Early evening summary
- Boris Johnson has signalled that he favours an extension of the school day in England to help pupils catch up after Covid. (See 4.34pm.) He made the comments in evidence to the Commons liaison committee in which he defended the government’s Covid policy, while not totally ruling out bringing forward from 16 August the date at which fully vaccinated people will no longer have to isolate if they have been in contact with someone testing positive. (See 4.20pm.)
That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.
The Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group has posted a disheartening Twitter thread about hospital admissions in Engtland. It starts here.
Update on COVID hospital admissions in England.
— COVID-19 Actuaries Response Group (@COVID19actuary) July 7, 2021
Admissions are still accelerating, with 416 reported today.
The 7-day average is 335 - up 57% in the last week. Implied doubling time is 11 days. 1/6 pic.twitter.com/4Yob3C0d1c
And this is how it ends.
Nonetheless, is now clear that COVID-19 deaths in English hospitals are also beginning to rise sharply.
— COVID-19 Actuaries Response Group (@COVID19actuary) July 7, 2021
The daily average has increased by 59% in the last week.
The purple estimates are based on the pattern of reporting delays in the last two months. 6/6 pic.twitter.com/y23z1PxMXI
Sir Bill Cash (Con), chair of the European scrutiny committee, asked the final set of questions.
Q: Do we need more sensible decisions from the EU?
Yes, said Johnson. He said the three-month extension of the grace period for chilled meats was just a “stay of execution”.
He said the UK agreed the protocol as an act of neighbourliness with the EU. But unfortunately the UK also agreed to give the EU a say in how it operates, he said.
Johnson says Jews thinking of leaving Northern Ireland because NI protocol affecting kosher food supply
As an example of problems with the Northern Ireland protocal, Johnson says Asda goods have to be checked going from Britain to Northern Ireland, even though there are no Asda stores in Ireland (and hence no risk of those goods crossing the border into Ireland).
He also says only yesterday he heard Jews complaining about the difficulty of obtaining kosher food now in Northern Ireland because of the protocol. Some Jews are thinking of leaving as a result, he says.
I have updated some of the earlier posts with full quotes from Boris Johnson’s evidence to the committee. You may need to refresh the page to get the updates to appear.
Simon Hoare (Con), chair of the Northern Ireland affairs committee, goes next.
Q: There are people in Northern Ireland who want to hear you affirm your support for the union. Will you?
Yes, says Johnson. He points out that Pete Wishart called him an unthinking unionist. Johnson says he would prefer to see himself as a passionate unionist.
He says the Northern Ireland protocol is not a threat to the union. But there is a problem in the way it is being applied, he says.
Sir Bernard Jenkin asks the PM to send the committee a note saying how much higher hospital admissions would be if isolation for fully vaccinated people ended on 19 July, not 16 August. Johnson says he will respond.
Q: Did you raise with Germany the case for a visa-waiver for musicians wanting go tour in the EU?
Johnson says Germany is one of the better countries.
He says they are making progress on this.
But he says a visa-waiver would be problematic, because it would be hard to know where to draw the line. He says Bernard Jenkin campaigned for Brexit.
Johnson claims it is in the EU’s interests to sort this out, because they gain from these exchanges too.
Jenkin says the UK is losing talent as a result.
Neil Parish (Con), chair of the environment committee, asks about trade deals. He calls for more trade officials in embassies abroad.
Johnson says he loves Parish’s attitudes. And Scottish beef can benefit too, he tells Pete Wishart.
Parish says there should be more food counsellors in embassies to advise the industry on opportunities.
Johnson says he agrees.
Q: Will you put resources in to make sure embassies have these people?
Johnson says in more than 100 embassies there are people doing these jobs.
Pete Wishart (SNP), chair of the Scottish affairs committee, goes next.
He asks about Dominic Cummings’ claim that Johnson does not support devolution.
Johnson says that is not true. He was a beneficiary of devolution, he says. He became mayor of London. And in that job he did not spend his time attacking central government.
Q: But you did say devolution was a “disaster”.
Johnson says he thinks aspects of how the SNP has government have been disastrous.
He wants Scotland to be brilliantly governed, he says. But it is not happening.
Q: What are your top three achievements as minister for the union?
Johnson says it would be invidious to list them.
Then he cites the role of the army in the vaccine rollout, and he says the vaccine roll was a success.
Testing has been a success too, he says. He visited a centre in Glasgow where they were testing samples from Kent.
Q: Will you come back to Scotland for a holiday this summer?
Wild horses would not keep me away, Johnson says.
Meg Hillier asks about housing in London.
Johnson start to attack Sadiq Khan’s record.
Hillier cuts him off. As mayor, Johnson defined affordable homes as those with rents at 80% of the private level. Does he know what that level is?
Johnson says as mayor he built more homes than were built under Labour.
He says he support social housing. But he thinks people want to own their own homes.
Hillier says she is not against home ownership. She just thinks people cannot afford to buy.
Johnson says there has been a 50% increase in women on FTSE 100 boards in the last five years. That is encouraging, he says.
But Nokes says he cannot point to a single policy that will help the government build back in a more feminine or gender-neutral way.
Johnson says the pay gap is at an all-time low.
And he says all the top ambassador jobs in the Foreign Office are now held by women.
He complains Nokes would find fault whatever he was doing.
Jenkin says the committee’s job is to find fault so he can do things better.
Updated
Caroline Nokes (Con) goes again.
Q: What are you doing to build back better after the recovery in a more feminine and gender-neutral way?
Johnson says he wants to help everyone.
He says more women have benefited from furlough than men, “which is positive”.
Nokes says that is evidence that more women work in sectors where their jobs are vulnerable.
She also says the government has not published economic impact assessments for furlough.
Updated
Q: When will redundancy protection for new mothers happen, as promised by the government?
Johnson says he cannot say.
Jenkin asks Johnson to write to the committee with an answer to the question.
