Early evening summary
- Boris Johnson has expressed his frustration with NHS Test and Trace after the latest figures showed its performance continuing to deteriorate on key measures. (See 5.20pm.)
- The Canary Islands, the Maldives, Denmark and the Greek island of Mykonos have been added to the travel corridors list for England - meaning people arriving from there no longer need to go into quarantine for 14 days. (See 5.32pm.)
That’s all from for tonight. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.
Updated
Summary of Boris Johnson's press conference
Boris Johnson’s comments on NHS Test and Trace at the press conference are at 5.20pm. Here are some more lines from the press conference.
- Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said there were some signs that the rise in cases was flattening off. He said:
At the moment, the numbers are heading in the wrong direction but there are some signs in some places of a potential flattening off of that. We need to wait and see and monitor the numbers very carefully.
- Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said the current level of government spending was “not sustainable” in the long run. He said:
It is clearly not sustainable to carry on acting in this way forever, so as we continue intervening in the economy, it is right that it is targeted and effective.
Boris Johnson also said it would be necessary to “pay this money back” - but he seemed be making a general point about running sustainable public finances, rather than making a specific commitment to debt repayment.
- Johnson rejected claims that he had neglected the financial interests of the north. Commenting on the long period spent negotiating with Greater Manchester, he said:
The issue is really one of basic fairness between various parts of the country that are having to experience regional restrictions, that’s what we were trying to achieve in the last 10 days.
What we are doing now is bringing forward measures that are designed to help businesses that can’t trade as they normally would and who are experiencing a fall in income.
- Vallance said he did not expect to see widespread use of vaccines until the spring. He said:
Things are progressing well, there are vaccines that produce an immune response, they’re in phase three clinical trials, we should be seeing some data read-outs over the course of this year, but I remain of the view that the possibility of wider-spread use of vaccines isn’t going to be until spring or so next year by the time we get enough doses and enough understanding of the outputs to use them.
Now we may get a few doses this side of Christmas, maybe something could happen, but I think we should more realistically be looking at spring, and of course there are no guarantees until the studies have read out.
So we need to be cautious and carry on, but there is a good progress in terms of the vaccines.
Nottingham MPs have described a decision by the government to leave them out of discussions on moving the city into tier 3 measures as “insulting”.
The city council leader, David Mellen, confirmed both he and the Nottinghamshire council leader, Kay Cutts, had received an invitation to a meeting with a government minister.
But Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, said only local government leaders had been invited. “It’s just so insulting. We’ve got constituents who are rightly concerned about their livelihoods and the spread of the virus,” Whittome said on Thursday morning. She added:
We’ve been standing up in the Commons at every opportunity asking the government what financial help is going to be provided, when we’ll have details of going into tier 3, asking them why there have been these delays and we just get stonewalled.
Lilian Greenwood, the Labour MP for Nottingham South, described the decision as “disrespectful”. She added:
I find it baffling that they want to keep MPs out of these discussions. Obviously we will want to have details of what their plan is, what they think it will achieve, how long they think we would need to be in tier 3, and what the criteria is for coming out.
Although Nottingham has the second-highest rate of coronavirus in the country, with 639.5 cases per 100,000 people in the week to 16 October, cases are falling in the city and rising in most areas across the county.
Updated
Here are the latest figures from the UK’s coronavirus dashboard.
- The UK has recorded 21,242 new cases. This is down more than 5,000 – or 20% – on yesterday’s record total (26,688). A week ago the figure was 18,980.
- The UK has recorded 189 further deaths. That is two below yesterday’s total, but well above the total for this time last week (138).
Updated
Canary Islands, Maldives, Denmark and Mykonos exempt from quarantine rules, Shapps announces
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has announced that the Canary Islands, the Maldives, Denmark and the Greek island of Mykonos have been added to the travel corridors list. That means from Sunday morning people arriving from those places will not have to quarantine.
UPDATE: Following an assessment of the latest data, the Canaries, the Maldives, Denmark and Mykonos have been ADDED to the #TravelCorridors list. From 4am on Sunday 25th Oct, you will no longer need to self-isolate if you arrive from those destinations. pic.twitter.com/vVF40XKS2t
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 22, 2020
The latest data indicates we need to remove Liechtenstein from the Travel Corridors list. From 4am on Sunday the 25th October, you will need to self-isolate if you arrive from there.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 22, 2020
Updated
Johnson says £12bn test and trace is 'helping a bit' in fight against Covid, but it must improve
Today NHS Test and Trace published performance figures showing that the proportion of close contacts of people with Covid-19 being reached has fallen to a new low and waiting times for test results have soared to almost double the target.
The government has spent more than £12bn on the service and, at the press conference, both Boris Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance said it needed to improve.
- Johnson said the service was helping “a bit” in the fight against the virus, but that it needed to improve. Asked about today’s performance figures, he said:
Look, I share people’s frustrations, and I understand totally why we do need to see faster turnaround times and we do need improve it. We need to make sure that people who do get a positive test self-isolate. That’s absolutely crucial if this is going to work in the way that it can.
He claimed that, in terms of expanding capacity, the achievements of the service had been “colossal”. He said:
But I would just stress to you that the achievement of the testing operation has been colossal. They have moved from a capacity of I think 3,000, 2,000 tests per day to about 300,000 now.
We’ve done 26m tests, more than any other country in Europe. And they are on track to reach capacity of 500,000 by the end of this month.
And the technology is improving the whole time.
But he also admitted its overall impact on the virus had been limited.
The thing depends on people self-isolating and breaking the transmission.
It is helping a bit already to break the transmission. About 1m contacts have been reached.
But there is more that it can do if everybody complies once they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
The claim that the service is only helping “a bit” may sound unduly harsh, or like an unintended verbal error, but in fact it is in line with the assessment from the government’s Scientific Advisory Committee for Emergencies. In a report written in September and released last week Sage said NHS Test and Trace was only having “a marginal impact on transmission”.
- Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said it was clear that there was “room for improvement” with test and trace. He said that ideally it should be reaching contacts within 48 hours. He said:
It’s really important to concentrate on numbers of contacts, isolation as quickly as you can and getting things back as quickly as you can – ideally you get the whole process done within 48 hours.
Figures in today’s report (pdf) show that only about two-thirds of the close contacts who are reached are reached within 48 hours of the case entering the system. More than a third of close contacts are never reached at all. Vallance said the system had to get better. He said:
It’s very clear there’s room for improvement on all that and therefore that could be diminishing the effectiveness of this.
And he also said that, with case numbers high, it would be of less use anyway. He explained:
It’s undoubtedly the case that test, trace and isolation becomes much more difficult to have an impact once numbers are high, it’s much more effective when numbers are low.
