Afternoon summary
- At least one in 20 children were absent from state schools in England because of Covid within the last week, as official figures reveal a 66% increase in the number of pupils with confirmed coronavirus infections. Commenting on the figures, Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said:
The vast majority of children and young people are in school, but I am aware that sadly a minority are experiencing disruption at the moment.
Whilst pupils who are self-isolating are being immediately provided with high-quality remote education, we know that the best place for children is in the classroom. That is why I am working with the health secretary, alongside scientists and public health experts, to relax covid measures in schools in line with wider work to remove restrictions across society.
I’ll be looking closely at the issues around the need for ongoing isolation of bubbles and the outcomes of the daily contact testing trial, as we consider a new model for keeping children in education.
- Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has said the behaviour of Scottish football fans has probably contributed to the rise in Covid cases in the country. (See 2.52pm.) But she also said another factor was Scotland having a higher proportion of people susceptible to the virus than other parts of the UK, because fewer people were infected in earlier waves. (See 3.10pm.)
That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.
Updated
Kim Leadbeater, Labour’s candidate in the Batley and Spen byelection, has defended her party’s decision to distribute a leaflet questioning Boris Johnson’s relationship with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. Leadbeater told BBC News:
I don’t think it is a mistake. I think that leaflet is about human rights and it’s about having an MP who is going to speak out on the human rights issues in Kashmir.
And, sadly, we’ve got a prime minister who isn’t doing that, he isn’t challenging the Indian government around these issues. So you need someone who can, and that’s exactly what I would do.
We need an MP who can represent the constituents of this area on local, national and international issues.
Earlier Labour’s Yvette Cooper, who represents a constituency near Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire, said it was “very troubling” to hear that party activists had been attacked while campaigning in the byelection. She said:
This is very troubling, there seems to be a temperature in this campaign that we have not seen in previous by-elections, certainly in West Yorkshire more widely.
Obviously it’s particularly distressing for it to happen in a constituency where we lost Jo Cox five years ago to a far-right extremist.
For more on the violence that has marred the campaign, do read this story by my colleagues Maya Wolfe-Robinson and Alex Mistlin.
Labour is expected to lose the seat in the byelection, which is taking place on Thursday. A Tory victory would be disastrous for Sir Keir Starmer, who would face inevitable questions about his leadership.
There is more Guardian coverage of the contest here.
Updated
UK records 20,479 new coronavirus cases and 23 more deaths
The UK has recorded 20,479 new coronavirus cases, according to the latest update to the government’s Covid dashboard. That is down from yesterday’s total (22,868) but the total number of cases over the past week is now up 72.8% on the total for the previous week.
There have also been 23 more deaths. Week on week, deaths are up 29.7%.
Updated
Schools are not alone in recording a rise in Covid-19 infections: the University of York says it currently has 258 cases among its students after positive tests, the highest number since October last year. It is averaging more than 30 new cases a day over the last week among its 20,000 students.
At the University of Kent, all non-essential student activity on campus has been cancelled after it recorded 70 cases in a week. The university is also advising students who are not isolating to travel home at the earliest opportunity to minimise risks at the end of term.
Updated
These are from Ian Jones from PA Media.
The rate of new Covid-19 cases in Scotland is likely to pass the second-wave peak in the next day or so.
— Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) June 29, 2021
This would also be the highest rate for Scotland since comparable figures began last summer, when mass testing was first introduced across the UK. pic.twitter.com/xEyJvOK74K
But note that Scotland didn't have anywhere near the same sort of second-wave peak as the other three nations.
— Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) June 29, 2021
It is notable that Nicola Sturgeon – who has throughout the pandemic taken a slow and cautious approach, often contrasted favourably with counterparts elsewhere in the UK – said this afternoon that she was “hopeful” that she would be able to continue with the planned easing of restrictions on 19 July and 9 August despite the steep rise in cases over the past week.
