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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Andrew Sparrow and Lucy Campbell (now); Simon Murphy (earlier)

UK coronavirus: recession already happening, says Rishi Sunak, as furlough scheme extended – as it happened

A woman wearing a protective face mask and visor walks in Westminste.
A woman wearing a protective face mask and visor walks in Westminste. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

We’re closing this liveblog now. Follow our global coverage here

Updated

Evening summary

  • The government’s furlough scheme, where the state subsidises the wages off workers temporarily laid off because of the pandemic, will be extended until the end of October, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced. The four-month extension, which confirmed that the level of support will not be reduced and employers will be asked to contribute more, was welcomed by MPs from all sides as well as the unions. The announcement came shortly after Sunak told the BBC the UK recession was “already happening” what with the loss of jobs and rise in Universal Credit claims.
  • There have been more than 40,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the UK, official figures indicated. This places the UK with the second-worst death toll in the world, after the US. The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, include deaths where Covid-19 was named on the death certificate as a factor.
  • The care home death rate has almost halved in the past few weeks, the health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, said. It came as new figures were released on care home fatalities, with the ONS revealing that about 40% of Covid-19-related deaths – 2,423 – registered in the week ending 1 May in England and Wales were in care homes, the first week-on-week decrease since 20 March. The figures showed that at least 10,535 deaths to date have occurred in settings outside hospitals.
  • People should use cars if they can’t walk or cycle, in order to avoid using public transport, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said. For those who have to use public transport, new transport guidance published by the government advised people to face away from each other if it isn’t possible to keep a 2 metre gap between them. Shapps also said face coverings should be worn as a precautionary measure and that passengers should avoid rush hour, re-plan visits, use contactless payments where at all possible and wash their hands before and after their journeys.
  • Further coronavirus outbreaks and rolling lockdowns are inevitable under government plans to ease restrictions without a robust strategy to suppress the virus, an independent group of scientists warned. The experts, convened by the former government chief scientific adviser Sir David King, urged ministers to reconsider the “dangerous” strategy of managing the spread of Covid-19 and adopt widespread decentralised testing, tracing and isolation to clamp down on the epidemic.
  • The Northern Ireland executive published its own five-step coronavirus recovery plan. The 12-page document sets out the five steps, the first of which includes groups of four to six people who are not from the same household being able to meet outdoors while maintaining physical distancing, drive-through church services, churches opening for private prayer, opening of outdoor spaces and public sport amenities, drive-through cinemas and more sports, including some water activities, golf and tennis.

That’s it from us on the UK side. Thanks to everybody who got in touch throughout the day and to all of you for reading along. If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s coverage of the pandemic, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture.

Updated

Property viewings and visits to estate agents may be seen as a reasonable excuse for leaving the house, under regulations coming into force in England from Wednesday which could help to reinvigorate the market.

Under previous rules put in place to help limit the spread of Covid-19, moving house where it was reasonably necessary was already deemed a valid excuse for people to be away from home.

But under amendments to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) regulations in England, a reasonable excuse will now be expanded to include undertaking several activities in connection with the purchase, sale, letting or rental of a residential property.

They include:
- Visiting estate or letting agents, developer sales offices or show homes;
- Viewing residential properties to look for a property to buy or rent;
- Preparing a residential property to move in;
- Moving home;
- Visiting a residential property to undertake any activities required for the rental or sale of that property.

The housing market has nearly ground to a halt in recent weeks. According to property website Zoopla, around 373,000 property transactions across the UK, with a total value of £82bn, have been put on hold due to coronavirus lockdown measures.

'Vast majority' of employers want to do right thing to protect staff, says HSE boss

Here are the main points from the press conference.

  • Downing Street has given up presenting daily figures showing how the UK’s coronavirus death toll compares with other countries’. (See 2.35pm and 5.24pm.) It has not given an official explanation for this yet, but the chart showed the UK ahead of the other European countries featured in terms of total deaths and, as the days progressed, the gap between the UK and its neighbours was getting ever larger. In the past, when ministers have been asked about these figures, they have pointed out that the chart showed total deaths, not deaths per head, and that the comparisons were not necessarily valid because different countries compile data in different ways. Nevertheless, the inclusion of the data at the end of the press conference slide show amounted to a daily reminder that the UK has a poor record to defend. Here are the latest figures from Worldometer, a respected international website, showing the UK with the second highest death toll in the world.
Latest global coronavirus death figures
Latest global coronavirus death figures Photograph: Worldometer

And here is an alternative chart from the FT’s John Burn-Murdoch, who has been producing his own global death comparison charts.

  • Alok Sharma, the business secretary, said that employers had a duty to keep their staff safe. Responding a question about what workers could do if forced to work in an environment they considered unsafe, he replied:

Employers have a duty to keep employees safe in the workplace - that is absolutely enshrined in law. If somebody feels their workplace is not safe, they have to take that up with their employer.

If they don’t feel they are getting any traction they absolutely should get in touch with the Health and Safety Executive or the local authority.

  • Sarah Albon, chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive, said that the “vast majority” of employers wanted to do the right thing to protect their staff. She said workers have already been contacting the HSE with complaints about working conditions. But mostly, where employers were doing the wrong thing, it was because they did not know what to do, she said. She explained:

Our experience so far is that it is rather more that employers have not understood the right thing to do than that they are deliberately trying to do the wrong thing. And in the vast majority of cases, when our inspectors have got involved, employers have been only too willing to do the right thing.

We’ve been following up every time an employer has told us they’ve made changes, they’ve made an improvement to the workplace, not only with the employer ... but with the original complainant to check that they are now satisfied that their employer has done the right thing. And in the absolute vast majority of those cases, employers have made the right decision, have done the right thing, to the satisfaction of their employees.

There are a small number of cases where we are continuing to pursue that further, and we will certainly take enforcement action if that’s required.

She also stressed that the HSE can impose sanctions on employers who are not protecting staff.

Inspectors can require businesses to do certain things - enforcement notices, requiring them to take particular kinds of action.

In the most extreme circumstances if there is a risk of serious injury to an individual employee they can issue a notice which prohibits certain activities from taking place.

Breach of those kind of enforcement notices is essentially a criminal offence and we can prosecute people who fail to do the right thing.

Sarah Albon, chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive at the press conference.
Sarah Albon, chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive at the press conference. Photograph: Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/Crown Copyright/PA

The England and Wales Cricket Board is expected to deliver guidelines on reopening some parts of club and recreational cricket, possibly as early as Wednesday.

Cricket was one of the outdoor summer sports overlooked in the government’s new lockdown guidelines, whereas golf, tennis, and angling – more obviously isolated pursuits – were specifically mentioned by the prime minister. Full story here:

Police Scotland are urging motorists to drive safely after a number of people were charged in connection with high level speeding offences over the bank holiday weekend.

The force revealed that between Friday 8 May and Sunday 10 May, 12 men were detected driving at speeds between 93mph and 111mph around one junction of the M876 near Larbert, a town near Falkirk. The men, aged between 19 and 66, will be reported to the procurator fiscal.

Other incidents across Scotland over the weekend included speeds of between 101 and 119mph on the A90 in Aberdeenshire.

Reiterating that the stay-at-home message is still in place for Scots, Ch Supt Louise Blakelock, head of road policing said:

With the current challenges facing us just now, we need to protect the NHS and save lives, therefore, drivers need to be more cautious and consider other road users. The high speeds detected over the weekend show that despite the clear risks involved a minority of drivers are still willing to take their chance.

Updated

The mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool city region have written to Boris Johnson to warn that the government’s change of coronavirus message comes “too early” for the north-west of England.

Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram said they were “concerned about the substance of what was announced” on Sunday. They want the government to publish the ‘R’ reproduction rate at a regional and sub-regional level to enable authorities and people to make informed decisions based on local risk.

In a letter sent on Tuesday, they write:

Here in the north-west, we experienced the highest number of new cases last week and are not yet on the clear downward trajectory seen in other parts of the country. For that reason, we are concerned that the decision to relax the ‘stay at home’ message may have come too early for the north-west and could expose our residents to higher levels of risk of infection.

The mayors also expressed their disappointment over the “lack of meaningful consultation and advance knowledge” of the changes announced on Sunday, which have an “immediate and direct impact” on policing and public transport in the north-west as in other regions.

Updated

A quiet Sunday on London’s Oxford Street.
A quiet Sunday on London’s Oxford Street. Photograph: Goddard on the Go/Alamy Stock Photo

Updated

Q: People in places like Lincolnshire are worried about tourists arriving under this week’s new guidelines. What assurances can you give them? And when will tourism resume?

Sharma says the new guidelines do not allow people to go and visit places and stay the night.

On tourism, he says the government has put in place various measures to help businesses in this sector already.