Updated
Q: If we get a vaccine in the spring, when will we be able to stop social distancing and wearing masks?
Vallance says he does not want to speculate on how effective the vaccines will be.
He says results will come in during the next two months or so. Once you see how effective they are, with different groups, you can work out what impact they will have.
But the aim is to ensure that people can relax restrictions, he says.
Johnson says he really hopes we make progress with vaccines.
But we cannot just count on that, he says.
Q: If the Welsh and Scottish lockdowns are more effective, would you copy them?
Johnson says he thinks having successive lockdowns would be really damaging, particularly to children. So he is not going for that approach.
He says there has been plenty of great local leadership.
He ends up by summarising the hands, face, space guidance.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
I’ll post a summary soon.
Q: Why was the government willing to go to the wall with Andy Burnham over £5m, when today you announced spending worth billions. The chancellor today met business leaders in London. Does that mean they’re more important?
Johnson says the negotiation between metro mayors was about fairness.
What he is doing now is address a national issue.
Sunak says a plan was drawn up over the summer. But over the past few weeks it has become clear that other measures are needed.
He says he did have a meeting with businesses and unions this morning. But there were people from Zoom in on the meeting from Merseyside and North Yorkshire and from other places too.
They were there to highlight the concerns of the hospitality sector.
Q: Can you guarantee this level of support will be maintained until a vaccine is available?
Sunak says this support will last at least six months. It will be reviewed at the mid point. But this will take us through to the spring.
Johnson says it is far better to keep the economy going. We are going to have to pay this money back. So we need an economy that can bounce back, he says.
He says if you look at the way the science is evolving, the improvements in treatments and drugs, and in mortality rates, he is confident we will get through this.
If we can do this together, we will drive the R number down, he says.
Vallance says he thinks the wider use of vaccines will not be until spring next year. There may be some doses this year. But spring is more realistic.
Q: Is test and trace salvageable, given case numbers are so high?
Vallance says it will work effectively in places where cases are lower.
It is much less effective in places with high levels, he says.
That is why you need other measures. You can only stop the virus by stopping contacts.
What test and trace will do is remove people who are infectious, he says.
Sunak says it is clearly not sustainable to carry on borrowing at this rate.
It is important to have one eye on the public finances, he says.
Prime minister says he 'shares peoples's frustrations' over test and trace
Johnson says he “shares people’s frustrations” about test and trace.
But the achievements have been “colossal”, he says.
It has done more tests than any other country in Europe.
It is on course to reach 500,000 tests per day.
And the technology is improving.
But it is crucial that people self-isolate when they do test positive, he says.
He says it is helping “a bit” to stop the virus spreading. He quotes the figures for the number of people already told to self-isolate.
Updated
Q: Isn’t today’s announcement an acknowledgment that you have neglected the north for months?
Johnson says the issue is one of fairness. That is what he sought to achieve in the last few days.
Now he is trying to help businesses that cannot trade as normal. The measures are backdated.
Sunak says this is about fairness, about treating places the same.
He says he wants people to have equal support.
Q: Sage said test and trace would have to reach 80% of contacts. How disappointed are you by today’s numbers?
Vallance says test and trace works best with a small number of cases.
He says the system has done well to ramp up the number of tests being carried out. But he says that the system will not be effective if people are not being reached on time. Ideally the whole process should be complete within 48 hours.
Updated
Q: The problems with the first version of your jobs scheme were obvious to industry. Why weren’t they obvious to you?
Sunak says that is a fair question to ask.
But when he designed the jobs support scheme in the summer, they were looking forward to the country reopening.
Since then the impact of the new restrictions has been heavier than envisaged.
He has adapted his policies as the situation has changed, responding flexibly to circumstances.
Q: Do you agree with your Scottish counterpart that families won’t have a normal Christmas?
Vallance says a lot depends on what happens. At the moment the numbers are heading in the wrong direction. But there are some signs of things flattening off.
Q: Why are you at war with local leaders?
Johnson says he does not accept that. He says he has had great conversations with local leaders. And he says he is grateful to Andy Burnham in Manchester.
There are signs the measures are starting to work, he says.
He says he is adopting a balanced approach.
Updated
Q: What can you do to encourage innovative business?
Johnson says the UK is one of the most competitive and dynamic environments in which to set up a business.
We now have very low business taxes, he says.
Sunak says we have fabulous, entrepreneurial start-ups.
He says early this year he set up a Future Fund to help fund start-ups.
Johnson is now taking questions from members of the public.
The first is from a woman who wants to know what help is available for businesses that are not told to close, but that are getting less income.
(These questions are submitted in advance, and it was a good question at 9am this morning, but sounds a bit redundant now given that we had a lengthy statement from the chancellor a few hours ago on exactly this.)
Sunak is now summing up what he told MPs earlier.
These are the hospital figures. Vallance says there are some indications of a decrease in the rate of increase.
Here are the hospital admission figures. Vallance says the more people there are in hospital with Covid, the less able they are to treat non-Covid patients.
Sir Patrick Vallance is now showing slides.
He starts with a reminder from last week - the latest estimate for new cases.
And here are estimates for the number of new cases per day.
Rishi Sunak is speaking now.
He is summarising the measures announced earlier. See 12.02pm.
He says his is one of the most generous version of an short-time work scheme in the world.
He says he is being more generous to places that have been in a higher alert level for longer.
Johnson says the government has produced a new package for businesses because it wants to keep them going.
He says the country can beat the virus.
Johnson says there are some people who say we should stop all restrictions.
(In fact, there are very few people who say this - although the Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne gave a speech along these lines in the Commons Covid debate just a few minutes ago.)
Johnson says he rejects that approach. It would be impossible to protect the elderly, he says.
Other says there should be a lockdown now, he says.
But he rejects that too - particularly because there might have to be repeat lockdowns.
Instead he is going for a balanced approach - between the Scylla of a lockdown and the Charybdis of uncontrolled virus spread.
Boris Johnson's press conference
Boris Johnson will be starting his press conference imminently.
He will be with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.
In Scotland there have been 1,712 new cases and 17 further deaths. The details are here.
Yesterday there were 1,739 cases and 28 deaths.
Public Health Wales has recorded 1,134 new cases and seven further deaths. The details are here.
Yesterday there were 962 cases and 14 deaths.
And in Northern Ireland there have been 1,042 new cases and five further deaths. The details are here.
Yesterday there were 1,039 cases and five deaths.
Covid rates amongst under-30s starting to fall, says Public Health England
Public Health England has covered its weekly Covid surveillance report (pdf), which now also covers influenza. It is based on data in the week up to Sunday 18 October (week 42).