Back at the liaison committee Catherine McKinnell (Lab), chair of the petitions committee, asks which parents nurseries should prioritise if they have to turn children away because too many staff are off because of Covid.
Johnson says he hopes this phase of the crisis will not last long.
UK records 32,548 new cases and 33 further deaths
The UK has recorded 32,548 new coronavirus cases, and 33 further deaths, according to the latest update to the government’s dashboard. That is the highest daily total for new cases since January.
Updated
Johnson signals he favours longer school day to help pupils catch up after Covid
Q: Shouldn’t there be a long-term plan for education, covering sport and wellbeing? Isn’t a longer school day worth supporting?
Johnson says they are looking at the evidence.
Some of the evidence initially supported was not powerful enough, he says.
He seems to be referring to the submission from Sir Kevan Collins, the former education recovery commissioner, for a longer school day.
But that does not mean this is not worth doing.
UPDATE: Johnson said:
The evidence on timetable, the evidence on lengthening the school day, wasn’t as powerful as it was on tuition, for instance.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do, I do think it’s the right thing to do.
The question is how you do it, what sorts of activities, is it enrichment, is it academic, what’s the mixture, as you rightly say.
We’re doing a proper review of all of that to get the evidence that we want.
Updated
Robert Halfon (Con), the education committee chair, is asking the questions now.
Johnson says the move from bubbling to testing will enable them to keep more children in school.
Updated
Johnson says he does not want to extend £20 per week universal credit uplift beyond September
Stephen Timms (Lab), chair of the DWP committee, goes next.
Q: How do you respond to calls for the £20 per week universal credit uplift to be permanent?
Johnson says other measures are in place to help the low paid.
But he says he wants to see a “strong, jobs-led recovery”.
Q: If this cut goes ahead, unemployment support will be at its lowest level for 30 years. Half a million peope will be pushed into poverty. Can that be justified?
Johnson says the answer is to get people into work. The UK has lower unemployment than most G7 countries.
There are 2 million people still on furlough. But the problem is a shortage of labour, rather than a shortage of jobs.
I think that the best way forward is to get people into higher wage, higher skilled jobs.
That’s the ambition of this government and if you ask me to make a choice between more welfare or better, higher paid jobs, I’m going to go for better, higher paid jobs.
Q: Will you review this?
Johnson says they keep everything under review. But he says he has given the committee a “pretty clear steer” as to what his instincts are.
Updated
Johnson does not rule out bringing forward date when testing could replace isolation for contacts of people testing positive
Q: Prof Sir John Bell says if people can get out of isolating by testing, they will have an incentive to test.
Johnson says they are moving towards using testing rather than isolation.
Q: Before 16 August?
Johnson says that is the date they have, but they keep this under review.
Q: Will people have to isolate until 16 August even if they have had a negative test if they have been in contact with someone testing positive?
Johnson says they are asking people to follow the advice.
Q: But why?
Johnson says this is a highly contagious disease.
Clark says they could end up with 5 million people isolating.
Updated
Greg Clark (Con), chair of the science committee, goes next.
Q: Why can’t people who are fully vaccinated return from amber list countries without having to quarantine? And will the government stop telling people not to travel to amber countries?
Johnson says Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is due to make an announcement tomorrow. He urges Clark to contain his impatience.
Meg Hillier (Lab), chair of the public accounts committee, asks how the government will make up for the lost revenue from fuel tax as people consume less carbon.
Johnson says he would not like to see other fuel bills go up.
Q: So where will the money come from? The government could lose £37bn?
Jenkin suggests a major statement from the chancellor on this.
Johnson says the chancellor makes lots of statements.
Updated
Johnson says government to review Chinese purchase of microchip firm in Wales
Tom Tugendhat (Con), chair of the foreign affairs committee, goes next.
Q: At the G7 you did not get our six closest allies to abandon investment in coal production. How will you get China to do this?
Johnson says the UK has to engage with China.
Q: Why did you not call in the Chinese purchase of Newport Wafer Fab?
Johnson says he has asked the national security adviser to look at this again.
He says they have to judge whether there are real national security implications.
Caroline Nokes (Con), chair of the women and equalities committee, goes next.
Q: Will there be any gender-specific commitments from Cop26.
Johnson says Cop26 will benefit everyone. Tackling climate change will help tackle inequality, and that will help women, he says.
Q: Will the cuts to aid help women?
Johnson says the government has put more money into women’s education.
Johnson says government will not impose unreasonable costs on homeowners during switch to green energy
Clive Betts (Lab), chair of the housing committee, goes next.
Q: Where can we read the government’s plan to get to net zero?
Johnson says he does not accept Betts’ claim there has been minimal progress.
Betts says he was talking about minimal progress in the last few years.
Johnson says decarbonising homes is very difficult. The government is working on this with the market, he says.
But it would be unreasonable for people to be faced with unreasonable costs for something like a heat pump.
Q: Last year just 38,000 heat pumps installed. But by 2033 everyone will need one, or a hydrogen boiler, which does not exist.
Johnson says heat pumps cost about £10,000. He says the government can meet this target. But at the moment the price is too high, he says.
Boris Johnson promises ordinary families wont face stinging costs to tear out their boilers and replace with with trendy £10k heat pumps. "What we cant have is a situation where ordinary home owners are suddenly faced with an unreasonable cost....we wont impose it"
— Kate Ferguson (@kateferguson4) July 7, 2021
Updated
Q: We were shocked to see reports of Amazon destroying unsold computers. What will you do about this?
Johnson says he was shocked by this, although he says Amazon has denied the story as reported.
At the G7 they got an agreement to set a minimum level of tax for companies like Amazon, he says.
Johnson says, when the UK took over running Cop26, only 30% of the world was committed to net zero by 2050. Now it is 70%, he says.
This is from my colleague Peter Walker.