But he says it is vital to avoid a second peak. A second peak would be the worst possible thing for businesses, he says.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

Q: You need union cooperation. So will you drop the pledge in your manifesto to curb their powers?

Sharma says he has been collaborating with the unions. The government will continue that approach, he says.

Q: So do the manifesto pledges remain in place?

Sharma says he is focusing on working with the unions to address the coronavirus crisis.

Q: What penalties can the HSE impose?

Albon says it can use enforcement notices requiring certain activities. It can also prohibit certain actions. If an employer breaches that, that is an offence.

Powis says NHS staff are trying to implement the guidelines saying relatives should be able to be with someone dying. He says it will get easier as hospitals become less over-loaded.

Q: If an unscrupulous employer tries to make people work in an environment that is not safe, will the government support them if they refuse to work?

Sharma says employers have a duty to keep employees safe. That is enshrined in law. If they feel the workplace is not safe, they must take that up. If that does not work, they should go to the HSE. He says the guidance includes contact numbers. He says the HSE will also be conducting spot checks.

But he says his impression is that most employers want to do the right thing.

Albon says there will be some employers who don’t do the right thing.

People have been contacting the HSE already. She says their impression is that, in the vast majority of cases, employers are at fault because they don’t know what the right thing to do is. When told, they mostly comply. In the small number of cases where they don’t, the HSE will take enforcement action, she says.

Q: Why does your advice treat people under 70 the same, when people in their 20s are at much less risk than people in their 50s?

Sharma says every death is a tragedy. That is why the government advice tries to protect people.

Sarah Albon, chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive, says the guidance for firms makes allowance for who is in the most vulnerable category.

Powis says the older people are, the more at risks they are.

But age is not the only risk factor. Obesity, underlying health and ethnicity are also factors, he says.

Q: At one stage experts were saying there could be between 7,000 and 20,000 deaths. Why did you get it so wrong?

Powis says the original reasonable worst case scenario envisaged 500,000 deaths. He says the UK is doing much better than that.

Summary

Q: What can you do to help care homes stay open?

Sharma says the government is providing support to businesses. He acknowledges this is a difficult time.

He says the cumulative value of “bounce back” loans is £8bn, and the business interruption loans scheme has paid out £6bn.

Q: But care homes don’t need to furlough staff. And their business is not interrupted. Yet they still need help.

Sharma says the business support offered is among the best in the world.

Updated

No 10 gives up including global deaths comparison chart in its daily press conference slides

Here is the hospital data slide.

Hospital data
Hospital data Photograph: No 10

And here is the final slide.

Regional hospital figures
Regional hospital figures Photograph: No 10

The global deaths comparison chart has been abandoned.

Downing Street suggested this might happen at the briefing early. The figures were a huge embarrassment to No 10, so perhaps it is not surprising that they have been erased from the daily record. (See 2.35pm.)

Updated

Prof Stephen Powis, the medical director of NHS England, is now presenting the rest of the slides.

He says there are in an “updated format” compared to how they used to be presented.

Here is the transport use one.

Transport use
Transport use Photograph: No 10

Here is the slide for deaths of those who tested positive for coronavirus

Daily death figures
Daily death figures Photograph: No 10

And this slide shows deaths where coronavirus was suspected, as well as where it was confirmed.

He says this shows the death rate falling, including in care homes.

Coronavirus deaths - confirmed and suspected
Coronavirus deaths - confirmed and suspected Photograph: No 10

Sharma says the government wants workers to feel safe as they go back to work.

Sharma says he thinks he has reached a consensus with unions and business on the guidelines for safe working. (See 10.30am.)

The messaging has changed too, Sharma says, as he introduces slide three.

New messaging
New messaging Photograph: No 10

The next slide shows the three steps for the way ahead.

The three steps
The three steps Photograph: No 10

Sharma is now reminding people of the strategy.

He introduces the first slide. It shows the alert levels.

Alert levels
Alert levels Photograph: No 10

Sharma is now reading out the latest testing and death figures.

The figures are here.

Alok Sharma's press conference

Alok Sharma, the business secretary, is here for the daily press conference.

UK recession 'already happening', says Sunak

Tomorrow the Office for National Statistics will publish its GDP figures for the first quarter of 2020. Growth was flat in the final quarter of 2019 and the real impact of the coronavirus crisis is not expected until the second quarter of 2020 (April to June), when GDP could fall by 35%, if the OBR is right.

So, technically the UK is not in a recession yet (because economists only define a recession after two quarters of negative growth). But Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, told BBC News that in practice the UK was already in one. In an interview with Laura Kuenssberg, asked if the country was facing a recession, Sunak replied:

We already know that many people have lost their jobs and it breaks my heart. We’ve seen what’s happening with universal credit claims already. This is not something that we’re going to wait to see; it’s already happening. There are already businesses that are shutting. There already people who have lost their jobs. And as I said, that’s heartbreaking to me and that’s why I’m working night and day to limit the amount of job losses.

Reading and Leeds festivals cancelled

Reading and Leeds music festivals have been cancelled due to the pandemic.

A statement from the organisers said:

We’ve been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and we were hopeful we could deliver the ultimate festival to you in August, something to look forward to in these strange and confusing times. However, it has become clear that it’s just not possible for this year’s festival to go ahead.

We want to extend our gratitude to our teams, artists and partners who work so hard each year. And to our fans, we’re nothing without you - we thank you for your continued support and understanding.

More than half of Britons feel down, depressed and hopeless over the future, a pan-European study of mental health during the pandemic has found.

The international survey of how the Covid-19 crisis is impacting on mental wellbeing reveals that 57% of UK participants had suffered depression and stress.

Overall the three-country investigation concluded that the mental health of 41% of the UK population is at risk as a result of the coronavirus.

The study collected data on people in the UK, Spain and Italy between 24 April and 17 May.

Updated

Staff at the Crocus garden centre at Dorney Court, Buckinghamshire, prepare to reopen tomorrow (13 May) following their temporary closure during lockdown.
Staff at the Crocus Garden Centre at Dorney Court, Buckinghamshire, prepare to reopen tomorrow (13 May) following their temporary closure during lockdown. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Just 55 prisoners have been released early under plans to alleviate the Covid-19 crisis in jails in England and Wales for which up to 4,000 prisoners are eligible, a minister has revealed.

Lucy Frazer, the justice minister, told the justice select committee that as of 11 May, 21 pregnant women had been released from jail, five prisoners had been freed under the early release scheme and five inmates released on compassionate release.

The Ministry of Justice announced on 4 April that up to 4,000 prisoners who were within two months of their release date and had passed a risk assessment would be released.

Since the announcement, Public Health England (PHE) modelling has shown the spread of infection and rate of deaths in prison has been much lower than expected. But the containment of the outbreak in prisons has been driven by a highly restrictive regime, which involves increased time in cells, segregation and a ban on all visits, a regime that PHE has said would need to remain in place until April next year.

Penal reform campaigners have warned this approach is not sustainable in the long term and further releases are required.

Justice committee member, Andy Slaughter MP, said the low number of early releases represented a “missed opportunity”.

Updated

Here is the official Labour response to the Treasury’s furlough scheme announcement. It’s from the shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds.

The furlough scheme is a lifeline for millions. The government was right not to pull it away.

It is welcome that the chancellor has heeded the call by Labour, trade unions, and businesses for more flexibility in the scheme, to support employees to go back to work part-time.

The government must clarify today when employers will be required to start making contributions, and how much they’ll be asked to pay. If every business is suddenly required to make a substantial contribution from the 1st August onwards, there is a very real risk that we will see mass redundancies.

Rishi Sunak implied in his statement to MPs that firms would start having to make a contribution from August, but the Treasury has not given details. However, sources have been briefing journalists that, even when businesses do start having to make a contribution, the government will continue to meet more than 50% of the cost.

These are from the Press Association’s Ian Jones.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow education secretary, has been looking at the government guidance for physical distancing in schools (see 10.30am) and she is not impressed. In a statement she said:

This guidance raises more questions than it answers leaving headteachers and school leaders unable to adequately plan for the reopening of their schools on this basis.

There is still no realistic guidance for how social distancing will be kept in place with the age groups that will return first, how staff and families of children will be protected, or how class sizes of 15 will be achieved with the resources schools have.

The government must urgently convene education unions and the profession to create a workable plan for the reopening of schools when the science indicates it is safe to do so and which has the confidence of all those affected.

Updated

A giant poster featuring the faces of key workers in Barrow-in-Furness. The Cumbrian town has one of the highest infection rates in the country outside London.
A giant poster featuring the faces of key workers in Barrow-in-Furness. The Cumbrian town has one of the highest infection rates in the country outside London. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

DUP says furlough scheme shows how important being in UK is to Northern Ireland

The DUP has put out a statement saying, among other things, that the furlough scheme shows the importance of Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom. This is from the DUP MP Sammy Wilson.

