Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Jedidajah Otte (now); Andrew Sparrow and Aamna Mohdin (earlier)

UK coronavirus: Hancock announces local lockdown for Leicester — as it happened

Pubs and restaurants to get fast-track permission for on-street dining

A streamlined application process will enable pubs and restaurants to get permission for on-street dining in around 10 days, a measure forming part of the government’s Covid recovery plan.

Outlining reforms aimed at boosting the hospitality sector as it prepares to reopen on 4 July, business secretary Alok Sharma stressed there were safeguards for local councils to refuse applications if they block the highway, the Press Association reports.

Former Tory minister Caroline Nokes criticised the recovery plan,
which has cross-party support, as being “designed by men for men” as she questioned why barbers could open but not beauty bars.

Speaking during the second reading of the Business and Planning Bill, Sharma said: “Public safety and access for disabled people using pavements is of course absolutely vital, so I can confirm that local authorities will be able to refuse or revoke licences where appropriate.”

He added: “There are safeguards in place. This extension will not include premises that have been denied off-sale permission, or had it removed, within the last three years.”

The Bill also seeks to reduce the planning appeal process from almost a year to around six months, extend the hours construction sites can operate to stagger working times and also allow bus and lorry drivers to extend their driving licences for a year without the requirement for a medical review, to free up time for GPs to deal with Covid-19.

I will wrap this blog up now, many thanks for reading and commenting as always.

Updated

A number of people have criticised the health secretary on social media for not having clarified which areas surrounding Leicester will also be affected by the lockdown.

BBC Radio Leicester reports that Oadby, Birstall and Glenfield will also be locked down, and that no travel into the city will be allowed unless it is essential.

Updated

Nick Rushton, the leader of Leicestershire County Council, appeared supportive of the new restrictions for Leicester and surrounding areas:

Protecting residents is our main concern and we’re working closely with Leicester City Council and the Government to bring down the number of cases.

Clearly coronavirus does not adhere to lines on a map. And although county rates are below the national and regional averages, we can’t be complacent and it makes sense to step up restrictions in areas closer to the city.

This is the first localised lockdown on this scale and undoubtedly there will be issues to iron out.

I understand this is disappointing news for residents, parents of schoolchildren and businesses when most of the country is opening back up but it’s crucial that people follow the latest advice.

Observing social distancing, hand-washing, wearing a face mask where required and getting tested if you have symptoms remain vital.

Our actions play a key role in shaping what happens next and I encourage people to heed the advice and play their part in helping to save lives and livelihoods.

Reacting to the new lockdown restrictions set to be imposed on Leicester, the city’s mayor Peter Soulsby told BBC Radio Leicester:

They’ve gone further than we anticipated they might.

They are clearly determined to start with the maximum, as it were, to see how it works and then perhaps to use the learning from this in other areas I have no doubt will follow.

I can understand it from their perspective - they are entirely convinced that the level of the transmission of the disease in Leicester is at a higher level than I think the figures show.

Nonetheless I can understand why they want to err on the safe side... I can see where they’re coming from even thought I still have some scepticism about the figures that led them to this.

This from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg:

Here a part of Matt Hancock’s statement on the new measures for Leicester:

Given the growing outbreak in Leicester, we cannot recommend that the easing of the national lockdown set to take place on July 4 happens in Leicester.

Having taken clinical advice on the actions necessary and discussed them with the local team in Leicester and Leicestershire, we have made some difficult but important decisions.

We’ve decided that from tomorrow, non-essential retail will have to close and as children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak, schools will also need to close from Thursday, staying open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers as they did throughout.

Unfortunately, the clinical advice is that the relaxation of shielding measures due on July 6 cannot now take place in Leicester.

We recommend to people in Leicester, stay at home as much as you can, and we recommend against all but essential travel to, from and within Leicester.

We’ll monitor closely adhering to social distancing rules and we’ll take further steps if that is what’s necessary.

This from Liz Kendall, the Labour MP for Leicester West:

My colleagues Simon Murphy and Amy Walker have written up a piece on the announcement that Leicester will endure England’s first local lockdown, after a surge in coronavirus infections led the health secretary Matt Hancock to strengthen and extend restrictions in the city.

Hancock said there are many potential reasons why the outbreak has occurred in the way it has in Leicester, but that he would ensure that other directors of public health understand those reasons.

Imposing a local lockdown on Leicester with additional measures to those already in place is in the local as well as national interest, he said, and stressed the citizens of Leicester would receive the government’s full support.

Extra funding would go to Leicester and Leicestershire councils to enhance communications and ensure they are translated into all the locally relevant languages, the health secretary said.

Rakesh Parmar, who owns Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe in Leicester city centre, told the Press Association that the further restrictions will affect him “financially very, very badly”.

He said: “The impact of coronavirus hit us on March 23, we closed for 10 weeks, and then opened again on June 15 - it’s been one long slog.

“At the end of the day, it’s got to be done for everyone’s safety. It’s got to be done.”

Parmar said he “completely” understood why a further lockdown would be needed.

Asked how his customers were feeling, he said: “Very, very scared, because it’s closer to home than we realised. Then it’s the uncertainty of who the carrier is.”

The Government’s extension of Leicester’s lockdown has been criticised by businesses, saying the measures “won’t make a difference”, the Press Association reports.

The health secretary said the national lockdown easing would not be happening in the city, meaning pubs, hairdressers and restaurants would not be able to open alongside other areas of the UK.

Robin Dignall, the owner of Hair1RD hairdressers in the city centre, said that from a business point of view, he “needs to get the customers back in”.

He said:

We were all geared up ready to open on July 4 but, from reading the Government guidelines, they clearly haven’t consulted anybody in our profession.

The furthest we can work away from someone is 0.5 metres and they are telling us our clients don’t have to wear masks and we don’t have to wear masks - just a visor.

Obviously money’s going out but there’s nothing coming in at the moment so from a business point of view yes, we do need to get the customers back in.

