Afternoon summary
-
The UK has recorded its highest number of new coronavirus cases for five months, 26,068, although hospitalisations and deaths remain relatively low. (See 4.37pm.)
- Scotland has recorded its highest total for new coronavirus cases for the second time in three days. (See 2.34pm.)
- The European Commission has granted the UK a three-month extension on the sale of sausages in Northern Ireland in an attempt to defuse a row that has poisoned post-Brexit relations. But, at a press conference announcing the move, Maroš Šefčovič, the commission vice-president in charge of Brexit matters, stressed that a permanent solution would have to be found. He said:
This continuous rolling-over of the grace period does not give the predictability and stability to the businesses, especially in Northern Ireland who otherwise could really use the opportunity of being in two markets at the same time to their big advantage.
That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.
Turning back to the subsidy control bill (see 9.23am and 9.45am), the FT’s Peter Foster has a good Twitter thread on it starting here.
The UK Govt is announcing tabling legislation on it's new post-Brexit subsidy control regime today, which it says will be simpler/nimbler...here's @FinancialTimes report with help from @GeorgePeretzQC@jamesrwebber -- but lots of questions unclear.../1https://t.co/sH9b81KGQl
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) June 30, 2021
Here is one of his points.
The government wants a principles-based approach, but if it's rejecting the 'safe harbour' ideas proposed by the likes of @AlexanderPHRose in order to be 'nimbler' it will need to ensure the resulting ambiguity/confusion doesn't have opposite effect /5
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) June 30, 2021
This point has been echoed by Bernardine Adkins, an EU trade and competition lawyer at the law firm Gowling WLG. In a comment on the bill she said:
The government needs to take great care in the replacement to the EU regime - the key priority for businesses will be legal certainty.
This new regime will potentially open the door to a level of litigation that we did not see in the EU regime. This may create a more uncertain environment for business looking for state support to address market failure before they risk their own capital. This is particularly the case with respect to new green technologies. Whether the UK’s new subsidy control regime will provide the necessary assurance to UK businesses remains to be seen.
Updated
The government is urging schools in England not to send whole bubbles of children home just because one of them has tested positive for Covid-19, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports.
Extension of chilled meats grace period 'of little consequence', says DUP
The DUP has dismissed the extension of the grace period for chilled meats under the Northern Ireland protocol as “of little consequence”. In a statement issued by the party’s press office, Nigel Dodds, the former DUP leader at Westminster and now a member of the House of Lords, said:
An extra extension of three months to a temporary so-called six-month grace period for chilled meats is of little consequence.
It amounts to a minor time-limited pause for one specific problem area, its purpose being to give more time to create an even greater economic problem by diverting trade.
September is not far away, and the period is to be used in any case to continue to divert trade away from Great Britain, limiting consumer choice in Northern Ireland. In the context of the fundamental problems of the protocol, it is a small deal.
Updated
The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out. Jessica Elgot and Rafael Behr discuss the fallout of Matt Hancock’s departure and the issues the new health secretary, Sajid Javid, is facing. Plus, after one of the nastiest campaigns in UK politics in recent times, will the Batley and Spen byelection cause another electoral upset for Labour?
UK records 26,068 new cases – highest total for five months – and 14 more deaths
The UK has recorded 26,068 new coronavirus cases, according to the latest update on the government’s Covid dashboard. That is the highest total for five months (since 29 January, when 29,079 new cases were recorded).
A week ago today the total was 16,135. And the total number of cases over the past seven days is up 69.9% on the total for the previous week.
But deaths are going up at a much slower rate, and from a very low level. Fourteen more deaths have been recorded today, and week on week deaths are up 11.9%.
The dashboard also shows that 84.9% of adults in the UK have had a first dose of vaccine, and 62.4% of adults have had both doses.
Updated
Here is my colleague Jennifer Rankin’s story on the UK-EU announcement about the Northern Ireland protocol.
And here is an analysis from my colleague Daniel Boffey.
Updated
Šefčovič says he hopes EU's 'demonstration of constructiveness' today can lead to further progress on NI protocol
Q: Has the atmosphere changed in these negotiations? You stressed you made a big effort to change the law on medicines. And you have welcomed the UK’s decision not to act unilaterally? Does this mean there could be further reform to the protocol?
Šefčovič says they want to ensure stability in Northern Ireland. He would like them to be able to talk about the business opportunities for NI instead. It has access to the single market and the GB market. He says he has had approaches from EU countries that would like to send trade missions to Northern Ireland.
He says he hopes this “demonstration of constructiveness” will build positive momentum that might lead to a good, permanent solution to the problems.
There is “goodwill” on the EU side, he says. He says he hopes the same applies on the UK side.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Updated
Here is the European Commission’s news release explaining the measures announced today to address some of the problems with the Northern Ireland protocol.
Frost welcomes chilled meats agreement, but says many other problems with NI protocol need to be resolved
Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, put out this statement about the UK-EU deal.
We are pleased we have been able to agree a sensible extension on chilled meats moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland – one that does not require rules in the rest of the UK to align with future changes in EU agrifood rules.
This is a positive first step but we still need to agree a permanent solution – Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom and its consumers should be able to enjoy products they have bought from Great Britain for years.
This is a very clear sign that the protocol has to be operated in a pragmatic and proportionate way. The chilled meats issue is only one of a very large number of problems with the way the protocol is currently operating, and solutions need to be found with the EU to ensure it delivers on its original aims: to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement, safeguard Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom, and protect the EU’s single market for goods. We look to work energetically with the EU to do so.