We have been pressing the chancellor and the prime minister about the need to avoid a cliff edge with the job retention scheme. An extension is the right decision with a direction of travel into the autumn ...

This announcement is also a reminder of how important it is for Northern Ireland to be part of the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland executive could not afford such a significant support scheme.

Until recently the DUP might not have felt the need to make a point like this, but since Brexit Irish reunification has become more of a salient issue than it used to be.

The SNP has not been making the same argument. It has welcomed the furlough announcement too, but in a statement Alison Thewliss, the SNP Treasury spokesperson at Westminster, said the UK government should maintain the scheme as long as it is needed in Scotland. She said:

The scheme must remain in place and fully funded for as long as each of the four nations of the UK require it. People in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland must not be penalised if changes to the lockdown are made at a different pace.

Grant Shapps said TfL will only be able to take 15% of usual commuter levels if 100% of services are running and urged everybody to look for “alternative means of transport”.

The Tory MP and former transport minister Stephen Hammond said many Londoners who need to get to work will still need to use the tube and rail network. He asked the transport secretary:

Can I ask what discussions he’s had with the Mayor of London and with Network Rail about how quickly the London transport system can be returned to full working so that the most social distancing is possible, and also the possibility of introducing temperature scanning at London termini?

Shapps replied that ridership on TfL was up by 8% yesterday and urged people to look for alternative means of travelling. He said:

I have spoken to, communicated with the Mayor and his Deputy Mayor over the weekend. I am encouraging them and working very closely with TfL to boost those services just as quickly as they can and there’s more to go there.

It is worth reiterating, even if those services ran at 100% of pre-Covid levels we would still only be able to take perhaps on the TfL 15% of existing, usual commuter levels – so it is important that everybody looks for alternative means of transport.

UK death toll rises by 627 to 32,692

A further 627 people have died in the UK across all settings, up from 32,065 yesterday, the DHSC said.

This is significantly lower than the figures released earlier today by the ONS, which suggested the official death toll has surpassed 40,000.

Unlike the government’s daily stats, the ONS figures include all instances where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including cases without a positive test and suspected cases.

Updated

Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, says the eventual cost of the Treasury’s coronavirus job retention scheme, which pays firms to furlough workers, could be close to £100bn.

The Treasury has refused to say what it expects the final cost to be, although insiders have dismissed claims that it will cost £13bn a month as an over-estimate.

Further 16 deaths recorded in Wales, bringing total to 1,132

Another 16 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Wales, taking the death toll there to 1,132, Public Health Wales said.

A further 105 positive cases were also reported, bringing that total to 11,573.

Northern Rail is to use the collapse in demand for rail travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to finally retire its entire fleet of Pacer trains.

These much-maligned “buses on rails” have become a leaking, squeaking symbol of the underinvestment in northern England in recent years as Northern Rail missed successive deadlines to send them to the railway knacker’s yard.

But at a virtual meeting of the Rail North Committee on Tuesday, politicians including Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham were told that no pacers will be on the Northern network from this Saturday (18 May).

Not all will go to train heaven, however: a few will be kept for “contingency”. One has already been sent to the National Railway Museum in York and three others were “won” by charities and community groups, which will see the rusty old carriages turned into a men’s cooking school, a science lab for a Bradford primary and a non-clinical space for patients at Airedale general hospital.

This weekend the operator (run by the state since March after a disastrous few years in the private sector) looks to increase services from 45% to 63% of normal services.

The meeting heard that physical distancing is currently possible on services run by Northern and Transpennine Express as passenger numbers remained at 5% of their normal levels.

No pacers will be on the Northern network from this weekend, when the operator looks to increase services to 63% of normal levels.
No pacers will be on the Northern network from this weekend, when the operator looks to increase services to 63% of normal levels. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Updated

This is from Water UK, the trade body representing the major water companies in the UK.

The prime minister told MPs on Monday it might be possible to track local “flare ups” of coronavirus by testing “the water supply”, which confused and scared many.

No 10 quickly issued a clarification that he was referring to sewage or waste water, not the fresh water that comes out of our taps.

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, speaking during the Scottish government’s daily briefing on coronavirus. Scotland has kept its lockdown advice as ‘stay at home’.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, speaking during the Scottish government’s daily briefing on coronavirus. Scotland has kept its lockdown advice as ‘stay at home’. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images

Updated

A total of 42 Transport for London workers have died with Covid-19, the transport secretary said. On Network Rail, including the train operating companies, the number is 10, Shapps told the Commons. He added that it isn’t currently known if this was “through their jobs”.

As a precautionary measure, people should wear face coverings on public transport, Shapps said, urging people to think about the needs of others. He told the Commons:

[Wearing face coverings on public transport] could help protect other travellers from coronavirus, where someone has perhaps unwittingly or unknowingly developed the illness but they’re not actually showing any symptoms.

We urge passengers to avoid the rush hour, re-plan their visits, to use contactless payments where at all possible and to wash their hands before and after their journeys.

Updated

Shapps urges people to use cars rather than public transport

In his statement to the Commons, Grant Shapps said it was crucial that those who can’t do their jobs from home should travel to work by walking or cycling if possible, or even by car if necessary, in order to avoid public transport.

Shapps said:

We continue to ask people to only go to work if they cannot do their jobs from home, that’s because even as transport begins to revert to a full service, the 2-metre distancing rule will only leave effective capacity for one-in-10 passengers overall. One in 10. Therefore, it’s crucial that we protect our network by minimising the pressures placed upon it and ensure it’s ready to serve those who most need it.

We are actively asking those who need to make journeys to their place of work or other essential trips to walk or to cycle wherever possible.

Shapps referred to the government’s £2bn investment related to walking and cycling, adding the first stage worth £250m would include pop-up bike lines, wider pavements and cycling and bus-only corridors.

He added:

If people cannot walk but have access to a car - and I appreciate that I will be the only transport secretary to have said this for very many years – [if] people have access to a car we urge them to use the car before they consider public transport, avoiding where possible any busy times of day.

Updated

An attempt to overturn the judiciary’s freeze preventing evictions and home repossessions during the pandemic has been rejected by the court of appeal.

Lawyers for an insolvency firm had lodged an emergency application over the alleged failure to pay mortgages on two houses in Hertfordshire which were already the subject of a legal dispute.

They challenged an emergency ‘practice direction’, made by the master of the rolls, Sir Terence Etherton, who is head of the civil judiciary in England and Wales, which ensured that no one would lose their homes during the outbreak or be the subject of legal action that could result in them being made homeless.

In the hearing last week, Philip Rainey QC, acting for Mehmet Arkin, an insolvency practitioner, argued that the rules were ‘ultra vires’ - having not been made in accordance with the law.

But Sir Geoffrey Vos, chancellor of the high court, dismissed the appeal. Giving the court’s reason on Monday, he said:

The short delay to possession litigation enshrined in [practice direction] PD 51Z is amply justified by the exceptional circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.

...There is a need to ensure that neither the administration of justice nor the enforcement of possession orders endanger public health by the unnecessary transmission of the virus. PD 51Z creates no risk that persons will ‘effectively be prevented from having access to justice’...

He added:

The blanket stay has been imposed to protect public health and the administration of justice generally. The approach of a blanket stay reflects the balance struck by the Master of the Rolls, and makes clear that possession claims are not to be dealt with on a normal case by case basis during the stay.

We would strongly deprecate parties troubling the court with applications that are based only on such reasons and which are in truth bound to fail.

Updated

Transport is undoubtedly going to “play a very central role” in the UK’s “gradual” recovery from the pandemic, the transport secretary Grant Shapps has told MPs.

Making a statement in the Commons on Covid-19 guidance for transport users and operators, he said:

It will be the key to restarting our economy ... our nation’s emergence from this crisis will not be a single leap to freedom, it will be a gradual process.

Outlining the two new pieces of guidance, he added:

We remain clear that those who can work from home should continue to do so. However, as those who cannot start to return to their jobs, the safety of the public and of the transport workers must be paramount.

Another nine deaths in Northern Ireland, bringing total to 447

There have been a further nine deaths of patients who tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said, bringing the total related fatalities there to 447.

Updated

A hopeful sign on the front of a terraced house in Maidstone, Kent.
A hopeful sign in Maidstone, Kent. Photograph: Paul Dennis/TGS Photo/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

In a Commons statement earlier this afternoon, the business secretary Alok Sharma said he believed “consensus” had been reached in developing guidance on how firms should safely reopen.

He told MPs:

As we return to work, the government wants to give employers and workers confidence that their workplaces will be safe for them to return to because we recognise this is an anxious time for many.

This includes ensuring people work from home if they can, but he added:

For those who cannot work from home and whose workplace has not been told to close, our message is clear - you should go to work. Staff should speak to their employer about when the workplace will open.