But I’m not willing to put my health or anybody else’s health and safety at risk.We’ve got around 300 clients and we didn’t start booking in until we had a vague date of when we can open.

Now we’ve started booking in, if we’re going to close for another two weeks then we’re going to have to push everybody back two more weeks.

So some may have to wait four, five, six weeks, maybe more before we can fit them in.

This from the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire on the announcement:

Non-essential shops in Leicester will close from Tuesday, and Hancock warns against any non-essential travel to and from the city of more than 300,000 people, after nearly 900 new infections were recorded in a fortnight.

The new measures agreed for the city of Leicester will be reviewed after two weeks, Hancock said.

Updated

Local lockdown imposed and restrictions extended in Leicester

Hancock has begun making his statement in the House of Commons., and has confirmed the lockdown in Leicester will be extended.

When many cases are found in one setting, such as a hospital or care home, the government has the statutory powers to close down a particular locality, he says.

Leicester has an infection rate of 135 per 100,000 people, which is three times higher than the next highest local area, he says.

Hospital admissions are between 6 and ten a day, he says, which is also higher than in other places.

Schools in Leicester will have to close on Thursday, except for keyworker and vulnerable children, and those shielding will continue to do so beyond 6 July.

Everyone with symptoms in Leicester needs to come forward, Hancock says, and extra funding will be made available to increase testing.

Updated

Hello, I’m briefly taking over to cover health secretary Matt Hancock’s announcement about a possible localised lockdown extension in Leicester, which he is expected to be making shortly.

Early evening summary

  • Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has delayed an announcement to MPs about the measures planned by the government for Leicester, where there have been fresh outbreaks of coronavirus. Overnight the city’s mayor was told that the government wanted to respond by delaying the relaxation of the lockdown in the city for two weeks. (See 10.28am.) Sir Peter Soulsby, the mayor, has said he’s opposed to this idea. (See 3.31pm.) Hancock and Soulsby spoke about what will happen next earlier this afternoon, but the decision to delay Hancock’s statement until after 9pm (it had been due at about 5pm) suggests they may have had difficulty reaching an agreement. The outcome is important because ministers say their entire coronavirus strategy now depends on being able to clamp down hard on local outbreaks (“cluster-busting”, Boris Johnson called it). If local opposition makes this impossible in Leicester, then potentially the approach could fail in other places too.

We are pausing the blog now, but hope to be able to reactivate it in time for the Hancock statement later, at around 9.15pm.

Hancock's Commons statement about Leicester outbreak delayed after mayor opposes local lockdown extension

In the Commons the two urgent questions are now over.

We were expecting Matt Hancock, the health secretary, to be making a statement now about the outbreak in Leicester. But it has been postponed until after the debate on the business and planning bill.

This is from the shadow health minister Justin Madders.

Given that the mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, has said he is opposed to the measure being proposed earlier by Hancock (an extension of the lockdown by two weeks in the city - see 3.31pm ), there may be some sort of stand-off still ongoing.

The government has published its latest UK coronavirus statistics on its new dashboard. Here are the figures for hospital admissions.

Coronavirus hospital admissions
Coronavirus hospital admissions Photograph: No 10

A woman wearing a face mask walking past social distance advisory signs in Leicester’s North Evington neighbourhood today.
A woman wearing a face mask walking past social distance advisory signs in Leicester’s North Evington neighbourhood today. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Labour says bringing back benefits sanctions now 'incomprehensible'

Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, told MPs during DWP questions in the Commons this afternoon that sanctions will start to apply again to claimants who fail to turn up for jobcentre appointments after the jobcentres reopen in July. Explaining the decision, she said:

It is important that, as the jobcentres fully reopen this week, we do reinstate the need for having the claimant commitment and it is an essential part of the contract to help people start to reconsider what vacancies there may be.

Labour said the decision was “incomprehensible”. The shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said:

It is incomprehensible that the government is bringing back conditionality and sanctions. At a time when unemployment has risen sharply, vacancies have dropped, people are still shielding and the schools aren’t back, threatening to reduce people’s financial support is untenable.

What’s more, Jobcentre Plus is still lacking guidance on how premises might even open safely. With the unemployment crisis looming, it is alarming that there is no thought being given on how to offer proper support to those seeking work at this time.

This is what Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, posted on Twitter earlier this afternoon as the trade talks with the UK resumed.

People in the UK are still travelling less than 50% of their pre-pandemic distance despite lockdown restrictions easing, according to new figures. As PA Media reports, movement is only increasing by around 2-3% each week, University of Oxford data shows. After sinking to a 98% reduction compared with pre-lockdown levels in mid-April, as of June 22 travelling had increased to around 45%.

One of the researchers involved in the study of movement, Dr Matthias Qian, said:

We explain the slow and steady increase in mobility with the lockdown fatigue of the population while destination choices are limited. The key driver of population movement is the daily commute to work, and these commutes remain muted as many offices have yet to reopen.

In his Times Radio interview this morning Boris Johnson confirmed that he was ruling out a return to austerity (see 10.01am) In adopting this stance, he is adopting a position first championed by Jeremy Corbyn. Both men would be horrified by the comparison, and their actual policies are very different, but Corbyn won the Labour leadership in 2015 partly by saying the party should reject austerity outright, instead of just proposing a milder version of it (as Ed Miliband was accused of doing).

One conventional analysis of what Johnson is doing to the Conservative party is to say that he is moving it to the left on economics, while keeping it on the right on cultural or values issue. Happily, this would put him more or less where the average voter is, as a new report (pdf) for the UK in a Changing Europe project shows. Based on a survey of MPs by Ipsos MORI and new analysis of data from the Economic and Social Research Council’s party member’s project and from the British Election Study, it compares the views of the average voter on economics (left/right) and on values (authoritarian/liberal) with the views of Tory and Labour members, MPs, voters and councillors/candidates.

This chart illustrates the point.