At his press conference, Šefčovič welcomes Frost’s offer to work “energetically” on these problems.
Updated
Šefčovič mentions some other changes.
- The EU will legislate to allow for the continued availability of generic medicines in Northern Ireland.
- The rules applying to guide dogs going from Britain to NI will be simplified.
- Rules on moving livestock will be simplified by removing the need for retagging when animals move multiple times between Britain and NI.
- Drivers from the UK will no longer need to show the insurance green card when entering the EU.
He says, on medicines, the EU had to turn its rules upside down and inside out to find a solution.
And he says the easiest solution would for the UK to align with EU standards on food safety.
Conditions that apply to extension of grace period for chilled meats
Šefčovič starts by saying the grace period for chilled meats has been extended.
But strong conditions are attached, he says.
Here are the conditions that apply, as set out in the news release from No 10.
- The meat products enter Northern Ireland through a designated place as defined in point (38) of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council and they are subject to a channelling procedure applicable from the designated place to the destination supermarket in Northern Ireland,
- They are sold exclusively to end consumers in supermarkets located in Northern Ireland, and they are not to be sold to other operators of the food chain,
- They are accompanied by official certificates issued by the UK competent authorities (based on similar models as are already existing or are put in place during the period for fresh meat, minced meat and meat preparations), and
- They are packed for end consumers and will bear a label making clear that the products are for sale only in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom will endeavour to introduce product-level labelling as soon as is practicable.
During this period, the United Kingdom will not amend the rules applicable to meat products already in force in the rest of the United Kingdom.
EU holds press conference to announce measures to address Northern Ireland protocol problems
Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president in charge of Brexit matters, is holding a press conference now.
There is a live feed here.
He starts by saying he will announces some measures to address problems with the Northern Ireland protocol.
'Sausage ban' averted as grace period for chilled meats under NI protocol extended for 3 months
Downing Street has announced that it has agreed with the EU to extend the grace period for chilled meats under the Northern Ireland protocol.
The grace period was due to end tomorrow, and that would have meant a ban on the export of chilled meats (including sausages, of course) from Britain to Northern Ireland.
The grace period will be extended for another three months. In a statement released with the agreement of the EU Downing Street said:
Chilled meats from Great Britain, such as sausages, which would otherwise be prohibited in Northern Ireland, will continue to move from Great Britain to Northern Ireland after the UK and the EU agreed to extend the grace period allowing this until 30 September.
The extension means that Northern Ireland consumers will be able to buy chilled meat products from Great Britain, and allows for further discussions to continue on a permanent solution.
Ben Habib, a former Brexit party MEP and one of the politicians who launched the judicial review challenge against the Northern Ireland protocol, says today’s judgment shows the government’s lack of respect for the constitution. In a statement he said:
The prime minister’s proverbial clothes have been removed by this judgment. Our own judicial system has shown that the protocol tramples all over the constitution.
The government must now address how it plans to square its many claims about the integrity of the UK with this union-busting protocol. Not only is the integrity of the union compromised, but so is that of this mendacious administration ....
Mr Justice Colton accepted that this was politically a highly charged verdict. He talked at length about the tortuous process that was gone through to get Brexit over the line ...
Understandably, his central theme was that parliament is the supreme body in the United Kingdom. It was on that basis that virtually all aspects of the judicial review case were dismissed.
To justify the legality of the protocol, Mr Justice Colton was forced to accept that a fundamental aspect of the Act of Union 1800 had been repealed, as the NIP works in direct opposition to the tenets of the Act of Union.
That is that all parts of the United Kingdom should be equally accessible to all other parts and that the peoples of the UK are all equal, and that no government may sign a treaty which differentiates between parts of the UK.
In delivering that judgment he has laid bare the government’s incessantly false claims that the protocol did not put a border in the centre of the Irish Sea and did not compromise the constitutional arrangements for Northern Ireland.
(Of course, many Brexiters supported leaving the EU precisely because they wanted to restore the full sovereignty of parliament.)
Updated
Here is the official court summary (pdf) of the high court judgment in the legal challenge to the Northern Ireland protocol.
And here is the 68-page judgment in full (pdf).
69% of Labour members think Burnham would be better leader than Starmer, poll suggests
According to YouGov polling for Sky News, 41% of Labour party members think Sir Keir Starmer should resign if the party loses the Batley and Spen byelection, while 48% would want him to stay.
The same poll suggests 69% of party members think Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, would make a better leader.
The results were published today as Starmer faces a fresh round of criticism from commentators over his failure to define what he stands for. Two articles in particular are worth reading.
In an article for the New Statesman Simon Fletcher, a former Ken Livingstone aide who later worked for Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn and Starmer when they were leading the party, says a central problem for Starmer has been his failure to define himself. He writes:
Central to a great deal of these problems is the leadership’s failure to secure its base – both internally and externally – and to define itself. If neither members nor voters have a strong sense of what Labour stands for, the party is inherently vulnerable ...
One hazard for Labour during the second half of 2020 was that the charge that we were only interested in one group of voters – former Labour voters who opted for the Tories or the Brexit party in 2019 – began to stick. Some also began to believe that we were focus group-led and inclined to abstain rather than take a position.
We had the worst of all worlds: failing to win over Tory and Brexit party voters while losing support among Lib Dem and Green voters and, at the same time, seeing satisfaction decline among core voters.
