Evening summary
- In another major U-turn by Boris Johnson’s government, the NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app was abandoned. Instead, focus will turn to technology from Apple and Google, after the trial on the Isle of Wight revealed the app was highly inaccurate when used on iPhones.
- The latest test and trace figures suggested a significant reduction in social distancing in early June. The DHSC figures revealed 4,366 infected people passed on details of 44,895 contacts, suggesting that between 4 June and 10 June infected people were each in contact with 10.28 other people on average, up from 5.88 for the week prior.
- The first minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster announced an easing of lockdown restrictions, including abandoning the 2 metre rule for schools. Schools there are set to reopen on 24 August with a 1 metre social distancing measure in place. The move increases pressure on Boris Johnson as many of his MPs have been urging him to do the same for England for some time now.
- Dominic Raab was criticised for “insulting” the Black Lives Matter movement when he said taking the knee felt like “a symbol of subjugation or subordination” and that he thought the idea came from Game of Thrones. In case you missed it, here’s the video.
- Face coverings will be compulsory on public transport in Scotland from Monday. Nicola Sturgeon announced further lockdown-easing measures including shops, churches and dental surgeries to reopen over the next two weeks, and an ‘extended household’ scheme for single adult households.
- The UK death toll rose by 135 to 42,288.
That’s it from us on the UK side. If you’d like to continue following the Guardian’s coronavirus coverage, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture.
Matt Hancock's press conference - Summary
Here are the main points from Matt Hancock’s press conference.
- Hancock, the health secretary, confirmed that the government has abandoned the contact tracing app it was trialling on the Isle of Wight - a system that was at one point described as being a core feature of the system that would enable coronavirus to be kept under control. Explaining why, he said:
We found that our app works well on Android devices but Apple software prevents iPhones being used effectively for contact tracing unless you are using Apple’s own technology ...
As it stands, our app won’t work because Apple won’t change their system, but it can measure distance.
-
But Hancock claimed the rival Google-Apple approach was also flawed. He said it could not “measure distance well enough to a standard that we are satisfied with.” He said:
This is a global challenge. What we have done in really rigorously testing both our own Covid-19 app and the Google-Apple version is demonstrating that none of them are working sufficiently well enough to actually be reliable to determine whether any of us should self-isolate for two weeks.
Leo Kelion, a technology editor at the BBC, says this claim was surprising because other countries are using the Google-Apple model.
Matt Hancock and Baroness Dido Harding make clear that neither thinks Google-Apple tech is reliable enough for public use yet. So have Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy and others got it wrong? I’ve asked Google and Apple to respond. https://t.co/ntduTD9FIE
— Leo Kelion (@LeoKelion) June 18, 2020
- Hancock rejected claims that the government had stuck with its own version for too long, ignoring the alternative Google-Apple approach favoured by many experts. He said the UK government had deliberately decided to trial both versions. He said:
I’m from Newmarket, we back both horses. We took the decision in May to start building the Google-Apple version as well and then because we built both we could test both.
And actually the best way to get new technology going is to test different approaches.
Hancock was accused of being misleading because for many weeks the government denied considering any alternative to its own app. (See 5.58pm.) This is from the Times’s technology correspondent Tom Knowles.
Deeply frustrating hearing Dido Harding and Matt Hancock saying how they have always 'backed both horses' on the app, when for weeks the NHSX have been absolutely insistent they had no interest in pursing the Apple Google model. They are slightly rewriting history here.
— Tom Knowles (@tkbeynon) June 18, 2020
- Hancock said the government was now developing a hybrid app that would include the best features from its own one and from the Google-Apple version. He said:
Far better to go with both versions and now we’ve got problems with both versions but there’s parts of each that can come together to build something that’s stronger than either version.
And Dido Harding, head of NHS Test and Trace, said:
The reality is if we had not backed both horses we wouldn’t have a way forward.
Precisely because we’ve developed our own and developed some really sophisticated distance calculations we think that we can enhance the Google-Apple platform such that it will work.
- Hancock was unable to say when the new app would be ready for a nationwide rollout. He said that, because people would be advised to self-isolate by the app, he had to be confident that it was working properly before he could sanction it.
- Harding said she wanted to see more people being tested for coronavirus because the large number of asymptomatic cases made the disease hard to detect. She said:
We have to get better at hunting out the virus. Seventy per cent of people or so who have the virus won’t show any symptoms, or they will have such mild symptoms they might not spot it. That’s why we are doing targeted testing for people in high-contact professions, such as health and social care, but also other roles where we are looking to expand that.
- Hancock confirmed that the government was reviewing the 2-metre rule but was unable to confirm that it would be abandoned for schools, as is happening in Northern Ireland. (See 4.47pm.) Asked if England would follow Northern Ireland, he replied:
We are working on what is needed to get schools open in September, to get all schools open in September. And there is a review into the current 2-metre rule. But the 2-metre rule is in itself a social distancing measure.
Removing it has an impact in terms of the transmission of the disease, so we have to make sure in that review that we have the space and the virus is under control enough to be able to make the change and replace the 2-metre rule.
- He said that frontline health and social care workers and those at increased risk from coronavirus, including the over-50s and those with heart and kidney disease, would get priority if a vaccine became available. He went on:
As we learn more about the virus we will continue to take into account which groups may be particularly vulnerable, including, for example, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, so that we can protect the most at risk first, should a vaccine become available.
Updated
The number of prisoners who have tested positive for Covid-19 flatlined in the most recent data released by the Ministry of Justice.
As at 5pm on Wednesday, 503 prisoners were confirmed to have had the virus across 81 prisons, no change in 24 hours, while the number of infected staff rose by two or 0.2% to 980 across 105 prisons.
There are around 79,700 prisoners across 117 prisons in England and Wales, and around 33,000 staff working in public sector prisons.
At least 23 prisoners and nine staff are known to have died, as well as one prison escort driver and one NHS trust employee working in a secure training centre.
At the press conference Matt Hancock insisted that the government had been intentionally trialling the Google-Apple contact tracing app model, alongside its own. He said backing both horses was a good decision, because the government was now working on a system that incorporated the benefits of both.
But the Daily Mirror’s Dan Bloom says the government used to deny testing an alternative app.
Matt Hancock today: "We backed both horses" - and worked on two apps at once.
— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) June 18, 2020
Department of Health told me in an on-record statement on May 18: "There is no alternative app."
Doesn't look great on the face of it. Hope no one tells the guy who runs the Department of Health.
Full statement from May 18 here -https://t.co/h5E0bNMyn5
— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) June 18, 2020
“There is no alternative app and the NHS continues to work constructively with many other organisations that are helping to develop and test the NHS COVID-19 App."