All voter views on economics (left/right) and values (authoritarian/liberal), compared to party views
All voter views on economics (left/right) and values (authoritarian/liberal), compared to party views Photograph: UK in a Changing Europe

As the report explains:

Labour across the organisation, whether a member, whether you have run for office for Labour, or whether you are a Labour MP – can be found in the bottom left quarter. The Conservatives – again, at every level – sit in the top right quarter. The voters sit in a different quarter altogether – the top left. Labour is relatively close to its voters on economic issues but is way out of kilter on social issues. For the Conservatives, the opposite is the case.

The report also suggests that, on certain issues, MPs from both parties are out of touch with their voters.

Schools in England will be urged to deploy Covid-secure “year bubbles” of up to 240 pupils under government plans to get all children safely back in the classroom from September, Paul Waugh is reporting in a story for HuffPost.

Former civil service chief accuses PM of condoning 'cowardly' briefings against top officials

In an article for the Guardian Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, says Sir Mark Sedwill, the outgoing cabinet secretary and national security adviser, and other senior civil servants have been the victims of “cowardly” hostile briefings condoned by the prime minister. Here’s an extract.

For those who watch these things, the departure of Sir Mark Sedwill as cabinet secretary and chief security adviser followed a now familiar and depressing pattern.

Weeks of anonymous hostile briefing to the newspapers, suggesting a rift between the country’s most senior civil servant and No 10 staff over the handling of coronavirus, had risen to a crescendo, ending with a hastily arranged statement ...

In case it gets forgotten in the next news cycle it needs to be said loud and clear that this way of doing business, involving anonymous briefings to the media about individual civil servants, is cowardly, unfair and undermining. Civil servants themselves are simply not in a position to respond – such briefings damage not just the person affected, but also the relationship of trust generally between government ministers and civil servants. Ultimately everyone knows where such malicious briefings come from and it is within the prime minister’s powers to stop them.

In his Times Radio interview this morning Boris Johnson was asked about the negative briefing against Sedwill. He replied:

Look, I try not to read too much of the negative briefing. There’s an awful lot of stuff that comes out in the papers to which ... I wouldn’t automatically attach the utmost credence.

But when he was asked directly to confirm that the negative briefing did not come directly from his office, Johnson equivocated, saying that he did not know what specific briefing the presenter was referring to and that “people brief all kinds of things into into the newspapers”.

And here is the full article from Kerslake.

The National Farmers Union has welcomed the creation of a new trade and agriculture commission that it says will help address the “challenges of safeguarding” high food and farming standards post-Brexit, symbolised by fears over trade deals with the US and other countries allowing imports of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef. “This is a hugely important development,” said the NFU president, Minette Batters, who said it would be working to ensure its work was “genuinely valuable”.

Updated

The private equity owners of the burger chain Byron are preparing to place the company into administration in the hope of attracting a bidder to buy parts of the business in a so-called pre-pack administration, my colleague Rupert Neate reports.

Leicester's mayor says he does not see need for lockdown easing to be delayed in city

Speaking before his meeting with Matt Hancock, the health secretary, at 1.30pm to discuss the response to the fresh coronavirus outbreaks in Leicester, the city’s mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, said he welcomed some of the measures being proposed. He said:

I am pleased with some of the things being suggested.

More testing in Leicester guarantees that testing centres will remain in Leicester for the foreseeable future - that’s great because we’ve had a lot of difficulty in persuading them to keep the testing in Leicester.

Good public information and the use of the many community languages in Leicester to make sure that everybody is able to hear that communication - I’m all for that, of course I am.

But he said that he did not see the case for the easing of the lockdown in the city being delayed for two weeks beyond 4 July, when it is being eased in the rest of England. (See 10.28am.) He said:

What I don’t understand is what a continuation of the restrictions would add. I just can’t see how that could possibly lead to helping our joint effort to contain the virus ...

I would say that if a further relaxation of the restrictions is good enough for the rest of England, there is nothing here that suggests it’s not good enough for Leicester.

Asked who would be able to implement further restrictions on the city, the Labour mayor said:

It is very unclear, but I would guess - and it is only a guess - that the government is able to take powers under the Covid legislation to impose a particular restriction in a particular place - in this case Leicester.

As yet, I don’t believe they’ve taken those powers - but I don’t believe it would be very difficult for them to do it if they wanted to.

Updated

And Public Health Wales says a further three people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths to 1,507. The details are here.

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland has recorded one further death in Northern Ireland, taking the total in the region to 551. The full details are here.

Mandatory MOTs for vehicles in Britain are being reintroduced from 1 August, the roads minister Lady Vere has announced. In a statement she said:

Garages across the country are open and I urge drivers who are due for their MOT to book a test as soon they can.

Members of Britain’s armed forces helping people attending a mobile Covid-19 testing centre today at Spinney Hill Park near the North Evington district of Leicester.
Members of Britain’s armed forces helping people attending a mobile Covid-19 testing centre today at Spinney Hill Park near the North Evington district of Leicester. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

UK records a further 25 coronavirus deaths

And the Department of Health and Social Care has released its latest daily coronavirus figures for the UK. It has recorded a further 25 deaths, taking the headline total to 43,575.

These figures only cover people who have tested positive for coronavirus and died. Including those who did not have a test, the real figure for people who have died in the UK with coronavirus is more than 54,000.

NHS England has recorded a further 19 coronavirus hospital deaths in England, taking the total to 28,672. The full details are here.

At the lobby briefing there was no update on when the parliamentary intelligence and security committee will be established. More than six months after the general election, it still has not been reconvened, meaning that its report into Russian interference with British politics cannot be published.

But the as-yet unread report may now be debated in parliament. A petition calling for it to be published has now attracted more than 100,000 signatures, meaning it will be considered for debate.

Updated

No 10 signals end of September now effective deadline for post-Brexit trade talks with EU

The Downing Street lobby briefing is over. Here are the main points.

