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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Royal College of Nursing says failure to announce NHS pay rise ‘shameful’ – as it happened

An NHS pay rise protest in London yesterday. Today the social care minister failed to make an expected announcement of a rise.
An NHS pay rise protest in London yesterday. Today the social care minister failed to make an expected announcement of a rise. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Afternoon summary

That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.

Updated

These are from my colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels on the government’s command paper on the Northern Ireland protocol.

Government publishes autism strategy, with £75m funding for first year

MPs were expecting Helen Whately, the care minister, to announce details of the NHS pay rise in her statement to parliament earlier. Instead she just announced a new autism strategy.

Still, for some of us an autism strategy is important, and you can read the news release about it from the Department for Health and Social Care here. Here is the document (pdf), a strategy for autistic children, young people and adults from 2021 to 2026. And here is the implementation plan (pdf), which sets out what DHSC actually expects to change, and when.

The government will spend £75m on the strategy in the first year.

Caroline Stevens, chief executive of the National Autistic Society, said:

We and our supporters have long campaigned for a fully funded public understanding campaign, significant investment in reducing diagnosis waiting times and better post-diagnostic support. No one should feel judged for being autistic, or to have to wait many months for a potentially life-changing diagnosis and vital help and support.

We’re really pleased to see concrete actions to tackle this in the first year of the new strategy, alongside other important commitments. The following four years will be just as vital. It’s crucial that the government invest in autistic people, and finally create a society that really works for autistic children, adults and their families.

Updated

The Scottish Conservatives have complained to the UK statistics watchdog, Sir Ian Diamond, about a misleading tweet from John Swinney, the Scottish government’s deputy first minister and Covid secretary, wrongly claiming facemasks cut transmission by 100%.

Annie Wells, the Scottish Tories’ health spokesperson, said posting unverified safety claims about Covid was “potentially dangerous”, and questioned why Swinney had not taken the tweet down over repeated complaints about its accuracy.

The unsourced graphic claimed that if two people standing six feet apart both wore face masks, there was “0% risk” of transmission. This has never been verified or endorsed by an official health agency.

“It may even convince some people that there is zero risk from Covid in certain situations, which is not supported by science,” Wells said.

She said Swinney’s post had been retweeted nearly 1,000 times, and urged Diamond and the UK Statistics Authority to investigate. The agency has previously rebuked both the Scottish and UK governments for releasing problematic or unverified Covid-related data.

On Wednesday Nicola Sturgeon indirectly chided Swinney by agreeing ministers “should take care to use properly verified graphics” and would always do so in future. However, she stopped short of asking him to delete Monday’s graphic.

Updated

The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out. Jessica Elgot and Polly Toynbee look at the not-so-free ‘freedom day’ and Labour purges. Plus, Heather Stewart asks Ryan Shorthouse, Jill Rutter, and David Gauke about the prospect of the PM achieving his premiership goals.

Long Covid sufferers more likely to suffer depression than people who have not had virus, ONS says

People who have had or suspect they may have had long Covid are almost twice as likely to have experienced depression as those who do not think they have ever contracted coronavirus, PA Media reports. PA says:

Some 6.2% of adults said they may have experienced long Covid when polled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) between 7 April and 13 June.

Of these, 30% reported experiencing moderate to severe depressive symptoms in the last two weeks.

This compares to 16% of respondents who did not think they had contracted coronavirus.

A quarter (25%) were likely to have some form of anxiety, compared with 15% of people not believed to have been hit by Covid.

The ONS said it is not possible to infer cause-and-effect relationships from the results, warning that associations could be the result of other factors such as age, sex, disability status or deprivation level.

People who may have had long Covid were also more likely to say their wellbeing, work and household finances had been affected.

The ONS pooled 10 waves of data on 39,268 respondents aged 16 years and over in Great Britain.

The total proportion of those who may have had long Covid was split into 3.6% who said they had experienced long Covid, and 2.6% who said they were unsure.

Women, disabled adults, those aged between 30 and 49 and those living in the most deprived parts of England were more likely to say they may have had long Covid.

Some 57% of adults who may have had long Covid said this had negatively affected their wellbeing, while 39% said their ability to exercise had been affected.

Considering only those who were sure they had experienced long Covid, 72% said their wellbeing had been negatively affected and 48% said the same about their ability to exercise.

Tim Vizard, ONS principal research officer, said: “Although no single definition of long Covid exists it is likely it affects people in different ways and research is already showing the potential impacts on physical health.

“Today’s research highlights the potential for people’s mental health, well-being or work to be impacted by long Covid.