On the use of face masks, Sharma said it is an “option” for workers but is “not required by law in the workplace”.

The owners of Hampstead Heath have ruled out reopening bathing ponds in the park despite Boris Johnson’s pledge to allow outdoor swimming. But a return to bathing in Hyde Park’s Serpentine lake is being considered.

The Corporation of London, which runs the north London park, said it could not reopen its three swimming ponds or its Lido and maintain physical distancing rules.

The Royal Parks, which runs Hyde Park, said it is reviewing whether it can reopen the park’s Serpentine lake for swimming in a way that is safe and allows for physical distancing.

The prime minister was challenged in the Commons on Monday to say more about swimming by the Tory MP Desmond Swayne, a well-known wild swimmer who regularly bathes in the Serpentine. Johnson said:

We’ve all lived so far with onerous restrictions on outdoor spaces and exercise. Unfortunately we can’t do anything for swimming pools, but we can do something for lakes and the sea. This is where we can go significantly, further, because there is a lower risk outdoors than indoors.

But there is no mention of swimming in the government’s road map on easing the lockdown. And it said ticketed outdoor venues will remain closed. It says: “

You will still not be able to use areas like playgrounds, outdoor gyms or ticketed outdoor leisure venues, where there is a higher risk of close contact and touching surfaces.

Updated

Survey finds 3% of hospital staff at work with coronavirus

Screening hospital workers for Covid-19 is crucial researchers have stressed after a study in a Cambridge hospital found 3% of more than 1,000 staff without symptoms and who turned up for work had the virus. (See 1.03pm.)

The study, published in the journal e-Life, reports how healthcare workers at Addenbrookes hospital were tested over the course of April for the disease, revealing 3% of those reporting for duty tested positive, with 17 of the 30 truly asymptomatic or showing very few, mild symptoms. Others who tested positive had symptoms more than a week before the test, during which most had self-isolated.

The team behind the study, which includes researchers at Public Health England, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, the National Institutes for Health Research and the University of Cambridge, said the work suggests up to 15,000 NHS workers across the UK could have been working while infected during April - possibly more due to PPE shortages.

Prof Daniel Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London who was not involved in the research, said the study showed why more testing is necessary. He said:

Most of all, it enables [the authors] to make the really key point that focus on testing symptomatic cases poses an actual risk of missing the significant spread of infection by people who have no clue they’re infected. This has such enormous implications for how we move forward in our hospitals and care homes.

Prof Charles Swanton of the Crick Institute in London, who has previously spoken out on the need for testing in hospitals, agreed, noting many studies have shown the coronavirus can be transmitted by both infected individuals before symptoms occur and by asymptomatic infected individuals. The new study, he said, suggested that in each hospital there could a significant number of healthcare workers who could be transmitting the virus to both their colleagues and to patients.

“There is really a very clear mandate based on this study and several other studies over the last two, three months to initiate healthcare worker testing at scale to keep hospitals Covid protected,” he told the Guardian.

Updated

No 10 fails to commit to resuming publication of global deaths comparison chart in daily slides

The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Here are the main points.

  • The prime minister’s spokesman refused to confirm that the government remained committed to publishing its usual daily slides, including the global deaths comparison chart. The government did publish slides yesterday, but not the usual ones including a slide showing a global deaths and another showing transport use. The spokesman said he could not say whether these slides would be used again. The government would be showing slides about the roadmap to recovery, he said. The transport use slide was moderately awkward for the government because last week it showed a small but steady increase in people travelling at a time when that was not being encouraged. Here is the one from Saturday last week.
Transport use slide from
Transport use slide from Photograph: No 10

But ministers were particularly embarrassed by the global deaths comparison chart. Even though it compares countries that compile their figures in different ways, and it gives total deaths not deaths per head, it looked damning because it showed the UK as having the worst death rate in Europe - and, as the days went on, this became more prominent. Here is the chart from Saturday.

Global deaths comparison
Global deaths comparison Photograph: No 10

We have had 15,000 people expressing interest. That’s 15,000 health care professionals expressing interest in supporting the training programme. We are starting to get them trained. We are confident that we will have 18,000 staff available from the week commencing May 18.

That’s a mix of call handlers and health staff. So, 15,000 of those are call handlers and around 3,000 health staff.

  • The spokesman said that work was ongoing to look at how sewage could be used to map the spread of coronavirus through the country. Asked to elaborate on what Boris Johnson said about this yesterday, the spokesman said that water companies are working with universities in mapping the spread of coronavirus by examining sewage. He said Water UK had issued a statement on this, saying that non-infectious traces of coronavirus can remain in sewage.

Updated

England records another 350 hospital deaths, taking total to 23,709

NHS England has announced 350 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 23,709. The full details are here (pdf).

Of the 350 new deaths announced today, 44 occurred on 11 May, 90 occurred on 10 May and 44 occurred on 9 May.

Updated

Len McCluskey welcomes extension of furlough scheme, saying now there should be 'no rush to redundancies'

It was Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary and arguably the most powerful figure on the Labour left. (See 2.04pm.) He does not normally put out press releases complimenting Conservative governments, but he represents workers, and he has warmly welcomed the extension of the furlough scheme.

Here is his statement in full.

The chancellor’s announcement will be a welcome relief to households across the country.

The job retention scheme is as crucial to battling and defeating this virus as the public health measures that we have also been campaigning for.

Of course, we’ll need to look at the detail when it is published but today’s announcement is a message again to employers that the government will stand behind them if they stand behind their workers. There should be no rush to redundancies.

Updated

Politics Live does not normally go in for quizzes, but have a guess who said this, about the Sunak announcement.

Today’s announcement is a message again to employers that the government will stand behind them if they stand behind their workers.

The answer’s coming in a minute or two, when I’ve written up the full post.

Updated

Foreign holidays are likely to be cancelled this year, Matt Hancock, the health secretary, warned this morning, as he said the public need to prepare for the “reality of life” in a period of physical distancing. Rowena Mason and Kate Proctor have the story.

Nicola Sturgeon asked employers north of the border to follow Scottish government guidelines, reiterating that measures announced by Boris Johnson on Sunday are not applicable in Scotland. Speaking at her daily press briefing, the first minister said:

I am very grateful for the fact that the vast majority of employers have been so responsible throughout this crisis – so I am sure that most will do this, and will not urge employees back prematurely.

She added that she recognised it was not an option for everyone to work from home and that if the Scottish government were to advise people to return to work then it was “absolutely incumbent” on them to ensure that they were safe in the workplace.

She welcomed Rishi Sunak’s extension of the furlough scheme to October, saying that she hoped this would avoid any cliff edge scenario for employers.

She was also questioned about BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme, which revealed on Monday evening that the public was not told about an early coronavirus outbreak at a Nike conference in Edinburgh in February. (See 9.31am.)

She insisted that “all appropriate steps were taken” to protect public health, including setting up an incident management team and contact tracing, but added that patient confidentiality meant small numbers of cases could not be publicly identified at that time, but that they were included in the regular NHS reporting system. But reporters pointed out that the first positive case recorded for the Edinburgh area was on 7 March, 10 days after the conference.

Updated

This is from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The Welsh health minister has insisted that he did not break the lockdown at the weekend after he was photographed out and about with his family.

Vaughan Gething tweeted:

At the Welsh government’s daily press conference he said:

I went for a walk with my family as many of us have done over the weekend. My son was on his scooter. We went local to ourselves. We stopped for food on the way. All of those things are within the regulations. There’s absolutely no breach of the guidance or the rules.

It’s really disappointing in the middle of a global pandemic when more than 1,100 people have lost their lives in Wales and more to come and difficult complex choices to be made every day to have a deliberately unhelpful inquiry from a journalist from a national newspaper who wants to suggest I have done something wrong when I haven’t.

I think that all of us need to be better than this. There’s not a single thing that that journalist is proposing to write that would help save a single life or would help the public with the key message about continuing to follow the lockdown rules.

This is from Carys Roberts, executive director of the IPPR thinktank, on the decision to extend the furlough scheme until the end of October.

Citizens Advice has responded to the chancellor’s announcement, saying the furlough extension protects households from a financial cliff edge, but people in the shielded group need a right to access the scheme if they can’t work safely.

Dame Gillian Guy, chief executive, said:

Extending the furlough scheme and allowing employers to bring back their workers part-time are sensible steps to protect household finances. The Job Retention Scheme was an unprecedented intervention which has protected jobs and put money in people’s pockets. We have made clear that changes to the scheme would be needed to make sure people don’t face a financial cliff edge.

Sadly, we continue to see cases where people in the shielded group are being denied furlough. People in this group need a right to access this scheme if they cannot work safely. Nobody should be forced to choose between paying the bills or protecting their health.

Updated

And this is from Alison Thewliss, the SNP’s Treasury spokeswoman at Westminster.

