Afternoon summary
- More than 2 million Scots will face near-lockdown restrictions for three weeks after Nicola Sturgeon imposed the country’s highest level of Covid restrictions across the west of Scotland. Full details of the announcement are here.
That’s all from me for today.
Our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.
From Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn
Is a Brexit trade deal imminent? Big push back from No10 today on suggestions. Senior folk in Brussels as well as SW1 also don't think so, because the politics aren't quite right yet. Why? Because Dom Cummings' departure has actually made it harder for the PM to compromise (1/3)
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 17, 2020
...and compromise is what both sides still need to do. Figures close to the PM are nervous about Boris being painted as selling out, especially by Cummings, so want more time to pass. Week 1 or 2 in December now seen as most likely (2/3)
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 17, 2020
...when there will still be JUST enough time to ratify it - 2 weeks needed by UK/Euro parliaments. But, it may fall even later than that, Jan or Feb. Emergency measures being quietly prepared now to keep trade flowing as long as a deal is in sight. More on @TimesRadio now (3/3)
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 17, 2020
Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, immediately called for schools in level 4 areas to be allowed to implement blended or remote learning contingency measures.
Larry Flanagan, the EIS general secretary, said:
In areas that are now at level 4, the current policy of keeping schools operating as normal on a full-time basis is at odds with delivering effective virus suppression. It is not only about the safety of schools themselves, it’s about the role of schools in terms of local community transmission.
The EIS teaching union is currently surveying members on the prospect of industrial action as Covid-related absences of staff and pupils continue to rise.
Almost 30,000 pupils across Scotland were off school for Covid-related reasons last Tuesday, according to the most recent data available.
Updated
The broadcaster David Dimbleby has produced a podcast about the Iraq war and the final episode is out today. It features an interview with Tony Blair. It is more than 17 years now since Blair took the decision to commit the UK to joining the US-led invasion (a decision now very widely viewed as a mistake) and it is hard to imagine anyone having anything very new to say about it.
But Dimbleby has got Blair to use what might be a new metaphor when describing why he took the decision he did. It was partly about putting “chips on the table” to show that you could “play at that level” (ie, function as a major military power), Blair told Dimbleby, according to the news release sent out by the production team. It quotes Blair as saying:
So, you know, the key thing in all of these things, though, this is the lesson of politics that I learned through my time, which is why I describe my time in office as a journey. The lesson I learned is if you don’t commit and put chips on the table, you don’t get to play at that level.
So if you as a country want to be a key player, maybe you don’t. In which case? Fine. But if you do, it’s like everything else in life. It doesn’t come free of charge. It comes with an acknowledgement that you have to make those commitments and you have to keep to them.
Updated
Scotland has recorded 1,248 new cases of coronavirus, up from 832 a week ago today.
There are 1,249 people in hospital with coronavirus, up from 1,239 a week ago today.
And there have been 37 further deaths, down from 39 a week ago.
In Wales there have been 705 further coronavirus cases, up from 444 a week ago today.
And there have been 34 further deaths, up from 22 a week ago today.
And in Northern Ireland there have been 549 further cases, up from 514 a week ago today.
And there have been nine further deaths, down from 11 a week ago today.
Updated
Scottish retailers say new restrictions a 'hammer blow' coming at 'worst possible time'
The Scottish Retail Consortium has described the Scottish government’s decision to tighten restrictions in 11 areas as “deeply disappointing”. In a statement the consortium’s director, David Lonsdale, said:
Many Scottish shops face a bitter winter following this deeply disappointing announcement on store closures. There is little evidence shuttering shops does much to suppress the spread of Covid, but it’s undeniable closing high street stores in November and into December during the critical Christmas trading period is a hammer blow to hard-pressed retailers.
This is the worst possible time to close these stores, who often need a strong end to the year to tide them over the lean winter period. These shops are set to miss out on over £90m of lost sales each week, following eight months of declining sales. The blunt reality is the offer of grant support won’t make up those lost sales – we can only hope those shops forced to close can weather the next few weeks.