“We’ve found more people who may have had long Covid report negative impacts, however more work is needed to disentangle the effects of long Covid from a variety of factors such as age, sex or disability.”

The UK has recorded 44,104 new coronavirus cases and 73 further deaths, according to the latest daily update to the government’s dashboard. The total number of new cases over the past week is up 35.8% on the total for the previous seven days, and deaths are up 59.8% week on week.

Covid dashboard
Covid dashboard. Photograph: Gov.UK

Updated

Sinn Féin says UK should fully implement NI protocol, not try to renegotiate it

Declan Kearney, Sinn Féin’s Brexit spokesman, has said the government should not be allowed to renege on international law. Commenting on today’s plans from London for an overhaul of the Northern Ireland protocol, he said:

The British government has agreed and ratified all elements of the protocol with the European Commission. It should now stop the evasion, and get on with its implementation.

The reason challenges remain, and that it has not been implemented in full, arises from the British government’s failure to properly fulfil its joint obligations.

It is not acceptable for the Tories to adopt an a la carte approach towards the protocol, to rewrite history, and now attempt a renegotiation.

If the protocol is to achieve its goals, then it needs to be implemented fully, not hollowed out by the British government.

Here are two alternative interpretations of the EU’s response to the UK government’s proposals on the Northern Ireland protocol.

From the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar

From Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn

And here is some more reaction to the non-announcement of the pay rise for NHS staff that was expected to be announced in parliament today.

From Prof Karen Middleton, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy:

The contrast between the high quality care being delivered by NHS staff and the utter dysfunction at the heart of government is both stark and shameful.

At a time when ever more is being asked of our members and their colleagues, it should not be too much to expect the government to provide an answer to the PRB recommendations.

From Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary:

This is a tremendous let down for hardworking NHS staff who were hoping for good news today. They must not be left sweating it out over the summer with the government’s threat of real pay cut hanging over them.

From Jonathan Ashworth, shadow health secretary:

After these past 16 months our brave, hardworking NHS staff deserve so much better than this insulting shambles.

From Dr Philippa Whitford, the SNP’s health spokesperson at Westminster:

In Scotland, we do more than just clap for our NHS staff – we reward them. That is why the SNP government has committed to investing record sums of money into our NHS and is offering staff a 4% pay rise, the biggest increase in the history of devolution.

In contrast, the Tories at Westminster offered only a miserable 1% pay rise, for those who spent 18 months saving lives on the frontline, and it seems they still cannot bring themselves to match the 4% offered by the Scottish government.

From Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem health spokesperson:

Words and clapping are cheap – where on Earth is the widely reported and trailed pay deal announcement which was expected today?

After all that build-up, the government bottled it and have once again turned their backs on those who are getting us through this pandemic.

From Amelia Womack, the Green party deputy leader:

NHS workers have just worked the hardest year of their lives in incredibly difficult conditions. The reported 3% was nowhere near adequate, but for the government to once again delay any pay rise at all after a decade of falling pay is disgraceful.

Updated

'Respecting international legal obligations of paramount importance', EU tells UK

And here is the full text of the statement issued by Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president, in response to the UK government’s command paper on the Northern Ireland protocol. (See 3.25pm.) In it Šefčovič also stresses that “respecting international legal obligations is of paramount importance”.

Updated

EU says it will seek 'creative solutions' but it won't renegotiate Northern Ireland protocol

Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president who is in charge of negotiations with the UK over Brexit, has said the EU will continue to look for “creative solutions” to the problems posed by the Northern Ireland protocol, but that it will not renegotiate it.

In response to the UK government’s command paper published today, he said:

We take note of the statement made by Lord Frost today.

We will continue to engage with the UK, also on the suggestions made today. We are ready to continue to seek creative solutions, within the framework of the protocol, in the interest of all communities in Northern Ireland. However, we will not agree to a renegotiation of the protocol.

Joint action in the joint bodies established by the withdrawal agreement will be of paramount importance over the coming months.

We must prioritise stability and predictability in Northern Ireland. I look forward to speaking to Lord Frost soon.

Maroš Šefčovič
Maroš Šefčovič. Photograph: Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Royal College of Nursing says failure to announce NHS pay rise today 'shameful'

And the Royal College of Nursing has also described the government’s failure to announce its NHS pay rise decision today, as expected, as “shameful”. In a statement Pat Cullen, the RCN interim general secretary, said:

This treatment of our NHS workers is shameful. Ministers are holding them in contempt and we have no choice but to condemn this behaviour.

With tens of thousands of nursing vacancies and thousands more considering their future in the profession, the government is sending the worst possible signal with this political gameplaying.