Here is an extract from its summary.
Several surveillance indicators suggest that Covid-19 activity at a national level has continued to increase during week 42, though there are some indications that infection rates may have started to decline in some age cohorts ...
Detections of Covid-19 cases in England remained high but stable in week 42. Incidence and positivity rates remain highest in the North of England but there have been declines in positivity in some areas including the North East and East Midlands. By age group, cases rates remain highest in the 10 to 19 and 20 to 29 year olds although rates in these age groups have begun to decline. Positivity rates were highest in the 10-19 year olds tested through both pillar 1 (NHS and PHE testing) and pillar 2 (community testing) but have also begun to decline in week 42.
NHS England has announced 152 further coronavirus hospital deaths. There were 60 in the north-west, 35 in the north-east and Yorkshire, 29 in the Midlands, 10 in the east of England, nine in London, seven in the south-east and two in the south-west. The details are here.
That is 58 more than yesterday’s total (94) and 71 more than the total this time last week (81).
People can get long Covid even if they're asymptomatic when infected, Hancock tells MPs
Here is a fuller version of what Matt Hancock, the health secretary, told MPs earlier about long Covid, the condition that involves people suffering long-term symptoms after a coronavirus infection.
- Hancock said people could suffer from long Covid even if they had no symptoms when first infected. There seemed to be “no correlation” between the seriousness of the original illness and the long Covid after-effects, he said.
In some cases people have no symptoms of the coronavirus initially, but then can find that they have months and months of a fatigue, and a brain fog, and a muscle pain, and they didn’t know where it came from until they’re diagnosed with long Covid. It is a very serious complication.
- He said younger adults seemed to be particularly at risk. Evidence from King’s College London suggested about one in 20 people with coronavirus get long Covid, he said. But he said there was other evidence suggesting that, amongst adults under 50, it was more like one in 10. He went on:
So there does seem to be some correlation which implies that it is more of a problem amongst younger people. But understanding this is long Covid is still in early stages and an awful lot more research is needed.
- He said it could have debilitating effects on young people.
I’ve met people in their 20s and 30s, unable to work, sapped of all their energy, living with the long-term effects of a virus that has completely changed their lives. So to anyone, of any age, catching Covid can be very grave.
Updated
Hancock also told MPs that Warrington may have to move into the strictest tier 3 restrictions. He said formal discussions with the council were starting “due to a continuing rise in cases there”.
And Hancock also told MPs that lateral flow tests - Covid tests that can deliver results within minutes - started to be rolled out yesterday to schools and universities. Explaining what they could do, he said:
If we can deliver a mass testing solution so that pupils in a bubble don’t have to isolate for a fortnight when one in a bubble tests positive, we will not only control the spread of the virus, we will protect education better, and help schools and teachers and parents to live their lives much closer to normal.
They are also being distributed to councils, with Stoke-on-Trent council getting them from today, he said.
Boris Johnson spoke about this in his press conference on Friday. This ConservativeHome article explains in some detail why the government thinks this development will be crucial.
Updated
Councils will get powers to quickly close down firms ignoring Covid safety rules, Hancock says
Hancock told MPs he was also giving local authorities new enforcement powers to close down premises ignoring Covid-safety rules. These will allow councils to shut places without delay on public health grounds.
To support businesses who are doing the right thing, it is fair that we take action against those businesses who are doing the wrong thing - so firm enforcement helps make these restrictions fairer for all.
So we want to put in place stronger regulations to give local authorities firmer powers to take further action in their area.
The proposals that we’ll bring forward will mean councils will be able to act without delay and use closure notices to shut premises on public health grounds to help suppress the virus.
He said he would be working with local authorities over the coming days on the details of the rules.
These are powers that councils have been requesting for some time.
Updated
Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry and Slough moving into tier 2 restrictions, Hancock tells MPs
Hancock says some areas will have to move from tier 1, the medium risk level where the nationwide rules apply, to tier 2, the high risk level where stricter restrictions apply. They are: Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry and Slough.
In all of these areas there are more than 100 cases per 100,000 people, he says.
He says cases are doubling every fortnight. And there is a “concerning increase” in cases among the over-60s.
He says the new restrictions will come into force at 00.01am on Saturday.
The main change is that people will not be allowed to mix with other households indoors.
Updated
In the Commons, Matt Hancock is speaking now about long Covid. He says a clinic has been set up in London to help people suffering from this condition (long-term after-effects following a coronavirus infection).
He says that around one in 20 people have this. But among younger adults it is one in 10, he says.
And he says people can have long Covid even if they are asymptomatic when infected.
Updated
Here is our full story on today’s NHS test and trace performance numbers, from my colleague Haroon Siddique.
And here is some reaction.
From Labour’s health spokesperson Justin Madders
To have over 40% of people not even being contacted by the test-and-trace system is an interstellar-sized black hole in the government’s plan to reduce transmission.
How much longer are we expected to put up with this dangerous failure before ministers admit that the likes of Serco just aren’t up to the job?
From the Lib Dem health spokesperson Munira Wilson
We already knew that national contact tracing is an utter disaster – but it has now reached rock bottom. The figures released today show the test-and-trace system has had the lowest weekly figure of contacts traced since the scheme began back in March, not to mention the fact they’re being forced to draft in untrained staff to cope with the level of rising cases.
Updated
Steve Baker, a Conservative, asks Hancock to confirm that the disease is not progressing in the way that it was in the first wave. There has been no increase in excess mortality, he says.
“And I want to keep it that way,” says Hancock.
Updated
Hancock says there are two advantages as the government tackles the second wave.
First, it is more regional, he says. That means not all parts of the NHS are under the same pressure.
And, second, we know a lot more about the virus, he says.
Matt Hancock opens Covid debate
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is opening a Commons debate on coronavirus.
He says every day his confidence in the ability of science grows.
But until then, we must show resolve, he says.
Internal market bill not compatible with human rights protections, says committee
The government’s internal market bill undermines human rights protections, a committee of MPs and peers has said.
In a report (pdf), the joint committee on human rights said the legislation would allow ministers to ignore the Human Rights Act when making regulations. It said:
The committee are concerned that the bill still seems to envisage ministers not being bound by the Human Rights Act duty to act compatibly with convention rights when making regulations.
It also seeks to prevent the courts striking down regulations that are incompatible with human rights.
The committee conclude that these changes undermine human rights protections, which is very hard to reconcile with government statements that the bill is compatible with human rights.
As such, the committee recommends that the bill is amended to ensure that human rights are protected.
Updated
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has described today’s beefed-up economic support package from the Treasury as “a sticking plaster solution”. He said:
The changes announced today are a welcome improvement to the flawed and narrow job support scheme announced last month.