Updated
The UK has recorded 70,000 excess deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to Guardian analysis of new data from national statistical agencies, Tobi Thomas, Pamela Duncan and Niamh McIntyre report.
In week 45 - the latest week for which data is available - deaths were higher than average in all the main settings; private homes, care homes and hospitals in England, Wales and Scotland. (Northern Ireland does not regularly publish figures on excess deaths per setting).
Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, noted that deaths at home are running at around 40% higher than would normally be the case. He said:
These extra home deaths, very few of which are from Covid, have continued since March. It would be very good to know the quality of end-of-life care being received, and how many of these deaths might have been delayed through, for example, more rapid treatment of heart attacks and strokes.
However, Prof David Leon, professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the most recent weeks’ data released by ONS indicated that Covid deaths in this second wave were not accompanied by a rise in deaths from other causes. He said:
One potential contributor to this difference is that in the first wave there were many deaths caused by Covid-19 where the infection was not recognised as a likely cause or contributory factor to the death.
Today, with much higher levels of testing, it is almost certain that we are more accurately identifying Covid-19 deaths.
Updated
Anyone disputing a fixed-penalty notice for allegedly breaching health regulations during the pandemic will effectively have to prove their innocence, a specialist criminal lawyer has warned.
Jenny Wiltshire, a solicitor at the law firm Hickman and Rose specialising in criminal cases, said those who had refused to pay a fine handed out by police or local authorities because they believed they had not broken the law will soon find themselves facing charges in court.
It is likely to become a fiercely disputed area of law. “The courts will need to define what is a ‘reasonable excuse’ [for not complying with a lockdown regulation],” she explained during a webinar organised on Tuesday by Matrix Chambers and the law firm Hickman and Rose.
Parliament did not debate the many of frequently changed regulations, Wiltshire said, and therefore “there’s no way for the courts to look at what parliament intended” - one of the normal ways for resolving opposing legal interpretations. She went on:
With these Covid offences the burden of proving [that there was a reasonable excuse] falls on the accused. This may open to challenge because it breaches the presumption of innocence [until proved guilty]. This is a perfect example of what can and does go wrong when [legislation] is rushed.
The geographical spread of Covid fixed-penalty notices was also arbitrary, with some areas having 80 times more fines imposed than others, Wiltshire added.
Lord Macdonald QC, the former director of public prosecutions, told the meeting said the Coronavirus Act and the emergency health regulations had been passed with “minimal scrutiny” by parliament. He said:
The government resorted to using [regulations under] the 1984 Public Health Act precisely because the level of parliamentary scrutiny was so low.
Lord Neuberger, the former president of the UK supreme court, said that under Britain’s constitution parliament is supreme but the pandemic had witnessed “the most draconian restrictions ever imposed on our liberty being [created] by ministerial fiat”.
Updated
Around 600,000 English pupils off school last week due to Covid or Covid risk, latest figures show
Schools in England are suffering increased disruption due to the pandemic, with latest official figures showing that around 600,000 pupils were at home last week for Covid-related reasons and almost two-thirds of secondary schools were affected.
Figures published by the Department for Education revealed school attendance fell from 89.3% to 86.5% in the space of a week. The proportion of primary schools affected, reporting one or more pupils in self-isolation, doubled from 11% to 22%.
Secondary schools continued to be worse affected, with 64% sending one or more pupils home to self-isolate as of last Thursday, up from 38% the week before. More schools are also having to send larger groups of 30 or more children, up from 8/9% to 18/20% over the same seven-day period.
The vast majority of pupils missing school are away not because they are ill with Covid or suspected Covid, but because they are having to self-isolate because of a Covid risk.
Last week’s figures were more promising, showing reduced levels of Covid-related disruption, but they followed the half-term break for schools in England. Teaching unions expressed alarm at the latest increases and said the current situation was not sustainable.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
These figures show a huge increase in the number of secondary schools having to send home pupils to self-isolate. It is clear that the improvement we saw following the half-term holiday was temporary and that the situation has worsened again very quickly.