Ministers need to stop the wrangling and come clean about the pay rise they believe NHS staff deserve. Nursing staff will only accept this pay award if it’s significant, consolidated and fully funded with additional monies.

The GMB union has described today’s non-announcement of an NHS pay rise (see 2.32pm) as “completely outrageous”. Rachel Harrison, the GMB national officer, said:

This is completely outrageous – virtually the last day of parliament and the government has insulted hard-working NHS workers once again by staying silent.

NHS workers who tuned in to watch the minister today will be rightly disgusted by this lack of respect.

NHS staff have put themselves in harm’s way throughout the pandemic and as a health union we cannot accept MPs swanning off on holiday leaving health workers in limbo.

GMB has today written to the prime minister and Health Secretary to demand they intervene and set out their response on NHS pay before the summer recess.

Starmer starts isolating after one of his children tests positive

Sir Keir Starmer is now having to isolate, Labour has said, because one of his children has tested positive. A party spokesperson said:

One of Keir’s children tested positive for Covid this lunchtime. In line with the rules, Keir and his family will now be self-isolating.

Keir was already doing daily tests and tested negative this morning. He will continue to take daily tests.

The announcement came less than two hours after PMQs, where Starmer was in the chamber. Boris Johnson was participating remotely because he has been isolating since the weekend because he attended a meeting with Sajid Javid, the health secretary, who has coronavirus.

Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer Photograph: House of Commons/PA

Surprise non-announcement of pay rise for NHS staff branded 'shambles' by Labour

In the Commons Helen Whately, the social care minister, is making a statement about the NHS. MPs were expecting her to announce a 3% pay rise for NHS staff, but she did not mention this in her opening statement, and instead covered various other topics, including the new autism strategy being announced today.

When asked what had happened to the pay rise announcement, Whately said the government would make an announcement as soon as it could.

Justin Madders, a shadow health minister, has described this as a shambles.

HuffPost’s Paul Waugh finds it all surreal.

And my colleague Heather Stewart thinks there might be a last-minute change of heart.

No 10 defends Covid app, saying 1 in 3 people pinged, or contacted by test and trace, develop Covid symptoms

At the post-PMQs Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman said that new guidance would be issued soon giving more information about which critical workers will be allowed to take advantage of the scheme allowing them to use testing as an alternative to isolation. He said:

There’s updated guidance, which will be published very shortly, which sets out sort of sectors we’re considering here, but I think what’s really important – and I’ve emphasised this a couple of times now – the sort of critical services that we are talking about are already in contact with government, they are already speaking to departments, and do so on a regular basis even outside of a pandemic.

As you’d expect in things like medicine supply, critical food supply, trains, transport, those are the kinds of things we’ve seen and exemptions have already been granted both within the healthcare system and outside of it.

The spokesman also said the NHS Covid app was “carrying out an important function” and that one in three people contacted by test and trace, or by the app, go on to get coronavirus symptoms. He said:

We know that one in three people contacted either by test and trace or by the app go on to develop coronavirus symptoms so that demonstrates the importance of people isolating when asked to do so.

Updated

Echoing the SDLP (see 2.02pm), the British Chambers of Commerce has also suggested that aligning sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards with the EU’s may offer a solution to many of the problems with the Northern Ireland protocol. William Bain, head of trade policy at the BCC, said:

Businesses in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland need durable, workable, negotiated solutions on compliance with the protocol to ensure the continued two-way flow of goods east-west and north-south. The UK and EU governments need to work together to find solutions which work for business.

A negotiated solution on customs, agri-food and e-commerce deliveries which deals with all of the red tape issues, is preferable to unilateral actions. An SPS agreement would deal with the most obtrusive border checks and controls, but customs and e-commerce issues also need to be dealt with by the autumn.

The SDLP, the Northern Ireland nationalist party, has described today’s plans to reset the Northern Ireland protocol from the government as “shameless”. The SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood, said:

Today’s statement ... on the operation of the protocol is the latest in a car crash attempt by the British government to distance themselves from an agreement they negotiated, campaigned for and signed up to.

It is a shameless position based on political expedience rather than providing the stability that people, businesses and communities in Northern Ireland need.

There are very clearly issues with the operation of the protocol. But rather than pursuing the obvious solution to Irish Sea checks acknowledged by businesses operating in the current environment, which is an SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) deal with the European Union, this government has decided to prioritise trade deals with other countries.

They have made a political calculation that does not serve the interests or needs of people in Northern Ireland and no matter how much they bluff and bluster, it cannot be pinned on those actively working to reach a sensible resolution.

Updated

Neale Richmond, a member of the Irish parliament and a Fine Gael spokesman on European affairs, has described the British government’s plans for the Northern Ireland protocol as “overly simplistic and disappointing”.