  • Downing Street effectively set the end of September as a deadline for the post-Brexit trade talks with the EU. The prime minister’s spokesman said the UK had been very clear with the EU that the talks needed to be completed sooner rather than later. He went on:

We’ve always been clear that talks can’t go on into the autumn. We need to make progress as soon as possible.

When asked if that meant the end of August was a deadline, the spokesman said talks were scheduled to take place in July and August. Asked if autumn started in September, he said:

I think we have spoken in the past about not wanting to be continuing having talks in October.

He did not challenge the suggestion that the end of September was the deadline for the UK. Two weeks ago Boris Johnson suggested he would like the talks concluded by the end of July.

  • The spokesman refused to deny that Sir Mark Sedwill was effectively forced to quit as cabinet secretary and national security adviser. When this interpretation was put to him, the spokesman just said that the letters released by both sides last night spoke for themselves.
  • The spokesman defended the decision to appoint David Frost to replace Sedwill as national security adviser, even though Frost, unlike Sedwill, is a political appointee with little national security experience. The spokesman said that in the past people doing this job had had a background in diplomacy (like Frost) and that Frost would have the status of an ambassador. Ambassadors can be political appointees, the spokesman said, and he said that in other countries ambassador serve as national security advisers. The spokesman also said the first civil service commissioner had agreed the appointment.
  • The spokesman said Frost’s role as chief EU negotiator would cease to exist once he took over as national security adviser. Frost has said the talks will remain his priority “until those negotiations have concluded, one way or another”.
  • The spokesman said that Sedwill’s resignation would not have an impact on the ongoing Cabinet Office investigation into allegations that Priti Patel, the home secretary, has bullied staff. The spokesman said a Cabinet Office team were working on the investigation. He refused to say when the inquiry would conclude.
  • Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is speaking council leaders from Leicester at 1.30pm to discuss the response to the coronavirus outbreaks in the city (see 10.28am), the spokesman said. The spokesman said that after that discussion Hancock would make a statement to MPs.
  • The spokesman said played down the prospect of roadblocks being set up to seal off entire areas where there were localised coronavirus outbreaks. When asked if a local lockdown might include roadblocks, the spokesman said:

The sorts of things we have talked about in the road map were, for example, closing down particular schools or particular groups of schools, potentially limiting admissions to health facilities or - if there were a particular business or premises linked to an outbreak - closing that down temporarily.

  • The spokesman claimed councils do have the powers to enforce local lockdowns. Some council leaders and mayors have questioned this. But the spokesman said:

Either the local authority or Public Health England have a range of powers themselves to allow them to contain local outbreaks - for example they can impose temporary closures of public spaces, businesses and venues.

  • The cabinet will meet at 5.30pm this afternoon, the spokesman said. Cabinet normally meets on a Tuesday, but tomorrow Johnson is scheduled to give his speech on his plans for a big infrastructure spending programme as the UK recovers from the coronavirus crisis.

Updated

Guidance published on how weddings can take place in England from 4 July

The government has published its guidance this morning for how weddings and civil partnership ceremonies can take place in England from 4 July. Here’s an extract.

Legally-valid ceremonies or formations are strongly advised to go ahead only where they can be done in a Covid-19 secure environment. It is also advised that the ceremonies are kept as short as reasonably possible and limited as far as reasonably possible to the parts of the ceremonies that are required in order for the marriage or civil partnership to be legally binding. No more than 30 people should attend a marriage or civil partnership, where this can be safely accommodated with social distancing in a Covid-19 secure venue.

Any receptions that typically follow or accompany marriages or civil partnerships are strongly advised not to take place at this time. Small celebrations should only take place if following social distancing guidelines – i.e. in groups of up to two households indoors, or up to 6 people from different households outdoors.

Scotland records fourth day with no coronavirus deaths

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has announced there have been no Covid-19 deaths in a Scottish hospital for four days, involving patients with laboratory-confirmed infections. That is the longest run of days involving no registered hospital deaths since the crisis began in March.

At her daily press briefing Sturgeon cautioned that deaths might be registered in coming days, including Covid-19 deaths in the community, but she said:

There’s no doubt that these recent figures demonstrate beyond any doubt how much progress Scotland has made in tackling the virus and that’s down to the efforts and sacrifices of everyone in this country.

She said the serious challenge now was to continue that progress. She said there were still infections, including five positive cases confirmed yesterday and 10 people still in intensive care.

During BBC Scotland’s Politics Scotland programme on Sunday Prof Devi Sridhar, a public health expert at Edinburgh university, and one of Sturgeon’s advisers, said Scotland was on track now to eliminate the virus by the end of the summer. Sridhar went on:

But we are going to see little bumps, so it’s a question of how small can you keep those bumps

July is a crucial month for people to follow the rules and guidance, and be sensible because the virus is still around and can still increase quite fast within days and weeks.

The UK and EU Brexit negotiating teams meeting face-to-face in Brussels this morning.
The UK and EU Brexit negotiating teams meeting face-to-face in Brussels this morning.

 Photograph: John Thys/EPA

Wearing face masks will be made compulsory on Northern Ireland’s public transport system later this week.

The Northern Ireland executive at Stormont is expected to ratify the move today.

The counter-coronavirus measure proposed by devolved infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon is likely to be in force across the region from Friday.

Mallon has held discussions both with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and trade unions representing public transport workers about how the face masks order will be enforced on buses and trains.

The enforcement is likely to entail random police checks and the imposition of spot fines for those breaching the face mask rules.

From today places of worship can re-open with social distancing and all hard surfaces cleansed.

Elite athletes can start training indoors from Monday and training can recommence for contact sports.

Some pubs are planning to open this Friday, although many in central Belfast will only serve customers outdoors.

Two households in Wales allowed to join up, Drakeford announces

People in Wales from two separate households are set to be able to join together to form one exclusive extended household, the Welsh first minister has announced.