He called for schools to be allowed to use a planned rota system, with groups rotating between school and home, which would be less disruptive and in the best interests of pupils. “The government has to recognise reality. The current situation is unsustainable,” he claimed.
A Department for Education spokesperson said more than 99% of schools had been open every week since term began, adding:
The chief medical officer remains of the view that schools should remain open, and has highlighted the damage caused by not being in education to children’s learning, development and mental health.
Updated
NHS England has recorded 330 more coronavirus hospital deaths. There were 87 in the north-west, 86 in the Midlands, 63 in the north-east and Yorkshire, 29 in the east of England, 24 in London, 22 in the south-east and 19 in the south-west. The details are here.
On Tuesday last week the equivalent figure was 300, and two weeks ago today it was 225.
Here is my colleague Libby Brooks’ story about the announcement from Nicola Sturgeon.
Sturgeon says she is “truly sorry” that she is having to take these decisions.
But these actions are necessary to get us to the other side, she says.
These measures will give us the chances of some respite at Christmas, she says.
She says by the spring she expects that we will be returning towards normality.
She says that “love and solidarity, with a lot of help from science” will enable Scotland to get through this.
Sturgeon confirms that financial support will be available for businesses that have to close under the new rules.
She says plans for a vaccination programme will be set out soon.
And she says mass testing will be rolled out too.
Sturgeon says non-essential travel to other parts of UK to be made illegal
Sturgeon says the level system is still allowing Scotland to avoid a one-size-fits-all lockdown, as is in place in England.
But she says this can only continue if people do not spread the virus from high-prevalence areas to low-prevalence areas.
She says that the guidance that has only been advisory will become law from Friday.
She says people in level 3 or level 4 areas will not be allowed to go outside those areas unless it is essential.
People from other parts of Scotland will not be able to go to level 3 or 4 areas unless it is essential.
And people in Scotland will not be allowed to travel to other parts of the UK unless it is essential.
She claims these rules are similar to those in force in England and Wales.
Sturgeon names the 11 areas where level 4 restrictions will apply.
FM @NicolaSturgeon confirms level 4 restrictions for 11 Scottish local authorities from Friday:
— Glenn Campbell (@GlennBBC) November 17, 2020
Glasgow
Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
East Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire
North Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
East Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
Stirling
West Lothian
Sturgeon is giving details of the new restrictions. These are from the i’s Chris Green.
Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles, Moray and the Highlands to remain in level 1 from Friday, Nicola Sturgeon announces
— Chris Green (@ChrisGreenNews) November 17, 2020
Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, the Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, and Argyll & Bute will all remain at level 2
— Chris Green (@ChrisGreenNews) November 17, 2020
East Lothian and Midlothian to move from level 3 to level 2 from next Tuesday
— Chris Green (@ChrisGreenNews) November 17, 2020
City of Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Dundee, Fife, Perth & Kinross and Angus all remain at level 3
— Chris Green (@ChrisGreenNews) November 17, 2020
Updated
Sturgeon says the government needs to act to reduce pressure on the NHS.
She says it is acting now so that lighter restrictions will be possible for Christmas.
Sturgeon says 11 areas in Scotland will move up to toughest, level 4 restrictions
Sturgeon says the new tier system in Scotland has been in place for nearly three weeks.
She says the restrictions have had an impact.
But there are places in central Scotland where case numbers are above the national average. Although the numbers have come down in these areas, they still remain stubbornly high, she says.
She says in 19 local authority areas there will be no change.
Two areas will move down from level 3, she says.
But 11 areas will move from level 3 to level 4 (where the strictest restrictions apply) from Friday, for a time-limited period.
Nicola Sturgeon's statement to Scottish parliament on new restrictions
Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, is addressing the Scottish parliament.
She says the cabinet discussed new measures this morning. The parliament will debate them on Thursday, she says.