Boris Johnson's refusal to admit he didn't sack Matt Hancock is now getting borderline pathological.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) July 7, 2021
And this is from the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves.
Liaison committee session with Boris Johnson getting off to a rocky start:
— Jason Groves (@JasonGroves1) July 7, 2021
Q: Did you sack Matt Hancock?
A: The £350m a week turned out to be something of an underestimate...
Johnson refuses to admit that he did not sack Matt Hancock
Q: Why do you rarely correct the record when you say wrong things in parliament?
Johnson asks for examples.
Bryant says there are many examples.
Johnson turns to the Brexit £350m claim. He starts defending it.
- Johnson refuses to accept claim he often misleads parliament.
Bryant asks Johnson if he sacked Matt Hancock.
Johnson carries on defending the £350m figure.
Bryant asks again about Hancock,
On Hancock, Johnson says he read about the Hancock story on the Friday and there was a new health secretary on a Saturday. That was “quite fast going”, he claims.
Updated
Bryant says there are four different registers for MPs and ministers to comply with.
And he asks why Johnson has not registered everything in connection with his ministerial flat.
Johnson does not accept that. He says he has registered everything necessary.
Johnson say the government is looking at addressing the loophole that means Rob Roberts, the MP suspended for sexual harassment, is not facing a recall election.
But Johnson does not sound keen to close the loophole. He says it is a matter for parliament. Byrant says the government has to back it. Johnson says he sees no reason why this won’t be addressed, and Bryant takes that as agreement to address the issue.
Updated
Chris Bryant (Lab), chair of the standards committee, asks what the PM will do to ensure that miners get the excess in the miners’ pension fund.
Johnson says the trustees have the discretion to be less risk averse.
Q: But the government has said the miners will not get the money.
Johnson say miners are getting more than they would have done.
Jenkin says the answer is unsatisfactory. He asks the PM to write to the committee about this, and Johnson agrees.
Updated
Johnson does not rule out inquiry into war in Afghanistan
Sir Bernard Jenkin opens the session.
He says there will be a few “flying questions” in addition to the three topics agreed. (See 3.26pm)
Tom Tugendhat (Con), chair of the foreign affairs committee, says the PM will make a statement about the withdrawal from Afghanistan tomorrow.
Johnson says he is not happy about the situation.
If you ask me whether I feel happy about the current situation in Afghanistan, of course I don’t.
I’m apprehensive, I think that the situation is fraught with risks.
We have to be absolutely realistic about the situation that we’re in and what we have to hope is that the blood and treasure spent.
As for whether there will be an inquiry, Johnson says Tugendhat is ahead of him.
Q: How will we learn the lessons?
Johnson says he does not want to anticipate what he will say tomorrow.
Updated
Boris Johnson questioned by MPs from liaison committee
Boris Johnson is about to give evidence to the liaison committee, which comprises the chairs of all the Commons select committees. It is regarded as the most senior of all the Commons committees (although it rarely produces reports or recommendations) and it is chaired by Sir Bernard Jenkin.
The questions will cover Cop26, Covid and Brexit.
The preliminary findings from the People’s Covid Inquiry do not seem to be on its website yet, but one of the main recommendations is for the public inquiry into the pandemic to start now. In its news release it says:
Our prime finding, from the evidence we have heard from the public behaviour of politicians handling the pandemic, is that from the start it has been and continues to be a government unfit for the purpose of safeguarding the health of the nation.
For four months the People’s Inquiry has steadfastly ensured that the voices of the bereaved, the experts and the citizens on the frontline have been heard, recorded and acknowledged. For four months we have done the job declined by the PM and which he has no real intention of carrying out when it matters most - which is right now - not when it is politically convenient for him some year in the future.
This stark dereliction of public duty is compounded by a serious democratic deficit in which there is no effective challenge within parliamentary system, nor respect shown by government to accountability at law. Even when caught on camera it’s brushed off until the individual at the heart of handling the pandemic finally capitulates when faced with the extraordinary catalogue of malpractice and untrammelled abuse of power linked to the pandemic.
UPDATE: The interim finding are now available here (pdf).
Updated
Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, told the Commons work and pensions committee this morning that the Government does not have its “head in the sand” over the removal of the universal credit (UC) uplift in autumn.
As PA Media reports, Coffey said the temporary £20 uplift, introduced to help protect people during the coronavirus pandemic, would start to be “phased out” from late September. She said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be contacting claimants so they are aware that their payments will change and they will be directed to support for things like budgeting.
The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out. Heather Stewart is joined by Sonia Sodha to discuss the government’s announcement that it will remove most of the coronavirus restrictions in England on the 19 July. Plus, after last week’s win at Batley and Spen, Labour feels emboldened. But how does Sir Keir Starmer use this victory to his advantage?
Home Office orders review of impact of Brexit on social care workforce
Government advisers are to investigate the effect ending freedom of movement after Brexit is having on the social care sector and its workers, PA Media reports. PA says:
Home Office minister Kevin Foster wrote to Prof Brian Bell, chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) which briefs the government on immigration, to commission an independent review to be carried out by the end of April 2022.
It comes after campaigners last year accused the government of excluding care workers from its new immigration system and ignoring the role they have played during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the past, the MAC has also called for carers to be paid more to avoid pressure being piled on the social care sector after the end of freedom of movement.
The job needed to be made more attractive to British workers so employers did not rely on migrant workers to fill vacancies, it said.
In his letter (pdf) to the MAC Foster said:
I write to you today to commission the MAC to undertake an independent review of adult social care, and the impact the ending freedom of movement has had on the sector. The review has come about following a government commitment given in the House of Lords during consideration of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 to look at the impact on:
the adult social care workforce (such as skills shortages) covering the range of caring roles in adult social care including care workers, registered nurses and managerial roles
visa options for social care workers
long term consequences for workforce recruitment, training and employee terms and conditions; and
any other relevant matters the independent chair deems appropriate which are relevant to the above three objectives
I ask you to consider the above points and provide recommendations on how to address the issues which the sector is experiencing with the immigration system and to highlight, where they arise within the scope of the review, wider issues for the government’s consideration, such as employee terms and conditions.