Wolves are the first club to get Covid-19 testing under the Premier League’s testing plan ahead of the potential resumption of matches. More than 10 members of backroom staff were swabbed on Monday, with plans to test players later this week and at regular intervals thereafter. Full story here:

Updated

This is from John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, on Sunak’s announcement.

This is from Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, on Sunak’s announcement about extending the furlough scheme.

A rainbow-coloured NHS tribute is pictured on an empty road near parliament.
A rainbow-coloured NHS tribute is pictured on an empty road near parliament. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images

Welsh government not recommending use of face masks

The Welsh government will not recommend that its citizens wear face masks.

The Welsh health minister, Vaughan Gething, said the chief medical officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, had considered the evidence and discussed it with the chief medical officers from the other UK nations.

Gething said:

He [Atherton] is not recommending that everyone should be wearing face masks; he believes this should be a matter of personal choice.

The minister said his government is “concerned” at the different tone from the UK government on the easing of exercise restrictions in England.

Ministers are worried people may be tempted to travel from England to visit Welsh beauty spots, which would break the lockdown rules in Wales. Gething said:

We think the messaging in England is confused.

But he said he did not think closing the border was a “real option”. He said such a move would involve erecting border controls and he was not sure the Welsh government had the power to take such action. He said:

What really matters is policing and enforcing the laws, the regulations.

Gething also made it clear that it was not acceptable to play golf in Wales – because it usually involves driving to the course.

Updated

During defence questions in the Commons, Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the defence select committee, asked the defence secretary Ben Wallace to summon “an urgent meeting of the National Security Council” which has not met since January to discuss threats from China and Russia at the time of coronavirus.

No meeting is also scheduled to take place this week either, as this Guardian report points out, and there are growing concerns in Whitehall that the national security council which met weekly under David Cameron and Theresa May is being allowed to wither.

In reply, Wallace said that the decision to call an NSC is “is a matter for the national security directorate within the Cabinet Office and the cabinet and the prime minister”. He added: “It is not the case that by not having it we have no agenda on security.”

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, told the Commons during defence questions that he had offered further military help with the coronavirus crisis in care homes in a morning meeting with Boris Johnson.

The cabinet minister told MPs that he wanted to offer care homes “the assistance they need” in “bringing testing to care homes”, or helping with the decontamination of facilities so staff don’t risk bringing the disease to and from the homes during their work.

No indication was given as to whether the prime minister had accepted the offer, but Wallace said “we stand ready” to help the Department of Health and Social Care or any other stakeholder as required, as the number of deaths and infections amongst those in care remains high.

Updated

The BBC’s economics editor, Faisal Islam, says some Conservative thinkers believe a version of the furlough scheme could be with us for good.

Machinery and turf horticulturist Nigel Downs puts the finishing touches to a thank you message for NHS staff and carers at RHS Hyde Hall Gardens in Chelmsford, Essex.
Machinery and turf horticulturist Nigel Downs puts the finishing touches to a thank you message for NHS staff and carers at RHS Hyde Hall Gardens in Chelmsford, Essex. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

A study of staff at an NHS hospital has suggested that 3% of staff reporting as fit for duty in April were unknowingly infected with coronavirus.

Researchers at Cambridge University swabbed and tested more than 1,200 NHS workers at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge throughout April, with staff also asked about relevant coronavirus symptoms.

More than 1,000 workers reported that they were fit for duty during the study period, but 3% of them tested positive for Covid-19. Dr Mike Weekes, one of the authors of the report, said staff need to be tested regularly “regardless of whether they have any sort of symptoms”.

Under closer questioning as part of the study, around one in five staff reported no symptoms, two in five had very mild symptoms that they had dismissed as inconsequential, and a further two in five reported Covid-19 symptoms that had stopped more than a week previously.

Weekes and his fellow senior author, Prof Stephen Baker, from the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, said hospitals needed to introduce screening programmes across their workforces. Weekes said:

Test! Test! Test! And then test some more.

All staff need to get tested regularly for Covid-19, regardless of whether they have any sort of symptoms – this will be vital to stop infection spreading within the hospital setting.

The study, published in the journal eLife, also explored possible routes of transmission of the virus through the hospital and among staff. Researchers looked at whether rates of infection were greater among staff working in “red” areas of the hospital, caring for Covid-19 patients.

Despite wearing appropriate PPE, “red” area staff were three times more likely to test positive than staff working in Covid-19-free “green” areas, the study indicated. It is not clear whether this genuinely reflects greater rates of transmission from patients to staff in red areas, as staff may have instead transmitted the virus to each other or acquired it at home.

Those working in the “red” areas were also swabbed earlier in the study, closer to when the lockdown was first initiated, so the higher rates of infection in this group might just be a symptom of higher rates of virus circulating in the community at the time.

Updated

Employers have welcomed the announcement to extend the furlough scheme too. This is from Edwin Morgan, director of policy at the Institute of Directors.

A furlough extension will bring significant relief to employers and workers across the country.

We’re delighted the Treasury has taken on the IoD’s consistent calls for a flexible furlough. Many firms will be operating far below normal capacity for the foreseeable future. A part-time furlough provides a much-needed launch ramp so businesses can start to get back up to speed. A more flexible approach will allow firms to raise activity levels in tandem with demand, helping to avoid cashflow challenges.

The TUC has welcomed Sunak’s announcement. This is from Frances O’Grady, its general secretary.

We are pleased ministers have listened to unions and extended the job retention scheme to the autumn. This will be a big relief for millions.

Changing the rules to allow part-time working is key to enabling a gradual and safe return to work. And maintaining the rate at 80% is a win for the pay packets of working families.

As the economic consequences of Covid-19 become clear, unions will keep pushing for a job guarantee scheme to make sure everyone has a decent job.

The Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan says British Airways has been threatening to make staff redundant, even though it has been using the furlough scheme. She asks Sunak to condemn this.

Sunak says the government will continue to do all it can to protect jobs.

Updated

In response to a question from Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, about help for the self-employed, Sunak says the scheme already operating for the self-employed is one of the most generous in the world. People will start getting help through it from early next week.

Scotland deaths rise by 15 to 1,912, with significant rise in hospital cases

The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has announced a significant rise in suspected cases of Covid-19 in hospitals overnight – a rise of 165 taking the total of those in hospital with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 to 1,618.

She emphasised that this increase related to suspected rather than confirmed cases and could well be explained by the new policy of testing older people in hospital.

She also announced 15 more deaths registered in the past 24 hours of people who had tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total to 1,912.

Updated

These are from Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank focusing on living standards and inequality. Bell, who used to work as a Labour adviser, welcomes Sunak’s decision.

In the Commons Sunak seems to have taken MPs by surprise by the scale of his announcement. MPs from all sides have welcomed his decision, and opposition MPs are finding it hard to ask the usual “But why aren’t you doing X as well?” follow-ups.

Updated

These are from Rishi Sunak summarising his announcement.

In the Commons Sunak confirms that the level of support to employees will not be reduced.

But employers will be asked to contribute more.

He says today’s announcement means the scheme will have run for eight months.

In response to his Labour shadow, Anneliese Dodds, Sunak says he has never talked about people being addicted to this scheme. That is not language he backs, he says.

And he says he has been consulting with unions about this.

Sunak extends furlough job retention scheme until end of October

Sunak says the government believes in the dignity of work.

It is doing all it can to protect people who cannot work.

He says he can announce the next stage of the job retention scheme, the furlough scheme. He says 7.5m jobs have been supported, and almost 1m businesses helped.

He says the scheme will be extended for four months, until the end of October. (It had been due to end at the end of June.)

There will be no changes until the end of July.

And in August, September and October it will continue with more flexibility.

He says employers will be able to bring workers back part-time. (At the moment the scheme only subsidises workers who are not working at all.)

He says the government will require employers to make a contribution.

But he says employees will continue to get the same support they do now - 80% of wages.

Updated

Rishi Sunak's urgent question on furlough scheme

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is now responding to an urgent question in the Commons about the future of his furlough scheme.

In his TV address on Sunday night Boris Johnson said that the reproduction number, R, for the UK as a whole was between 0.5 and 0.9. This shows the rate at which coronavirus is spreading. The government’s key priority is to keep it below 1.

The Northern Ireland executive has a more specific estimate for R in Northern Ireland. According to its recovery plan document (pdf), it is currently around 0.8.

England’s national parks have urged caution for visitors planning to return to beauty spots from Wednesday – with some still telling people to stay away.

Updated government rules on the lockdown have relaxed the “stay local” message in England so people can drive to outdoor open spaces “irrespective of distance”, as long as they respect physical distancing guidance and don’t cross borders.

However, several national parks are warning people to respect local communities, keep their distance from others and avoid hotspots or busy areas. Visitors are also being warned that many facilities, such as car parks, visitor centres and public toilets, as well as cafes and pubs, are not yet open.