After Scotland’s health secretary blamed the Euros for some of this increase, Sturgeon revealed that data showed a peak in cases last Tuesday (when cases are measured by when the specimen was taken, not when the result was reported) and what appeared to be a slowing down of the increase in cases since then. With 80% of new cases among the under-44s and just 2% in the over-65s, she made the point that the nature of this wave is very different in terms of those affected and the impact of the vaccine.
Asked why it is that rates have risen so steeply in Scotland in recent weeks, in comparison to the rest of the UK, she pointed out that the Delta variant was first seeded into Glasgow, the country’s biggest city, and so was able to spread more quickly than elsewhere in the UK. She also reminded viewers that Scotland has lower population immunity because fewer people had the virus in earlier waves, thus there is a larger “susceptible population”. (See 3.10pm.)
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David Frost, the Brexit minister, is being questioned by the Commons culture committee about the government’s failure to negotiate post-Brexit visa waivers for musicians who want to tour in the EU. According to the Telegraph’s James Crisp, Frost has been playing down the extent of the problem.
Lord Frost to culture committee on post Brexit visa waivers for arts:
— James Crisp (@JamesCrisp6) June 29, 2021
"I had a good conversation with Elton John (@eltonofficial) I can't help noticing that he had in the first hits before the UK even became a member of the European Union."
1/
"So I think there's probably more at play here than pure rules applying within the then European community."
— James Crisp (@JamesCrisp6) June 29, 2021
Chair of committee says that rules prior to UK joining EEC were simpler than they are now.
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Labour says DfE should not wait until September before revising self-isolation rules in schools
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the rise in absences in schools in England (see 12.38pm) “risks leaving plans for the end of the school year in tatters” with de facto rotas in operation in some parts of the country if cases continue to rise. He said:
Pupils have missed so much valuable face-to-face education in the past 15 months, and it is heart-breaking that so many will now miss end of year trips, transitions to new classes or schools, and a chance to say goodbye to friends and teachers.
The government is once again asleep at the wheel. Schools and colleges follow guidance in good faith and suffer the consequences of doing so. There are more stringent measures that could be brought in right now, and it is a mystery as to why [the education secretary] Gavin Williamson continues to do nothing.
And Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, has written to Williamson asking him to speed up the DfE’s review of self-isolation guidance, after the latest figures showed more than 330,000 pupils self-isolating last week. She said:
Parents and schools are crying out for help and they’re just not getting it. The government cannot simply wait until September to act on self-isolation and other measures we have been calling for.
Ministers must work with their expert scientific advisers now to review the bubbles system ahead of the summer holidays to ensure as many children can be in the classroom as possible.
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Sturgeon says Covid may be worse in Scotland now because it has lower population immunity
Q: Why are you still banning people from going to Blackburn when cases are higher in Dundee?
Sturgeon says, apart from Dundee, cases are higher in Blackburn than in Scotland. But the Blackburn ban will be reviewed over the weekend, she says.
On the situation in Scotland generally, she says in England the Delta variant first seeded into Bolton, a relatively small town. But in Scotland it first seeded into Glasgow, which helped it to spread more quickly.
And she says Scotland has, but about 8 to 10%, lower population immunity. That is because fewer people in Scotland originally got the virus.
That means Scotland has, by about 10%, a bigger susceptible population. That might explain what is happening now, she says.
One measure of population immunity is what percentage of people test positive for Covid antibodies. The ONS monitors this, and here are the figures they published in a report last week. People have antibodies either because they have been vaccinated or because they have been infected in the past (although over time antibody levels fade, and so not everyone who has ever been infected will test positive for antibodies).
Q: You have just come from your first audience with the Queen for two years. Does she agree with your assessment that Scotland would deal with Covid more easily if it were independent?
Sturgeon says conversations with the Queen are entirely private, and she is not going to breach that confidentiality in any way. But she says it was a real pleasure to be able to meet the Queen in person.
Sturgeon admits probable link between Euros fans' behaviour and rise in cases
Back at her press conference, asked if the Scottish government should have done more to stop fans travelling to Euro 2020 matches, in the light of claims that this has contributed to the rise in Covid cases, Sturgeon denies taking a soft approach. But she says the government could not stop fans travelling to Wembley.