Updated
Labour says testing should be alternative to isolation before 16 August for contacts of positive cases
On the World at One Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, did provide an answer to the question as to what Labour would do to prevent millions of people being told to isolate over the summer as cases go up. The exchanges at PMQs suggested the party did not have a line on this.
Asked if Labour was in favour of bringing forward from 16 August the date when people who are fully vaccinated will no longer have to isolate if they have had contact with someone testing positive, Ashworth said:
I think you can bring it forward if people are taking a daily lateral flow test which has been properly recorded, that there is a PCR test at an appropriate moment throughout that period.
Otherwise you are going to find huge swathes of public services unable to cope because their workforce will be isolating.
Here is the moment at PMQs when the Labour MP Tan Dhesi challenged Boris Johnson over his failure to sack Dominic Cummings last year for breaking lockdown rules. (See 12.48pm.)
Johnson did deliver an apology of sorts, saying he apologised for the suffering people have endured. In terms of wording, Johnson did not seem to go beyond the generalised apology he has come out with before, but her perhaps managed to show more contrition than before.
Shortage of HGV drivers prompts government to relax rules on working hours
The government has announced a temporary extension to lorry drivers’ hours amid a shortage of workers. Charlotte Vere, a transport minister, announced the move on Twitter.
We're temporarily extending drivers' hours rules from Mon 12 July to allow HGV drivers to make slightly longer journeys where necessary, as we're aware of a current shortage of drivers. Driver safety must not be compromised & operators must notify DfT if this relaxation is used.
— Charlotte Vere (@CharlotteV) July 7, 2021
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, later posted a tweet saying the government would also be looking at other measures to address the shortage.
We’re aware of a shortage of HGV drivers, so I'm announcing a temp extension of drivers' hours rules from Mon 12 July, giving flexibility to drivers & operators to make slightly longer journeys. We've ramped up the number of driving tests available & will consider other measures.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) July 7, 2021
Brokenshire resigns as security minister because recovery from cancer treatment taking longer than expected
James Brokenshire has resigned as security minister because his recovery from lung cancer treatment is taking longer than expected, No 10 has announced.
In a resignation letter Brokenshire said that his recovery was “taking longer than anticipated” and that he wanted to stand down from his ministerial role and focus on regaining his health.
In his response, Boris Johnson thanks Brokenshire for his work and said he looked forward to welcoming him back “as soon as possible”.
Brokenshire quit his job as Northern Ireland secretary in January 2018 so that he could get treatment for lung cancer. He returned to government later that year, but in January he had to step back from his role as security minister for treatment for a recurrence of his tumour.
Here is some more on Sir Graham Brady’s re-election as chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee.
From Tom Newton Dunn from Times Radio
I understand it was a closely fought contest but there was a clear winner, and no need for a recount. Brady's winning margin was in the double figures. This is a slap for No10 from Tory MPs, as close to half of them are already on the Govt pay role.
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) July 7, 2021
From the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy
Last word on the @grahambradymp's victory over No 10 favourite Heather Wheeler.
— Joe Murphy (@JoeMurphyLondon) July 7, 2021
A Northern Tory MP tells me:
"Sir Graham's a bit of a pompous tit at times but he knows trhe ropes and generally gives a voice to backbenchers."
more ...
Graham Brady re-elected as chair of Conservative 1922 Committee
Sir Graham Brady has been re-elected as chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, after a challenge from Heather Wheeler, who had garnered support from 2019 intake MPs.
Supporters of Brady, who has held the role for 11 years, had briefed that Wheeler was the “Number 10 candidate” whom Downing Street hoped would replace Brady, an outspoken critic of lockdown measures who has developed a significant public platform.
Wheeler, a former whip and minister who wanted to become the first woman to head the group, had argued Brady does not effectively communicate the breadth of Tory MPs’ frustrations – particularly from the 2019 intake. Her supporters had accused him of being “too presidential”.
Brady, who is understood to have won by a significant margin, said:
It is a privilege to have been re-elected as chairman of the 1922 Committee after 11 years serving the parliamentary Conservative party. I am grateful to my colleagues for this vote of confidence.
The 1922 Committee is a powerful body that is the channel for backbenchers to express views to the government, including handling votes of no confidence which Brady oversaw for Theresa May.
Updated
Grenfell victims have accused the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea of “seeking to avoid justice” by trying to delay court claims for millions of pounds in compensation and damages until next year.
Lawyers for 87 of the survivors of the fire and people who lived in neighbouring blocks told a high court hearing today to establish how to handle over 1,000 personal injury claims against the council and other corporate entities that the council’s desire to stay proceedings until next spring was extending their suffering.
RBKC told the judge that it wanted proceedings to be stayed until April or May next year to allow for a process of “alternative dispute resolution” to handle nearly the welter of other claims from the bereaved, relatives and survivors as well as 142 firefighters and police officers. It said the handling of these claims would be likely to trigger a supreme court case to reconsider limits on who can receive compensation set in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. In addition the public inquiry into the disaster is unlikely to conclude until at least January 2023.
But Susan Rodway QC, representing 87 residents of the tower and surrounding housing, told Ms Justice Barbara Fontaine, her clients were “desperate” for their cases to be resolved and said: “This has all the flavour or two defendants seeking to avoid justice.” She urged the council and the Kensington and Chelsea Management Tenants Management Organisation to “go ahead and admit your liability” for the disaster in June 2017 which claimed 72 lives.
However, lawyers representing the majority of claimants - who also seek compensation from the cladding manufacturers, builders and architects - backed calls for a delay while attempts to settle claims out of court were continued. The judge said she would stay the case to allow that to happen.
