with a trace of disappointment that their trip would not affect her going back to school.
The UK’s airports and ports were braced for travel chaos on Friday as some of the hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers in France race to return home before new quarantine rules kick in.
Summer plans have been thrown into disarray after the government said on Thursday evening that, from 4am on Saturday, all arrivals from France would have to self-isolate for 14 days or face a fine.
The operators of the Channel Tunnel warned on Thursday night that Friday travel slots were “already pretty much fully booked” and that it would not be easy to return. “We just haven’t got the space to take everybody who might suddenly want to come up to the coast,” John Keefe, director of public affairs at Getlink told the BBC’s Newsnight.
Wittily headlined: LES MISÉRABLES, Politico’s London Playbook predict a stampede home this morning as all arrivals from France — where around 500,000 people from the UK are currently thought to be on holiday — will have to isolate for 14 days or face a fine from 4am on Saturday morning.
Find out what you can do if you’ve already booked a break across the Channel. Meanwhile, the mayor of Calais has told Boris Johnson to “calm down” amid suggestions Britain could send warships to patrol French waters for illegal migrants.
More than 1.3m coronavirus tests have been removed from England’s official data because of double counting, raising concerns about the accuracy of the testing figures. The change was announced quietly in the government’s daily coronavirus update on Wednesday, saying that it had reduced the number of “tests made available” by 1,308,071, or about 10%. The changes were made after it was discovered fewer tests had been done outside hospitals than originally reported. Two top economists have warned that easing Covid-19 restrictions too early could trigger a higher death toll and a double-dip recession. Nearly 300 workers at a factory in Northampton that makes sandwiches for M&S have tested positive for the virus.
The exams regulator “must remove bias” from the process used to standardise A-level results in England, the equalities watchdog has warned, after an outcry over figures showing that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were worst hit while private school pupils benefited the most. Ofequal has also been told to allow students to appeal if they feel their grades were unfairly reduced. Education secretary Gavin Williamson admitted that the effect of the algorithm used by Ofequal to assess grades in the absence of exams mean that an “exceptionally high-performing child in a low-performing school” would not get their expected grades. There was also concern that top universities were not being flexible enough in allowing for the impact of downgrades.
Lockdown Lite continues to lightened further across England from Saturday. So those high-tailing it back from France can relax once they’re here at the beauticians and barbers can go ahead. They could even get themselves a facial tattoos, attend a small wedding receptions, a live indoor performances and some small sports events. Bowling alleys, skating rinks, casinos and soft-play centers will also be allowed to open. Who needs France, asks Politico?
But prime minister Boris Johnson is pairing the velvet glove with the iron fist: there are to be tougher punishments for those who flout the rules. In a statement overnight, he said Brits “cannot be complacent,” and laid out harsher penalties for repeat offenders. The maximum fine for refusing to wear a mask will be doubled to £3,200, while those who organise illegal raves face a £10,000 sanction.
Encouraging signs that the continued lightening of lockdown has not had the knock-on effects on virus-spread that was feared. In an overnight press release, the government said previous indications about an increase in infections “now appears to have levelled off.”
We can see that for ourselves when the ONS release their infection rate survey here at midday. Meanwhile, the latest coronavirus surveillance report from Public Health England will be released this afternoon.
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Good morning from Amelia Hill. I’m here to take you through the news this morning.