UK records more than 68,000 deaths involving Covid
The total number of coronavirus deaths that have now occurred across the UK has exceeded 68,000.
The overall number of deaths involving Covid (those which mention it on the death certificate) has now reached 65,546 across the UK with 59,549 deaths in England and Wales, 4,856 in Scotland and 1,141 in Northern Ireland.
A further 2,567 deaths have since been recorded across the four nations according to government figures which capture deaths known to have taken place within 28 days of a positive Covid test.
This brings the total figure to 68,113. This figure has been updated to correct an error carried in an earlier post on the blog. (See 10.17am.)
Updated
PM tells cabinet it's 'far from certain' that UK and EU will agree trade deal
Here are the main points from the Downing Street lobby briefing.
- Boris Johnson has tested negative for coronavirus, the prime minister’s spokesman said. (See 1.37pm.)
- Johnson has said it is “far from certain” that a trade deal with the EU will be agreed. Summarising what was said at today’s cabinet, the spokesman said:
Cabinet was updated on the final stages of the EU negotiations, with David Frost and his team currently in Brussels.
The PM said that his position hasn’t changed: the UK is keen to secure a deal with the EU, but not at the cost of our core principles around sovereignty and control over our laws, borders, money – and our fish.
Significant issues remain, particularly on the so-called level playing field and fisheries. We are working hard to find solutions which fully respect UK sovereignty, but it is far from certain that an agreement will prove possible and time is now very short.
The PM said that, if we cannot find suitable compromises with our European friends, we will leave the transition period on Australia terms on 1 January. The PM said he was incredibly confident that the UK will thrive with or without an FTA with the EU.
The spokesman also said that some of the reporting about the talks today had given an over-optimistic impression of the prospects of a deal being reached. He may have been referring to this Sun story which said that Frost, the UK’s negotiator, has told Johnson to expect trade deal “early next week”. Government sources have subsequently said that is not correct.
- The spokesman dismissed a poll finding showing that, by a margin of 51% to 38%, people think Brexit was the wrong decision. The spokesman said the poll that matters is the one that took place on referendum day in 2016.
Latest @YouGov @thetimes poll. In hindsight #Brexit right 38 (-3); wrong 51 (+2). Fwork 11-12.11 (ch since 4-5.11). Record high % wrong and record high lead of wrong over right. https://t.co/hjowAP8zYz
— What UK Thinks: EU (@whatukthinks) November 16, 2020
- The spokesman signalled that Johnson does not accept the claim from Dr Susan Hopkins, a deputy director of Public Health England, that the tier system in place in England before the lockdown was not fully succeeding in controlling the virus. Hopkins said this at a No 10 press conference last night. But, when asked if the PM agreed, the spokesman said that even before the lockdown R, the reproduction number, was well below its natural rate. He said:
The natural rate of R is about 3 and in all parts of the country, including the areas that were in tier 1 [before the England-wide lockdown] it was very significantly below that. So the measures were having an impact on controlling the virus.
- The spokesman did not rule out the 10pm compulsory closing time being abandoned when the lockdown for England ends. He said the government would make an announcement next week about what would come next. The government plans to return to the tier system, with different rules for different regions. Asked if the 10pm compulsory closing time would be retained (a much-criticised rule for the whole of England), the spokesman said he would not discuss what the new system would involves.
- The spokesman confirmed that the government was considering cuts to the aid budget. It was legitimate to consider where savings could be made when the public finances were under huge strain, he said.
The government is committed to supporting international development and helping the world’s poorest people. But we are looking at how the aid budget is spent, ensuring it serves the UK’s priorities and represents value for money.
As [Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, said in an interview this morning], it is legitimate to consider where savings can be made when the public finances are under huge strain.
The spokesman also said that under the International Development Act there are circumstances where the government is allowed to ignore the 0.7% of national wealth target for aid spending.