And in his Guardian column today my colleague Rafael Behr makes a similar argument. He says:
[During the leadership contest Starmer’s] unofficial campaign slogan was “unity in ambiguity”. He criticised the 2019 manifesto for offering too much policy, but would not say which parts should have been discarded. It was a shrewd way to secure a mandate from a membership that was substantially recruited under Corbyn. But it implied an oath of continuity that no incoming leader should swear to a predecessor, least of all one who led the party to historic defeat.
Starmer is stranded somewhere between his party’s romantic attachment to its recent past and the urgent electoral requirement to prove that Labour has changed. Beneath that dilemma lies a repressed and more fundamental disagreement between those who would reluctantly dilute radical socialism because voters don’t like it, and those who reject it as wrong in principle. Is the plan to reform capitalism or abolish it? Should Labour even have a leftmost boundary, keeping out Marxist revolutionaries and people who defend terrorism on the grounds that imperialism is worse?
That is a fight the party’s moderates should have had when they tried to unseat Corbyn in the summer of 2016. Instead, Owen Smith trouped from hustings to hustings largely agreeing with the man he claimed was unfit to be prime minister. The result of that bungled challenge, fortifying the incumbent, is well remembered across the party.
By coincidence (or perhaps not), Burnham has given an interview to the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush which is just out. In it, he restates his willingness to stand for the Labour leadership again at some point in the future. (He stresses he supports Starmer.) But he also addresses the definition point raised by Fletcher and Behr. This is how Bush ends the article.
Burnham warms to his theme, all the ways in which his experience and his vision – reformist on the economy, traditionalist on crime – have evolved. He is ready in a way he wasn’t in 2015 or 2010. “My journey has given me, I think now – I am really clear about the things that need to happen to make this country a much better, fairer place. Anyway, that’s the answer: I have got clarity, finally, about what I’m about, what kind of programme I would bring forward.” And if he tried for the leadership, we would see a new Andy Burnham, one forged from his time as Labour’s King of the North. “If there was a moment where that was right, then I’ve indicated that I would be prepared to go back. But I wouldn’t put the old suit back on – it would be to go back as something different.”
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has posted a Twitter thread on the lastest Covid numbers in Scotland. (See 2.34pm.) It starts here.
1/ Today’s reported Covid figures show a further increase - however, the vaccination impact is still clear. Vaccines are now doing much of the work we needed heavy restrictions to do in the last wave. And thankfully, we continue to see a much lower burden of serious illness… https://t.co/OmKnIdre5m
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) June 30, 2021
Daily new cases in Scotland hit record high for second time in three days
Scotland has again recorded a record number of new daily coronavirus cases. There have been 3,887 new cases. The previous highest daily total was on Monday, when 3,285 cases were recorded.
There have also been three further deaths.
The daily positivity rate for tests is 9.8%, down from 11.6% the previous day.
There were 235 people in hospital with coronavirus yesterday, up 20 from the previous daily total, the latest figures show.
And there were 19 patients in intensive care yesterday, down one from the total for the previous day.
Updated
Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary, has criticised the government for not including a strong industrial strategy alongside its new subsidy control bill. (See 9.23am and 9.45am.) In a statement he said:
Labour is in favour of a subsidy system which backs Britain’s businesses. We will look at the details of this legislation. But it must be backed by a strong industrial strategy, which is currently missing.
During the crisis, we have seen the government’s unwillingness to support Britain’s industries play out. They failed to bring forward sectoral help for key industries while wasting money on crony contracts.
Today we are expecting a major test of the government’s promise to champion British industry post-Brexit with the decision due about whether to remove steel import safeguards. Failure to maintain these safeguards would be a betrayal of Britain’s steel industry, a betrayal of communities across the country, and a self-defeating hammer blow to our national interest.
Muslim women in Batley and Spen call out actions of ‘loud minority’ of men
A group of Muslim women from Batley and Spen have written an open letter condemning “shameful” behaviour that has brought the community “into the limelight for all the wrong reasons”, my colleague Maya Wolfe-Robinson reports.
Back in the Commons Zarah Sultana (Lab) asks why masks were required in schools in April, but not now, when case rates were lower then.
Williamson does not address the question, but says he cannot tell whether Sultana wants more restrictions or fewer.
And that’s it. The urgent question is over.
Sir Keir Starmer will not resign if Labour loses the Batley and Spen byelection tomorrow, his spokesman has said. This is from my colleague Aubrey Allegretti.
Starmer's spokesman setting expectations for Batley & Spen by-election.
— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) June 30, 2021
He says it's a challenging fight but insists the Labour leader is going nowhere if the seat swings Tory.
“Kier’s not going to resign.”
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the new DUP leader, says today’s court ruling on the Northern Ireland protocol shows that it has undermined Northern Ireland’s constitutional position in the UK. He says this justifies the DUP’s call for the protocol to be changed.
This decision is very politically significant. It confirms the protocol damages our constitutional position in the UK contrary to the principle of consent & various agreements. If not resolved it will have potential consequences for the future stability of political institutions https://t.co/tgD5sHnk21
— Jeffrey Donaldson MP (@J_Donaldson_MP) June 30, 2021
Starmer taunts Johnson at PMQs over his failure to sack Hancock immediately over Covid rules breach
Here is the PA Media story on PMQs.
Boris Johnson faced claims of trying to “sweep under the carpet” the Matt Hancock scandal as the former health secretary’s office affair dominated PMQs
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told MPs the incident which led to the downfall of Hancock was part of a “pattern” in which Johnson backed his colleagues despite questions over their conduct.