She says there probably is a link between the behaviour of fans and the rise in cases. Public Health Scotland will be doing more analysis of this, she says.
Updated
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has welcomed the Scottish government’s decision to lift the ban on non-essential travel to and from his city. (See 2.25pm.) He said:
I had serious concerns about this travel ban and the way it was introduced and I have made these concerns clear over recent days.
I am grateful to the first minister and to the Scottish government for listening and for the decision they have announced today to lift the travel ban on Bolton, Manchester and Salford.
Sturgeon says if people are going to watch the football, they should remember that the maximum group size for people indoors is six people from three households - and those three households include your own.
Updated
Sturgeon says she is still “hopeful” that the Scottish government will be able to remove some restrictions on 19 July, and remaining ones on 9 August.
She says if cases continue to rise, there will be pressure on the NHS.
She says she is appealing to people to help keep the virus at bay by taking care and following the advice.
Sturgeon says earlier in the pandemic 13% of cases, and 89% of deaths, were in people over 65.
But now just 2% of cases involve people in the age group. She says more than 80% of new cases are in people under 44.
That shows what an impact the vaccination programme has had, she says.
Nicola Sturgeon starts with the latest figures.
First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Thanks for joining the Chief Medical Officer and I today.
— The SNP (@theSNP) June 29, 2021
Today’s statistics have just been published on the Scottish Government’s website, so I will quickly summarise these.
3,118 positive cases were reported yesterday."
NS: "That is 11.6% of tests carried out.
— The SNP (@theSNP) June 29, 2021
The total number of confirmed cases for the duration of the pandemic is now 277,335."
NS: "215 people are receiving hospital treatment – that's an increase of 13 on yesterday.
— The SNP (@theSNP) June 29, 2021
And 20 people are receiving intensive care, which is the same as yesterday."
NS: "Sadly, 1 additional death has been reported, which means that the total number of deaths registered, under our daily definition, is now 7,713.
— The SNP (@theSNP) June 29, 2021
As always, my condolences are with everyone who has lost someone as a result of the virus."
She says the number of new cases has increased more than at any time in the past.
But the rate of increase is slowing, she says.
And she says restrictions are less strict than in previous waves. She says the vaccination programme has made a difference.
Nicola Sturgeon's press conference
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is about to hold a press conference.
There will be a live feed here.
Here are today’s Covid figures for Scotland. The number of new cases is only slightly down on yesterday’s record high of 3,285.
2,238,776 people in Scotland have been tested for #coronavirus
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) June 29, 2021
The total confirmed as positive has risen by 3,118 to 277,335
Sadly 1 more patient who tested positive has died (7,713 in total)
Latest update ➡️ https://t.co/bZPbrCoQux
Health advice ➡️ https://t.co/l7rqArB6Qu pic.twitter.com/P5LOqPEZoV
Scotland lifts its ban on non-essential travel to and from Manchester
A temporary ban on travel between Scotland and parts of north-west England is to be lifted tonight after a war of words between Nicola Sturgeon and Andy Burnham.
Scotland’s first minister and the Greater Manchester mayor clashed repeatedly over the need for restrictions and the failure of the Scottish government to warn local officials or offer compensation to those whose plans were affected.
The ban on travel between Scotland and Manchester and Salford – which came into effect on 21 June – will be eased at midnight. A travel restriction on Bolton – in place since 24 May – is also being lifted. But restrictions will remain in relation to travel between Scotland and Blackburn with Darwen borough council, which the Scottish government says “continues to experience concerning case rates of the more transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant”.
Scotland’s health secretary, Humza Yousaf, said:
Following a careful review of the data we have decided to ease travel arrangements between Scotland and Manchester, Salford and Bolton. However the situation regarding Blackburn and Darwen will need to be closely monitored and will be reviewed again in a week’s time.
Updated
No 10 rejects claim its education recovery package for schools is 'feeble'
Here are the main points from today’s Downing Street lobby briefing.