UPDATE: Bloom has posted more on this.
It's been pointed out that the Google/Apple tech was released on May 20, 2 days after that statement, which to be fair may explain things a bit:https://t.co/QVw1uXXxlZ
— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) June 18, 2020
But they had been doing the work for weeks earlier:https://t.co/gJNsH72ubAhttps://t.co/VK94CV4sj5
Updated
Q: How will local leaders be able to implement local lockdowns?
Hancock claims the system is already up and running. He chaired a meeting of the local action committee this morning. He says councils have powers, and he has powers, from the Coronavirus Act. And government can asks councils to do something if they spot a problem.
Harding says she thinks the way to address this is through local leaders acting together.
Q: But mayors and council leaders feel they do not have these powers, despite what you are saying.
Hancock says the government deals with directors of public health. He claims the government is getting better and better engagement with local authorities.
That’s it. The press conference is over.
Q: What will you do to ensure that people with disabilities aren’t forgotten?
Hancock claims 80% of schools were kept open for those with special needs.
And he says support from local authorities is incredibly important too.
Q: Schools in Northern Ireland are abandoning the 2-metre rule. Why can’t we do that in England?
Hancock says the 2-metre rule is being reviewed. But the government has to be sure it is safe to replace it.
He says the DfE is working hard on getting pupils back to schools.
Q: When will we be able to visit our parents and stay overnight?
Hancock says they are looking at this. He wants people to be able to stay overnight so they can have a holiday. They are working on this.
Updated
Hancock rejects claim government stuck with its own failing app for too long, ignoring alternative
Q: There were problems with this app some time ago. Has it taken us too long to drop this app because we were fixated on being “world-beating”?
No, says Hancock. He says he is from Newmarket. He is used to backing both horses.
Harding says backing both apps has been helpful. As a result they have developed new distance technology that will enhance the Apple/Google version.
Updated
Q: Isn’t an app vital to get back to normality? If people are on buses and trains, they won’t be able to name people they have been in contact with.
Hancock says what is vital is to get the numbers down.
He says the Isle of Wight pilot showed that human contact with people being asked to self-isolate was vital.
Harding says an app would be a “hugely helpful addition” for people to travel to work. But there are other things people can do too, like hand washing, she says.
Q: But if we don’t get the app until the autumn, can we get back to normal life before then?
Hancock says human contact is at the core of the test and trace system. He rejects the implication of the question.
He says he will not advise people to download the app unless he is confident that is the right thing to do.
He will not put out the app if there are problems with it. He would rather get it right, he says.
Updated
Hancock says last week there were slightly fewer people dying than in a normal week at this time of year. Or it was statistically equivalent, he says.
Harding says the test-and-trace service is very large by global standards now. And it will get better and better.
Updated
Q: There could be around 10,000 symptomatic people a week. But test and trace is picking up only a fraction of those. So how can it contain any outbreaks?
Harding says people have to learn that, if they get symptoms, they must stay at home and order a test.
And she says they also have to get better at hunting out the virus. Some 70% of people with the virus won’t have symptoms, or will have such mild symptoms they do not notice.
So she says she wants to see more people being tested. She says she is one of the few people in government wanting to see positive test numbers go up.
Updated
Q: [From the BBC’s Hugh Pym] When will the app be involved in contact tracing?
Hancock says they are working on this. But he cannot put a date on it. Asking people to isolate for two weeks is a good thing. But he would not advise people to do that unless he were confident in the technology.
Q: What is going to happen to people in the shielding group? Will the advice to stay at home end from July?
Hancock says he knows this advice has been hard. They will be announcing the next steps “very, very soon”. But it is important to do this properly. There will be a a government publication. And everyone in this group will get an individualised letter, he says.
Updated
The Welsh government will allow all non-essential retail businesses in Wales to reopen from Monday, the PA news agency understands. More on this as we get it.
Stuart from Birmingham asks if the government will legislate to make it easier for people to continue working from home if they want.
Hancock says working from home is currently recommended. He says this is something “that will stay with us a long time after the crisis”. Those Zoom calls will continue, he says. He says he is willing to talk to the business department to see if laws need to change to enable this.
Luke from Cardiff asks what the government will do to ensure that there won’t be local outbreaks of the virus when students return to university.
Hancock says the government is doing as much as it can to ensure a safe restart for schools. The DfE is working very hard on this, he says.
Dido Harding, head of NHS Test and Trace, is summarising the figures published today. (See 12.34pm.)
She says they are improving the system all the time.
They have made it easier to book tests. They have change shift patterns, so some tests are being carried out overnight. And they have ensured test results link up with GP records.
Updated
Here is more from Matt Hancock’s opening statement.
Matt Hancock: “Because of this testing we discovered a technical barrier that every other country building their own app is also now hitting. We found that our app works well on Android devices. But, Apple software prevents iPhones, being used effectively for contact tracing“
— Matt Honeycombe-Foster (@matt_hfoster) June 18, 2020
Matt Hancock: “So as it stands, our app won't work because Apple won't change their system, but it can measure distance and their app can't measure distance well enough to a standard that we are satisfied with.”
— Matt Honeycombe-Foster (@matt_hfoster) June 18, 2020
Matt Hancock: ”We've agreed to join forces with Google and Apple, to bring the best bits of both systems together.
— Matt Honeycombe-Foster (@matt_hfoster) June 18, 2020
”we will share our algorithm, and the work that we've done on distance calculation and combine that with their work to deliver a new solution.”
Hancock is now talking about the app.
He says, as they tested it in the Isle of Wight, they found a technical problem that other countries have encountered.
He says the UK app would not work because Apple would not change its system.
And Apple’s does not measure distance well, he says.
So he says the government is now joining up with Apple to find a solution.
Updated
Hancock says Public Health England says there were no excess deaths in England last week (ie, overall deaths were in line with the seasonal average). He says this is the first time this has happened since mid-March.
Updated
Here is the chart with the death figures.
Matt Hancock's press conference
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is holding the UK government’s daily press conference.
He starts with today’s coronavirus death and testing data.
Northern Ireland to abandon 2-metre rule for schools from August, Arlene Foster says
Arlene Foster, the first minister of Northern Ireland, has announced that the social distancing measure will be reduced from 2 metres to 1 metre in Northern Ireland’s schools when they reopen on 24 August. She said the move would enable class sizes to return to near-normal levels.
This will intensify the pressure on Boris Johnson to do the same in England.