Former health secretary Hancock resigned the day after photographs of him kissing adviser Gina Coladangelo were published by The Sun newspaper.
Johnson, through his spokesman, initially declared the matter “closed” before then seemingly trying to take credit for replacing Hancock with Sajid Javid.
Speaking at PMQs, Starmer asked why Johnson did not sack Hancock.
Johnson replied: “I read the story in common with you and everyone else on Friday and we had a new health secretary in place by Saturday, which I think that, given that we have a pandemic, I think to move from one health secretary to the next with that speed was fast.
“But it wasn’t as fast as the vaccine rollout, which is now going so fast that in this country we’ve done half the under-30s - half the under-30s have now had their first jab.
“And that is speed.”
Starmer countered: “What a ridiculous answer.
“The prime minister must be the only person in the country who looked at that photo Friday morning and thought the health secretary shouldn’t be sacked immediately.”
Starmer pressed further on whether Johnson sacked Hancock or asked him to resign at any point.
Johnson replied: “He will notice that the health secretary has changed in the past five days.”
Starmer shared the case of Ollie Bibby, whose parents said they were prevented from seeing their son his in his final weeks before his death of leukaemia.
The Labour leader, concluding, told the Commons: “It’s no questions asked by the prime minister on Friday and no questions answered today.
“There’s a pattern here.
“When Dominic Cummings broke the rules by driving to Barnard Castle, the prime minister backed him.
“When the housing secretary unlawfully approved a billion-pound property deal for a Tory donor, the prime minister backed him.
“When the home secretary broke the ministerial code, the prime minister backed her.
“And when the health secretary broke Covid rules, the prime minister tried and wanted to back him too.
“Every time it’s the same old story.
“Isn’t it the case that while the British people are doing everything asked of them, it’s one rule for them and another rule for everybody else?”
Johnson reiterated Hancock was replaced the day after the story emerged, adding: “We’re getting on with our agenda of vaccinating the population of this country through the energy and the application of the new secretary of state for health and the Department of Health.”
Updated
Esther McVey (Con) says it is time to end “this self-isolation madness”.
Williamson says he will remove these restrictions when he can.
Rushanara Ali (Lab) asks why Williamson has not secured the full £15bn for catch-up recommended by Sir Kevan Collins, the former education recovery commissioner.
Williamson says Ali seems unaware of what is being spent by the government.
Gavin Williamson says he wants to be able to scrap 'bubble' system for schools after 19 July
This is what Gavin Williamson said in his opening statement when he told MPs that he expected “bubbles” in schools - which means pupils have to self-isolate if someone in their bubble tests positive - to go after 19 July. He said:
Some restrictions remain in place in schools. What I want to see is these restrictions including bubbles removed as quickly as possible along with wider restrictions in society.
I do not think it is acceptable that children should face greater restrictions over and above those of wider society especially since they have given up so much to keep older generations safe over the last 18 months.
Further steps will be taken to reduce the number of children who have to self-isolate including looking at the outcomes of a daily contact testing trial as we consider a new model for keeping children in schools and colleges.
We constantly assess all available data and we expect to be able to confirm plans to lift restrictions and bubbles as part of step 4. Once that decision has been made we will issue guidance immediately to schools.
The government is set to implement step 4 of the roadmap out of lockdown on 19 July.
Asked to rule out a return to bubbles in school in September, Williamson says he cannot preempt a decision that has not yet been taken, but that he he “very much expecting” that bubbles will have gone by September.
Siobhain McDonagh (Lab) says some pupils still do not have the laptops they need to be able to participate in classes remotely. Will Williamson back her campaign to ensure all pupils eligible for free school meals get this equipment?
Williamson says the government has already invested in this.
Williamson says he does not want to see testing for pupils become permanent
Back in the Commons Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group, which represents anti-lockdown Tory MPs, asks if pupils will have to carry on testing for good. He says he wants to see pupils return to normality.
Williamson says pupils should not have to do something adults don’t have to do. But testing has played an important role, he says. He says he will take advice on this.
But, in the longer term, he does not want to see testing as something that children have to do always in the future.
Nearly 2,000 new Covid cases in Scotland linked to Euro 2020 events, figures show
Young men getting together to watch Euro 2020 matches was a significant factor in the steep rise in Covid cases in Scotland, with nearly 2,000 football-related cases emerging from Test and Protect data, and two-thirds of those reporting they had travelled to London to watch the Scotland-England game.
Public Health Scotland revealed that 1,991 people with a positive test had attended one or more Euro 2020 events during their infection period – that is, a time in which they may have unknowingly transmitted their infection to others.
Cases were tagged because they attended either a Euro 2020 organised event, such as a match at Hampden or Wembley or the Fanzone at Glasgow Green, or an informal gathering, such as a pub or a house party to watch a match.
Nearly three-quarters of the people in these cases were between 20 and 39 years of age and nine of every 10 cases were male. Nearly two-thirds of cases reported travelling to London for a Euro 2020 event, including 397 people who attended the 18 June Scotland v England match at Wembley. Attendance at hospitality venues was the most frequently reported tag, representing 34% of all tags.
Yesterday Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, was asked why it was that rates had risen so steeply in Scotland in recent weeks, in comparison with the rest of the UK. She pointed out that the Delta variant was first seeded into Glasgow, the country’s biggest city, and so was able to spread more quickly than elsewhere in the UK. She also reminded viewers that Scotland had lower population immunity because fewer people had the virus in earlier waves, thus there was a larger “susceptible population”.