The Ulster Unionist party leader, Doug Beattie, has also welcomed the plans from the UK government to overhaul the Northern Ireland protocol. He said:

We will take our time to consider them in full, but it is welcome to see movement in the direction of finding pragmatic, workable solutions.

I hope that the European Union will take their time in considering these proposals in good faith and will not reject them out of hand. Solutions need to be found and intransigence will only serve to harm Northern Ireland.

Labour says government's approach to NI protocol has been 'shambolic'

In her response to Brandon Lewis in the Commons, Louise Haigh, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, said the government was trying to discredit an agreement it negotiated and signed. She went on:

The country will be asking: is this bad faith or simple incompetence?

Whichever it is , this shambolic approach – the dishonesty, recklessness and utter ineptitude - has come at a real cost.

It has destroyed trust in the UK government – an essential component of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement.

It has fanned the flames of instability.

And as ever, in the middle of this are the communities and businesses of Northern Ireland who have been repeatedly failed.

Because today – ahead of another difficult summer - a resolution seems further away than ever.

And in the Lords Jenny Chapman, who as shadow Brexit minister is David Frost’s Labour opposite number, used her reply to Frost to say the government’s approach had “potentially dire consequences” for communities in Northern Ireland. She said:

This is not the first time [Frost] has appeared before this house to discredit his own deal. I regret that this approach has potentially dire consequences for communities in Northern Ireland and also, critically, for our international reputation, at a time when we are seeking to forge new agreements.

The erosion of trust in the UK government – an essential component of stability in Northern Ireland – is deeply regrettable and must not be taken lightly. [Frost’s] statement is an admission of failure.

The government promised to get Brexit done. And yet here it is trying to unpick it.

Updated

The government’s command paper on the Northern Ireland protocol is now available online here. It runs to 22 pages.

DUP welcomes UK plans for overhaul of NI protocol as 'significant step in right direction'

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, has welcomed the government’s command paper on the NI protocol as “a significant step in the right direction”. In a statement he said:

This is a significant step in the right direction by the government and an acceptance that the protocol is not sustainable. We warned about the flaws of the protocol and since its imposition upon Northern Ireland, we have been highlighting how the Irish Sea border has been injurious to almost every area of life for people living in Northern Ireland.

Sticking plasters and short-term fixes were never going to work. We need a proper renegotiation.

Last week, we published seven tests for any new approach to the protocol. That is the yardstick we will use in the days ahead. Those tests are based on the government’s own commitments.

Donaldson also criticised the EU, saying it had “failed to recognise the concerns of unionists and has shown zero respect for the consensus approach which has helped secure peace and stability in Northern Ireland”.

Summary of key points from Frost/Lewis statement proposing overhaul of NI protocol

Here are the main points from the joint statement delivered by David Frost, the Brexit minister, in the Lords and by Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, in the Commons.

  • Frost and Lewis said the protocol was placing “ever more unsustainable burdens” on Northern Ireland. They said:

As we have sought to operate the protocol, it is clear that its burdens have been the source of considerable - and ongoing - disruption to lives and livelihoods.

We have seen reductions in supermarket product lines. We have seen more than 200 suppliers decide they would no longer sell to Northern Ireland. We have seen difficulties not just on the famous chilled meats but also on medicines, on pets, on movements of live animals, on seeds and plants.

Nowhere is this more visible than in the fact that the Northern Ireland executive conducts 20% of all the EU documentary checks on products of animal origin - despite a population of only 1.8 million people.

What is worse, these burdens will worsen, not improve over time, as grace periods expire – leaving businesses facing ever more unsustainable burdens.

  • They said the UK “cannot go on” like this.

We have worked with the EU to try to address these challenges. Some avenues for progress have been identified in certain areas. But overall those discussions have not got to the heart of the problem.

Put simply, we cannot go on as we are.

  • They said they would not be triggering article 16, that would allow aspects of the protocol to be suspended, at this point - even though they claimed it would be justified.

We have looked carefully at the safeguards provided by article 16 of the protocol.

They exist to deal with significant societal and economic difficulties, as well as trade diversion.

There has been significant disruption to east-west trade, a significant increase in trade on the island of Ireland as companies change supply chains, and considerable disruption to everyday lives.

There has also been societal instability, seen most regrettably with the disorder across Northern Ireland at Easter. Indeed the false, but raw, perception in the unionist community of separation from the rest of the United Kingdom has had profound political consequences.

These are very serious effects which have put people, businesses and the institutions of the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement under strain. It is plainly clear that the circumstances exist to justify the use of article 16.