- No 10 has rejected the claim from Sir Kevan Collins, the former education recovery commissioner, that the government’s educational response to the Covid crisis is “feeble”. Asked about Collins’ comment (see 10.51am), the prime minister’s spokesman said:
I think the public would accept that £1.4bn is a significant sum of money and comes on top of an additional £1.7bn.
Since coming to office, the prime minister has committed an additional investment in education totalling over £17bn.
But as has been said before, we will obviously keep the situation in our schools under review and consider what further steps may be necessary.
- The spokesman said the government’s review into whether daily testing can replace isolation for pupils who have been in contact with someone testing positive (see 9.36am) would be published at the same time as the review into social distancing.
- The spokesman refused to say whether Prof Chris Whitty would be offered police protection. “We keep security under constant review but I’m not going to be commenting on specific arrangements for individuals,” he said, when asked about the way Whitty was harassed in St James’ Park.
- The spokesman said that ministers could use private email accounts for government business in certain circumstances. He said:
The guidance on using private email addresses is published online. Ministers are able to use various forms of communication as long as they take heed of the guidance that is published.
The guidance itself says those receiving communications should consider if information contained in it is substantive discussions or decisions generated in the course of conducting government business and, if so, take steps to ensure the relevant information is acceptable, for example by copying it to a government email address.
All ministers are aware of this guidance around personal email usage and government business is conducted in line with that guidance.
When asked about this topic yesterday, the spokesman just insisted that Matt Hancock and Lord Bethell had not used personal email accounts for government business.
- The spokesman defended the government’s decision to exempt business leaders from quarantine rules if their trip to England will bring significant economic benefits. (See 11.38am.) In one of her numerous tweets today attacking the government, Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, described this as an “offensive slap in the face” for low-paid workers. But the spokesman rejected this. He said:
Many other countries have introduced similar exemptions and it’s important the UK public don’t lose out on prospective major investments and new jobs as a result of that...
This is about making limited exemptions when people can prove they are looking to make significant major investments that would benefit the UK public and provide more jobs.
Here are the Rayner tweets on this topic.
Sorry for the unparliamentary language but this just takes the pi**.
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) June 29, 2021
It is the lowest paid working people who have got our country through this crisis, risking their lives on the frontline. This is an offensive slap in the face for them and shows this government's true colours. https://t.co/OO3CFmfOcB
Yet again it is one rule for those at the top and another for everyone else. This makes a total mockery of the sacrifices of the British people during this pandemic and this double standard is an insult to frontline workers that the British people will rightly be disgusted by.
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) June 29, 2021
- The spokesman said the government expects to agree an extension to the grace period for chilled meats under the Northern Ireland protocol before it expires tomorrow. He said:
We expect to agree an extension to the chilled meat grace period soon, on terms which are acceptable to the UK. We will announce further details in the usual way.
- The spokesman said that Johnson hoped to watch as much of the England v Germany clash as possible “in between his work commitments”.
The latest figures for pupil absences at schools in England (see 12.38pm) mean that an estimated 87.4% of state school pupils in England were in class on 24 June, down from 89.7% on 17 June, the DfE said.
In secondary schools, only 82.4% attended class, down week-on-week from 84.9%, while 90.9% of pupils attended primary school, down from 93.0%.
East Lothian in Scotland now has highest Covid rate in UK, latest figures show
Parts of east-central Scotland have overtaken north-west England to become the UK’s main Covid-19 hotspot, PA Media reports. PA says:
East Lothian is now the local area with the highest rate of new cases in the UK, with 595.8 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 24 June.
In second place is Dundee, on 587.3 cases per 100,000.
Hyndburn in Lancashire is third on 547.9, but it is followed by two more areas in the central belt of Scotland: Midlothian (520.2) and Edinburgh (503.5).
All four of these areas of Scotland are currently recording their highest rate of new cases since comparable figures began last summer, when mass testing was first introduced across the UK.
Children of minority ethnic immigrants do better in education than their white peers, but are less likely to get a job, according to a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank.