With 80% of new cases among the under-44s and just 2% in the over-65s, older people continue to be worst affected by the virus.
Latest data from the National Records of Scotland show there were 17 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate over the last week, an increase of four on the previous week, but those deaths were all in the over-65 age group.
Updated
Bob Blackman (Con) asks if Williamson agrees regular testing in schools will stop pupils missing classes.
Williamson agrees. Testing has been an important part of getting schools and colleges open, he says.
Barry Sheerman (Lab) accuses Williamson of dither and delay. Parents want certainty, he says. He says the summer holidays should be a chance for pupils to catch up.
Williamson says he has already announced plans to lift the restrictions, including bubbles. But actions have to be properly coordinated across government, he says.
Robert Halfon (Con), chair of the Commons education committee, says we are in danger of creating a generation of “ghost children” - pupils who are absent. He urges Williamson to bring back mobile testing for schools now.
Williamson says there is already extensive testing in schools. He says 57m tests have been carried out in schools and colleges.
Labour’s Kate Green says the government should be acting sooner.
Williamson says the government is still waiting for the results of the trial of the pilots using daily testing as an alternative to self-isolation.
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, says it is vital children stay in school.
Every day he is looking at the need to balance safeguarding education, with controlling the virus.
He has already spoken about this with Sajid Javid, the new health secretary.
He says he wants to see bubbles in schools removed quickly.
Pupils should not be subject to rules that do not apply to other people.
The government will be looking at the results of the trial for using daily tests as an alternative to self-isolation.
He says he expects to be able to confirm plans to lift restrictions and bubbles as part of step 4.
(It is not clear whether bubbles, and the isolation regime associated with it, will go on 19 July, or whether its ending will just be announced then. But many school terms in England will be ending that week anyway.)
UPDATE: See 1.17pm for the full quote.
Updated
I will be covering the Gavin Williamson UQ in a moment, and so have not got time for the usual PMQs snap verdict, but here’s my colleague Peter Walker with his own, astute version.
Won't necessarily change much, but that was perhaps the weakest #PMQs performance from Boris Johnson I can remember. Good tactic by Keir Starmer to allow PM space to makes jokes and then remind him of the seriousness of the impact of Covid rules on so many families.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 30, 2021
More generally, even by standards of recent PMs, Johnson has given up even trying to look as if he is answering Starmer's questions. He is just sent out there with a collection of buzzwords and insults. Of course, #PMQs is partly theatre, but the impression is one of contempt.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 30, 2021
It's also indicative of our post-shame political world that Johnson spent all #PMQs pretending he'd sacked Matt Hancock, when he didn't, and everyone listening – not least all the cheering Tory MPs – knew that he didn't. An almost Supreme Soviet-esque disregard for the truth.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 30, 2021
From HuffPost’s Paul Waugh
Here's the case that @Keir_Starmer was raising in #PMQs.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) June 30, 2021
Johnson shrugs it off by referring to the vaccine rollout, claiming Hancock was a 'Westminster bubble' issue. Tone deaf alert.https://t.co/aHpuK0Gu4z
I'm told @Keir_Starmer spoke on the phone for about 10/15 minutes to Ollie's mum, ahead of PMQs this morning, after he saw the BBC story and to ask her permission to raise the issue.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) June 30, 2021
Ian Paisley (DUP) says the court in Belfast today has ruled that, although the Northern Ireland protocol does not break the law, it does conflict with parts of the Act of Union. Will the PM reverse the mistakes of the protocol, defend the union and put Northern Ireland “out of its commercial, social and political misery”.
Johnson says nothing will affect the position of Northern Ireland as part of the UK.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Lab) says there is a knife crime epidemic in London. Youth services can prevent crime. So why has the government cut 70% of youth services in the past decade?
Johnson says the government invested in youth services, and will continue to do so. He says Ribeiro-Addy has not mentioned Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, who has failed to get a grip. Johnson says he was better when he was mayor.
Johnson says he hopes the problems with the Northern Ireland protocol can be fixed “so we can move on”.
Peter Gibson (Con) asks about levelling up, and if the PM wants people to vote Conservative in the Batley and Spen byelection.
Johnson says a Tory vote in the byelection will be a vote for a strong local voice for change.
Philippa Whitford (SNP) says cases of the Delta variant are surging across the UK because the PM was late putting India on the red list. Will the government extend full furlough beyond September?
Johnson says he will not. Although the Delta variant is growing around the world, this is the country where protection via immunity is highest.
Updated
Christina Rees (Lab) asks about the DVLA making staff return to work at the office in Swansea, contrary to government advice.
Johnson says he thinks rates of infection have been declining at the DVLA site. He hopes everyone will be able to return to work as soon as possible.
David Linden (SNP) asks if HGV drivers will be added to the list of workers where there is a shortage, making it easier for them to get visas.
Johnson says he will look at this.
Caroline Lucas (Green) asks about today’s report from the environmental audit committee on biodiversity. Will the government change environment bill legislation to commit the government to meeting, not further, its target on this?
Johnson says the government is committed to reversing biodiversity loss.
Henry Smith (Con) asks the PM to press ahead with allowing people who are fully vaccinated more access to international travel.
Johnson congratulates Smith on his longstanding campaign for the aviation sector. He says he hopes double jabs will help the industry.