In Scotland and Wales, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford may also face renewed pressure to abandon the 2-metre rule for schools too, but Johnson is facing particularly difficulties on this point because so many of his MPs are desperate to ditch 2 metres. Sturgeon and Drakeford are not facing quite the same internal party opposition.
Updated
Here is some comment from journalists on the government’s U-turn over its contact tracing app.
From Sky’s Ed Conway
The story of UK #COVID19 policy in three acts
— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) June 18, 2020
Act 1: Yes other countries are doing it one way but we've got a better plan
Act 2: Yes our plan is tricky, yes other countries think we're crazy, but good old British hard work and ingenuity will save the day
Act 3: https://t.co/xJDw7Wz6vZ
From our colleague Dan Sabbagh
The now ditched NHS X app was picking up 4% of Apple phones. It didn't work and was never going to work. Yet, the government tried and tried. Officials won't disclose how much money was spent flogging this unfortunate horsehttps://t.co/9XuowohKbS
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) June 18, 2020
From the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush
It's good to U-Turn, and I'm not...wild about the balance of power between state and company here, but that the tracing app would have to make this U-Turn has been known, literally for months. https://t.co/uYxTYmVrYq
— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) June 18, 2020
From the Evening Standard’s Sophia Sleigh
So Britain is ditching its own attempt at a coronavirus-tracing app in favour of tech developed by two US tech giants.
— Sophia Sleigh (@SophiaSleigh) June 18, 2020
How very un-world beating of us.😉
From our colleague Kate Connolly
What’s the likelihood the UK gov will now adopt the new German corona warn app, the program code of which is open source, (and it doesn’t collect data centrally). No one talking of it here as central tool in controlling virus, but an extra, helpful aid https://t.co/TdSiI6z3hQ
— Kate Connolly (@connollyberlin) June 18, 2020
Shielding advice to be 'paused' in Northern Ireland from 31 July
The Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann has confirmed plans to “pause” shielding advice that was issued to people ahead of the peak of the pandemic from 31 July.
From that date people will no longer need to shield but should follow the same advice given to those deemed vulnerable, taking care when out in society and maintaining social distancing.
Swann said letters will be issued in the coming days to all those in Northern Ireland covered by shielding informing them of the planned change, subject to the rate of transmission in the community remaining low.
He said:
I have been clear that shielding would not last one minute longer than it needed to. We have now reached the point where, if the current trends continue, there will be no need for anyone to shield after 31 July.
I have listened to many of you and to the challenges you have faced during this period. I am in no doubt as to the difficulties shielding has presented for a great many people.
It is unrealistic to think these difficulties will just vanish because the need to shield has ended. That is why the letters we issue will provide details of the support which will continue to be available up to and after 31 July.
While my announcement today will be welcome news for many who are shielding, some will view the prospect of an end to shielding with great anxiety. I want to assure them that they should decide what to do at their own pace. Everyone will approach this situation differently.
The Department of Health and Social Care has today recorded a further 135 coronavirus deaths for the UK. (See 3.24pm.) For comparison, here are the equivalent daily figures for the past two weeks.
Thursday 4 June - 176
Friday 5 June - 357
Saturday 6 June - 204
Sunday 7 June - 77
Monday 8 June - 55
Tuesday 9 June - 286
Wednesday 10 June - 245
Thursday 11 June - 151
Friday 12 June - 202
Saturday 13 June - 181
Sunday 14 June - 36
Monday 15 June - 38
Tuesday 16 June - 233
Wednesday 17 June - 184
Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the app U-turn (see 3.35pm.) meant “precious time and money” had been wasted and that issues with the app had been forewarned.
He said:
This is unsurprising and yet another example of where the government’s response has been slow and badly managed. It’s meant precious time and money wasted.
For months tech experts warned ministers about the flaws in their app which is why we wrote to Matt Hancock encouraging the government to consider digital alternatives back in May.
Ministers must now urgently prioritise building a fully effective test, trace and isolate regime led by local expertise to break the chains of transmission of this deadly virus.
National Express will check the temperature of passengers before allowing them to travel when it resumes services next month.
The firm said its drivers will use contactless hand-held devices to carry out the screenings. Anyone with a reading above 38C will be prevented from boarding and given a full refund due to fears they could be infected with coronavirus.
Other measures being introduced to enhance safety and hygiene include only allowing passengers to sit in window seats, halving the capacity of vehicles.
Travellers will also be required to wear face coverings, while enhanced disinfection of coaches will be carried out.
National Express suspended its operations on 5 April due to the pandemic. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA
On 1 July National Express will resume serving intercity routes across Britain with reduced frequencies, calling at more than 180 locations but overall mileage will be around a quarter of the pre-pandemic level until demand grows.
Chris Hardy, managing director of the firm’s UK coach operation, said:
As restrictions begin to ease and people plan to start travelling once again, we are adapting how we operate to help keep everyone safe.
We also appreciate that people are unsure about committing to travel plans at the moment so have changed some of our terms and conditions to give reassurance when deciding whether to book.
National Express is not actively advising its customers to avoid non-essential travel. This is in contrast with train operators, which are urging passengers to “use an alternative if you can”.
Labour says test and trace figures 'hugely worrying' because of cases being missed
Labour has said the figures released today about the performance of the new test and trace system (see 12.34pm) are “hugely worrying”. This is from the shadow health minister Justin Madders.
Expert opinion shows that to defeat this virus we need a fully functioning test and trace system, so these latest figures are hugely worrying.
Having a quarter of those who test positive not contacted is a gaping hole in the system that urgently needs to be addressed. And questions still remain about how the app was hailed as a vital part of the system at the outset, but is now just the ‘cherry on the cake’.
Ministers need to level with the public about how they are going to tackle these real and serious issues as a matter of urgency.
Arguably Madders is being generous in suggesting that only a quarter of cases are being missed.
Today’s ONS figures suggest that in the period between 26 April and 13 June there were on average 26,900 new cases per week in England. In the most recent week covered by the test and trace figures (4-10 June), 5,949 people who tested positive were referred to the service in England. That would amount to just 22% of the entire number of cases (on the basis of the ONS average).
But the ONS report also shows that the infection rate has been falling considerably since April, and so the 26,900 cases per week average figure probably no longer applies for June. Half that (13,450 cases per week) may be a more accurate figure. But, on that basis, test and trace would still just hearing about 44% of the entire caseload. And, given that they are only reaching 73% of these cases to ask them about their contacts, that would amount to just 32% of the entire caseload.
Stormont ministers are set to announce a series of new lockdown relaxations later on Thursday.
The PA news agency understands shielding advice to people in at-risk categories in Northern Ireland will be paused at the end of July.