Updated
Tory grandee Sir Graham Brady has been re-elected as the powerful chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs after defeating a challenge from a former minister regarded as No 10’s favoured candidate, PA Media reports. PA says:
Brady who has held the post since 2010, confirmed his victory this afternoon after the challenge from former government minister Heather Wheeler.
He thanked his colleagues for the “vote of confidence” after the secret ballot open to Tory MPs who are not on the government payroll.
Updated
PMQs - Snap verdict
For an opposition leader, the easiest way to score a hit at PMQs is to scan the newspapers in the morning, identify an issue on which the government is taking a pasting (preferably from papers from the left and from the right, and preferably on an issue on which the government has no straightforward answer), and then hammer away. This was essentially what Sir Keir Starmer did today and it worked.
The key question was the one Starmer asked about the prospect of millions of people being pinged over the summer. How many people would be affected? Boris Johnson would not answer, prompted Starmer to retort: “The question was simply how many people are going to be asked to self-isolate if there are 100,000 infections a day and he won’t answer it.”
But Starmer started with another question, one which journalists have been asking all week. How many deaths, hospitalisations and cases of long Covid are expected following the announcement that almost all restrictions in England will be lifted from 19 July? Again, Johnson refused to give an answer.
Overall Starmer’s approach worked well. His questions were fair and reasonable, and Johnson’s answers were evasive. But it was a qualified win because, as Johnson pointed out accurately, there was an inherent contradiction in Starmer’s line of attack. Johnson told the Labour leader:
What we will be doing is moving away from self-isolation towards testing over the course of the next few weeks, and that is the prudent approach. He can’t have it both ways. He says it’s reckless to open up and yet he attacks self-isolation which is one of the key protections that this country has.
It is common to argue that, because it is prime minister’s questions, it is not for the opposition leader to have to say what he would do, and this was a point that Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, made forcefully today. And generally, when the PM resorts to the ‘What would you do?’ backstop, it sounds like a distraction. But most members of the public are less concerned about Commons standing orders than Hoyle, and today it felt as this was an appropriate issue for Johnson to raise.
On lockdown easing generally, Starmer had a perfectly good answer. He said:
We should open up in a controlled way, keeping baseline protections such as masks on public transport, improving ventilation, making sure the track and trace system remains effective, and ensuring proper payments for self-isolation.
But as for what Labour would do about the problems faced by the millions of people likely to be pinged as case numbers go up in the summer, Starmer does not seem to have an answer at all. Johnson would have done better today if he had challenged Starmer more forcefully on this point. And a bit more candour about what the modelling says about hospitalisations and deaths would have helped too, particularly since these figures will come out relatively soon.
One final piece of advice for Johnson; it’s time to bin his PMQs peroration. Today he concluded his final response to Starmer with: “We vaccinate, they vacillate. We inoculate, while they’re invertebrate.” Johnson seemed particularly proud of the final half-rhyme, a new edition to this silly spiel. But it’s a terrible slogan because it involves arcane language and it has clearly been formulated not to make a point but to show off Johnson’s verbal dexterity. One suspects that if someone like Lynton Crosby were in No 10 vetting the PM’s scripts - someone forceful, with the authority to stop him talking nonsense - this joke would have been banned weeks ago.
UPDATE: Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, did subsequently set out Labour’s alternative to the government’s policy on isolation rules on the World at One. See 2.57pm.
Updated
Tan Dhesi (Lab) recalls not being allowed to visit his grandmother while she was dying. He says people have had to follow the Covid guidance while “spineless, hypocritical” ministers defended Dominic Cummings when he broke lockdown rules. This was a “disgrace”, he says. He asks if the PM will finally apologise for not having the courage to sack Cummings.
It is a long, angry passionate question. And it prompts a rare display of contrition from Johnson, who of course is famous for not apologising for anything.
Johnson says no one who has not been through what Dhesi describes can imagine what it’s like. He says he takes Dhesi’s criticisms seriously. And he says he apologises for the suffering people of this country have gone through. He says he is “deeply, deeply sorry” about how people were not able to spent time with their loved ones as they were dying.
Matt Western (Lab) asks why the Tory MP Rob Roberts is being allowed to return to the Commons, and not subject to a recall vote. Will the PM allow a vote tomorrow to close the loophole that meant Roberts avoided recall.
Johnson says Roberts’ punishment has come to an end. He says Roberts is no longer a Tory MP.
Caroline Nokes (Con) asks about a diesel spill into the river Test.
Johnson says the Environment Agency is working on this.
Johnson says the government gives hospices £350m a year. And they have had an extra £257m to make up for what they have lost by not being able to fundraise, he says.
Matthew Pennycook (Lab) says the building safety bill published this week will do little to protect leaseholders who face big bills to remove Grenfell-style cladding.
Johnson does not accept that. He says the government has spent £5bn on this. He says people who have suffered as a result of Grenfell will continue to get government support.
Bim Afolami (Con) asks what the government is doing to improve road safety. It is an issue of growing concern, he says.
Johnson says road deaths have been coming down for a long time. But the government is investing in road safety, he says.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Lab) asks why the government is backing the sale of NHS services.
Johnson says he cannot remember a question so wrong. The government is putting the NHS first, he says.
Angela Crawley (SNP) asks if the PM supports her private member’s bill to give paid leave to any woman who suffers a miscarriage before 24 weeks.
Johnson says he feels very sorry for any woman who goes through this. He says the government offers bereavement leave to women who lose a baby after 24 weeks.
David Jones ( Con) asks the PM to confirm that, unless the EU adapts a more proportionate approach to the Northern Ireland protocol, the government will do whatever is necessary to fix it. He says the three-month extension of the grace period for chilled meats was just a “stick plaster”.
Johnson agrees. He says the protocol is being misapplied by the EU, which is following a purist approach.
Updated
Tim Loughton (Con) asks if the PM will back calls for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.