Updated
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, congratulates England on their victory, and wishes them all the best. They won all their matches except against Scotland, he points out.
He says hundreds of thousands of EU nationals have been left in limbo. The settlement scheme deadline is today. But many cases are still not processed. Will the PM scrap the deadline before we face “another Tory Windrush”?
Johnson says it is fantastic that 5.6 million people have applied. People should apply today if they haven’t already.
Blackford says cases are still being processed. We know what the Home Office is like. Scotland’s message to EU citizens is that they are welcome. He quotes an EU woman saying she feels suicidal.
Johnson says the scheme has been an “outstanding success”. It is five years since the referendum. Anyone applying within the deadline will have their case dealt with.
Updated
Starmer says there is a pattern here. He backs colleagues who break the rules. It is one rule for them, another for everybody else.
Johnson repeats the point about a new health secretary being in place. Labour dither, but the government delivers, he says.
Starmer says Johnson should not just dismiss this as a Westminster bubble story. He says he spoke to Ollie’s mum, and she told him how she watched the daily No 10 press conferences so she could follow the rules. He says Johnson can’t have asked many questions on Friday morning. He says Johnson either did not want to know the answers or feared more would come out. Did he ask Hancock if he had broken other rules?
Johnson says the whole country can see we have a new health secretary. He says the best response is to get on with the vaccine rollout, and that Labour would not have been able to do this because it would have stayed in the European Medicines Agency.
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Starmer says millions of people did follow the rules. He quotes the case of someone who died from leukaemia the day the Hancock picture was published. He was only allowed one family member with him as he was dying. He says Ollie’s mother was saying she was livid.
Johnson says we all share the pain of Ollie’s family. He says the health secretary was replaced. And he suggests this is just a Westminster bubble story.
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Starmer says Johnson will be claiming to have scored the winning goal in the England match next.
He says a non-executive director at a department is supposed to challenge the secretary of state. It is obvious there was a conflict of interest.
Johnson says the non-executive director went too. And he reverts to the vaccine rollout, saying the UK has now overtaken Israel.
Starmer dismisses Johnson’s account. He points out that No 10 said the matter was closed on Friday.
Johnson says Starmer tried to sack Angela Rayner, his deputy, over three days, but failed.
Sir Keir Starmer echoes what the PM said about the England team.
Why did the PM not sack the health secretary on Friday?
Johnson said he read the story on Friday, and there was a new health secretary by Saturday. That was fast - but not as fast as the vaccine rollout.
- Johnson repeats his suggestion that he had a role in Matt Hancock’s resignation - even though No 10 said Johnson did not want him to go on Friday.
Katherine Fletcher (Con) asks if the PM agrees EU nationals, like Germans, wanting to stay in the UK should apply today to the EU settlement scheme. (The deadline closes today.)
Johnson agrees.
Boris Johnson starts by congratulating Gareth Southgate and the England team. He wishes them the best for their match against Ukraine. We will all be hoping that this time football is finally coming home, he says.
Sky News has some polling that may be helpful to Boris Johnson at PMQs.
NEW: Labour members poll finds 69% think Andy Burnham would be a better Labour leader than Keir Starmerhttps://t.co/2mzVJ8nD9e
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) June 30, 2021
PMQs
PMQs is starting soon.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
After PMQs I will be covering Gavin Williamson’s response to the urgent question on Covid and schools.
Sky’s Stephen Murphy has more on the court ruling in Belfast.
Several more grounds for judicial review of the NI Protocol have been dismissed. Mr Justice Colton pointedly says the applicant's comparison of the protocol to the Vichy regime were "wide of the mark" and "unhelpful". Can't compare to "a world war with millions of deaths"#Brexit
— Stephen Murphy (@SMurphyTV) June 30, 2021
Here is some reaction to the Belfast court judgment on the Northern Ireland protocol.
From Stephen Farry, an Alliance party MP
NI remains part of UK, via Principle of Consent. This is hardwired into EU Withdrawal Agreement.
— Stephen Farry MP (@StephenFarryMP) June 30, 2021
Time to stop reacting to the Protocol in constitutional and economic terms, and focus on dealing with the practical challenges in pragmatic way. https://t.co/v9CjDV0zIz
From Sam McBride from the Belfast News Letter
The NI Protocol conflicts with the 1800 Act of Union, but part of the Act of Union was impliedly repealed by Parliament's consent to the protocol, the High Court has ruled. Unionist leaders have lost that legal argument - but it's politically significant. https://t.co/FxzZTqXNId
— Sam McBride (@SJAMcBride) June 30, 2021
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Here is my colleague Lisa O’Carroll’s story on the Belfast court judgment on the Northern Ireland protocol.
Belfast court rejects legal challenge against Northern Ireland protocol
The high court in Belfast has rejected a legal challenge against the Northern Ireland protocol, Sky’s Stephen Murphy reports.
🇪🇺🇬🇧Breaking: Mr Justice Colton refuses judicial review on grounds that the NI Protocol breaches the 1800 Acts of Union - this is one of the main arguments of the applicants. Judge says “much constitutional water has passed under the bridge” since 1800 #Brexit pic.twitter.com/khPS86QEWP
— Stephen Murphy (@SMurphyTV) June 30, 2021
Effectively he finds that the #Brexit Withdrawal Act (“clear political will of parliament”) overrides the 1800 Acts of Union. Moving on now to GFA argument
— Stephen Murphy (@SMurphyTV) June 30, 2021
Scotland’s public health minister, Maree Todd, has announced she has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating with her family.