It is intended the concept will be introduced in Wales from 6 July – the same day ministers want to lift its ‘stay local’ requirement – if cases of coronavirus continue to decline across the country.

The Welsh government said creating a single extended household would enable families to be reunited and will also help support working parents with informal childcare over the summer months as more businesses reopen their doors and return to formalised working arrangements.

But to help control the spread of coronavirus, only one exclusive extended household can be formed. Once a household decides which other household it wants to join with, this arrangement will be fixed for the foreseeable future.

Mark Drakeford said:

Thanks to the efforts everyone has made over the last few months, we have seen the number of new cases of coronavirus decline – but it has not gone away.

I know people are missing seeing their families. We have some headroom to make a further change to the rules next week and we will introduce this new concept, which will enable people living in two separate households to form one extended household – they may be part of the same family or they may be close friends. This new arrangement will mean people can form one extended household and can meet indoors.

The Welsh government has drawn on experience from around the world where this concept has been successfully introduced, including in New Zealand.

Under the new arrangements:

  • People will only be able to be part of one extended household.
  • Everyone joining the extended household must belong to the two households, which form the extended household.
  • The extended household must contain the same individuals for the foreseeable future.
  • If one member of an extended household develops symptoms of coronavirus, the entire extended household will need to self-isolate, not just those living together.
  • It will be important for the extended household to keep records to help with contact tracing in case someone in the extended households tests positive for coronavirus.
Mark Drakeford at the Welsh government press briefing this afternoon.
Mark Drakeford at the Welsh government press briefing this afternoon. Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Scientists have developed a low-cost ventilator requiring minimal training which they believe could help save lives if there is a second wave of coronavirus. As PA Media reports, researchers at Glasgow University began working on the design during the early stages of the UK virus outbreak in mid-March when ventilator demand was forecast to outstrip supply. Ventilator provision proved adequate but the team behind the new device believe it would prove invaluable if cases rise again. They said manufacturing of the low-cost device, called GlasVent, could easily be scaled up and it could be used in care settings and the developing world.

Updated

There are two urgent questions in the Commons later, followed by a statement from Matt Hancock, the health secretary.

Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly to oppose government proposals to limit defendants’ right to jury trial as a means of tackling the backlog of cases built up over the pandemic crisis.

In a survey of its members, the Criminal Bar Association said more than 90% of practising criminal barristers rejected plans to scrap juries for middle ranking offences and instead let a judge return a verdict.

Two options are being considered, the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, told the justice select committee last week: reducing the size of the jury to seven members and letting a judge sit alongside two magistrates without jurors.

Any cases dealt with in such emergency trials would be restricted to offences where the maximum term of imprisonment would be two years. Legislation enabling the changes is expected to be approved before the summer recess.

The backlog of criminal cases, already large before lockdown, expanded further when many courts were closed during lockdown. There are now more than 40,000 crown court and around 480,000 magistrate court cases waiting to be heard.

CBA members do support MoJ proposals to establish emergency “Nightingale” courts in larger premises, like lecture halls, where juries can be spread out and obey physical distancing requirements.

Caroline Goodwin QC, CBA chair, said

The criminal bar has stood firm even in these impecunious times for criminal barristers. We have rejected the proposed idea of interfering with the 800-year-old principle of jury trials. Public confidence in law and order requires the ordinary public’s participation in criminal justice via juries.

The CBA ballot is clear with 93% of criminal barristers declaring: leave our jury system alone! Stop tinkering and provide the courts space and sitting days. The notion of scrapping jury trials is an assault on justice, a blow to the common man.

Updated

In the NHS in Scotland cervical screening is resuming from today, the Scottish government has said. Cervical screening had been paused since March because of coronavirus.

Updated

Negotiators from the UK and European Union were meeting face to face in an effort to intensify talks on a post-Brexit trade deal, PA Media reports. Teams led by the prime minister’s Europe adviser, David Frost, and the EU’s Michel Barnier were meeting in Brussels for the first time since the coronavirus crisis forced talks to be held remotely. The meeting comes just a day after it was announced that Frost would replace Sir Mark Sedwill as national security adviser alongside his responsibilities on Europe.

In a sign that the UK accepts the talks may end in failure, Frost said in a statement yesterday:

I will of course remain chief negotiator for the EU talks and these will remain my top single priority until those negotiations have concluded, one way or another.

David Frost (2nd from left), the PM’s chief Brexit adviser, and Sir Tim Barrow (2nd from right), the UK’s ambassador to the EU, in Brussels this morning where the UK-EU trade talks have resumed.
David Frost (2nd from left), the PM’s chief Brexit adviser, and Sir Tim Barrow (2nd from right), the UK’s ambassador to the EU, in Brussels this morning, where the UK-EU trade talks have resumed.
 Photograph: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

Updated

The UK government has launched a new coronavirus dashboard, where it will be posting the latest daily coronavirus testing, cases, hospital admissions and death figures. It’s here. It will replace the slides that used to be shown at the No 10 press conferences, and which continued to be published every afternoon until the end of last week when the press conferences ended.

Updated

The Scottish government has urged Boris Johnson to embark on an £80bn economic stimulus package including temporary cuts to VAT and employers national insurance contributions to combat an expected recession.

In the latest of a number of stimulus blueprints put to UK ministers, the Scottish government said much greater emphasis was needed on protecting and subsidising jobs, given the scale of the economic crisis.

Its new paper, Covid-19: UK fiscal path - a new approach, recommends cutting VAT down to 15% as a whole for six months, putting tourism and hospitality businesses on a reduced VAT of 5% (down from 20%), and deploy a temporary 2 pence cut in employers’ national insurance payments.

It said economic stimulus should be prioritised over deficit reduction, a stance already endorsed by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, and the prime minister. (See 10.01am.) The proposals put a heavy emphasis on tourist industry support in part because Scotland’s economy is disproportionately reliant on tourism and hospitality.