Johnson says the UK has led the way in condemning human rights abuses in China. He will consider the idea, but he is instinctively against boycotts, he says.
Neale Hanvey (Alba) asks why the government has spent money on discredited diagnostic tests to the tune of £3bn.
Johnson does not accept that.
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, starts by wishing England luck in the football.
He says the electoral integrity bill is anything but. Why is the government making it harder for people to vote.
Johnson says they need to tackle voting fraud, as happened at Tower Hamlets.
Blackford says there have only been a small number of cases of voter fraud. The bill is tackling a problem that does not exist.
Johnson says people will be able to get photo ID if they need it. He says he does not want to see elections tainted by suspicion of voter fraud.
Starmer says England heading for 'summer of chaos and confusion' due to isolation rules
Starmer says it is obvious what is happening. Johnson is getting flak from his MPs. That is why he has announced this policy. We have been here before.
Isn’t it the case that, instead of a careful, controlled approach, we are heading for a summer of chaos and confusion?
Johnson says if he had followed Labour’s advice, they would never have opened up schools. He repeats his usual claim about how Labour would have kept the UK in the European Medicines Agency, which would have made the vaccine rollout impossible (not true). He says the government vaccinates while the opposition vacillates. And he adds a new slogan. “We inoculate, they invertebrate.”
Updated
Starmer says if Johnson had been listening, he would have heard the answer. He wants to open up in a controlled way, he says. Isn’t it common sense to keep the rule on face masks?
Johnson says it is common sense for people to wear a face mask on the tube. But he is moving from legal diktat to personal responsibility.
If the only difference between them is face masks, that is good news.
Starmer says the government is at risk of overwhelming its test and trace system. What will the government do to stop people deleting the test and trace app, because they can see that millions of people will be pinged this summer?
Johnson says he still cannot tell what Starmer wants. This is not like the law where people can attack from different positions, he says.
Starmer says we should open up “in a controlled way”, keeping masks for public transport, having better ventilation and having better support for people who have to isolate.
He quotes what the FT and the Daily Mail have said about how many people might have to isolate. What is the PM’s estimate?
Johnson says he wants to thank everyone who has to isolate. We will move from isolation to testing over the next few days.
He says Starmer is trying to have it both ways. He is attacking the government for opening up too much, and then for still having isolation.
What is Starmer’s policy?
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, says it is not for the opposition leader to have to answer questions. To do that, standing orders would have to change, he says.
Starmer says rates are so high because the PM let the Delta variant, or the “Johnson variant”, into the country.
Is the PM really comfortable with a plan for 100,000 people to catch this every day?
Johnson says he will continue with a balanced and reasonable approach. The vaccines provide more than 90% protection against hospitalisation. By 19 July everyone over 40 will have been offered two vaccinations.
He says Starmer seemed to support opening up last week. Does he still support it?
Sir Keir Starmer joins the PM in his remarks about the 7/7 anniversary, and about Fay Allen.
And he says the whole country will be cheering England - except perhaps the Tory MP Lee Anderson.
He pays tribute to Kim Leadbeater, the new MP for Batley and Spen, who is sitting in the Commons below a plaque to her sister, the murdered MP Jo Cox.
Starmer asks what will happen to deaths when the government opens up in England.
Johnson says there are number of projections available from SPI-M. But he says deaths are down to a thirtieth from infections.
Labour says opening up is reckless. Does that mean Starmer opposes it, Johnson asks.
John McNally (SNP) asks about the retrospective loan charge.
Johnson says he is acutely aware of the pain some people are suffering. “Alas” people were misguided in joining these schemes. But the line taken by the Treasury is right, he says.
Boris Johnson starts by saying today is the 16th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings.
He also sends his condolences to the relatives of Britain’s first black police officer.
Perhaps he has been reading Jeremy Corbyn’s tweets.
In the late 1960s, Sislin Fay Allen, a former nurse became the UK's first black woman police officer. Ignoring the racism her appointment sparked, she worked on the beat & at Scotland Yard. She died this week. My condolences to her family, friends & colleagues in the UK & Jamaica pic.twitter.com/RoDudZEMp9
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 6, 2021
Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, has also welcomed the latest antibody figures from the ONS. (See 10.01am.)
Really positive data on antibodies from @ONS. The best and fullest protection is through vaccination, that is how we beat this virus. 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾💉💉💉💪🏻💪🏽💪🏿 https://t.co/m581pVUvTh
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) July 7, 2021
PMQs
PMQs is due to start soon.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
If you are looking for some positive news about Covid, Meaghan Kall, an epidemiologist at Public Health England, has a good round-up in a Twitter thread starting here.
As promised, a thread 🧵 of some positive & interesting news I’ve seen lately...
— Meaghan Kall (@kallmemeg) July 6, 2021
1. Infection fatality rate. The team at @MRC_BSU who’ve been nowcasting across the pandemic now estimate an IFR of less than 1 in 1000.
▶️ 0.085% (0.077%-0.093%)https://t.co/FZ8NPPYoVW pic.twitter.com/uLHlxouvm7
She says the ONS antibody figures out today (see 10.01am) show the UK is close to achieving herd immunity for older adults.
4. ONS Infection survey shows high Ab levels
— Meaghan Kall (@kallmemeg) July 7, 2021
*NEW* Antibody (green line, modelled) by age group:
👉25-34 now 81% (!)
👉35-49 now 94.5% (!)
👉50+ over 96%
This will be very close to herd immunity levels in these ages, thru vaccination & previous infectionhttps://t.co/5vwnIUPwZH pic.twitter.com/y7CTCrlGUO
And she says the figures also reinforce the case for vaccinating 16-and 17-year-olds.
Lowest antibody levels in age 16-24:
— Meaghan Kall (@kallmemeg) July 7, 2021
👉60% - of which only 17% is vaccination, the rest from prior infection
This provides strong evidence to vaccinate 16-17 year olds to raise this % rapidly to achieve herd immunity in all adults
Data on children under 16 not presented.