These should have been in place from the start – instead, businesses and workers have been put through weeks of uncertainty.
This latest announcement is just a sticking plaster solution that still fails to match the true scale of the problem.
The collapse of tourism into London has impacted heavily on footfall and left many hospitality, retail and leisure businesses without any prospect of returning to normal levels of business for many months to come.
Updated
From Sky’s Sam Coates
Table sent to Tory MPs about the tiers
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) October 22, 2020
(Note how even CCHQ don’t bother with the madly confusing medium / high / very high labels and just use tier 1, 2, 3) pic.twitter.com/3FRKFw9tQI
“Job support scheme open” and “job support scheme closed” are two different versions of the same scheme (according to whether or not the premises is legally required to close) - not two phrases that contradict each other, as some readers might assume.
Caroline Ansell, a Conservative MP who defied her party to support Labour’s vote for free school meals during school holidays, has resigned from her government post as a parliamentary private secretary, my colleague Heather Stewart reports.
These are from Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, which represents businesses in the hospitality sector.
Huge and very welcome intervention by Chancellor - JSS scheme evolves significantly to reflect changed circumstances. Sees employer minimum hours of at least 20% and top up of 5% (down from 55% previously). Just saved hundreds of thousands of jobs in hospitality and supply chain
— Kate Nicholls (@UKHospKate) October 22, 2020
Crucially securing help for our teams but also giving biz a lifeline to remain viable through continued trading where possible and a quicker and easier return to growth as restrictions ease. Thanks for listening and continuing to support the 3rd largest employer @RishiSunak
— Kate Nicholls (@UKHospKate) October 22, 2020
Updated
During the Manchester public health briefing (see 1.25pm) the city council’s director of public health, David Regan, said the infection rate among older people was high and rising.
There were 339 cases per 100,000 people among the over-60s, he said, adding:
That is where we’ve got our greatest concern because, unfortunately, our older population are more at risk of developing complications from Covid, which may result in hospital admissions.
Regan said there had been a marked drop in the infection rate among those aged 17 to 21 – falling from 3,350 cases per 100,000 people on 3 October to 568 cases per 100,000 currently.
This was due to the influx of 74,000 university students into Manchester in September, he said, although they had been able to bring the virus under control in part by quarantining at least 1,700 younger people in halls of residence – a measure which led to criticism at the time.
Regan urged Mancunians to abide by tier 3 restrictions that come into force overnight but said the evidence “isn’t there fully yet” that local lockdowns had worked. He went on:
Where the evidence is really clear is that the national lockdown did work in terms of suppressing the virus. I think we know that [with] these local lockdown arrangements, the evidence isn’t there fully yet.
Updated
Sturgeon suggests children should avoid trick-or-treating
Nicola Sturgeon has suggested that children should avoid going guising, or trick-or-treating, during Halloween this year, because it is unsafe for people to have unnecessary contact with others.
She said the Scottish government was issuing guidance for Halloween over the weekend, and urged families to devise different ways of celebrating. She said:
It’s not safe right now to do these things as normal. It wouldn’t be fair of me or right of me to say otherwise. To parents, to children: think of ways you can celebrate in a way that’s safe and doesn’t have children or others coming into unnecessary contact with others.
Sturgeon also backed up Jason Leitch’s warnings about Christmas being abnormal this year (see 9.39am), but said the intensity of any controls in force in December rested largely on how well people observed the current restrictions, suppressing the spread of the virus. She said:
I’m not going to stand here and give people false assurances I can’t deliver. It does depend on people doing the right thing now, so by Christmas we can ease up a bit.
Earlier this month Downing Street was non-committal at a briefing when asked if trick-or-treating would have to be abandoned this year in England, although the Department of Health and Social Care later said it should not happen in places where household mixing is banned.
Updated
Manchester's Nightingale hospital to reopen next week as Covid cases rise
Manchester’s Nightingale hospital will reopen “towards the end of next week” to help relieve the strain on the NHS from the second wave of coronavirus, senior health figures have confirmed.
Prof Jane Eddleston, Greater Manchester’s medical lead on coronavirus, said the large makeshift facility would take recovering Covid patients from hospitals across the badly hit north-west of England.
In a briefing designed to counter some of the “selective statistics” released by Downing Street earlier this week, Eddleston said 35% of critical care beds in the region were currently occupied by Covid patients.
During the April peak there were more than 300 patients filling critical care beds in Greater Manchester, of whom 260 had coronavirus. The latest figures, for Wednesday this week, showed 218 patients in critical care beds, of whom 95 were being treated for Covid.
Eddleston, who appeared alongside Boris Johnson at a Downing Street press conference last week, said that although this number was “significant”, the region was “in a different position now” and would bring in additional capacity where needed.
She said that during the April peak there was capacity for more than 400 critical care patients and that the service could reach this figure again. She said:
I don’t want to belittle the fact that this is a very serious condition and it’s challenging for the system ...
[But] we are prepared and we are determined as a system that we will move in the system together. We won’t allow any one of our providers to unintentionally have an increase in pressure in their system.
Eddleston said, however, that the number of non-critical Covid patients in Greater Manchester was approaching the level of the first peak. There were currently just over 600 coronavirus patients in acute hospital beds, she said, compared with just under 900 in April.
Updated
These are from Daniel Tomlinson, an economist at the Resolution Foundation thinktank. They explain why the new measures should make it more worthwhile financially for employers to retain staff.
What just happened?
— Daniel Tomlinson (@dan_tomlinson_) October 22, 2020
The Chancellor's economic support package caught up with the reality that restrictions - whatever the Tier - are tough for some businesses. He's:
Reduced the hours worked requirement (33% to 20%)
And slashed the employer contribution (33% to 5%) pic.twitter.com/ikzzP28Tru
This has, pretty much, fixed the JSS.
— Daniel Tomlinson (@dan_tomlinson_) October 22, 2020
The incentive to keep two people on part-time rather than one on full-time, with the other made redundant is here.
Crucial for keeping unemployment down this winter. pic.twitter.com/kqKmcKoYqv
And, when you add in the impact of the Job Retention Bonus the incentives are even stronger - particularly at lower wages.
— Daniel Tomlinson (@dan_tomlinson_) October 22, 2020
Chart shows cost of keeping people at various wage levels working half-time for six months. pic.twitter.com/OzKlpkaw1d
Still some concern that firms not told to close but effectively forced into doing so by social distancing won't be able to manage 20% of usual hours worked. But as far as support for jobs this winter goes, the Chancellor has sorted it out.
— Daniel Tomlinson (@dan_tomlinson_) October 22, 2020
*This should have happened weeks ago.