The Lake District is urging people not to return yet in order to help communities in Cumbria, which officials said has one of the highest Covid-19 infection rates in the UK. The National Park Authority chief executive, Richard Leafe, said:

For now, we’re asking people not to rush back to the Lake District – help protect our communities, the fells will still be here when this passes.

The Yorkshire Dales NPA’s chief executive, David Butterworth, said the government’s approach to reopening the countryside was not one it had advocated:

We, along with many organisations with countryside facilities, have advocated a staged approach with an initial ‘stay local’ message to avoid unnecessary travel and minimise any tension between visitors and local communities.

But in light of the new rules, authority-run car parks would now be opened and it was working to open toilets as soon as possible, he said, as he asked visitors to respect local communities, nature and other people.

Dartmoor national park said it was reviewing how to reopen car parks and toilets and was awaiting further guidance on how to do so while safely supporting social distancing. In a statement it added:

Until then please stay at home, avoid unnecessary journeys, exercise locally and follow social distancing and hygiene rules.

And Sarah Fowler, the chief executive of the Peak District NPA, issued a personal appeal for anyone planning to travel to the area:

Before your journey, carefully consider your own wellbeing and that of the Peak District’s many small communities.

Continuing to use local parks and outdoor areas close to home could help the park ensure it can welcome visitors in the coming weeks and not put “undue pressure” on public highways, emergency access or key workers, she added.

Updated

UK coronavirus death toll passes 40,000, official figures say

The UK death toll from Covid-19 has surpassed 40,000, according to official figures, with almost 10,000 care home residents now having died from coronavirus, Robert Booth and Caelainn Barr report.

Here is an excerpt from the Northern Ireland’s executive’s document (pdf) showing what its five-step plan looks like.

5-step recovery plan
5-step recovery plan Photograph: NI executive/Northern Ireland executive

Northern Ireland executive publishes five-step recovery plan

The Northern Ireland executive has just published its own coronavirus recovery plan. The 12-page document is here (pdf), and there is a seven-page summary here (pdf).

It envisages a five-step route to recovery.

PA Media summarises them here.

The first step includes groups of four to six people who are not from the same household being able to meet outdoors while maintaining social distancing, drive-through church services, churches opening for private prayer, opening of outdoor spaces and public sport amenities, drive-through cinemas and more sports, including some water activities, golf and tennis.

The second step will see groups of 10 being able to meet outdoors, team sports training on a non-contact basis in small groups, re-opening of some libraries and open-air museums, as well as indoor activities involving limited contact of less than 10 minutes and with two to four people.

The third step will see groups of up to 30 being able to gather outside, re-opening of more libraries as well as museums and galleries, concert and theatre rehearsals resuming and larger indoor gatherings.

The fourth step is set to see socially distanced church services, resumption of competitive sport behind closed doors or with a limited number of spectators, leisure centres re-opening and outdoor concerts resuming on a restricted basis.

The fifth step will include the resumption of close physical contact sports, return of competitive sport, spectators at live events on a restricted basis as well as the re-opening of nightclubs and concerts on a limited basis.

However the NI executive has not included dates for when each step of the plan might be reached and warned this will take “significant time”.

And here is an extract from the plan. It says:

The executive shares the aspiration of all of you - to return to a more normal way of living our lives soon. While this will take significant time, we can guarantee that we will not retain the restrictions for any longer than is absolutely necessary,” the document reads.

However it is important that when taking decisions now, we recognise the risk of having to re-introduce restrictions if cases rise sharply again. That is why we will only decide to relax restrictions when we are sure that that is in the long-term interest of the health and wellbeing of the population.

Tributes have been paid to an ambulance care assistant who died with coronavirus and who “dedicated his career to serving the public”.

Phil Rennie, a patient transport service care assistant for the North West ambulance service based in Oldham, contracted Covid-19 and died at Fairfield general hospital in Bury on Sunday, the service’s chief executive, Daren Mochrie, said:

Phil was extremely proud to work for NWAS, offering comfort and care to those in need. He has been part of the NWAS family since 2015 and has dedicated his career to serving the public, previously working in local authority and public services.

We have been supporting Phil’s family during this terrible time and they are in the thoughts of everyone here at NWAS - our deepest sympathies go out to them. Phil will be sorely missed by us all.

Phil is survived by his wife, Karen, and son, Adam.

Updated

Waterloo station in London this morning, at what would normally be rush hour.
Waterloo station in London this morning, at what would normally be rush hour. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Parents don't have enough information to feel safe sending pupils back to school, says shadow chancellor

Boris Johnson would like some primary school children in England to start going back to school from 1 June. Under the provisional plan published yesterday, subject to coronavirus being brought further under control, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils (the youngest and oldest at primary school) would start going back from 1 June, with all primary school pupils back for a month before the summer holidays.

But would parents comply? This morning the National Education Union has published the results of a survey of 1,000 parents which suggests that a third of them are not ready to send their children back. According to the NEU, “just under half (49%) said they would, with a third of the total sample (33%) intending to delay the return.”

And one parent in that category is Anneliese Dodds, the new shadow chancellor. Dodds, who has a six-year-old and a younger child, was on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour this morning and she was asked if she would be willing to send her oldest back to school on 1 June. At first she gave an evasive answer, saying that her local school was doing “an incredible job” but that the government had not yet published evidence showing it would be safe for children to go back without posting a risk to families and children.

Towards the end of the interview the presenter, Jane Garvey, challenged her again, saying she had not answered the question. Would she send her child to school knowing what she does now? Dodds replied:

I would be more than happy to send my own child to school if I knew that by doing so I would not be potentially harming others. That’s the critical issue for me. And we don’t have that evidence, I feel, currently.

So that’s a no, Garvey suggested. Dodds replied:

Well, I don’t feel that I have that evidence now. If government was able to provide that, particularly to publish the scientific information underlying its decisions, we could be in a different situation.

As I say, it’s not really about my family. It’s about whether we are spreading this disease more broadly. We don’t have that evidence in front of us now.

Anneliese Dodds.
Anneliese Dodds. Photograph: Greg Blatchford/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Some late-morning joy. A doctor who had to miss his daughter’s first birthday due to the coronavirus pandemic said he was “blown away” by the love and kindness of his “incredible” colleagues after they surprised him with a party at the hospital to help celebrate.

Dr Rory Nolan, 29, hasn’t seen his wife, Catriona, 26, and daughter Francesca for more than two months after they made the decision to temporarily live apart so he could continue working on the frontline in A&E.

Instead of being able to share Francesca’s birthday with her, he spent it working at a Manchester hospital. However, his colleagues stepped in to make sure the day was memorable.

Here are some extracts of the thread he posted on Twitter:

The doctor also took the opportunity to warn the public that despite the easing of restrictions this week, “Covid is not over” and urged people to follow the rules, if not for themselves then for the sake of others.

Updated

About 40% of recent Covid-related deaths in England and Wales were in care homes, ONS figures show

Care home deaths accounted for about 40% of coronavirus-related fatalities registered in England and Wales in the week ending 1 May, with at least 10,535 of all deaths to date taking place outside hospitals, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

Of the 6,035 deaths linked to Covid-19 and registered in the week ending 1 May, 2,423 (40%) were in care homes, compared with 3,214 (53%) in hospitals.

This weekly number of care home deaths is a slight dip from 2,794 in the previous seven days and is the first week-on-week decrease since 20 March, according to the ONS.

The ONS numbers are based on instances where Covid-19 is mentioned anywhere on a death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions.

Of all deaths involving coronavirus up to 1 May, 22,873 took place in hospitals, while 10,535 were elsewhere. Of these:
- 8,312 took place in care homes
- 1,562 were in private homes
- 386 occurred in hospices
- 142 took place in other communal establishments
- 133 happened elsewhere

The ONS figures, by date of death, suggest a peak in daily care home deaths may have taken place on 17 April, when 415 deaths occurred. During the following week, daily deaths declined consecutively for all days but one – 22 April, when deaths rose by 20. The corresponding peak for deaths in hospitals is 8 April, when 983 occurred.

In the week ending 1 May, there were 17,953 deaths registered across England and Wales – a decrease for the second week running.

However, Nick Stripe, head of health analysis at the ONS, said this is still around 8,000 deaths above the average for this time of year (see 9.50am.). Speaking to BBC News, he said:

That is about 4,000 lower than it was the week before but it is still 8,000 above the average that we would expect to see in this week at this time of year. So it is actually the seventh highest weekly total since this data set started in 1993, so we have had four out of the top seven weeks in the last four weeks.

Separate analysis shows there were 8,314 deaths in care homes involving coronavirus reported by care home providers in England to the Care Quality Commission between 10 April and 8 May, according to the ONS.