Updated
People's Covid Inquiry concludes government 'unfit for purpose'
Michael Mansfield QC, who has chaired the People’s Covid Inquiry, which has been run by the Keep our NHS Public campaign, has just started speaking at the press conference where he is announcing the inquiry’s interim findings.
In a statement released in advance he said:
For four months we have been hearing from the bereaved and from leading world experts, for four months we have got on with the job the PM has declined and which he has no real intention of carrying out.
The pandemic has uncovered a government unfit for purpose and at the same time a democratic deficiency in which there is no accountability (even when caught on camera) until shamed by public demand. Otherwise pandemic policy cannot be effectively challenged.
That is why there has to be a properly resourced inquiry now to meet the needs of the national emergency and the need for a properly resourced public health service.
I will post more from the inquiry’s interim findings when the press conference is over, after PMQs.
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Shapps says Covid pandemic will not lead to rethink over transport infrastructure spending plans
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, told MPs this morning that the Covid pandemic has not made the government rethink is plans for big investment in transport infrastructure. He told the Commons transport committee:
If you think about other railway lines that were built 150 years ago - the west coast and the east coast main lines - not two world wars, not recessions and depressions, not the Spanish flu, none of these things stopped the inexorable growth in the need for people and goods to travel.
If you look at something like HS2, we’re not building it for what happens this year, or next year. It won’t even be up and running until the end of the decade, early next decade, for the first section. For the whole thing, much later than that.
When the Labour MP Grahame Morris suggested the decision to continue with projects must be based on “more than a feeling” and that it would be “sensible to pause work” until the Department for Transport has a more complete understanding of behavioural changes caused by the pandemic, Shapps replied:
It’s a great question but the answer is definitely no.
Unless the Department for Transport invents teleportation technology in the next few years, people are going to want to meet and visit people.
I don’t think that will change.
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative party leader, has joined those complaining about the government’s decision to keep the isolation rules for the fully vaccinated until 16 August. He told the Daily Telegraph (paywall) that the decision “makes a mockery” of claims that 19 July will mark the end of restrictions in England. He said:
Why would you even go to a pub [after step four of the lifting of lockdown]? This makes it worse.
I wouldn’t go to a pub that wasn’t still having six around a table and social distancing, otherwise you run the risk of everyone in the pub being pinged and locked down.
The Queen Elizabeth cruise liner has sailed into port in Southampton after a number of crew members tested positive for Covid-19, PA Media reports. PA says:
The cases were detected aboard the Cunard ship while it was moored off the Dorset coast.
No passengers were onboard, with its first sailing due later this month after Cunard suspended all cruises in March 2020 because of the pandemic.
Dr Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told Times Radio this morning that she expected people to have to carry on wearing masks in hospitals even after 19 July, when the government plans to stop them being compulsory in England for public transport and shops. She said:
We haven’t seen what the plans are for hospitals but the likelihood is that we will want to make it as safe as possible for everybody.
And the only way to do that will be to maintain the hand hygiene, the social distancing and mask wearing within a hospital.
A&E departments are often quite crowded environments and that’s one of our worries - so as people come in we may need mask-wearing to help keep other people safe because you might be an asymptomatic carrier and come with a cut finger, but you might be near somebody who’s immunosuppressed with a kidney transplant.
Updated
Ministers find it hard to get through an interview at the moment without being asked what their personal approach to wearing a face covering will be after 19 July, when the government plans to stop making them compulsory in England for public transport and shops. This is what Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, said when asked about this on Sky News this morning.
Personally, I use the tube a lot in London, and I would probably wear a mask in that context, on the tube, on public transport.
That’s a personal view, it’s not something I would mandate, or necessarily dictate to other people.
Updated
Scottish Tories accused of 'jaw-dropping hypocrisy' after criticising minister over family trip
Scotland’s health secretary has hit back after the Scottish Tories claimed he had “disappeared” during the latest Covid surge because he took his family on a long-promised trip to Harry Potter Studios.
The Scottish Sun mocked up Humza Yousaf as “the invisible health chief” this morning on its front page splash, which revealed that the MSP had dared to take his kids to a theme park for the weekend.
Yousaf retorted on Twitter that he wouldn’t apologise for the very limited time he gave his family, before revealing - as he had told the Scottish Sun too - that he had bumped into the Scottish Tories’ shadow public health minister on the trip.
🧵Don't usually comment on stories about me, but I'll make an exception.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) July 7, 2021
Most important job I have is being a good father, step-father & husband to my wife & kids. In the last 7 months they've had virtually no time from me. pic.twitter.com/L4BaSfCENe
Pandemic has been tough for everyone & I am luckier than most but it has been tough for my 12yr old step-daughter who missed her friends during her p7 year. As a treat, I promised this Harry Potter fan a trip to HP Studios months ago (if restrictions allowed) when school finished
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) July 7, 2021
Every day I have taken "off" I have worked. Speaking to Clinicians, vaccines & testing teams, clearing submissions etc.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) July 7, 2021
My family don't see me much at all, and while they understand why, it is difficult for us all, so I wont apologise for giving them the v limited time I do.
As for the Tory outrage quoted in the Sun story:
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) July 7, 2021
1) Your Shadow Public Health Minister was at HP World at the same time as me, we bumped into each other & said hello. So I can only assume it's ScotGovt Ministers who aren't allowed to spend time with family?
2) Matt Hancock.
The story in the Scottish Sun includes a quote from Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Conservatives’ chief whip, who claimed that families in Scotland would be “appalled” by what Yousaf had done. A spokesman for Yousaf said the Scottish Tories were guilty of “jaw-dropping hypocrisy”.
Updated
The Office for National Statistics has published its latest figures for the percentage of adults in the four nations of the UK who would test positive for Covid antibodies. Here are the figures.