The Scottish Retail Consortium, which represents the country’s largest shopping chains, has urged people to “shop early, start wrapping” after Nicola Sturgeon’s public health adviser warned Christmas would be severely impacted by the Covid crisis. (See 9.39am.)
The SRC, the Scottish wing of the British Retail Consortium, said Jason Leitch’s warning that large family gatherings would be highly unlikely to be approved this year added to its anxieties about the impact coronavirus controls were having on shops.
David Lonsdale, the director of the SRC, said:
Whilst celebrations will be a little different this year, we know shoppers will want to keep Christmas special. That’s why we’re encouraging people to shop early and prevent the last minute rush so their fellow customers and all the store colleagues, warehouse workers and delivery drivers working behind the scenes, have the space they need to stay safe and well.
Updated
From my colleague Richard Partington
Treasury publishes pictures of Rishi Sunak and Robert Jenrick meeting with business leaders in Franco Manca, by Waterloo station, this morning. Did either cabinet minister visit Greater Manchester earlier this week for talks? https://t.co/KrZ50WkSKA pic.twitter.com/J30UTqKAJC
— Richard Partington (@RJPartington) October 22, 2020
And this is from Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, on Rishi Sunak’s beefed-up economic support package. She said:
Unions have been calling for a more generous jobs support scheme to help workers and businesses hit by the impact of coronavirus restrictions across the country.
Today’s measures are a step forward. But there are still big holes in the government’s plan.
Low-paid workers will face real hardship if they have to get by on less than 80% of their wages and the support for the self-employed is still too low.
The chancellor should have increased support for all workers to at least 80%. And we still need decent sick pay for people forced to self-isolate.
Business groups have welcomed Rishi Sunak’s beefed-up support package for firms and workers.
In a statement the CBI director general, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, said:
This is a big step towards a more standardised approach of support for areas going into tiers 2 and 3 and those businesses that face tough times who operate within them. It will be critical to get the buy-in of all regions in England, rather than negotiation on a case-by-case basis.
Jonathan Geldart, the director general of the Institute of Directors, said:
The new and improved jobs support scheme is to be welcomed, and should go some way to easing company directors’ fears. A substantial reduction in the employer contribution is a crucial step, reflecting our members’ concerns. Taking a national approach will help to cut through the confusion of different tiering systems and backroom political negotiations.
And the British Chambers of Commerce said in its response:
This is a very significant improvement in the support available to businesses struggling with the impact of increasing restrictions across the UK.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon said she welcomed the chancellor’s new funding of the job and self-employed support schemes but said the Scottish government would press the Treasury to increase the subsidies given to support jobs.
“There’s still an argument [it] should go further, particularly on levels of wage support for businesses,” she said at her daily coronavirus briefing. There was “a need to try to get improvements there, and get that back up to levels we saw earlier in the pandemic”.
Sturgeon said she had yet to study the detail of Rishi Sunak’s new measures but “on the face of it, they look positive – any additional support for jobs right now is positive”.
The Scottish government is pressing the Treasury for clarity on whether recent funding announcements for England, specifically for councils and businesses, would lead to extra money for Scotland.
UK government sources said there could yet be additional Treasury funding. However it had already given Scotland £7.2bn in extra funding over the summer, part of which, they said, was a forward payment to cover future spending.
Sturgeon announced 17 further Covid-19 deaths overnight, and said 1,712 new positive cases had been recorded, slightly down on Wednesday’s 1,739, with 74 people now in intensive care, one more patient than on Wednesday.
She said current estimates of Scotland’s R number, the rate at which the virus is spreading, suggested it was as high as 1.5.
Updated
This is from Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, criticising Rishi Sunak for what he said earlier (see 12.27pm) about the need to “balance” protecting jobs against protecting lives.
Did Rishi Sunak just say his approach is about striking a balance between saving lives and protecting livelihoods?
— Jonathan Ashworth 😷 (@JonAshworth) October 22, 2020
Saving lives and protecting livelihoods go hand in hand.
It’s not about trading one off against the other.
Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, will hold a press conference at 4pm, No 10 has announced.
Alison Thewliss, the SNP’s Treasury spokeswoman, told the Commons that the new Treasury support package was “a sign of panic”. She said:
This is the third statement from the chancellor in the space of a month but this is not a sign of good management, this is a sign of panic and chaos from this government and none of this should be coming as a surprise to them.
The chancellor’s scheme has been full of holes. Time and time again he comes here in a knee-jerk reaction full of panic rather than planning ahead to a situation we told him would arise.
Labour’s Chris Byrant told Sunak in the Commons that he welcomed the measures. But he wanted to know what the Barnett consequentials would be for Wales (ie, how much will go to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as their share of the spending for England).
Sunak said he could not put a figure on that because these were “demand-led schemes” and so it was not clear what the final cost would be.
In the Commons Mel Stride, the Conservative chair of the Treasury committee, asked Rishi Sunak for an assurance that in future the government’s chief economist would appear at Covid press conferences, so that economic concerns are taken into account as well as health concerns.
Sunak said the government was aware of the importance of both. He told Stride:
The party opposite did reference the Sage minutes but seemed to forget that that part of the minutes which struck very rightly that balance between protecting jobs and protecting lives as well.
He can rest assured that that is what we on this side of the House and in this government will always do. I may spare the chief economist the pleasure of the press conferences.
These are from Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
V big change to Job Support Scheme.
— Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) October 22, 2020
To keep employees in jobs firms now need to pay 20% for time they work plus 5% on top, with govt covering 75%. Under scheme announced last month govt covered just 45%
This changes incentives to keep people on a lot.
Again, though, it is very odd to have such a big announcement without, so far as I can see, any information on expected cost.
— Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) October 22, 2020
Nothing at all yet on HMT website https://t.co/bX42at65bH
Burnham says Greater Manchester would have agreed tier 3 if told about these plans two days ago
This is from Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester. He says he would have backed moves for his region to be placed under the tier 3 restrictions if he had been told about these measures two days ago.
Honestly, can barely believe what I’m reading here. 👇
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) October 22, 2020
Why on earth was this not put on the table on Tuesday to reach an agreement with us?
I said directly to the PM that a deal was there to be done if it took into account the effects on GM businesses of three months in Tier 2. https://t.co/w2AeeLitGP
Perhaps this explains why Boris Johnson was being so evasive on Tuesday night when asked to quantify what extra support would be available to Greater Manchester as he forced it into tier 3.
Updated
Whoever manages Rishi Sunak’s Twitter feed has been posting about the new measures.