Schools are set to reopen for key year groups on 24 August. Meanwhile, it is understood hairdressers and salons will be allowed to reopen on 6 July.
An announcement is also expected that church services can resume at the end of June.
Updated
Government confirms it is abandoning contact tracing app piloted on Isle of Wight
Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace, and Matthew Gould, who heads NHSX, the NHS’s digital policy arm, have issued a statement confirming the decision to scrap the current contact-tracing app. There had been “specific technical challenges” with the app, they said. They went on:
Our response to this virus has and will continue to be as part of an international effort.
That is why as part of a collaborative approach we have agreed to share our own innovative work on estimating distance between app users with Google and Apple, work that we hope will benefit others, while using their solution to address some of the specific technical challenges identified through our rigorous testing.
We will also draw on the invaluable insight from all of those who trialled the app on the Isle of Wight – and the brilliant teams who have worked on it to date – to build an app that can form part of the end-to-end NHS Test and Trace service and this insight will be integral to the next phase of development.
Updated
Here is our colleague Dan Sabbagh’s story about the government abandoning the contact tracing app it has been using.
The Open Knowledge Foundation, which campaigns for open data, has welcomed the change. Its chief executive Catherine Stihler said:
Technology can play a key role in the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, but it must take account of civil liberties and ensure that people’s privacy is protected.
There were widespread fears the UK government was losing sight of ethical responsibilities in the rush to develop these tools, and this change in line with other European nations is therefore welcome
But this late U-turn means it is likely the UK will be waiting even longer for an app to be in use, which could pose a greater risk if there is a second wave of the virus.
Another 135 deaths recorded, bringing UK death toll to 42,288
The Department of Health and Social Care said 42,288 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Wednesday. That is a rise of 135 from 42,153 the day before.
The government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 53,000.
The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Thursday, 136,516 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,218 positive results.
Overall, a total of 7,7,259,555 tests have been carried out and 300,469 cases have been confirmed positive.
The figure for the number of people tested has been “temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting” across all methods of testing.
As of 9am 18 June, there have been 7,259,555 tests, with 136,516 tests on 17 June.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) June 18, 2020
300,469 people have tested positive.
As of 5pm on 17 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 42,288 have sadly died.
More info:
▶️ https://t.co/xXnL3FU15k pic.twitter.com/zTkXbHosV6
Freelance workers in the UK’s creative industries have spoken of the devastating psychological toll of being “forgotten” and “ignored” after falling through the cracks in government support schemes.
The grassroots organisation Excluded UK estimates about 3 million taxpayers are ineligible for the furlough scheme and the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS). Among the left-behind are thousands of freelancers on short-term PAYE contracts, widespread in the creative industries.
Having received no income or support from the government for three months now, people have had to burn through their life savings, rely on handouts, move back in with parents to survive the lockdown. In a sector worth £112bn a year to the Treasury, workers face having to leave the industry altogether, potentially never to return.
One production secretary, Sarah-Jane Hawkins, 25, from Belfast, and her seven-year-old daughter, were left to rely on charity, universal credit and her dwindling savings when film and TV projects were cancelled. Hawkins, who normally works a 60-hour week, said:
Knowing our hard-earned tax money hasn’t been given back to us because we’re taxed at source, compared to how other PAYE workers have been treated, is really, really difficult.
If we continue to get no help I’ll have to step back from my dream job, leave the industry I love, and find something more stable where I’ll get equal rights. It looks like the only way to survive.
The shadow cultural industries minister Tracy Brabin told the Guardian:
If you don’t support the individuals, where’s the next wave of talent – the next Fleabag, the next Chernobyl – going to come from? Our industry is the least understood, paying the biggest price and will be the last to come back. We need a sectoral deal to support us to return in 2021.
Here is the full story.
Updated
Separate modelling published by the ONS and carried out by the universities of Oxford and Manchester shows “a clear downward trend” in the estimated percentage of people in England testing positive for Covid-19 since the infection study began on 26 April.
The ONS said the decline suggested by this model “appears to have slowed in recent weeks”, with the proportion of the population testing positive dropping from an estimated 0.33% on 26 April to 0.10% by 26 May, before levelling off around 0.07% in the days up to 13 June.
Results for the most recent period are provisional, the ONS added, as not all swab test results have been received, and this may result in further revisions to the figures.
The former Tory grandee Lord Andrew Tyrie has resigned from the Competition and Markets Authority saying his powers in the role were limited, PA Media reports.
The outspoken former head of the Treasury select committee will leave his role as chairman of the authority in September.
Lord Tyrie has proposed a series of reforms to the UK’s competition law, which he said in the past is not fit for purpose.
As he announced his resignation, he said:
The government asked me to take this work forward at great pace. I have done so. I now want to make the case more forcefully for legislative and other reform - in Parliament and beyond - than is possible within the inherent limits of my position as CMA chairman.
#Breaking The former Conservative MP who led the Treasury Select Committee, Lord Andrew Tyrie, has resigned as chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority, saying the position had “inherent limits” for strengthening consumer laws
— PA Media (@PA) June 18, 2020
Updated
The number of people with Covid-19 in England continues to fall but the rate of decline is slowing, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
The average number of infections per day since the end of April has fallen from 4,500 last week to 3,800, according to the figures.
An estimated average of 33,000 people within the community in England (i.e. not in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings) had Covid-19 between 31 May and 13 June 2020, according to the ONS.
And the weekly snapshot of the average number of infections suggests about one in 1,700 people within the community population was infected at any given time in that period.
The ONS said the 33,000 people believed to have Covid-19 is a “clear decrease” from the average of 149,000 people infected between 3 May and 16 May.
However, it is the same as was estimated last week when the ONS said that at any given time between 25 May and 7 June 2020, an estimated average of 0.06% of the community population had Covid-19, equivalent to 33,000 people in England.
The ONS said:
Modelling of the trend over time also shows evidence that the number of people in England testing positive has decreased since the study began on 26 April, and suggests that the decline may have slowed in recent weeks.
Our latest estimates indicate that at any given time during the two weeks from 31 May to 13 June, an average of 33,000 people in England had the coronavirus
This equates to 0.06% of the population in England or around one in 1,700 individuals
This estimate is based on swab tests collected from 24,413 participants, of which 10 individuals tested positive for Covid-19.
Updated
A further 62 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 28,175, NHS England said. Full details here.
No 10 lobby briefing – key points
Here is a summary of some of the main points from this afternoon’s Downing Street briefing, as reported by PA Media.