Updated
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, has used a Commons urgent question to demand an inquiry into evidence that a government contract for Covid-related public opinion research was extended to cover attitudes to the union. This was a “blatant misuse of public money for political purposes”, he said.
He told MPs:
Just as the prime minister failed to act to sack his health secretary, he has failed to act on this scandal too, but no matter how hard they might try to sweep this under the carpet this scandal isn’t going away.
This morning I have written to the cabinet secretary urging him to launch an independent investigation into this blatant misuse of public money for political purposes ...
The truth and this government are distant strangers and that comes as no surprise when we remember the prime minister’s been sacked not once but twice for lying.
This remark prompted an intervention from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, who asked Blackford to withdraw them because MPs are not supposed to accuse each other of lying.
In response Julia Lopez, a Cabinet Office minister, said the contract in question covered research that enabled the government to develop effective public information messaging in the pandemic. She said that ministers were not personally involved in the awarding of the contract, and that it did not relate to constitutional campaigning. She also said that any suggestion the government carries out party political research was “entirely false”.
The CCTV camera that recorded the footage from Matt Hancock’s office that ended his career as health secretary may have been tampered with to stitch him up, Joe Murphy reports in the Evening Standard. Murphy says:
The camera was originally installed to point towards a glass door and balcony with sweeping views outside his ministerial office, which was considered a security weak point. But somebody turned it around so that it pointed instead to the internal doorway where Mr Hancock was caught kissing and fondling his aide Gina Coladangelo.
An internal investigation is seeking to discover if the camera was moved accidentally during renovations or whether it was repositioned by the leaker to spy on the couple. Insiders are convinced that it was done deliberately.
Weekly registered deaths in Wales involving Covid fall to zero for first time since pandemic started, ONS says
Weekly registrations of deaths involving Covid-19 in Wales have dropped to zero for the first time since the pandemic began, PA Media reports. PA says:
None of the 573 deaths registered in Wales in the week ending 18 June mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The last time this happened was in the week ending 13 March 2020.
The following week, to 20 March, saw two Covid-19 deaths registered in Wales.
Since then, there have been deaths involving Covid-19 registered in Wales every week.
The number peaked at 413 during the first wave of the virus, in the week to 24 April, and at 467 during the second wave, in the week to 15 January.
Lord Bethell, the health minister, has not denied using a private email account for government business in response to a question in the Lords, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports.
Lord Bethell doesn't rule out having used a private email account for government business - when challenged to by former No10 aide Eddie Udny-Lister.
— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) June 29, 2021
Bethell only says: "I have read the ministerial code, I signed the ministerial code and I seek to uphold it in everything I do."
More than 330,000 pupils in England off school last week having to isolate, DfE figures show
The number of pupils absent from schools in England for Covid-related reasons is up by 136,000 in the space of a week, following a 66% increase in the number of children at state schools with confirmed cases of Covid-19.
According to official data from the Department for Education, 15,000 pupils had confirmed cases on 24 June last week, compared with just 9,000 the week before. The number off with suspected cases has also risen, from 16,000 to 24,000.
The bulk of the increase in absences has come from the more than 330,000 children who are self-isolating because of contact with a Covid case, with 279,000 staying off because of contact within school, compared with 172,000 the week before.
About 57,000 were out of school because of community contacts, up from 42,000 on 17 June.
Updated
Jersey has agreed to extend a transitional fishing agreement with the EU to allow some boats from France to continue operating in its waters for another three months after a deadline that was due to expire on Wednesday.
The decision will allow talks over future licensing conditions, which last month sparked a full-scale dispute in which about 60 French fishing boats blockaded St Helier port and Britain and France dispatched patrol vessels, to continue.
“The EU has recently requested an extension to the transitional arrangements, which had been due to come to an end on June 30th,” the island’s government said in a statement, adding that Jersey ministers had “agreed to that request”.
Jersey is 19km off the coast of France and is not part of the UK, but rights to fish in its waters have become embroiled in difficult post-Brexit fisheries negotiations.