Kate Forbes, the Scottish finance secretary, renewed her recent calls for Scotland to have additional but temporary extra borrowing powers to design its own stimulus and investment strategies.

Johnson is due to unveil significant infrastructure spending plans for England tomorrow, including investment in schools, homes, hospitals and roads, potentially leading to extra spending for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments. Sunak is due to spell out the UK government’s thinking in a summer statement in July, which commentators expect could include VAT reductions.

Forbes said:

Germany has already adopted a similar-size stimulus package, representing 4% of GDP, and the UK government needs to be similarly positive, proactive and ambitious.

Action is needed now. If the UK government is not prepared to respond then Scotland must have the additional financial powers required to secure a sustainable economic recovery.

Without those powers we will be at a severe disadvantage to other nations. It would be like trying to chart our way to recovery with one hand tied behind our back.

Kate Forbes.
Kate Forbes. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

Updated

In his Times Radio interview this morning Boris Johnson said he wanted to “build back better” after coronavirus. (See 10.01am.)

As the leftwing thinktank Class points out, Johnson had (knowingly or otherwise) actually lifted a slogan used by the union Unite. It was in the headline of an article that Unite’s assistant general secretary Steve Turner wrote for LabourList earlier this month. Turner wrote:

Urgent action is now needed to build back better. Steps like an aircraft replacement scheme can secure our manufacturing base in a high-value, high-waged economy while delivering the climate change obligations that every right-thinking politician is signed up to. Focused sectoral support, as with Germany and France, will also have to continue for some time to come; in Germany, strategically-vital businesses can breathe knowing that state assistance will continue for two years.

For a prime minister and a government facing a chorus of calls to “get a grip”, it is time for them to do something to prove that they have a plan for the country that we need to become. The dithering and resistance to committing as a willing partner alongside working people and industry, to use this extraordinary national moment to reshape our economy for the common good, makes me fear that far from building back better, the plan may well just be to build back as before.

But the term has also been used by other campaigners too, like the Green New Deal UK campaign, and seems to have a long history. The concept reportedly dates back to 2004, when it was used to described Sri Lanka’s approach to recovery from the tsunami - although in that context building back better refers specifically to addressing vulnerabilities to a natural disaster.

Updated

Johnson denies claim that next cabinet secretary has to be confirmed Brexiter

Today’s Daily Telegraph has a splash headline saying: “PM wants Brexiteer to head the Civil Service.” The story (paywall) does not contain any quote that explicitly justifies this claim, although of course that does not mean that it isn’t true.

Boris Johnson has been doing a school visit this morning to publicise his plan fro a £1bn school rebuilding plan for England, and he was asked if was true that Sir Mark Sedwill’s successor as cabinet secretary would have to be a Brexiter. Johnson replied:

I think the great thing about the civil service is that nobody should know, least of all me. I think we have a wonderful civil service. They are impartial, they are the best in the world, and who knows what his or her views will be.

Although Johnson claims that it should be impossible to know whether an individual civil servant was for or against Brexit, in his speech at the weekend Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, claimed that civil servants generally were very much on the remain side. He said:

How can we in government be less southern, less middle class, less reliant on those with social science qualifications and more welcoming to those with physical science and mathematical qualifications – how can we be less anywhere and more somewhere – closer to the 52% who voted to leave, and more understanding of why?

Almost every arm of government, and those with powerful voices within it, seemed estranged from the majority in 2016.

At the weekend No 10 said the process of appointing a new cabinet secretary would start soon and that existing and former permanent secretaries would be invited to apply. Most of the people in this category probably did vote remain in 2016, but civil servants are adaptable and it is not unusual for ministers to want officials in place who are, if not actually supportive of their political agenda, at least not negative about it. Brexiters like Johnson have repeatedly complained that civil servants see Brexit as a disaster to be managed, not as the positive opportunity that they claim it presents.

Boris Johnson talks with year 10 pupil Vedant Jitesh during a visit to the construction site of Ealing Fields High School in west London this morning.
Boris Johnson talks with year 10 pupil Vedant Jitesh during a visit to the construction site of Ealing Fields High School in west London this morning. Photograph: Toby Melville/AP

Updated

Government wants to delay lockdown easing in Leicester for two weeks to tackle outbreak, mayor reveals

On the Today programme this morning Sir Peter Soulsby, the mayor of Leicester, revealed that the government wants to delay the easing of lockdown in city for a further two weeks to deal with the coronavirus outbreak there. But he said it had been “intensely frustrating” getting information out of central government. He said:

It was only last Thursday that we finally got some of the data we need but we’re still not getting all of it and it was only at 1.04am that the recommendations for Leicester arrived in my inbox.

What they’re suggesting is not a return to lockdown, it seems that what they’re suggesting is that we continue the present level of restriction for a further two weeks beyond July 4.

I’ve looked at this report and frankly it’s obviously been cobbled together very hastily. It’s superficial and its description of Leicester is inaccurate and certainly it does not provide us with the information we need if we are to remain restricted for two weeks longer than the rest of the country.

Leicester city council’s public health director Ivan Browne said he thought young people in the city were predominantly affected by the new outbreaks. He said:

Interestingly it’s very much around the younger working-age population and predominately towards the east part of our city.

I don’t think at the moment we’re seeing a single cause or a single smoking gun on this so we need really try to dig down and find out what is going on and it’s likely to be a combination of factors.

Browne also said that getting the information he needed from central government had been hard. He said:

Information has been challenging all the way through this.

It has definitely been challenging and I think as director of public health we have really been pushing for some time to ask for as complete a data set as possible because that’s how we can really effectively start to challenge these things on the ground.

A worker for Leicester city council disinfecting public toilets in the city this morning.
A worker for Leicester city council disinfecting public toilets in the city this morning. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Five things we've learned from Boris Johnson's Times Radio interview

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

Earlier this morning Times Radio launched with an interview with Boris Johnson. He was taking questions from the two morning show presenters, Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell. It wasn’t a broadcast that will be winning any awards, but it was perfectly fine and very professional - exactly what you might have heard on Radio 5 Live on a normal day. Johnson did not arrive with anything to announce, and much of what he said sounded familiar, although if you listened carefully, his remarks did clarify some themes. Here are five things we learned.