- The spokesman claimed that Scotland would receive a “power surge” after Brexit as EU powers were transferred to Edinburgh. Asked about reports that the PM described devolution as a “disaster” in a call with MPs last night, the spokesman said that the PM supported devolution but that he was opposed to attempts to pull the UK apart.
- Today’s cabinet took place remotely, the spokesman said. Johnson was not able to attend in person because he was self-isolating, and so all ministers participated by video conferencing.
- The spokesman said Johnson briefed cabinet on the 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution, which will be published shortly. The spokesman said:
The PM said it is vital to achieving a green recovery, and delivering new jobs through public and private investment. The PM said it will drive down emissions by creating and using clean power; and level-up the country by pioneering new technology and energy supply in our towns and regions.
Updated
Boris Johnson has tested negative for Covid, but still self-isolating, No 10 says
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just ended. And here is one of the top lines
- Boris Johnson has tested negative for coronavirus, the prime minister’s spokesman said. People without coronavirus symptoms are not supposed to get tests through the normal testing system, but the spokesman claimed that Johnson was able to get a lateral flow test (one of the rapid-result ones) because Downing Street was was part of a mass testing pilot - an arrangement that until today has not been publicised. The spokesman said:
We are piloting these in a wide variety of settings at the moment. We are using them in schools, universities, workplaces, Liverpool.
In No 10 we are taking part in a pilot where some staff have access to a lateral flow test if they wish to.
The spokesman also said that, despite testing negative, Johnson would continue to self-isolate in line with advice from NHS test and trace after attending a meeting last week with a Tory MP who tested positive.
I will post a full summary from the briefing shortly.
Updated
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, will be speaking to Boris Johnson later about Johnson’s claim that devolution in Scotland has been a “disaster”, the BBC’s Glenn Campbell reports.
Just spoken to @Douglas4Moray who says he has made representations to Number 10 about @BorisJohnson devolution “disaster” comments and expects to speak directly with PM later
— Glenn Campbell (@GlennBBC) November 17, 2020
Ross has already said he does not agree with what the PM said.
Devolution has not been a disaster. The SNP’s non-stop obsession with another referendum - above jobs, schools and everything else - has been a disaster. https://t.co/WEOJubpDVG
— Douglas Ross MP (@Douglas4Moray) November 16, 2020
Prof Tim Spector, who runs the Covid symptom study (CSS), which uses an app to trace the prevalence of coronavirus in the UK, says he is surprised that the Scottish government wants to tighten rules in some areas because his data suggests their current restrictions are working.
Hard to see why @scotgov is concerned their tiered system in Scotland is not working- as they seem to be doing better than the other UK nations according to the #ZoeCSS app data -although there may still be local areas bucking the trend. Scots please keep logging and sharing! pic.twitter.com/ZaWnBErfak
— Tim Spector (@timspector) November 17, 2020
He has also produced this chart with the latest data from the CSS for England.
In UK today similar picture with 35k cases per day - but this picture of prevalence (number of symptomatic people currently in the population) shows 5 regions decreasing and 5 increasing - showing how the epidemic spreads over time- regionally- keep logging with #ZoeCSS pic.twitter.com/9ikHXAh7aV
— Tim Spector (@timspector) November 17, 2020
Prof Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at Edinburgh University, told the Today programme this morning that if the Scottish government announces tighter restrictions this afternoon, it should link them to the prospect of the rules being eased for Christmas.
Without that, people might not follow the rules, she said. She explained:
I think the challenge I would see, from a behavioural perspective, is unless some progress is made towards offering that [the prospect of the rules being relaxed for Christmas] to people, there may be a problem with compliance.
I just think it’s so desperately difficult for people, this whole situation. As we move to a time where not everybody in the country, but a lot of people in the country, want to celebrate with their families, unless there is some temporary easing slightly, people will be even more unhappy and may not follow the guidance.
In an interview on the Today programme this morning Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and a member of the government’s vaccine taskforce, said that he thought it would be possible to vaccinate “a very large percentage” of the population by the spring. He said:
We can get vaccines into people in the UK and in most western countries pretty effectively. So I think the idea that we’re going to vaccinate a very large percentage of the population by spring is completely possible.