No 10 said there was “not an explicit link” between the review of the 2-metre physical distancing rule and an announcement on when the hospitality sector can reopen in England.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said:
It’s in the road map for 4 July at the earliest. The road map is clear that reopening is conditional on us being satisfied that it won’t lead to a second spike that might overwhelm the NHS.
Boris Johnson “fully understands that the hospitality industry wants to get going”, the spokesman said, and is “working with them to enable them to open safely”.
Downing Street said Dominic Raab was giving a “personal opinion” when he said taking a knee was a symbol of subjugation (see 11.35am).
The spokesman said:
The foreign secretary was very clear he was expressing a personal opinion. Secondly, he has tweeted about it.
Asked whether anyone in No 10 had spoken to him about sending a tweet clarifying his remarks, the spokesman said he was not aware of the prime minister speaking with the foreign secretary this morning and he did not know whether anyone else in No 10 had spoken to Raab.
Downing Street said the government is looking at a “range of measures” to help children catch up after missing months of schooling.
The spokesman told the briefing:
We’re looking at a range of measures to help children make up for the time they spent out of school. The PM has been clear that the catch-up plan will cover not just the summer period, but also September and beyond.
It follows reports that schools will be funded to hire private tutors to help pupils who have fallen behind.
Downing Street urged people contacted by the NHS test-and-trace service to follow the advice they received to stop the spread of coronavirus, as it defended the reach of the scheme.
The spokesman said:
This week’s data shows tens of thousands of people who may have unwittingly spread the virus otherwise are now remaining safely at home.
We continue to reach more people who may be at risk of passing the virus on and are grateful for the public’s support.
Everyone must play their part and we urge those with symptoms to book a test immediately, and those contacted by the service to follow the advice they receive.
Asked if the government was disappointed the scheme was not reaching more people, the spokesman said:
This is a new and large-scale service and I think it is important to recognise that it does show tens of thousands of people who might otherwise have been spreading the virus are at home.
Updated
Boris Johnson will give Emmanuel Macron a framed montage containing a telegram sent by Charles de Gaulle to Sir Winston Churchill on VE Day, Downing Street has said. As PA Media reports, the montage will include Churchill’s reply to De Gaulle and a photograph of the wartime leaders in Paris shortly after the liberation. Johnson will also give Macron a “miniature replica of Churchill’s open-topped Land Rover Defender” to go with the president’s model of De Gaulle’s car which sits in his office.
For reasons set out by my colleague Patrick Wintour here, Johnson’s gifts to Macron do not seem to include a copy of Johnson’s own biography of Churchill.
As Macron arrives, worth recalling Johnson's view of the French war effort in his Churchill "biography". "The French were possessed of an origami army; they just kept folding with magical speed". He pokes fun at De Gaulle describing him as "exhausting and almost intolerable".
— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) June 18, 2020
Updated
Public Health Wales said a further five people had died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths to 1,471. The full details are here.
Updated
Government 'set to abandon contact-tracing app in favour of alternative model', BBC reports
According to the BBC’s technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, the government is abandoning its contact-tracing app because it wants to replace it with an alternative model.
BBC scoop - NHS abandons centralised contact tracing app, moves to Apple/Google decentralised model
— Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) June 18, 2020
As my colleagues Alex Hern and Kate Proctor reported early last month, the government has been under considerable pressure to abandon its centralised approach to the app and replace it with the “decentralised” model favoured by Apple and Google.
The BBC explainer sets out the differences between the two approaches.
Updated
Police in Bristol are investigating the vandalisation of the grave of an enslaved African man apparently carried out in retaliation for the toppling of a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in the city.
Two headstones in memory of the man, known as Scipio Africanus, who lived in Bristol in the 18th century, were smashed and a message was scrawled in chalk on flagstones nearby. It called for the statue of Colston to be put back or “things will really heat up”.
The Grade II-listed, brightly painted memorial to Scipio Africanus, who died in 1720, aged 18, is situated in St Mary’s churchyard in Henbury, Bristol.
The Conservative councillor Mark Weston said:
This looks like a retaliation attack for the recent events involving the Colston statue. I am deeply saddened by what is happening. We have seen war memorials defaced and statues vandalised and I have to wonder where this will end.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said: “We have received a report of criminal damage to a monument at Henbury parish church. Our investigation into what happened is at an early stage. Officers have been at the scene and have carried out house-to-house and CCTV inquiries.”
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Here is the Scottish government’s document (pdf) setting out what will be allowed now as Scotland moves to phase two of its lockdown easing. Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, explained these changes in her statement to the Scottish parliament earlier. (See 1.10pm.)
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Presumably Boris Johnson wants his newly repainted RAF Voyager to look something like this ...
🇫🇷 President @EmmanuelMacron arrives in London to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Charles De Gaulle’s Appeal. #18JuinUK pic.twitter.com/xe62xnZPsP
— French Embassy UK (@FranceintheUK) June 18, 2020
Updated
And here is Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, on Dominic Raab’s remark. Davey said:
People are deeply worried [that] someone now in charge of the aid budget doesn’t seem to understand the depth of feeling about racism in our society.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, has joined those criticising Dominic Raab for his jibe about taking the knee. She said:
To compare the protests and the symbolic gesture of taking the knee to the Game of Thrones was just far too flippant, not serious, and we need a level of leadership that is better than that.
Updated
Sturgeon announces details of Scotland's next moves to ease lockdown
People using trains, taxis, buses and ferries in Scotland will be required to wear face coverings from Monday 22 June but churches, dental surgeries and professional sports can resume, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
The first minister told MSPs on Thursday that then shops with access from the street, factories, outdoor sports and outdoor markets will be allowed to reopen from Monday 29 June, provided they put strict social-distancing measures in place. Places of worship would reopen for “individual prayer only, not communal worship.”
She said marriages and civil partnership ceremonies could also resume from that date but only outdoors, while playgrounds and zoos could also reopen, but only for people leaving in the surrounding area.
She said shielding people, who have been ordered to stay at home and avoid contact with non-family members, should be able to leave home from tomorrow and to start non-contact sports. She urged people not to travel further than 5 miles for home, unless seeing close family. Face coverings on all public transport would be mandatory, she stressed.
Scotland’s lockdown measures are the strictest in the UK, with other parts of the UK reopening shops and other businesses more quickly, but Sturgeon said caution was essential, as was maintaining the strict two metre distancing rule.
She said the Scottish government want to delay outdoor restaurants and pubs reopening until July, when she would set out the next phase of easing the lockdown. Sturgeon is under intense pressure from the Tories, the tourism trade and business leaders to ease restrictions much more quickly.
She told MSPs:
As we start to feel that the virus is receding, there will be a growing desire to move back to normality more quickly.