In a tweet, Todd, previously a hospital pharmacist, said she had no symptoms.
I’ve received a positive Covid test result today.
— Maree Todd (@MareeToddMSP) June 29, 2021
No symptoms but am obviously self-isolating with my family now.
I also want to say thanks to the testing staff and the contact tracers for their work. They are on the frontline and are magnificent. Thank you all.
Appointed minister for public health, women’s health and sport in Nicola Sturgeon’s new post-election cabinet in May, Todd was elected to Holyrood in the May election as MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross. She had previously been a Highland’s list MSP and minister for children and young people.
Cambridge University has resumed in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since February 2020, before the first national coronavirus lockdown, PA Media reports.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has announced that the government is investing £3m in research into zero emission flight. The government is aiming to achieve the world’s first zero emission flight across the Atlantic within a generation, he says.
We're committed to delivering the world's first zero-emission flight across the Atlantic within a generation.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) June 30, 2021
I'm proud to announce a competition to fund R&D into critical #ZE infrastructure that will allow our zero-emission ambitions to take off ✈️👇https://t.co/0L3GpwoD5X pic.twitter.com/9g2zUt6ahY
Here is some comment on the government’s plans for a new, post-Brexit state aid regime. (See 9.23am and 9.45am.)
From John Campbell, the BBC’s economics and business editor in Northern Ireland:
This BEIS release on the Subsidy Control Bill really does elide the impact of Article 10 of the Protocol which means that Stormont continues to be bound by EU state aid rules in regard to trade in goods between NI & the EU. https://t.co/hyyKmYMuFd
— JPCampbellBiz - Open a window, keep your distance (@JP_Biz) June 30, 2021
Sure there will be a UK wide system with UK wide oversight from the CMA but there will objectively be a different legal framework for Northern Ireland.
— JPCampbellBiz - Open a window, keep your distance (@JP_Biz) June 30, 2021
From Anton Spisak, a Brexit specialist at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change:
There is something missing in the BEIS press release on the Subsidy Control Bill. An acknowledgement that the new "UK" regime will not, to a large degree, cover Northern Ireland and "unelected EU bureaucrats" will continue decide most state aid cases concerning Northern Ireland. pic.twitter.com/vT5EBt07bH
— Anton Spisak (@AntonSpisak) June 30, 2021
Ross Denton, head of international trade at the law firm Ashurst, said:
The UK’s new internal subsidy regime appears to be targeted at making control of subsidies by the UK and devolved administrations subject to clear and ‘light touch’ rules. The government is very clear to distinguish the new UK process for subsidies from the EU procedures on state aids. It is important to note that we do not yet know the precise parameters that will be applied to such domestic subsidies, but it is clear that any subsidies will be subject to the WTO subsidies and countervailing measures agreement, the ‘level playing field’ arrangements found in the trade and cooperation agreement between the UK and EU, the state aid provisions applying to Northern Ireland under the withdrawal agreement and any other subsidies frameworks that the UK negotiates as part of any other free trade agreement.
This multi-layered system of controls means that the UK and devolved administrations have only relatively limited room to provide support to UK businesses. It is also clear that UK persons will have rights to have any domestic measures reviewed before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, although the rules of standing for those persons, and whether non-UK persons will have identical rights are yet to be confirmed.
From David Henig, UK trade specialist at the European Centre For International Political Economy:
Expect plenty of state spending on vanity projects under this Prime Minister. That said the EU and US are also now rather fonder of state subsidies to bring back manufacturing (while complaining about the Chinese doing so) so we're part of the trend. https://t.co/q2mgfEhPbm
— David Henig (@DavidHenigUK) June 30, 2021
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Here is a roundup of some of the more interesting Covid stories in today’s papers.
Prof Chris Whitty said at a cabinet briefing on Monday that the increase in coronavirus cases was not leading to a sharp rise in people needing hospital treatment.
The chief medical officer for England said that summer was the time to ease as many restrictions as possible, provided there was not a rise in Covid-19 patients in hospitals, and that winter would be harder because the virus spread more when people were indoors ...
“The view among the scientists was that we should get as much open this summer as possible before winter, which will be much more difficult,” a cabinet source said. “It was very encouraging.” Another source said Whitty had been “cautiously optimistic”.
- Jason Groves in the Daily Mail says ministers have ruled out making Covid status certificates compulsory for people wanting to attend mass events. But event organisers will be free to use this system if they want, he says. He reports:
Ministers are set to shelve plans for the mandatory use of ‘Covid certification’ after Freedom Day on July 19.
Plans for pubs and restaurants had already been put on the back burner following a backlash from MPs and the hospitality sector.
The Mail can now reveal that ministers have also dropped the idea of imposing them on mass events. Organisers will, however, be permitted to run their own schemes, with the Premier League among those expected to introduce some form of certification to prove those attending football grounds do not pose a Covid risk.
- Charles Hymas in the Daily Telegraph says the EU will accept the new NHS app as a Covid passport. He reports:
The app has been updated to serve as a Covid passport that will enable British travellers to prove they are fully vaccinated, show a negative pre-departure test or show that they have had the virus in the past 180 days.
It is now ready to be integrated into the EU’s identical green pass system, which will allow people to travel freely throughout the bloc by revealing their vaccination or test status at borders.