Updated

Good morning. I’m Lucy Campbell, joining the blog for the rest of the day. We will be bringing you all the latest updates and analysis on the coronavirus outbreak in the UK, so please do feel free to get in touch throughout the day to share news tips, advice, comments and suggestions. Your ideas are always welcome and apologies if I can’t reply to you all.

Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_

Updated

Further lockdowns inevitable without stronger plan to suppress Covid-19, scientists warn

Further outbreaks of coronavirus and rolling lockdowns are inevitable under government plans to ease restrictions and send people in England back to work without a robust strategy to suppress the virus, an independent group of scientists has warned.

The experts, convened by the former government chief scientific adviser Sir David King, urged ministers to reconsider the “dangerous” strategy of managing the spread of Covid-19 and adopt widespread decentralised testing, tracing and isolation to clamp down on the epidemic.

Prof King set up the “independent Sage” meetings amid concerns around the transparency of independent scientific advice reaching ministers through the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

In a report being published today, the group warns that simply ensuring the NHS is not overwhelmed is “counter-productive” and “potentially dangerous”. Without strong measures to suppress the spread of infections “we shall inevitably see a more rapid return of local epidemics and face the prospect of further partial or national lockdowns”, the authors write.

The report, which includes 19 key recommendations, will be sent to Downing Street, Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser who co-chairs Sage, the first ministers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Jeremy Hunt, the chair of the health select committee.

The experts call on ministers to reverse the 12 March decision to abandon efforts to test, trace and isolate cases of Covid-19, and to replace the existing centralised testing approach, which relies heavily on the private sector. In its place, the group call for a decentralised strategy that puts GPs and local health teams at the heart of the outbreak control. The report states that the “over-dependence on outsourcing” is unsustainable.

Updated

Mervyn King urges Sunak not to scale back furlough scheme

On the Today programme this morning Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, said Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, should not scale back the coronavirus job retention scheme that allows workers to be furloughed. He said the government should continue to pay 80% of people’s salaries (as it does now, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month), instead of reducing that to 60%, as the Treasury has been considering.

Asked what Sunak should do, King said:

Keep it at 80%.

I don’t think it makes sense to regard this as the major cost of the Covid-19 crisis in economic terms.

These payments under government schemes are transfers from taxpayers in general to businesses, it will lead to an increase in national debt [but] we can finance that over a long period, particularly given the very low level of long-term real interest rates.

The real cost of this shutdown is not measured by the impact on the public finances but by the lost incomes and outputs in the economy, a cost which is likely to end up as an order of magnitude [though no one can really know this] of several hundred billion pounds. That’s an enormous cost.

King also said the “economy ought to have recovered to a very large extent” before Sunak considered ending the furlough scheme in a bid to avoid a wave of redundancies when the support is curtailed.

Mervyn King.
Mervyn King. Photograph: BBC/STV

Updated

BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme has revealed that there were multiple transmissions of coronavirus in Edinburgh in February, well before the first confirmed cases in the country, but that this was not disclosed to the public.

Scotland’s first confirmed coronavirus case, in Tayside, was announced on 1 March, but Disclosure, broadcast on Monday night, revealed an outbreak that began the week before, on 26 and 27 February, at a conference of international delegates for the sportswear company Nike. At least 25 people linked to this event have since been confirmed to have been infected, said the programme, eight of them resident in Scotland.

Nike told the BBC it instigated enhanced measures, including contact tracing and increased cleaning and disinfection processes in their stores and offices, and that all its staff had now recovered. The Scottish government confirmed health authorities were alerted to the potential outbreak on 2 March.

Updated

Round-up of all latest UK government documents with coronavirus guidance

Over the last 24 hours the government has published a huge pile of documents giving advice to the public about what it needs to do now.

The UK government has a three-step coronavirus recovery plan. The step one measures apply from tomorrow (13 May). Step two will start on Monday 1 June, or later. And step three will start on Saturday 4 July or later.

The advice out this week covers all three steps, although there is more detail about step one.

Much of the advice specifically covers just England. The devolved administrations have also been producing their own guidance.

Here are the key documents:

On education specifically, there are at least four documents. They are:

The Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy has produced eight separate guides on how to keep employees safe in different workplace environment. You can find links to all eight here.

And now, this morning, the Department for Transport has produced transport guidance. There are two main documents:

(If I’ve left any out, please let me know in the comments below the line.)

Updated

Transport users should face away from each other if 2-metre distancing not possible, says government

Public transport users should face away from each other when they cannot keep a 2-metre gap, the government has said. A report from PA Media on the new transport guidance issued by the government this morning (see 9.28am) goes on:

New guidance issued by the Department for Transport on how to travel safely during the coronavirus outbreak states that passengers should minimise the time they spend near other people and avoid physical contact with them.

It acknowledges that “there may be situations where you can’t keep a suitable distance from people”, such as on busier services or at peak times.

The document states: “In these cases you should avoid physical contact, try to face away from other people.”

It goes on: “The risk of infection increases the closer you are to another person with the virus and the amount of time you spend in close contact.”

Transport operators are being urged to rearrange, remove or limit seating “to try and ensure social distancing is observed”.

This may include blocking off seats in close proximity to others and removing face-to-face seating.

Single users of black cabs and minicabs should sit in the back left-hand seat of cars, according to the guidance.

Updated

The sandwich chain Subway has today started a phased reopening of around 600 of its 2,600 stores across the UK and Ireland – approximately one in four – for takeway and delivery only.

The outlets have all been fitted with new operational and social distancing safety measures to protect customers, third-party delivery and supplier drivers and staff. These have been tested in the small number of stores that have remained open to support and serve key workers and hospital staff.

All NHS workers will receive 25% off their orders, in addition to other initiatives which include free delivery on all third-party orders over £10.

The chain joins KFC, Pret a Manger and Burger King in reopening stores, and McDonald’s is poised to trial 15 outlets for delivery from tomorrow.

Updated

Excess deaths in England and Wales down to 8,000 by final week of April, says ONS

The Office for National Statistics has just published its latest weekly death figures for England and Wales.

They go up to the week ending Friday 1 May (or week 18, as the ONS calls it).

The ONS figures lag behind the daily figures published by the government, because they are based on registered deaths. But they are more comprehensive. The daily government figures just count people who have tested positive for coronavirus and died. The ONS figures for coronavirus deaths include all those where it was mentioned on the death certificate, which often happens if a patient had symptoms but did not test positive.

The figures show that by the end of April coronavirus deaths were falling, but total excess deaths (ie, the number of weekly deaths above what you would expect in an average week) was still very high.

Here are the main points.

  • Excess deaths in England and Wales were running at around 8,000 at the end of April. There were 8,012 more deaths in week 18 than the five-year average for that time of year. Overall there were 17,953 deaths that week. In the previous week there were 11,539 excess deaths.
  • For the second week in a row overall deaths were down.
  • Coronavirus deaths in week 18 accounted for 33.6% of all deaths, down from 37.4% in the previous weeks.
  • Deaths in care homes were also down in week 18. There were 6,409. But 37.8% of those deaths involved coronavirus, up from 35.3% the previous week.
  • All regions showed a decrease in the proportion of deaths involving coronavirus in week 18.

Updated

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has just published the new advice being issued to passengers using public transport. It’s here.

A railway ticket office worker has died of Covid-19 after being spat at while on duty, as a union calls for a government compensation scheme for bereaved families of frontline employees to be extended to cover transport staff.

Belly Mujinga, 47, was on the concourse of Victoria station in London in March when a man who said he had Covid-19 spat and coughed at her and a colleague. Within days of the assault, both women fell ill with coronavirus.

Mujinga, who had underlying respiratory problems, was admitted to Barnet Hospital and put on a ventilator but died on 5 April, her trade union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), said. Just 10 people were allowed to attend her funeral.

The union has reported the incident to the Railways Inspectorate, the safety arm of the Office for Road and Rail (ORR), for investigation and is taking legal advice on the situation.

TSSA says there are questions to answer as to why Mujinga was not stood down from duty earlier given her underlying health condition.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “We are shocked and devastated at Belly’s death. She is one of far too many frontline workers who have lost their lives to coronavirus.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, recently announced that £60,000 would be paid to the survivors of health and care workers who die as a result of the pandemic. Our view is that this compensation should be extended to the families of all frontline workers who perish trying to keep our country and vital services going.

Sadly, Belly’s is just one of many family tragedies where children have had their parents taken away from them. However, there are serious questions about her death; it wasn’t inevitable.

As a vulnerable person in the ‘at risk’ category, and her condition known to her employer, there are questions about why she wasn’t stood down from frontline duties early on in this pandemic.

In an interview with Sky News, Mujinga’s husband, Lusamba Gode Katalay, said: “They weren’t given masks, or gloves, so they were exposed to everyone.