And we will feel frustrated at times, if that journey seems too slow. That is true for individuals - and also, I know, for business. The impact of this crisis on businesses, large and small, is colossal and we all want the economy to re-open as quickly as possible.
But if - as I believe is the case - frustration, leading to a premature easing of too many restrictions, is our biggest risk right now, it is equally true that patience could reap our biggest rewards.
Updated
Sturgeon says face coverings will be compulsory on public transport in Scotland from Monday
Sturgeon says she wants to get children back to school.
As they open up workplaces, more people will use public transport.
She says from Monday face coverings will be mandatory on all public transport.
Sturgeon says she has commissioned further advice on physical distancing.
The current evidence supports two metres, she says.
She says she will not change this without good evidence.
But she has asked her advisers to consider whether in some settings one metre, or 1.5 metres, might be appropriate.
She says she wants to get this advice back within two weeks.
Sturgeon says her government’s plan did suggest beer gardens would be able to open in phase two.
But she cannot allow that now. Further evidence is needed. She says there is evidence suggesting they could be hotspots for infection.
She says she expects to get this extra scientific advice by 2 July.
At that point she should be able to say if beer gardens can reopen, she says.
Sturgeon says these moves represent significant but careful change.
Sturgeon says there will be a more significant reopening of health services over the coming weeks.
Public services will be gradually opening up too, she says, like energy efficiency schemes.
Sturgeon says further changes will take place from Monday 29 June.
Some indooor workplaces, like factories and laboratories, will be allowed to open.
But non-essential offices, like call centres, will stay closed.
Outdoor markets and outdoor playgrounds will open, she says.
Restrictions on moving house will be lifted.
And registration offices will reopen, she says.
Sturgeon says further changes will come into effect from Monday 22 June.
The construction sector will be able to move on to the next stage of its plans.
Dentists can open, subject to restriction.
Some more sports can resume, she says.
And she says places of worship will be able to open for individual prayer.
Sturgeon announces 'extended household' scheme for single adult households
Sturgeon turns to the rules for non-shielding people.
From tomorrow, people can meet outdoors with people from up to two households. It can be up to two households at a time, or two households over the course of a day.
But they should not meet in groups of more than eight, she says.
If people need to go indoors to use the toilet at someone else’s home, they should clean surfaces carefully, she says.
And she says single adult household will be able to form a group with another household.
(This is the “support bubble” plan already introduced in England, although Sturgeon does not use that term. She is talking about “extended households”.)
Sturgeon says this might benefit grandparents living alone, or single parents, and couples who live apart.
People shielding in Scotland can leave home for exercise and limited meetings, says Sturgeon
Sturgeon says guidance for people who are shielding is changing from today.
She says she can confirm that people who have been shielding can go out to exercise.
And she says from tomorrow shielding people can take in non-contact outdoor activities, like golf. And they can meet people from other households outdoors, in groups of no more than eight.
Sturgeon says during phase two people will be asked to stay, as far as possible, within their local areas.
But she says she hopes to lift this restriction after 15 July, to allow the resumption of tourism.
She says keeping this guidance in place allows the government to propose other measures with more confidence.
Sturgeon says Scotland will ease the lockdown very gradually.
That will allow the recovery to be more sustainable, she says.
Sturgeon says Scotland ready to move to new phase of easing lockdown
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, is addressing the Scottish parliament now.
She says the R number in Scotland has been stable for the past few weeks, at between 0.6 and 0.9.
And she says as of last Friday there were estimated to be 2,900 infected people in Scotland.
She says that means Scotland can move to the next phase of relaxing the lockdown.
Test and trace figures suggest significant reduction in social distancing in early June
In many respect today’s test and trace statistics from the Department of Health and Social Care are very similar to the first set of weekly figures published last Thursday. We published an analysis of those figures here. But, as the Independent reports, there is one significant difference.
- There has been a significant reduction in social distancing in early June, the latest figures suggest. Last week’s figures said that 5,407 people who had tested positive for coronavirus provided the details of 31,794 people they had been in close contact with. Those figures covered the period 28 May to 3 June, and suggest infected people had, on average, been in contact with 5.88 people each. The equivalent figures now are 4,366 infected people passing on details of 44,895 contacts, suggesting that between 4 June and 10 June infected people were in contact with 10.28 other people on average.
In other respects the figures are similar to last week’s. Some 73.4% of people whose details were passed on to the test and trace service because they had tested positive were reached and provided details of their contacts (compared to 72% in the week before). Some 78% of those people who tested positive and were contacted were reached by the service within 24 hours to be asked to name their close contacts (compared to 75.4% in the week before). And then 86.1% of those close contacts were reached within 24 hours to be told to self-isolate, compared to 84.6% the previous week.
But around a quarter of those being referred to the service because they tested positive could not be reached by the service, the figures show.
And in the week covered by these figures 5,949 people tested positive and had their case referred to the service. But the ONS’s latest infection survey study estimates that new cases were running at the rate of about 31,600 a week in the period between 26 April and 7 June. That suggests the service is only picking up a small fraction of the overall number of positive cases.
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This is from the former shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, astonished that Dominic Raab doesn’t know his Jon Snow’s from his Colin Kaepernick’s.
Did I hear this right? Taking the knee comes from Game of Thrones?!! #BlackLivesMatterhttps://t.co/RpC9e8VJhk
— Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) June 18, 2020
The former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has provided the foreign secretary with the “broader history” he said he was missing on taking the knee.
“Taking the knee” began in 2016 with American athletes refusing to stand for US national anthem. They were protesting police brutality and racism. But @DominicRaab thinks it comes from Game of Thrones!!! https://t.co/9spuAqWSQV
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) June 18, 2020
Following his comments, which confused an act symbolic of the Black Lives Matter movement with a fictional TV show, the foreign secretary has just tweeted:
To be clear: I have full respect for the Black Lives Matter movement, and the issues driving them. If people wish to take a knee, that’s their choice and I respect it. We all need to come together to tackle any discrimination and social injustice.
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) June 18, 2020
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Labour says Raab's 'Game of Thrones' take the knee jibe 'insulting'
The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is facing a backlash after he admitted ignorance of the meaning behind the act of taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and said he thought it could come from Game of Thrones.
In an interview this morning with Talk Radio, Raab was asked, in reference to the football last night, if he would take the knee.
The foreign secretary said he felt the gesture was “a symbol of subjugation and subordination” and that he did not know about the “broader history” of “this taking the knee thing”.
His response, in full, was as follows:
I understand this sense of frustration and restlessness which is driving the Black Lives Matters movement.