1 - Johnson’s post-coronavirus agenda for change is - much the same as it was before coronavirus. Towards the end of the interview he said he wanted to wanted to set out a plan to “bounce forward” following the pandemic. He said:

This has been a disaster, let’s not mince our words, this has been an absolute nightmare for the country.

The country has gone through a profound shock. But in those moments you have the opportunity to change and to do things better.

We really want to build back better, to do things differently, to invest in infrastructure, transport, broadband - you name it.

This desire to “build back better” will be the theme of a speech Johnson will give tomorrow. But it sounds very much like a rehash of the vision set out in the Conservative party’s 2019 manifesto, which promised to achieve high spending through lavish spending, particularly on infrastructure in the north of England. Johnson admitted as much at another point in the interview, when he said:

What we will be doing in the next few months is doubling down on our initial agenda, which was all about investment.

Some people have been arguing that the coronavirus crisis should trigger a much wider rethink of the way society is organised, looking at, among other things, working patterns, travel, education, racial inequalities, adult social care, urban design and tourism. But, judging by Johnson’s remarks today, those are not issues he is keen to explore.

2 - Johnson seems to have little worry about borrowing increasing massively, because he sees it as an investment that will “pay off”. This is what he said when it was put to him that, although the government is borrowing more to respond to the coronavirus crisis, it would have to balance the books eventually. He said:

I do think that the investment will pay off, because this is a very, very dynamic, productive economy. And the way to get UK business confident and growing is to give the private sector the confidence to invest in capital, in skills, in people.

3 - Johnson does not accept that “austerity” was the right word to describe what happened in the last decade. He has repeatedly said that under his premiership there will be no return to austerity, and he repeated that line today. But he also somewhat confused his message by claiming that austerity was not the right word to described what happened in the past. He said:

In the end what you can’t do at this moment is go back to what people called austerity - it wasn’t actually austerity but people called it austerity - and I think that would be a mistake.

Johnson may have been referring to the fact that overall spending did rise in cash terms of most of the last decade, even though many services faced severe cuts. When he asked if he was ruling out public sector cuts, he ignored the question, and just focused on the increased spending announced on schools.

4 - Johnson confirmed that the government is now using Franklin D Roosevelt as a role model. He said:

I think this is the moment for a Rooseveltian approach to the UK.

This shows that when Michael Gove cited FDR as a hero in a speech (pdf) at the weekend, he was not just speaking for himself, but articulating a viewed shared by No 10. Gove devoted much of his speech to the lessons that could be learnt from FDR (a Democratic president, who has more often been cited as an inspiration by politicians on the left like Gordon Brown). Gove said:

FDR managed to save capitalism, restore faith in democracy, indeed extend its dominion, renovate the reputation of government, set his country on a course of increasing prosperity and equality of opportunity for decades – and enabled America to emerge from a decade of peril with the system, and society, that the free citizens of the rest of the world most envied.

He succeeded on such a scale, of course, because he was a remarkable leader.

But there were principles underpinning his approach which I think we should learn from now, as we seek to overcome our own crises of authority.

5 - Johnson revealed that he still has doubts about introducing a “sugar tax” - even though he has now changed his thinking about obesity. He said that he used to take a “very libertarian stance” on obesity. But he said that now, as a result of his experience in his hospital (being overweight increases the risk from coronavirus, and Johnson believes his weight contributed to him ending up in intensive care), he was more persuaded of the need for government to address this problem. He said:

We certainly must have a care for the health of our population and we will be happier and fitter and more resistant to diseases like Covid if we can tackle obesity.

But, when asked specifically about the sugar tax, he demurred, implying he still had his doubts about this proposal.

Boris Johnson is interviewed on Times Radio which started transmitting today.
Boris Johnson is interviewed on Times Radio which started transmitting today. Photograph: Richard Pohle/Richard Pohle/Times Radio

Updated

The biggest job-creation package in peacetime is needed to prevent the worst unemployment crisis in Britain for a generation, a leading thinktank has warned.

Sounding the alarm as job losses mount, the Resolution Foundation called on the government to continue subsidising the wages of workers in the sectors of the economy hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis until at least the end of next year.

In a report (pdf) it said the coronavirus job retention scheme – which is supporting the wages of more than 9 million workers at a cost to the taxpayer of more than £22bn so far – should be turned into a job protection scheme that would be kept in place throughout 2021.

Under current plans, the scheme will close to new entrants on Wednesday. Firms will be asked to contribute to furloughed workers’ wages from August, regardless of whether they operate in sectors of the economy that remain closed under government rules, before it closes entirely at the end of October.

Updated

Parents in England could be fined if they don't send their children back to school in September

The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, said parents could be fined if they did not send their children back to school after their scheduled restart in England in September.

He told LBC:

It is going to be compulsory for children to return back to school unless there’s a very good reason, or a local spike where there have had to be local lockdowns.

We do have to get back into compulsory education as part of that, obviously fines sit alongside that.

Unless there is a good reason for the absence then we will be looking at the fact that we would be imposing fines on families if they are not sending their children back.

Updated

Starmer calls for July budget to protect jobs

Starmer has been doing the media rounds this morning. He urged the government to reintroduce a July budget as part of its “duty” to the people who have lost their jobs amid the pandemic.

Speaking on Sky News, he said:

I am concerned that there should be a July budget because we’re living through a health crisis, we’ve got an economic crisis coming right up alongside it, and we’re likely to see unemployment the like of which we’ve haven’t seen for a generation.

And I think the government should be putting forward a budget in July setting out precisely how it’s going to ensure that as many jobs are preserved as possible.

Any budget in July has to focus on jobs, jobs, jobs. If we go to two or three million people unemployed, that’s going to be so damaging for so many families and for our economy.