1/ I’m introducing a new grants scheme for businesses impacted by Tier 2 restrictions, even if they aren’t legally closed.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 22, 2020
I’m providing enough funding to give every business in hospitality, leisure & accommodation a grant worth up to £2,100 every month Tier2 restrictions apply. pic.twitter.com/HvVtz9WReq
As the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves reports, there has been a modest change to Sunak’s branding.
Following disquiet from some Tories about 'Brand Rishi' taking all the credit for billions of spending, the Chancellor has finally added the Conservative tree logo. As one senior Tory points out tho, he still 'can't quite manage the word Conservative'... https://t.co/B7Ht2LCiSQ
— Jason Groves (@JasonGroves1) October 22, 2020
Updated
These are from Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank focusing on pay and income inequality. He has posted a thread starting here.
Chancellor kicking off - he's going to protect your jobs (mainly)
— Torsten Bell (@TorstenBell) October 22, 2020
And here are two of his main conclusions.
Main measure: totally refashioning Job Support Scheme by slashing employer contributions from 33% to 5%. This is addressing the massive flaw in the scheme and will make a big difference to the schemes effectiveness
— Torsten Bell (@TorstenBell) October 22, 2020
Summary: @RishiSunak has now created a fit for purpose part time work scheme that firms can actually use. A policy that might work in the real world as well as in spreadsheets
— Torsten Bell (@TorstenBell) October 22, 2020
And here is an example from the Treasury of how the revised job support scheme could work.
A typical full-time employee in the hospitality industry is paid an average of £1,100 per month. Under the jobs support scheme for open businesses, they will still take home at least £807 a month. All the employer needs to pay is a total of £283 a month or just £70 a week; the government will pay the rest.
Here is more detail from the Treasury on how much the new business grants could be worth. It says:
[Local authorities] will receive a funding amount that will be the equivalent of:
For properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, grants of £934 per month.
For properties with a rateable value of between £15,000-£51,000, grants of £1,400 per month.
For properties with a rateable value of £51,000, grants of £2,100 per month.
Full details of Sunak's beefed-up Covid support for workers and businesses
Here is the Treasury news release about the plans.
And this is what it says about the three measures.
1) Grants for businesses affected by tier 2 rules
The chancellor has announced approved additional funding to support cash grants of up to £2,100 per month primarily for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who may be adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas. These grants will be available retrospectively for areas who have already been subject to restrictions, and come on top of higher levels of additional business support for local authorities moving into tier 3 which, if scaled up across the country, would be worth more than £1bn.
These grants could benefit around 150,000 businesses in England, including hotels, restaurants, B&Bs and many more who aren’t legally required to close but have been adversely affected by local restrictions nonetheless.
2) A more generous job support scheme (JSS)
Recognising the pressure businesses in some sectors and areas are facing, today’s announcement lightens the burden of keeping on staff.
When originally announced, the JSS – which will come into effect on November 1 - saw employers paying a third of their employees’ wages for hours not worked, and required employees to be working 33% of their normal hours.
Today’s announcement reduces the employer contribution to those unworked hours to just 5%, and reduces the minimum hours requirements to 20%, so those working just one day a week will be eligible. That means that if someone was being paid £587 for their unworked hours, the government would be contributing £543 and their employer only £44.
Employers will continue to receive the £1,000 job retention bonus. The “job support scheme closed” for businesses legally required to close remains unchanged.
3) Extra help for the self-employed
Today’s announcement increases the amount of profits covered by the two forthcoming self-employed grants from 20% to 40%, meaning the maximum grant will increase from £1,875 to £3,750.
This is a potential further £3.1bn of support to the self-employed through November to January alone, with a further grant to follow covering February to April.
Updated
Labour says Sunak should apologise to people who have lost their jobs already
Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, is responding to Sunak.
She says the government’s handling of this has been “shambolic”.
Many areas have spend months under tier 2 restrictions without adequate support, she says.
She says Sunak should apologise to people who have already lost their jobs because of the lack of support.
The process has not been “fair and transparent”, she says.
She says the government still has not published the formula used to decide business support.
Sunak says his second measure will make the job support scheme more generous.
The employer contribution will be cut from 33% to 5%, he says.
Job Support Scheme Closed will help businesses pay their employees’ wages if they are legally required to close due to coronavirus restrictions
— HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) October 22, 2020
- Government pays 67% of employees’ wages
- Employers pay nothing towards wages pic.twitter.com/x7CvgsaODp
And he says support for the self-employed will be made more generous. Its value will rise from 20% to 40%, meaning people will be able to get £3,750 a month.
Sunak announces grants for firms affected by tier 2 rules, paid retrospectively back to August
Sunak says he is announcing three measures.
First, there will be grants available for businesses in tier 2 areas.
Councils will be able to distribute them, he says.
But he says they will mean that accommodation, hospitality and leisure businesses will be able to get up to £2,100 for every month tier 2 restrictions apply.
That is equivalent to 70% of the value of the grants for closed businesses in tier 3.
These grants will be retrospective. They can cover any business affected by enhanced restrictions since August.
Sunak summarises what is already available.
But even businesses that can stay open face profound uncertainty, he says.
He says he met with businesses this morning. The message was clear: the impact of restrictions was worse than expected.
Businesses are suffering profound economic harm, he says.
Updated
Sunak says a regional, tiered approach is the right way to control the spread of the virus.
Sunak says he makes no apology for responding to changing circumstances.
Rishi Sunak's statement
Rishi Sunak is making his statement to the Commons now.
He starts by addressing people in tier 3 areas.
He understands their frustration, he says. But we will get through this together, he says.
Figures for close contacts reached by test and trace hit new low, latest figures show
The NHS Test and Trace figures (pdf) also show that, in the most recent week, it only reached 59.6% of the close contacts of people who had tested positive it was told about. This is the lowest figure yet.
The target is 80%.
Updated
People now waiting around 48 hours for test results, double what PM promised, latest figures show
NHS Test and Trace (which, of course, is run by private contractors, not the NHS) has published its latest weekly performance statistics (pdf).
The figures show that there has been a very significant increase in the amount of time taken for test results to be delivered. People using regional test sites, local test sites or mobile testing units now have to wait around 48 hours for a result.
The report says:
The median time to receive a test result after taking a test in-person has increased in the latest week.
In the first month of test and trace, there was an initial reduction in the median time taken to receive a test result for in-person tests (regional test sites, local test sites and mobile testing units). This began to gradually trend back up from the start of July until the middle of September.
Between 8 October and 14 October, the median time taken to receive a test result at regional test sites increased to 45 hours from 28 hours in the previous week. Similarly, local test sites increased to 47 hours from 29 hours and mobile testing units also increased to 41 hours from 26 hours during the same period.
Here is the chart with the figures.