I’ve got to say on this whole ‘taking the knee’ thing, which, I don’t know, maybe it’s got a broader history that seems to be taken from the Game of Thrones, feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination, rather than one of liberation and emancipation.
But I understand people feel differently about it, so it’s a matter of personal choice.
Raab added that he would only take the knee for two people: “the Queen and the Mrs, when I asked her to marry me” (though he then doubted whether he’d actually got down on one knee when he proposed).
The act of taking the knee became a widespread symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement after NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem before a game in 2016 in protest against racial inequality in the US.
The shadow justice secretary, David Lammy, said the foreign secretary’s comments were “insulting” to the BLM movement and “deeply embarrassing”.
This is not just insulting to the #BlackLivesMatter
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 18, 2020
movement, it is deeply embarrassing for Dominic Raab.
He is supposed to be the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. https://t.co/4ZLAOlSUko
Last night, as the Premier League returned, all 22 players and the referee took the knee after the whistle blew in solidarity with BLM.
It is also worth pointing out that Raab got the name of the movement wrong, referring to it as “Black Lives Matters”, got the name of the popular fantasy show wrong (drop the “the”), and that in Game of Thrones, the phrase used is actually “bend the knee”. Someone knows nothing...
Updated
Good morning! I’m Lucy Campbell, joining the blog for the day. As we continue to bring you all the latest developments, please feel free to get in touch to share news tips and stories we should be covering here.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
The Department of Health and Social Care has just published its latest test and trace data. This is only the second bulletin about the scheme, which has only recently been launched.
NHS Test and Trace data [4 June - 10 June]
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) June 18, 2020
▶️ 5,949 positive cases transferred to service
▶️ 73% reached to provide contacts
▶️ 44,895 contacts identified
▶️ 91% of identified contacts were reached and advised to self-isolate
Read the full report 🔽https://t.co/qVd3GxMN85
We will post a full summary shortly.
Only 19% of UK businesses still trading have not applied for help from any of the government coronavirus schemes available, an ONS report on coronavirus and its economic impact reveals.
A chicken processing plant in North Wales has been forced to shut down production following an outbreak of coronavirus.
Earlier this week, unions said they were aware of 13 cases among staff at the 2 Sisters factory in Llangefni, with 110 self-isolating as a precaution.
In a statement, the 2 Sisters Food Group said they would temporarily suspend production at their Llangefni site with immediate effect for a period of 14 days.
It added: “The health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues is ultimately the thing that matters most at our business. We are a responsible company with people at its core. Without our people we are nothing.
“Therefore in light of the current Covid-19 cases at our Llangefni site, we have decided to take the necessary action to clearly demonstrate how seriously we take this issue by doing the right thing.
“We will not tolerate any unnecessary risks - however small - for our existing loyal workforce at the facility.”
Bit more hope on the horizon that summer will be saved with senior Conservative backbencher Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown saying he is “confident” that quarantine measures will be eased with travel corridors introduced by the end of June.
There have been widespread calls for so-called air bridges to be created with destinations where the risk of being infected by coronavirus is deemed to be low, to enable travellers to avoid the 14-day quarantine requirement when entering or returning to the UK.
Clifton-Brown, the treasurer of the 1922 Committee told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I am pretty confident by June 28 or thereabouts that we will have had some negotiations on the paired corridors with countries which have lower rates than ours.
His comments come after the 1922 Committee’s executive met with Boris Johnson on Wednesday.
Currently all passengers - bar a handful of exemptions - are required to go into self-isolation for 14 days when they arrive in the UK.
People who fail to comply can be fined 1,000 in England, and police are allowed to use “reasonable force” to make sure they follow the rules.
No 10 said on Wednesday it had no data on how many people had been fined for not complying.
Updated
The Conservative MP Marcus Fysh has been ordered to apologise to the Commons after the standards committee ruled that he had failed to declare unpaid directorships, and changes to an investment in the register of members’ interests. In a report the committee also criticised him for adopting a “deprecatory and, at points, patronising tone” towards the registrar (who’s in charge of the register) and the parliamentary commissioner for standards when a complaint was made.
This is from Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, on the statement she will make in the Scottish parliament later.
At 12.30pm in @ScotParl I’ll set out next steps in easing lockdown. We’ll follow plan set out in routemap - but in a phased way. That means gradual opening of economy/public services & easing some restrictions on personal lives - but consistent with continued suppression of virus
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) June 18, 2020
The Blackpool Illuminations are to stay lit for an extra two months to boost tourism which has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The resort’s annual switch-on celebration in September will take place away from the public for the first time in more than 70 years, and be replaced by a televised closed event filmed inside the Tower Ballroom.
Gillian Campbell, cabinet member for tourism and culture at Blackpool Council, said: “The annual switch-on event is the biggest night in Blackpool’s events calendar. Sadly, it is simply not possible to stage an event of that scale given the current restrictions around social distancing and mass gatherings.
“We are very much aware of how much our tourism businesses are suffering as a result of the pandemic and we hope that, by extending the Blackpool Illuminations season by two months, it will give them an opportunity to bring in some additional trade.”
The extended Illuminations season will run from 4 September to 3 January 2021.
Coronavirus lockdown may be increasing economic inequality, ONS survey says
The Office for National Statistics has published its latest report on wellbeing during the lockdown. Here are some of main points.
- Coronavirus and the lockdown are increasing economic inequality, the ONS survey suggests. The ONS say:
There are some signs of increasing economic inequality, with more people on lower personal incomes reporting reduced income in the household because of the coronavirus as lockdown has continued, working fewer hours, and being less able to save for the future, while fewer people with higher incomes have been impacted financially.
This chart illustrates these findings. It shows that people earning more than £40,000 a year are less likely to have had their income reduced than people in any other group. They are also less likely to have had their hours reduced than people earning less than £20,000 a year, and less likely to have been furloughed than anyone other than those on very low incomes (below £10,000 a year). They are also much more likely to say they will be able to save money over the next year.
- People are much less likely to think life will return to normal within six months, the survey suggests. At one point in April around 50% of people thought it would take less than six months for life to return to normal. Now it is around 30%. And around one in four now think life will either never return to normal, or it will take more than a year.
- Although happiness has generally improved since the start of lockdown, “our assessment of life overall, such as our life satisfaction and feeling that the things we do are worthwhile, have remained subdued”, the ONS says.
Sadiq Khan calls for face coverings to be made compulsory in shops
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has written to Boris Johnson, calling for face coverings to be made compulsory in shops to limit the spread of coronavirus.
In the letter Khan said that it was becoming increasingly clear that face coverings will play a key role in efforts to stop the further spread of the virus.