And I think that will make a big difference because people will be then less anxious about catching the disease because they will be vaccinated, transmissions will fall to a low level and we may not be back completely to normal but things are going to look dramatically different by the spring.
Updated
The UK and the US have signed an agreement that will allow commercial flights between the two countries to continue after the post-Brexit transition ends on 31 December, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced. Currently those flights operate under an agreement between the EU and the US, but that won’t apply to the UK from 2021.
The Labour government in Wales has described Boris Johnson’s dismissal of Scottish devolution last night as “shocking”. Jeremy Miles, the Welsh counsel general and minister for European transition, said:
The PM’s comments are shocking but sadly not surprising. It has been clear for some time that this Conservative government is not remotely interested in respecting the devolution settlements across the UK.
If they want to demonstrate that they are prepared to relent, and respect the will of the people in the devolved nations, they should immediately overhaul the internal market bill, with its assault on devolution, and finally commit to working with, not working around, the Welsh government when it comes to the shared prosperity fund and future funding for Wales.
The prime minister is also minister for the union – but the conduct of his government is actually the biggest threat to the future of the union.
Sir Mark Sedwill has told the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee that as cabinet secretary he faced unprecedented amounts of anonymous briefings, and that such a culture made for worse government.
Before the announcement that Sedwill was stepping down from the job, a series of articles cited anonymous sources saying he was going to be pushed out for being too traditional, and resistant to Brexit.
While such briefings were “a regrettable feature of modern political life”, Sedwill said, it was new “for the civil service to find ourselves in the firing line in quite such a personalised way”. He said:
I can’t imagine any of my predecessors as cabinet secretary finding themselves with speculation about being fired with a change of prime minister approaching, as I was when the [Conservative] leadership election was still underway.
Such briefings, whether against civil servants, advisers or ministers, “does damage trust”, he said.
If they don’t feel that they can be completely candid in dealing with some of the really tough issues that governments face, and can’t operate in circumstances where they can trust the context and the environment in which they’re operating, then people will hold back.
They won’t be truthful. They won’t necessarily give the blunt and candid advice that they should. They wouldn’t necessarily reveal their concerns. And that must mean that not only trust is damaged, but decision-making is poorer.
However, Sedwill insisted he had not been forced out of the job, saying Boris Johnson had actually encouraged him to stay longer than he initially planned.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is taking questions in the Commons now. Jonathan Ashworth, his Labour opposite number, has just asked him to confirm, in the light of what Susan Hopkins said at the No 10 press conference yesterday, that once the lockdown ends in December the government intends to make tier 1 restrictions tougher.
Hopkins, deputy director of Public Health England and medical adviser to NHS test and trace, said tier 1 restrictions had had “little effect”.
In reply, Hancock just said it was “too early to do the analysis” needed to decide what would happen after the lockdown.
EasyJet has slumped to a £1.3bn full-year loss, the first in its 25-year history, but said bookings had been boosted by positive news on Covid-19 vaccines, my colleague Julia Kollewe reports.
UK aid budget facing billions in cuts
The Treasury is planning to slash billions from the overseas aid budget despite the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, praising the government’s 0.7% aid target on Monday as representing UK values in front of aides to Joe Biden. My colleague Patrick Wintour has the story here.
The Scottish Labour party has described Boris Johnson as “the biggest threat to the UK” in the light of the PM’s comment about devolution being a disaster. This is from Anas Sarwar, the party’s constitutional affairs spokesperson.
Boris Johnson has been a disaster, not devolution.
The truth is he and his party are now the biggest threat to the United Kingdom.
The Scottish parliament is one of Labour’s greatest achievements. In the face of attacks on devolution from the Tories and the SNP, Labour will always be devolution’s greatest defender.
Rather than debating history, we should be debating what we can actually do with the powers of devolution to transform lives in Scotland.