Jersey’s statement said the request was made by France’s maritime minister on 12 May. French fishermen have complained that the Channel island’s new post-Brexit licences represent a major loss of rights compared to their previous permits.
New licences introduced in late April require French boats prove a history of fishing in Jersey waters. French authorities say this was added without notice, and many French boats do not carry the electronic equipment to provide the data.
France’s maritime minister, Annick Girardin, threatened to cut off Jersey’s electricity supply during the dispute last month. Jersey’s minister of external relations, Ian Gorst, said in the statement the relationship with France was “hugely important” to the island which “wants to ensure we work through the issues”.
Updated
Updated
Business leaders to be exempt from quarantine if their trip will bring significant economic benefit to UK, government says
Overseas business leaders will no longer need to quarantine when arriving in England if their trip is likely to be of significant economic benefit to the UK, PA Media reports. PA says:
Company executives wishing to travel to England to make a “financial investment in a UK-based business” or for “establishing a new business within the UK” will be exempt but they will need written permission first.
The Department for Business said: “This exemption is designed to enable activity that creates and preserves UK jobs and investment, while taking steps to ensure public health risks are minimised.”
But the government added that business leaders will not qualify for an exemption if the activities can be carried out remotely via telephone or email, or by another person.
“Significant economic benefit” is considered to be having a greater than 50% chance of creating or preserving at least 500 UK-based jobs, or creating a new UK business within two years, the new guidance added.
Business leaders visiting England will need to take a Covid-19 test, take further tests on arrival, and tell the government they intend to use the exemption, before getting a letter of confirmation.
Bosses hoping to use the loophole to attend a routine board meeting will be disappointed, although a meeting to make a decision on whether to invest in a new UK division could be accepted.
Back in the education committee Sir Kevan Collins, the former education recovery commissioner, says how the government responds to the Covid crisis will “set the course for the English education system for the next 10 years”.
He says he is worried the crisis will lead to growing inequality, and a “fracturing” of the system in a way not seen before.
Updated
In a must-read piece on the state of the Labour party for HuffPost published yesterday, Paul Waugh reported that all frontbencher advisers are now expected to participate in an 8am conference call with the leader’s office where they are expected to pitch ideas. “We’ve been told we have to be relentless in the war of attrition against the government, hungrier than them, faster than them, more brutal than them,” one MP told Waugh.
Judging by the party’s media output in recent days, the new approach is having some effect. The party seems to be pushing every button it can find in the hope of making an impact. That may help to explain why Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, is urging bosses to let their workers finish early today so they can watch the football.
Today is a massive day for our country! 🏴🦁🦁🦁
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) June 29, 2021
After being apart from our friends and family, many of us will want to watch the game with loved ones, whether at home or down the pub. Staff should be allowed to finish early today in time for kick-off!https://t.co/J6xdwMNq1m
Updated
Sir Keir Starmer has also joined those condemning the harassment of Prof Chris Whitty by two men in St James’s Park. (See 9.40am.)
This is disgusting behaviour.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 29, 2021
Chris Whitty is a dedicated public servant who has worked tirelessly to help get us through this crisis.
The police are right to investigate this harassment.https://t.co/hot8olsPXJ
Updated
Sir Kevan Collins, the former education recovery commissioner, also told the Commons education committee that a DfE assessment said the damage to children’s education during Covid could cost the economy £100bn, the Sun’s Kate Ferguson reports.
Sir Kevan Collins says the DFE assessed the damage done to kids education in Covid will cost the economy a whopping £100bn
— Kate Ferguson (@kateferguson4) June 29, 2021
Scotland's rise in Covid cases could be linked to Euro 2020, says health minister
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, has suggested that the recent escalation in Covid infections across the country could be linked to the Euro 2020 championship.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland, Yousaf said:
We have some indications that it’s very clear that it’s skewed disproportionately towards young males, to men under 40. A number of public health experts have commented that that association is probably as a result of greater indoor gatherings which could be linked to the Euros.