Of course, in the summer Boris Johnson promised MPs that the government would “get all tests turned around within 24 hours by the end of June except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that.”
The government has never come close to meeting that target for in-person “pillar 2” tests (which covers most tests, excluding the pillar 1 ones for hospital patients and staff).
The Resolution Foundation thinktank has posted these on Twitter on the latest furlough figures from the ONS. (See 10.30am.)
Latest data from @ONS shows that in late August there were still 3.3 million people on furlough. Remember that this was when 'Eat Out to Help Out' was at its peak and restrictions on economic activity were light. pic.twitter.com/iU0hotJ4Zt
— Resolution Foundation (@resfoundation) October 22, 2020
In positive news, this meant that 436,000 hospitality employees left furlough between July and August. We expect that the vast majority of these would have returned to work rather than entered unemployment. pic.twitter.com/g36unllA8a
— Resolution Foundation (@resfoundation) October 22, 2020
But this does leave roughly 1/4 of hospitality workers and 1/3 of leisure workers still furloughed (either fully or in part) at the end of August - reminding us once more of the heavy impact of the crisis on these sectors. pic.twitter.com/FoXH6IMAOf
— Resolution Foundation (@resfoundation) October 22, 2020
From the Treasury
Our economic support schemes continue to deliver for people & businesses up and down the country.
— HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) October 22, 2020
The latest figures can be found here: https://t.co/6T4msl736l pic.twitter.com/12pLletdf0
From Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary
At least 8,000 redundancies have been announced since the Chancellor set out his Winter Economic Plan:
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) October 22, 2020
Marston's - 2,150
National Trust - 1,458
Manchester Airports Group - 900
TSB - 969
Greene King - 800
Edinburgh Woollen Mill - 600
Pret - 400
GBK - 362
Virgin Money - 400
Welsh government nationalises rail services as Covid hits revenue
The Welsh government has decided to nationalise its railways following a significant drop in passenger numbers because of coronavirus.
Ken Skates, the Welsh economy minister, said:
The last few months have been extremely challenging for public transport in Wales and across the UK.
Covid has significantly impacted passenger revenues and the Welsh government has had to step in with significant support to stabilise the network and keep it running.
We have decided to transfer day-to-day rail services to a new publicly-owned subsidiary of Transport for Wales.
There are full details here.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has confirmed plans making it compulsory for lorries crossing to France from the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone to obtain a permit before they enter Kent or face a £300 fine.
In a press statement Shapps said:
New opportunities mean new ways of doing things and it’s sensible that we plan for all scenarios including the risk of short-term disruption to our busiest trade routes.
By putting in place these plans we are ensuring Kent keeps moving, our fantastic haulage industry is supported and trade continues to flow as we embark on our future as a fully independent state.
George Osborne - remember him? - has just given a speech to the Great Northern conference, in which he suggested that his “northern powerhouse” concept — repackaged by Boris Johnson as the “levelling-up” agenda — was a success because:
We now have a national conversation where representatives of the North of England are heard on our national news.
Heard, but still largely ignored by the national government, the former chancellor didn’t add.
Osborne also said, straight-faced:
I think we’re beginning to see a much more balanced, healthy British society and state where not every single decision is taken in Westminster.
Andy Burnham may beg to differ. (See 10.40am.)
Driscoll tells the business committee he has a problem with the phrase “levelling up”. That implies there is a ceiling, he says. He does not want there to be a ceiling. He wants his area to go further.
Burnham says it's 'really troubling' extra tier 2 help only being offered now London needs it
Q: What do you make of the fact that Rishi Sunak is only now introducing this extra help for tier 2 regions?
Burnham says he is “really struggling” with this. That’s not because he begrudges the help. It is because he wants to know, why now? Why is help only being offered after London went into tier 2?
That is a “really troubling” question, he says.
He says the response would have been better if “flexible, significant funding” had been devolved.
Councils should have been given support and backing at the start, he says.
He says he was “open mouthed” when he read about today’s package. It was billed as support for London and the Midlands.
I honestly was just open-mouthed really when I read the headlines last night. That there was going to be a support package ... billed as being for London and Birmingham.
And it was just a case of ‘Hello! We’ve been under these restrictions for three months’.
Bolton had their pubs closed for three weeks with nothing, absolutely nothing.
Why do we see London’s issues much more than we see Liverpool’s issues? Greater Manchester’s issues?
That, I think, is a really troubling question that this committee needs to talk about as part of this.
He says he wants to know what this week was about. Liverpool was played off against Manchester, he says.
He says, on Tuesday, he told the PM that Manchester was in a different position because it had been under restrictions for three months. And it had more businesses.
But that factor “did not weigh at all”. They settled for a simple, population-based formula, he says.
He says there has to be “a reckoning” now. He has not just been playing politics, he says.
He felt he was standing up for his region.
He says, “unless there is a basic even-handedness”, there will be problems. We have a powerful centre not treating places equally, he says.
Without that, “we are going into a dark and dangerous place”, he says.
Updated
Jamie Driscoll tells the committee that yesterday was the 215th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. He says Nelson realised he could not always tells his captains what to do, so the night before the battle, he told them to make sure their ships were alongside the enemy.
If Nelson could understand the importance of delegated leadership 215 years ago, then Whitehall should understand it now.
He gives examples of what councils can do with tailored interventions. And he says he won’t even talk about test and trace; it would be much more effective with local control, he says.
Local authorities need to create new jobs. And local leaders can make a real difference, he says.
Burnham says Covid has exposed how England has 'devolution in name, but not reality'
Andy Burnham goes first.
He says this might be a moment when England “grows up” a little in terms of devolution.
Central government holds all the money. Mayors have to beg for it, he says.
We have “devolution in name, but not in reality”, he says.
He says the government cannot just level up from Whitehall. It cannot just drop policies on regions.
He says when he was an MP he was used to seeing the north of England being pushed around.
But things “came to a head” because if you are going to lock down people’s jobs, “you can’t do that on terms dictated from 200 miles away”.
If you are going to do that, it has to be on local terms.
We were being asked to lock down on terms from very far away and ultimately ... a stand needed to be taken.
Metro mayors give evidence to MPs about Covid
The Commons business committee is now taking evidence from four metro mayors: Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool city region, Jamie Driscoll, the North of Tyne mayor and Tim Bowles, the West of England mayor. It is part of an inquiry into post-pandemic economic growth.
There is a live feed here, and hopefully we’ll have one at the top of the blog soon.
Almost one business in five in accommodation or food at severe risk of insolvency, ONS says
The Office for National Statistics has published two reports on the impact of coronavirus on the UK this morning.
This one covers the economy and society. And here are some of the main points.