“It’s her employer, the company and the state who have to look at that. Me and Ingrid [his 11-year-old daughter] we saw Belly, on 2 April when she left for hospital. Then we didn’t see her again.

“She’s dead and we buried her without being able to see her.”

Updated

Agenda for the day

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

It’s going to be a busy day. Here are the main items on the agenda.

9.30am: The Office for National Statistics publishes its latest weekly death figures.

9.30am: Health and Safety Executive officials give evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee about workplace safety.

11.30am: The Northern Ireland executive publishes its plan for relaxing the lockdown.

12pm: The “independent Sage” convened by the former government chief scientific adviser Sir David King publishes its recommendations to government.

12.30pm: Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, makes a statement to MPs about his plans to extend the furlough scheme.

12.30pm: The Scottish and Welsh governments are due to hold their daily press briefings.

1pm: Downing Street lobby briefing.

After 1.15pm: Alok Sharma, the business secretary, is expected to make a statement to MPs about safety guidance for businesses.

After 2pm: Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is expected to make a statement to MPs about safety guidance for those operating public transport.

2.30pm: Prison Service officials and the prisons minister Lucy Frazer give evidence to the Commons justice committee.

5pm: Sharma is expected to take the UK government’s daily press conference.

Updated

Care home death rate has nearly halved in last few weeks, Hancock says

The number of people dying in care homes has nearly halved in the past few weeks, according to Matt Hancock as he rejected the accusations that the adult and social care sector is being let down by the government.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

I’m really pleased that the number of people dying in care homes is now falling, quite sharply. The number has almost halved over the past two to three weeks, since the peak.

It’s very clear to me that the transmission in care homes is coming down and is much lower than it was.

It comes as new figures are set to be released on care home fatalities, with the Office for National Statistics previously revealing that there were 5,890 coronavirus-related care home deaths registered up to 24 April in England and Wales.

Meanwhile, yesterday figures were released showing that women working as carers are twice as likely to die as those in professional and technical roles.

Defending the government’s role in handling the crisis in care homes, Hancock added:

Some of our most vulnerable people live in care homes and yet only around a quarter of the deaths that have happened have been in care homes. That’s much lower than most international comparators.

Updated

Hancock defends move to allow people to meet one parent but not both at the same time

Matt Hancock has defended new rules that allow people to meet one parent but not both at the same time, as he rejected claims the new lockdown measures had sowed confusion.

For the first time since the lockdown was imposed in March, from tomorrow people will be able to meet a single member from another household in a public place so long as they maintain physical distancing. However, the new rules prevent a person from meeting both parents at the same time.

Matt Hancock arrives ahead of a cabinet meeting at Downing Street on May 7
Matt Hancock arrives ahead of a cabinet meeting at Downing Street on May 7 Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Asked what was wrong with someone seeing both their parents so long as they were 2 metres apart, the health secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

These things are a judgment and what we don’t want is large groups of people gathering and you have to make a judgment as to what is reasonable and where to set the rules.

And it’s perfectly reasonable to have a rule that only one individual can meet up with one other at that 2 metre distance, and outside is safer than inside because the science is clear that outside, although the risks are not zero, there is a lower risk to people being approximate outside.

Therefore, a rule that you can only meet up with one other person just protects everybody against that burgeoning into large groups of people.

Updated

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, says the reproduction rate of Covid-19 in the UK is “broadly in the middle of the range” of 0.5 to 0.9, insisting it is definitely below one.

Speaking in an earlier interview on Sky News, Hancock said cleaners entering people’s homes should exercise social distancing rules and follow other good practices, such as washing their hands regularly.

Challenged on why grandparents could not see their grandchildren but children could see their carers, Hancock said it was a “scientific fact” that older people were more vulnerable to Covid-19. He added:

The principles are really clear and the public has been sensible so far. The Great British public have really understood what social distancing means, why we need to do it … the principles are: outside is better than inside, stay 2 metres away, wash your hands and clean the surfaces, and see as few people as you can outside of your household because that virus spreads but we do also at the same time need to get people back to work.”

Updated

The deputy Labour leader, Angela Rayner, has called for the government’s furlough scheme to continue, saying: “It can’t be reduced.”

The economy would not recover if people were forced back to work too soon, Rayner said, arguing that it should go on “as long as we need it”.

Angela Rayner.
Angela Rayner. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said:

We can’t afford not to do it correctly. I think it is really important the chancellor continues with the good practice of making sure that furlough scheme is in place and doesn’t try and reduce it too soon, because that will cost us in the longer term.

Many families wouldn’t be able to survive right now if it wasn’t for things like the furlough scheme. It is absolutely right the government has stepped in but they can’t now pull the rug from underneath people’s feet - they have to continue to support people throughout this crisis.

We will have to look at how the economy recovers, but it is not going to recover quickly enough if we pull the rug from people now and people end up destitute and we end up having that R rate spiking again and back in lockdown.

Later today, chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce an extension to the furlough scheme under which the government has been subsidising the wages of workers temporarily laid off due to the pandemic.

Updated

Hancock dodges questions about people's legal right to refuse return to work

Matt Hancock has dodged questions on whether people have a legal right not to work if they do not feel safe due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are major concerns that workers are unclear about what to do if they are being put at risk, and industry figures have said the mental health impacts of returning to a new “alien environment” are not being prioritised.

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether or not someone has a legal right not to go to work if they do not feel their workplace is safe, Hancock declined to give a direct answer twice. Asked the first time, he replied:

Well this needs to be a collaborative effort. Absolutely workplaces need to follow the guidelines on making a workplace safe for Covid, so that is very important … Critically, everybody who can work from home should continue to work from home because obviously that’s the safest way to work.

Pressed again on whether they would have a legal right not to work if they felt unsafe, he said: “Well, employment law has not changed but that isn’t the point. The point is that businesses and their employees should be working together … to make the best of what is a very difficult situation.”

Updated

Meeting a friend in your garden is not safer than doing so in a park, says Matt Hancock

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has rejected the idea that meeting a friend in someone’s garden is safer than doing so in a park, as he sought to defend the new lockdown easing measures set to come into force tomorrow.

From Wednesday, people will be able to meet one member from a different household in a public place at two metres distance for the first time since the lockdown was imposed.

Health secretary Matt Hancock leaves Downing Street on Monday.
Health secretary Matt Hancock leaves Downing Street on Monday. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

But the minister rejected a viewer’s suggestion that it was safer to meet a friend in their garden rather than a busy park. The viewer’s question, which was read out to Hancock on BBC Breakfast said: “Can I have a friend round in my garden if we stay two metres apart, surely it’s more safe than meeting them in a park with more people?”

But Hancock fired back: “It’s not necessarily more safe than meeting in a park and we’ve said that that should only happen in public places…”

Asked why it is not as safe, Hancock continued:

For instance, lots of people can only get to their garden by going through their house, being with people indoors is not as safe as outdoors and so that’s why we’ve come to this judgment. And it is a balanced judgment that that is best done in a park or in a public place.

We brought that in so that people can see others from outside their household but also without encouraging large groups to gather and encouraging things that the scientists tell us would increase the risk of the spread of the virus.

Updated

Ryanair has announced a plan to restore 40% of its flights from 1 July but warned the move was dependent on EU flight restrictions being lifted, as well as public health measures imposed at airports.

The airline said the measure is subject to government restrictions on flights within the EU being lifted and “effective public health measures” being implemented at airports.

A man walks past a Ryanair departures board and sign in terminal one at Dublin airport.
A man walks past a Ryanair departures board and sign in terminal one at Dublin airport. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA

It would involve nearly 1,000 flights per day being operated and 90% of its pre-Covid-19 route network being restored. Crew and passengers will also be required to wear face masks and pass temperature checks. Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson said:

It is important for our customers and our people that we return to some normal schedules from 1 July onwards. Governments around Europe have implemented a four-month lockdown to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

“After four months, it is time to get Europe flying again so we can reunite friends and families, allow people to return to work and restart Europe’s tourism industry, which provides so many millions of jobs.”

Updated

Sunak expected to extend furlough scheme amid lockdown confusion

Good morning readers, it’s Simon Murphy here kicking off the UK live blog today to bring you the latest developments this morning as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.

With the UK’s Covid-19 death toll topping 32,000 yesterday, the UK’s easing of lockdown measures comes into effect tomorrow although the move has sowed confusion.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of failing to give the public “clear directions” on the way through the coronavirus crisis, as the government struggled to answer a barrage of questions about its new advice to “stay alert”.

Later on today, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, will speak in the commons where he is expected to announce an extension to the furlough scheme under which the Government subsidises the wages of workers temporarily laid off due to the pandemic. The Business and Transport Secretaries will also make statements. There are also briefings expected in Scotland and Wales at 1230.

First up this morning, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, is set to face the cameras for an interview on BBC Breakfast.

Updated

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