Also some of those fans that travelled to London in coaches for example – high risk with little social distancing, if any – also had an impact on the numbers that we’re seeing currently.
Yousaf said that the clinical director Jason Leitch had spoken publicly about one coach travelling back from London which had resulted in over 20 positive cases.
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday reassured Scots after the country recorded its highest ever number of daily cases, 3,285, that this was not resulting in a commensurate rise in people becoming seriously ill or requiring hospital treatment.
Updated
Government help for pupils at risk of 'lifelong' loss of earnings from Covid has been 'feeble', MPs told
This is what Sir Kevan Collins, the former education recovery commissioner, told the committee a few minutes ago about the impact of Covid on pupils. He says the government’s response was “feeble”. He said:
We do know that the impact of Covid has been significant on children’s learning and that is ongoing and is sitting there and not recovering. It will go with them and we have international examples over time where, if you don’t recover, it can impact not only your academic attainment, but your lifelong earnings. There is a long-term loss, not only to the individual but to the economy.
There is definitely something we think happening ... to the mental health and the wellbeing of our children: not enough competitive sport, not enough activity, not enough socialisation and music and drama and art. That has a bearing.
And we know that our country has responded in a way compared to some others which, quite frankly, is a bit feeble.
The amount of money we’re responding with at the moment - these are significant sums - but this scale of shock, losing on average 115 days of face to face learning, requires a massive national effort to recover. And I worry that it’s not a bit of tutoring in the corner; it’s actually a fundamental approach the school needs to take.
Collins also says he is very worried about pupils starting secondary school who are not reading at the right level.
Updated
Collins says the impact of coronavirus on education is ongoing. He says it could have an impact not just on pupils’ academic attainment, but on their lifelong earnings.
He says he is also worried about the impact on pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.
He says pupils have lost on average 115 days of learning. There should be a “massive national effort” to enable them to recover, he says.
Updated
Back in the Commons education committee Collins says he was “shocked” when he found the government did not have data on how long the average school day was. To get the data, officials had to start looking at websites, and ringing people up.
Updated
According to this morning’s figures from the Office for National Statistics, 1.1% of all deaths in England and Wales registered in the week ending Friday 18 June involved coronavirus. That amounted to 102 deaths out of 9,459. The previous week 0.8% of deaths involved coronavirus.
Updated
Robert Halfon (Con), the chair of the education committee, asks if it is true that Sir Kevan Collins proposed a £15bn recovery proposal.
Collins said he made a range of proposals, including “a number in that field”.
There were proposals that got to £15bn, yes.
Q: And where did the barriers lie? Is there scope to reignite some of your ideas? What figure might the Treasury accept?
Collins says he was very disappointed he had to resign.
The proposal that came forward “just wasn’t enough to deliver the recovery we need”.
He said his plan was based on several ideas, particularly the quality of teaching. He quotes someone who said it was important “to teach like we have never taught before” to help this cohort.
And he proposed giving pupils more time in school.
Q: You proposed an extra 100 hours per child in school per year, about half an hour a day. What was the rationale for this?
Collins says he wanted to trial a series of approaches.
There is no legislation governing the time spent it school.
The average is six and a half hours. He wanted to raise everyone to the average immediately.
He says he was never pushing this just for academic work. He wanted pupils to have a rich and broad experience.
He wanted tutoring to happen in this period. He did not want it to take place in normal school time.
Updated
Sir Kevan Collins, who resigned as the government’s education recovery commissioner after No 10 refused to back his plan for a £15bn programme for schools, is giving evidence to the Commons education committee.
There is a live feed here.
And here is a link to Collins’ resignation letter.
Collins is giving evidence with Natalie Perera, the chief executive of the Education Policy Institute; Dr Lucie Cerna, project leader in the directorate for education at the OECD; and Dr Rodrigo Queiroz e Melo, vice-president at the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE).
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In her Times Radio interview Priti Patel, the home secretary, also said people would have to “adapt” so that they could get used to living with coronavirus. She said:
Yes, we have the vaccine, there’ll be boosters at some stage, booster jabs as well, so we are adapting our way of life. I think to look to getting our freedoms back, which of course we all dearly want, we are adapting how we live and that means living with the concept of this pandemic, the virus, and obviously we adapt our lives accordingly.