England: 89.8% (up from 86.6% the previous week)
Wales: 91.8% (up from 88.7%)
Northern Ireland: 87.2% (up from 85.4%)
Scotland: 84.7% (up from 79.1%)
These figures are cover the week beginning 14 June. They are central estimates and they are subject to 95% credibility intervals, set out in the report.
Testing positive for Covid antibodies means that someone has either been vaccinated or infected. Eventually their level in the body declines to the point where they cannot be detected, but scientists are unsure how long this takes.
The figures are going up mainly because of the vaccination programme, and also because of rising cases. Scotland has lower antibody rates than the rest of the UK because it had a lower rate of Covid infection in the earlier waves, which partly explains why it has seen particularly high rates recently.
Our latest data show the percentage of adults testing positive for #COVID19 antibodies has continued to increase across the UK in the week beginning 14 June 2021 https://t.co/MhgbwwbGrX pic.twitter.com/QOh5nGTC9u
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 7, 2021
In England, antibody positivity rose for most ages, a trend also seen in Wales, Northern Ireland, and for over-30s in Scotland https://t.co/kKMzdx76Gu pic.twitter.com/z8NFkfPwSg
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 7, 2021
Updated
Scotland’s education secretary has refused to confirm whether her government will adopt England’s sweeping plans to abandon protective bubbles and self-isolation for school pupils over the summer.
Shirley-Anne Somerville said that at the end of the Scottish school term – which finished at the end of June - the absence rate within schools was around 4%, but only 3% had Covid and the vast majority of the rest were self-isolating. She added that schools were not seeing large outbreaks but rather community transmission coming into the education environment.
“The Scottish government is looking very seriously at whether we can make changes to the self isolation advice as we go into the next academic year,” she told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland.
Asked whether she would consider the English changes, she said:
It certainly is one option but we have a responsibility in Scotland to look at what is happening here, and we have a set way of developing that guidance ... People would expect us to go through that due process to make sure that parents, young people and staff have confidence that the guidance we’re putting together is fit for purpose.
Updated
Minister defends keeping isolation rules for fully vaccinated until 16 August
Good morning. Yesterday Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said the UK could be facing 100,000 Covid cases a day by the summer. His announcement coincided with the government saying that until 16 August people who are fully vaccinated will still have to isolate if they have been in contact with someone testing positive, and the two developments have triggered fears that millions of people face a summer of being pinged and having to isolate at home.
We’ve splashed on this story, written by my colleagues Peter Walker and Heather Stewart.
And here’s an extract.
Two million people could contract Covid this summer, potentially meaning up to 10 million must isolate in just six weeks, Guardian analysis shows, prompting warnings over risks to health and disruption to the economy ....
The Guardian understands ministers were warned that waiving the requirement for contacts to isolate immediately on 19 July would result in cases being up to 25% higher than if waiting another four weeks to do so.
But the decision to wait before dropping the self-isolation rule, combined with soaring cases amid further unlocking, has triggered growing concerns over the toll of long Covid and potential chaos for businesses forced to close because of staff absences ...
While projections about the rise in cases vary considerably, even a relatively conservative estimate – a daily average of 35,000 cases a day from now till 19 July, and an average of 60,000 from then until 16 August – would give a total above 2 million.
Currently, NHS test and trace contacts an average of 3.2 people for each confirmed case, but amid the more widespread social mixing of last summer it was closer to five, giving a potentially affected pool exceeding 10 million people.
GUARDIAN: Fears 10 million may face summer isolation as Covid 19 cases surge #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/r3awCEdusP
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) July 6, 2021
The Daily Telegraph has splashed on the same topic. Its story (paywall) quotes analysis by the Adam Smith Institute saying rising infection rates could force up to 4.6 million people a week into self-isolation by the start of August.
Wednesday’s Telegraph: “Isolation rules ‘slam the brakes’ on freedom” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/7FuHsAa3Vz pic.twitter.com/FPVC33z65t
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 6, 2021
And the Financial Times is in the same territory. Its lead (paywall) says that business and health chiefs are warning that England faces “weeks of workplace chaos” because two people are asked to isolate for 10 days per Covid case, suggesting that if 700,000 a week were infected a further 1.4 million could be asked to self-isolate.
FT UK: Business fears staffing ‘carnage’ in delay before isolation rules end #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/rFWkqOwpMA
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) July 6, 2021
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has been giving interviews this mornings and, speaking to Sky News, he suggested that some of the reports were exaggerating the situation. “I don’t think you can necessarily conclude there will be millions [of people having to isolate],” he said. But generally he defended the rules. Pointing out that the government is also being accused of opening up too much, he told the Today programme:
On the one hand we’re being told that the restrictions are too onerous, and on the other we’re being told that we’re being too loose in terms of lifting those restrictions. And that’s the balance, that’s the nature of political judgment.
I say to businesses all the time that the fact of opening up on 19 July is a really significant positive step for business, and generally the people I speak to fully accept that.
Kwarteng also suggested there was little chance of the government changing its decision to keep isolation requirements for fully vaccinated people in England until August.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, gives evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee.
9.30am: Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, gives evidence to the Commons transport committee.
11am: The committee on standards in public life publishes a report on election finance rules.
11.30am: Michael Mansfield QC, chairman of the People’s Covid Inquiry, which has been run by the Keep our NHS Public campaign, holds a press conference to publicise the inquiry’s interim findings.
12pm: Boris Johnson faces Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.
12pm: Voting closes in the election for the chairmanship of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee. Sir Graham Brady, the current chair, is facing a challenge from Heather Wheeler, a former minister seen as someone who would be less antagonistic towards No 10.
2.30pm: Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, gives evidence to the Commons international trade committee.
3.30pm: Johnson gives evidence to the Commons liaison committee. He will face questions on Covid, Brexit and Cop26.
Politics Live has been a mix of Covid and non-Covid news recently and that will probably be the case today. For more coronavirus developments, do follow our global Covid live blog.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com
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