- Some 17% of businesses in the accommodation and food services industry were at a severe risk of insolvency, the ONS says. Here is the chart.
- The proportion of adults travelling to work fell by five percentage points last week. It is now at 60%.
- The volume of traffic on the road is 11% below what it was in early February, before the pandemic took hold.
And this report covers economic impacts. Here are some of the main points.
- Only 70% of businesses in arts, entertainment and recreation are currently trading, compared with the 86% average for all sectors. Here is the chart.
- Some 9% of the workforce was on full or partial furlough at the start of October.
The government has been accused of London-centric decision-making as the chancellor looked set to help to businesses suffering under Covid restrictions less than a week after a ban on household mixing came into force in the capital – after ignoring similar pleas from much of the north of England for almost three months, my colleague Helen Pidd reports.
Updated
Liverpool hospitals treating more Covid patients than at peak of first wave, health chief reveals
Hospitals in Liverpool are treating more coronavirus patients than they were during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, the medical director has said.
Dr Tristan Cope, a consultant and the medical director of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal, Aintree and Broadgreen hospitals in the city, used Twitter to highlight the scale of the problem.
Sadly we are now treating more patients in hospital with Covid-19 @LivHospitals than we did in April at the peak of the first wave and numbers continue to rise.
— Tristan Cope (@DrTristanCope) October 22, 2020
So important that people in #liverpool and @LivCityRegion adhere to social distancing restrictions.#HandsFaceSpace
Treating so many covid patients in addition to usual acute and emergency care of patients with non-covid conditions puts a huge strain on @LivHospitals staff. Thank you to all our staff for their incredible hard work and dedication in dealing with this very difficult situation.
— Tristan Cope (@DrTristanCope) October 22, 2020
We can all help reduce that pressure by doing the right thing and taking some very simple measures: washing our hands frequently, keeping our distance from others from outside our household and wearing face coverings in indoor settings.#HandsFaceSpace
— Tristan Cope (@DrTristanCope) October 22, 2020
The hospital trust currently has 398 inpatients with Covid-19, compared to 390 at the height of the pandemic, on April 12, PA Media reports.
Liverpool city region was the first area in England to be placed under the strictest tier 3 restrictions.
The shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan sent out more than 1,600 letters on pre-paid House of Commons stationery in breach of the rules, an inquiry has found. As PA Media reports, the Commons standards committee recommended that Allin-Khan should repay the £1,142.52 cost of sending the “Brexit Update” letter to voters in her Tooting constituency in the run-up to last year’s general election.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, found that the letter used “public resources to highlight to a group of voters her position and record on an issue that was one of the key themes of the imminent election”. The committee noted that it was the third time Allin-Khan had been found to have breached the rules in three years.
Prospect of large family gatherings this Christmas a 'fiction', Scottish health chief says
Nicola Sturgeon’s public health adviser Jason Leitch has warned the idea of a normal Christmas this year with large family gatherings is “fiction”, and urged people to “get their digital Christmas ready”.
Leitch, the Scottish government’s national clinical director, who regularly flanks Sturgeon in her daily coronavirus briefings, told BBC Radio Scotland it was too early to say what the situation would be in late December. But Christmas would “absolutely” not be normal. He said:
I’m worried firstly about Hallowe’en and November 5, and then we may turn our minds to Christmas. I’m hopeful costs now may get us a more normal family Christmas but Christmas is not going to be normal; there’s absolutely no question about that.
We’re not going to be in large family groupings with multiple families coming round. That is fiction for this year, but I’m hopeful if we can get the numbers down to a certain level we may be able to get some form of normality but people should get their digital Christmas ready.
The first minister will unveil Scotland’s five tier Covid-19 alert system tomorrow; Leitch confirmed it would a very tough top tier, tier 4, which would be akin to a full lockdown, but said ministers and their advisers were still working out which council areas would be put in which tier.
Scotland has, like many other parts of the UK and Europe, recorded a surge in cases. It passed the 50,000 infections mark on Wednesday and the highest number of daily fatalities since late May, with 28 deaths of people who had had positive Covid-19 tests.
Senior Tory says Rishi Sunak will address funding flaw in three-tier Covid system
Good morning. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will be in the Commons later to deliver his fourth Covid support package in as many months. It is expected that a key feature of his announcement will be increased support for businesses that are affected by the tier 2 restrictions - such as pubs and restaurants getting less trade because people cannot meet up inside to eat or drink with friends.
Ministers have been under pressure to address this problem for week, because businesses have been suffering in the Midlands and the north of England in places where tier 2-style restrictions were imposed over the summer. (The three-tier system was only introduced last week.) Labour even staged a vote addressing this issue in the Commons yesterday. The government voted it down with a majority of 79. But you could read Sunak’s statement as evidence that, as the Corbynites would put it, Labour won the argument.
Alternatively, Sunak’s appearance in the Commons this morning may also be testament to the immense power of London over Westminster policy making. Hospitality venues in the north have been struggling for month. London only went into tier 2 on Saturday, and five days later - lo and behold - a rescue package is on its way.
On the Today programme this morning Andy Street, the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, admitted that Sunak was addressing a problem that was “completely missed” when the three-tier regime was introduced. Businesses forced to close under tier 3 rules were getting help, but businesses losing custom because of tier 2 rules were not, he said.
The government have given incredible support to businesses, but clearly this particular point was just one that was completely missed in planning the tier 2 restrictions so I am really optimistic that they will respond.
The government didn’t expect us to be in a position through the autumn where we were having a rising level of the virus to this extent, so if you look at the design of the winter economy package at the time that seemed rational but clearly events have moved very quickly.
Here is the agenda for the day.
10am: Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool city region, Jamie Driscoll, the North of Tyne mayor and Tim Bowles, the West of England mayor, give evidence to the Commons business committee about growth policy and levelling up.
11pm: NHS Test and Trace is due to publish its weekly performance figures.
Around 11.30am: Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, delivers his statement to MPs.
12.15pm: The Welsh government’s education minister Kirsty Williams holds a coronavirus briefing.
12.15pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, holds a coronavirus briefing.
1.05pm: Boris Johnson addresses the Great Northern Conference. Other speakers include the Sheffield city region mayor Dan Jarvis at 9.30am, the former chancellor George Osborne at 9.40am and Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, at 2.50pm.
2pm: Public Health England publishes its weekly Covid surveillance report.
2.15pm: Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the public administration and constitutional affairs committee.
Politics Live has been doubling up as the UK coronavirus live blog for some time and, given the way the Covid crisis eclipses everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will be covering non-Covid political stories too, like Brexit, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here is our global coronavirus live blog.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
Updated