Deaths in Wales and north-west of England a third higher than normal, ONS says
Turning back to the ONS report on weekly deaths in England and Wales (see 10.17am), it shows that in the week ending 6 November Wales and all regions of England apart from London were recording excess deaths. The figures were particularly high in Wales, where deaths were running at 33% above the five-year average, and in the north-west, where they were at 35%.
Here are the figures.
And these graphs show excess deaths (the gap between the dark blue and the broken light blue lines) over the year.
The Scottish government has published a bill allowing it to hold next year’s elections to the Scottish parliament safely in the light of coronavirus. The election will be on 6 May, and the bill will bring forward the deadline for postal voting applications, from 20 April to 6 April, because it is anticipated that many more people will apply.
The bill will also allow voting at polling stations to take place over more than one day if this is deemed necessary to allow social distancing at polling stations.
Covid now accounting for one in six deaths in England and Wales, ONS says
Almost 2,000 Covid deaths occurred in England and Wales in the week to 6 November, according to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics.
A total of 1,937 deaths with Covid-19 listed on the death certificate occurred in the week ending 6 November, accounting for 16.4% of all deaths in England and Wales, or one in six deaths recorded that week.
The figures - which only count those occurring in England and Wales - show that daily coronavirus deaths were exceeding 200 a day on average in early November. Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, previously said that the UK could see 200 daily deaths by mid November if coronavirus cases continue to rise.
The number of total deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 6 November was 11,812, an increase of 925 deaths compared with the previous week, and the first time this many deaths has been seen since the end of May.
In Wales, one in five deaths registered in the week ending 6 November involved Covid-19, with 166 deaths. In England, 16.2% of recorded deaths involved Covid-19.
UPDATE: We’ve taken out three paragraphs with the overall UK Covid death figures because they contained an error. See 2.18pm for the correct figures.
Updated
In his broadcast interviews this morning Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, also confirmed that the government was reviewing England’s tier system to decide which coronavirus restrictions should be put in place when the national lockdown ends on 2 December. My colleague Helen Pidd has the story.
Updated
For the record, this is the passage in the response that Jeremy Corbyn released soon after the publication of the EHRC’s report into antisemitism in the party under his leadership that led to his suspension on Thursday 29 October. Corbyn said:
One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.
Later that day, following his suspension, Corbyn issued this statement clarifying his position.
I will strongly contest the political intervention to suspend me. I’ve made absolutely clear that those who deny there has been an antisemitism problem in the Labour party are wrong.
It’s … undeniable that a false impression has been created of the number of members accused of antisemitism, as polling shows: that is what has been overstated, not the seriousness of the problem.
Today’s statement (see 9.46am) implies that the much fuller clarification he has quoted today was also provided to the party on the same day (although it is not explicit, and it depend how much weight you ascribe to the comma in the sentence.) But a party spokesperson would not this morning clarify exactly when it was received, and it does not seem to have been published until today.
Corbyn seeks to repair rift with Labour by clarifying stance on EHRC report, saying antisemitism concerns aren't exaggerated
Jeremy Corbyn has posted a lengthy statement on his Facebook page clarifying his position on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report on Labour and antisemitism. It reads very much like something drafted in such a way as to allow Labour to lift its suspension of him and readmit him to the party.
For the record, here is the statement in full.
Last month, I was suspended from the Labour party, after 54 years’ membership and four and a half years as party leader.
On the day I was suspended I gave a broadcast interview to clarify what I had said in response to the EHRC report, and I also made a statement to the party to clear up any confusion about what I had meant, as follows: “The publication of the EHRC report should have been a moment for the Labour party to come together in a determination to address the shortcomings of the past and work as one to root out antisemitism in our own ranks and wider society. We must never tolerate antisemitism or belittle concerns about it. And that was not my intention in anything I said this week. I regret the pain this issue has caused the Jewish community and would wish to do nothing that would exacerbate or prolong it. To be clear, concerns about antisemitism are neither “exaggerated” nor “overstated”. The point I wished to make was that the vast majority of Labour party members were and remain committed anti-racists deeply opposed to antisemitism. I fully support Keir Starmer’s decision to accept all the EHRC recommendations in full and, in accordance with my own lifelong convictions, will do what I can to help the party move on, united against antisemitism which has been responsible for so many of history’s greatest crimes against humanity.”