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Holidaymakers with trips booked to Malta have seen their plans thrown into chaos as the country is not accepting the NHS app as proof of vaccination, PA Media reports. PA says:
From Wednesday, travellers from the UK aged 12 and above are only permitted to enter Malta if they have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
But authorities in the central Mediterranean archipelago revealed on Monday that they will only accept printed letters sent by the NHS as proof.
That means tourists planning to use the NHS app to demonstrate their status face being turned away at UK airports or the border in Malta, even if they are fully vaccinated.
The UK government’s website states that letters are expected to take “up to five working days” to be delivered.
Several affected people have sent Twitter messages to the British high commission for Malta stating that the policy means their trips cannot go ahead as planned.
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The UK economy contracted more than first thought between January and March, falling by 1.6% compared with the previous estimate of 1.5% as the coronavirus lockdown took its toll, the Office for National Statistics has said. Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said:
Today’s updated GDP [gross domestic product] figures show the same picture as our earlier estimate with schools, hospitality and retail all hit by the re-imposition of the lockdown in January and February, with some recovery in March.
With many services unavailable, households again saved at record levels with only last spring seeing more saved.
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New state aid system will not allow subsidies to move jobs from one part of UK to another, government says
Here is some more on the subsidy control bill from the government briefing issued overnight.
- A key advantage of the new system is that it will be less bureaucratic than the EU version, the government claims. It says:
The subsidy control bill introduced to parliament today seizes the opportunities from having left the EU’s bureaucratic state aid regime to create a new system for subsidies that can enable key domestic priorities, such as levelling up economic growth across the UK and driving our green industrial revolution.
Previously, when the UK was a member of the EU, the UK followed the EU’s state aid regime which governed the awarding of subsidies – such as grants, loans and guarantees. Under the EU system, all subsidies except those under a ‘block exemption regulation’ had to undergo a lengthy bureaucratic process of being notified to and approved by the European Commission in advance, delaying vital funds from reaching viable businesses in good time.
The new UK system will start from the basis that subsidies are permitted if they follow UK-wide principles – delivering good value for the British taxpayer while being awarded in a timely and effective way. These UK-wide principles will allow public authorities to deliver subsidies where they are needed without facing excessive red tape.
- The government is not planning a return to 1970s-style “picking winners”, it claims. It says:
The system will not be a return to the failed 1970s approach of government trying to run the economy, ‘picking winners’ or bailing out unsustainable companies.
- Subsidies that result in jobs being relocated from one part of the UK to another will not be allowed, the government says. It says:
The new system will prohibit the awarding of subsidies that will result in the relocation of jobs and economic activity from one part of the UK to another – known as ‘displacement’. This will help strengthen the union and help level up the entire country by preventing ‘subsidy races’ between public authorities competing to attract the same business.
This may disappoint those hoping that “levelling up” would involve relocating jobs.
- The government will ban “unlimited government guarantees to businesses as well as subsidies granted to “ailing or insolvent” enterprises where there is no credible restructuring plan”.
- A subsidy is defined as “a financial contribution using public resources which confers a benefit on a specific recipient” and could include a cash payment, a low-interest loan or a guarantee.
UK state aid will be ‘more agile and flexible’ under post-Brexit rules, says business secretary
Good morning. It is an important day for Brexit news. The morning the high court in Belfast will rule on a legal challenge to the Northern Ireland protocol, this afternoon the EU is expected to confirm that it has agreed to extend the grace period for chilled meats under that protocol (averting the so-called “sausage ban” for the moment), and in parliament the government is presenting what is being described as its most important piece of post-Brexit legislation to date – the subsidy control bill.
Brexiters argued that one of the big advantages of leaving the EU was that the UK would no longer be bound by the EU’s rules on state aid. Critics were sceptical, partly because most of those Brexiters were Tories who were ideologically sceptical of state aid anyway, partly because even when the UK was in the EU other EU countries used state aid more, and partly because the Brexiters found it hard to give examples of the sort of subsidies they wanted to hand out to industry that were not allowed under Brussels rules. But during the general election campaign Boris Johnson promised to make better use of state aid after Brexit, in a move that helped to make the Conservatives sound more interventionist and high-spending, and that may have increased their appeal in the “Red Wall”.
The subsidy control bill is the result of that pledge, and Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, said it meant in future UK state aid would be “more agile and flexible”. In a news release about the bill he said:
Today we’re seizing the opportunities of being an independent trading nation to back new and emerging British industries, create more jobs and make the UK the best possible place to start and grow a business.
We want to use our new-found freedoms as an independent, sovereign country to empower public authorities across the UK to deliver financial support – without facing burdensome red tape.
While the UK’s new system will be more agile and flexible, I have been clear that we will not return to the failed 1970s approach of the government trying to run the economy, picking winners or bailing out unsustainable companies. Every subsidy must deliver strong benefits for local communities and ensure good value for money for the British taxpayer.
I will post more on the bill shortly.
Here is the agenda for the day.
10am: The high court in Belfast delivers its judgment in a legal challenge to the Northern Ireland protocol.
12pm: Boris Johnson faces Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.
12.30pm: Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, responds to an urgent question from Labour about the impact of Covid on school attendance.
1.30pm: Downing Street is expected to holds its daily lobby briefing.
3.30pm: Maroš Šefčovič the European Commission vice-president is holding a press conference where he is expected to announce the grace period for chilled meats under the Northern Ireland protocol will be extended.
Politics Live has been a mix of Covid and non-Covid news recently and that is likely to be the case today. For more coronavirus developments, do follow our global Covid live blog.
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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