Starmer said he would bring infrastructure projects forward in the budget, extend the furlough scheme to save jobs in the most hard-hit industries like the hospitality sector, and create a “future jobs fund” to help those made unemployed get back into the workforce “as quickly as possible”.

He stood by his decision to sack Rebecca Long-Bailey from her role as shadow education secretary last week.

When I took over as leader of the Labour party, I said I would root out antisemitism, and I’ve been judged by my actions, not by my words.

I took the decision I did on Thursday and it was the right decision.

Sir Keir Starmer.
Sir Keir Starmer. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Updated

Starmer says issue of trans rights has become 'political football'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “absolutely right” for the shadow environment minister Lloyd Russell-Moyle to apologise for the comments he made about JK Rowling in a row about trans rights.

The leader of the opposition said the issue of trans rights had become a “political football”. He told Good Morning Britain:

Trans rights are human rights, the legislation we’ve got doesn’t go far enough.

We ought to have a cross-party consensus about looking at it to see whether it can be developed.

What concerns me here is the whole issue has become a political football, there must be a space for a mature discussion about how we improve the rights of the trans community.

Updated

Johnson says now it’s not the right moment to hold an inquiry into what the government has done wrong during the pandemic. He praises the rapid building of Nightingale hospitals and the furloughing scheme as important successes during the crisis.

As for NHS workers not being given PPE, Johnson said: “Of course I take responsibility.”

And that’s it.

Updated

Johnson calls coronavirus a 'disaster'

When asked why he didn’t sack Dominic Cummings, Johnson says coronavirus has been a “disaster”, adding it “has been an absolute nightmare for the country” but says there is now the opportunity to change and build something better.

Updated

When asked why he felt the need to press ups, and he said he noticed stories in the newspapers that he was “waif-like”, describing it completely “nonsense”.

Updated

Johnson says UK needs to address obesity

Johnson says the UK is significantly fatter than other European countries and admits it is issue. “It’s something we need to address.”

When asked if he is now in favour of the sugar tax, Johnson said the arguments needs to be listened to carefully. “I think it matters and I don’t think politicians can treat it as irrelevant. It does matter.”

Updated

Johnson said his illness with coronavirus gave him a deep and loving admiration for the NHS, but is conscious that thousands of people weren’t lucky.

Johnson said infection rates were very slowly coming down and said the thing to look at were hospital admissions, death numbers, which are “much, much lower than a few weeks ago”.

He said the crucial thing was that the country was ready to deal with local flare ups. “You got to empower local authorities to crack down on it properly.”

Updated

Johnson said this was the beginning of a mass investment programme in schools. He added that he wanted the public to understand that schools were safe and called on teaching unions to deliver that message.

You can’t tackle inequality if kids aren’t back in school. They need to be there, in the classroom and we have a plan to do that.

Updated

Johnson has praised the work Sedwill has done for the country. “He came in a very difficult time ... He has seen the government through all sorts of very tough stuff.”

Updated

Johnson said this was a moment for a “Rooseveltian” approach to the UK economy.

Updated

When asked how he will pay for mass investment in infrastructure, Johnson said you can’t go back to “what people called austerity”, adding: “I think that will be a mistake.”

Updated

Boris Johnson gives interview

Boris Johnson is now on Times Radio’s breakfast show.

He sayspeople feel that it will be tough to come through the coronavirus pandemic; millions have been furloughed and the UK has lost a large chunk of its GDP. But he insists the UK will come out of the crisis.

We can’t just step back. What we will be doing in the next few months is doubling down on our initial agenda, which was all about investment ... To bring the country together.

Updated

Morning, welcome to the UK politics liveblog. My name is Aamna and I’ll be helming the liveblog until Andrew Sparrow takes over later this morning.

Sir Mark Sedwill, the UK’s most senior civil servant, has announced he will stand down in September. He leaves after weeks of tension over the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and his supposed opposition to reform in Whitehall. Sedwill, who has been criticised in off-the-record briefings to newspapers, wrote to Boris Johnson saying he would stand down as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service in September.

Sedwill’s departure will be seen as a victory for the prime minister’s top aide, Dominic Cummings, who has clashed with Sedwill in a struggle for power in Whitehall. Lord Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, said Sedwill had been unfairly smeared by Johnson’s aides and that his treatment was “unacceptable”.

The Guardian’s political correspondent Kate Proctor has an analysis piece on what Sedwill’s resignation means for Brexit.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, will be doing an interview with Times Radio, which launches today. Johnson is expected to be on at 8.10am.

As the country eases out of lockdown, Johnson is trying to bring the focus back on his domestic agenda. He committed to giving schools in England a £1bn rebuilding programme to give children a “world-class education” after months out of the classroom, and pledges help for the economy to bounce back from the coronavirus crisis.

For comments, questions, and tips, you can email me (aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com) or reach me on Twitter

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Boston server says husband secretly paid wife’s birthday brunch bill. Then she overhears the real story, shattering the illusion she had in her head
Working as a server, you often end up learning personal details about strangers you otherwise wouldn’t know.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Elijah Wood finally reading Lord of the rings
Elijah Wood has finally started reading the Lord of the Rings books - 27 years after he started working on the spin-off movies.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
Your Steak Isn't Killing the Planet
Some climate activists want a meat-free future. The science says otherwise.
Reason
Reason
‘Haters gonna hate’: Netflix hits back at claims they’re simplifying plots for second-screen viewing
Streaming service execs have finally commented on infamous rumours
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Doja Cat: I have to defend my creative choices
Doja Cat has explained why she engages with trolls on social media.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
HSTikkyTokky Demands Public Apology from Piers Morgan Within 24 Hours After Finding Wife's 'Shocking Posts'
Influencer HSTikkyTokky demands a public apology from Piers Morgan after a heated interview on 'Piers Morgan Uncensored', involving controversial Instagram posts.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play