She also said she would “love to take the mask off” but that she would wait until the right time for this.
Johnson joins chorus of ministers condemning 'despicable harassment' of Chris Whitty
Boris Johnson has joined those condemning the harassment of Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, by two men in St James’ Park in London.
Here is our story about the incident.
And this is what Johnson (or whoever manages his Twitter account) posted a few minutes ago.
I’m shocked at seeing the despicable harassment of Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 29, 2021
I condemn the behaviour of these thugs. Our hard-working public servants should not have to face this kind of intimidation on our streets and we will not tolerate it.
Earlier Sajid Javid, the new health secretary, also described what happened to Whitty as “appalling”. He said:
I’ve seen the video of the CMO being harassed. It’s appalling and totally unacceptable. The CMO works tirelessly on behalf of the country. We will not tolerate this sort of behaviour towards our public servants. The men behaving in this disgraceful way should be ashamed.
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) June 29, 2021
And Priti Patel, the home secretary, condemned what she described as the “appalling abuse” levelled at Whitty. She told Times Radio:
I’m just horrified by that, I really am.
Chris is just a remarkable public servant, a man who has been leading the whole coronavirus response - nationally, yes, he has a high profile, and I think he’s an incredibly respected figure.
I’m horrified by what has happened to Chris and the police are actually involved as well and we’re also speaking to Chris to look at what we can do to support him, it’s just appalling.
Asked if Whitty needed better security, she said:
I can’t speak about that but it’s important that we make sure that Chris is given the right kind of support.
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English schools to get test kits as ‘alternative to isolation’ from September
Good morning. Hundreds of thousands of pupils will no longer have to automatically isolate after contact with a positive Covid case when schools return in September in England, my colleagues Aubrey Allegretti, Jessica Elgot and Natalie Grover reported last night. Yesterday there was a limit to what ministers and officials would say in public about this, but this morning Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has been giving interviews, and he has gone a bit further in confirming the plan. Here are some of the points he has been making.
- Gibb said that the pilot that will determine whether daily testing can replace isolation for pupils who have been in contact with someone testing positive will end on Wednesday. He said:
We have been testing through a trial in a small number of secondary schools whether daily testing of somebody who has come into contact with somebody with Covid is an effective alternative to self-isolation. That trial finishes tomorrow and we’ll look at the data and, on the advice of Public Health England, we’ll take further decisions.
- He said schools were already being sent kits to allow them to do more testing in September. Asked if it was better to conduct tests on pupils in school, rather than at home, he replied:
Well, that’s what we’re going to do in September, if we need to. We wrote to schools yesterday asking them to prepare for taking the first two tests, once children return after the summer break, in the school, if that’s still necessary in September. And the kits are now being sent to schools ready for September.
And a Department for Education spokesperson has said:
We are provisionally asking secondary schools and colleges to prepare to offer on-site testing when students return for the new academic year, so that schools are ready in case it is needed to keep as many children as possible in face-to-face education.
We will provide further details about the approach to protective measures and test and trace in education from September in due course.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet.
9.30am: The ONS publishes its weekly death figures for England and Wales.
10am: Sir Kevan Collins, who resigned as education recovery commissioner when he proposals were rejected by No 10, gives evidence to the Commons education committee.
12pm: Downing Street is expected to hold its daily lobby briefing.
12.30pm: Julia Lopez, a Cabinet Office minister, responds to a Commons urgent question on Covid contracts. This will be followed by UQs on international travel and on the EU settlement scheme.
2.30pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, and Dr Gregor Smith, Scotland’s chief medical officer, hold a Covid briefing.
2.40pm: David Frost, the Brexit minister, gives evidence to the Commons culture committee.
Politics Live has been a mix of Covid and non-Covid news recently and that is likely to be the case today. For more coronavirus developments, do follow our global Covid live blog.
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