I’m grateful to the many thousands of Labour party members, trade unionists, and supporters in Britain and around the world, who have offered their solidarity.
I hope this matter is resolved as quickly as possible, so that the party can work together to root out antisemitism and unite to oppose and defeat this deeply damaging Conservative government.
Updated
Sedwill insists he was not sacked as cabinet secretary. He says he had always intended to move on. He left his post “voluntarily, by agreement”, he says.
Sir Mark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary, has just started giving evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee.
Asked if he has any reflections on the recent events in Downing Street (the departure of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain), Sedwill says “not really”. These things happen from time to time in government, he says. He says advisers come and go. He claims he has no more insight than anyone else. He has just read the reports.
Q: So this did not reflect tensions in government?
Sedwill says there are always tensions in government, and there are often tensions around particular advisers. Those tend to be big stories in the Westminster village, but they are of less interest to other people, he says
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Jenrick says second independence referendum now would be 'mad' as he defends PM's devolution comment
Good morning. When Boris Johnson became prime minister last year, he decided that, among his other responsibilities, he would serve as minister for the union. According to the Cabinet Office website, in this capacity it’s his job “to ensure that all of government is acting on behalf of the entire United Kingdom”. But if you measure his success by the impact he is having on support in Scotland for independence, he has failed. Support for independent is now consistently higher than it has ever been in modern times. Here is the polling, from the What Scotland Thinks website, since Johnson was appointed PM.
And now Johnson has told Conservative MPs in private that devolution has been a “disaster” in Scotland. The SNP view his words as a gift. Here is our overnight story.
After the Sun revealed last night that Johnson had called devolution a “disaster”, No 10 claimed that that was not the PM’s view, that he had always supported devolution, but that he did not support it when it was “used by separatists and nationalists to break up the UK”.
Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, elaborated on this this morning when he defended the PM in an interview with BBC Breakfast. He said:
The prime minister has always supported devolution, he wants to ensure that local people and communities can have a greater say over their own destiny, whether that’s in the devolved administrations or within England through the devolution to regional mayors.
What he does feel strongly, and I would agree, is that devolution in Scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the SNP, and that that’s trying to break apart the United Kingdom and anybody, like the prime minister, who loves the UK, but wants to keep it together, thinks that that’s a very, very dangerous and disappointing outcome that we need to battle against to... keep the UK together.
Jenrick also said that having a second independence referendum now would be “mad”. He said:
I also think, frankly, that any politician who wanted to hold a referendum on a topic like this at this moment in time, you know, is frankly, mad. We’re in the middle of a very serious health situation, a pandemic, and we’re also seeing massive disruption to people’s lives and livelihoods as a result of the economic disruption that’s flowed with it.
If the SNP win an outright majority in next year’s Holyrood elections, as polls suggest they will, then they will demand a referendum. Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, has said it should take place before the end of 2021.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet. He will be doing so virtually because he is self-isolating.
9.30am: The ONS publishes its weekly death figures for England and Wales.
9.30am: Sir Mark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee about the work of the Cabinet Office.
11.30am: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
11.30am: NHS Providers, the Royal College of Surgeons of England and The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists give evidence to the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus.
12.30pm: Downing Street is expected to hold its daily lobby briefing.
After 2pm: Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, gives a statement to the Scottish parliament. She is expected to announce tougher controls for large parts of western Scotland.
Politics Live is now doubling up as the UK coronavirus live blog and, given the way the Covid crisis eclipses everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will be covering non-Covid political stories too, like the devolution row, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here is our global coronavirus 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.
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