He added: “The high level of use on our public transport network has again shown that Londoners are willing to act to protect their community, but the government’s current rules are lagging behind other countries.”
With the reopening of non-essential shops and the public returning to high streets, Khan urged the government to follow World Health Organisation guidance and make face coverings mandatory.
Updated
Agenda for the day
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, joining the blog for the day.
9.30am: George Eustice, the environment secretary, gives evidence to the Commons environmental audit committee.
9.30am: The Office for National Statistics figures on wellbeing during the lockdown, and the economic impact of coronavirus. It is publishing its weekly coronavirus infection survey later.
10.30am: Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, is due to answer a Commons urgent question on the merger of the FCO with DfID.
10.30am: Union leaders give evidence to the Commons business committee about coronavirus.
11am: The Department of Health and Social Care publishes its weekly test and trace statistics.
12pm: Downing Street lobby briefing.
12.30pm: Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce plans for Scotland to enter the second phase of its lockdown easing.
1.30pm: Sir Keir Starmer holds a “Call Keir” event for people in Lancashire.
1.35pm: Prince Charles welcomes President Macron to Clarence House.
2.30pm: Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, and Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, give evidence to the Common Northern Ireland committee about post-Brexit trade.
3.30pm: Boris Johnson meets Macron at No 10.
5pm: UK government press conference.
Updated
If you haven’t done so already then join thousands of others and get clearing as charity shops reopen their doors.
Sam Wollaston spent a day with happily returning customers, donors and staff as many say they have missed the likes of Scope just as much as Primark or John Lewis.
Hotels that were used to house rough sleepers during the pandemic are to return to business as 100 organisations signed a letter and warned “people will die” if the homeless are forced to return to streets.
Amelia Gentlemen reports that two hotels block-booked to house rough sleepers during the pandemic have ceased doing so in preparation for returning to regular business.
The move has sparked concern about the fate of thousands of homeless people who have been put up in hotels by the government for almost three months.
Charities have warned that there is still no clear plan from the government on how hotel residents will be rehoused. A senior member of staff at St Mungo’s, one of the charities leading the Everyone In initiative, said that if they return to the streets “people will die”.
The NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app for the UK will not be ready before winter, it has emerged.
Lord Bethell of Romford, the minister responsible for the smartphone app, said that it was not a priority for the government at the moment.
The mobile phone contact-tracing app to tell people they may have been exposed to Covid-19, was once a central part of the government’s response to the pandemic.
Speaking to the MPs on the Commons science and technology committee, Bethell, the minister for innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care, also said the pilot scheme on the Isle of Wight had shown that people prefer to be contacted by a human being with the bad news, rather than by text message or email.
Updated
Full details have now emerged of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to London today.
Top of the bill will be talks with Boris Johnson about easing of coronavirus quarantine measures between the two countries.
The French president is visiting London to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his predecessor Charles de Gaulle’s “Appel” - a BBC broadcast to occupied France following the Nazi invasion in 1940.
Macron will be received by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House, before a ceremonial event, followed by bilateral talks in Number 10. He will then go on to bestow France’s highest order of merit, the Legion d’Honneur, on London.
In Downing Street, Johnson and Macron will view artefacts - including letters - documenting Gen De Gaulle’s time in London and his partnership with Sir Winston Churchill.
The two leaders will also watch a flypast of the Red Arrows and their French equivalent, La Patrouille de France, to mark the anniversary of the Appel.
Johnson is then expected to discuss the UK’s current two-week quarantine for all arrivals with his French counterpart, amid reports that Macron will call on the government to reconsider its position.
Earlier the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, signalled that the UK government wanted to “open up” the UK when it “safely and responsibly” can, and said ministers were looking “very carefully” at the measure.
Updated
Travel corridor plan could be subject to legal challenge, says Raab
On top of the agenda for Dominic Raab’s discussions with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, ahead of his visit to London today will be how to save summer.
The British government continues to be cautious with the foreign secretary warning there is a risk of legal challenges if the UK tries to form travel corridors - or air bridges, as they used to be called - with particular countries to the exclusion of others.
Raab told BBC Breakfast:
What we are going to look at is how (international travel) can be done safely and responsibly.
Of course there is a risk of legal challenge if you open up for one country and not others so we want to make sure we can open up - and this is our starting point - as soon as we can safely and responsibly do so.
He added: “If you open up the airports and don’t open up the Eurotunnel or if you open up to one country but not in relation to others there is always a risk of legal challenge.
Raab said public health had to be “front and centre” of decision making and that the UK needed to avoid “reinfection by the back door”.
Updated
Bit more from Dominic Raab this morning - the foreign secretary has accused Russia and other states of trying to exploit the challenges created by the coronavirus crisis.
Asked if Russia had intervened in the coronavirus response in the UK, he said:
I don’t think they’ve made a material difference to our response in health terms but certainly Russia and other countries and indeed non-state actors see the challenges that Covid has created and are trying to exploit it.
And we’re making sure we have got the resilience, the defence and the capabilities to prevent them from doing so.
Updated
If you have any tips or stories or anything you think we should be covering on the blog could you please email on nazia.parveen@theguardian.com or follow me on Twitter and message me at https://twitter.com/NParveenG
Treasury officials opposing bid to use private hospitals to clear NHS backlog
The Treasury has blocked plans for private hospitals to tackle NHS backlog of treatments held up by the coronavirus pandemic.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, and NHS bosses are pushing for a £5bn-a-year deal to treat NHS patients in private hospitals and tackle a spiralling backlog amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Guardian has learned.
But the Treasury is blocking the plan, which could cover a range of treatments including cancer surgery, joint operations and cataract removals amid concerns that it will not offer value for money.
Updated
Morning and welcome to the Guardian’s UK coronavirus live feed, bringing you the latest information and updates on the health pandemic.
The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said the government wants to “open up” the UK when it “safely and responsibly” can, ahead of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to London.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to raise the coronavirus quarantine with the French president during bilateral talks on Thursday.
Raab told Sky News: “We’re going to look at it very carefully. As we’ve always said, the quarantine is there to stop the risk of reinfection precisely because we’ve got Covid down.”
Asked why it was in place when UK infection rates were higher than France, he said: “It’s not quite as simple as that though because we’ve seen in Europe and in Asia that as countries come out of lockdown the risk of second waves and second spikes.
“But we will look at all the factors very carefully. We want to open up as soon as we safely and responsibly can and we will look at all the mechanisms to do so and of course we’ll have a good conversation with the French.
“I’ll be in Berlin tomorrow so we’re talking to all of our European partners about these things.”
Updated