Nevertheless we have concluded that it is not the right moment to do so. Instead, we see an opportunity to proceed differently, to find a new path.

  • They said they wanted “significant change” to the protocol to establish a “new balance”.

Today’s command paper outlines the new balance we wish to find.

It is a balance which needs to ensure that goods can circulate much more freely within the UK customs territory, while ensuring that full processes are applied to goods destined for the EU.

It is a balance which needs to enable all in Northern Ireland to continue to have normal access to goods from the rest of the UK, by allowing goods meeting both UK and EU standards to circulate there.

And it is a balance which needs to normalise the basis of the protocol’s governance, so that the relationship between us and the EU is no longer policed by the EU institutions and the court of justice. We should return to a normal treaty framework, similar to other international agreements, that is more conducive to the sense of genuine and equitable partnership we seek.

We also recognise our share of responsibility in helping the EU protect its single market. We are willing to explore exceptional arrangements around data-sharing and cooperation; and penalties in legislation to deter those looking to move non-compliant products from Northern Ireland to Ireland ...

These proposals will require significant change to the Northern Ireland protocol. We do not shy away from that. We believe such change is necessary to deal with the situation we now face.

  • They called for a “standstill” period while negotiations continue.

We look to open a discussion on these proposals urgently. At the same time, we must provide certainty and stability for businesses as we do so. So we believe we should also quickly agree a “standstill” period, including maintaining the operation of grace periods in force, and a freeze on existing legal actions and processes, to ensure there is room to negotiate and to provide a genuine signal of good intent to find ways forward.

  • They said the UK had tried to operate the protocol in good faith.

There is no doubt that we have tried to operate the protocol in good faith.

We worked throughout 2020 to finalise the areas left open by the protocol text, without of course knowing what the real-world impacts on the ground would be.

We are planning to invest around £500m in delivering systems and support services.

We have worked with business to help their preparations for the new trading arrangements …

Updated

Covid-related deaths in Scotland climbed last week to their highest level since March after the deaths of 47 people were recorded where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate, 16 more than the previous week.

National Records of Scotland data showed that in the week ending 18 July, 11 deaths involving Covid were registered in Glasgow, six in Edinburgh and five in Dundee. Another 19 council areas recorded one death. Of those, 38 deaths occurred in hospitals and four in care homes; 11 people were under 65.

While the overall number of Covid infections in Scotland has fallen markedly in recent days, the data confirms an upward trend in fatalities after record numbers of people were infected with the much more infectious Delta variant.

In mid-May, only one or two deaths a week were recorded. There were 452 deaths registered in one week mid-January, at the peak of the second wave of the pandemic.

Updated

UK says it wants to substantially rewrite Northern Ireland Brexit protocol

The UK has launched an attempt to substantially rewrite the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol that Boris Johnson signed up to in 2019, arguing “we cannot go on as we are” given the “ongoing febrile political climate” in the region, my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports.

In the Commons Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, is making his own statement on the Northern Ireland protocol. It is an repeat of what Frost has been telling peers (which is normal when a statement is repeated in both houses).

Frost says the government wants significant change to the protocol.

He says it wants an urgent discussion with the EU on its plans.

In the meantime there should be a standstill period, with the grace periods still applying.

Now is the time to establish a new balance, he says.

He says the UK has set out its plans in a command paper being published today.

Frost tells peers UK would be justified in triggering article 16, to disapply NI protocol, but won't do it now

In the Lords, just before PMQs is over, David Frost, the Brexit minister, starts giving his statement on the Northern Ireland protocol.

He says the protocol is placing considerable burdens on NI.

The government has worked with the EU to try to address the problem.

But those discussions have not got to the heart of the problem.

He says it cannot go on like this.

The government has looked at the case for triggering article 16, which would disapply parts of the protocol.

He says the circumstances exist to justify using it.

But the government has concluded “it is not the right moment” to do so.

Updated

Rehman Chishti (Con) asks about the problem of missing people.

Johnson says 95% of missing people cases are resolved. But the remaining 5% represents an unacceptably high level of suffering, he says.

Sarah Olney (Lib Dem) says her own daughter has had to miss school because she had to isolate. From September will pupils get an uninterrupted schooling?

Johnson says that is what he wants. But he says it is important for people to get their first jab.

Updated

Johnson says he wants to start phasing out badger culling.

Richard Burgon (Lab) says hundreds of thousands of people are having to isolate because of the PM’s reckless policy. But they cannot rush off to a mansion with a heated pool. And they have to survive on £96 per week sick pay. Could the PM live on that?

Johnson says Burgon is wrong. He says more help is available to people isolating, including a £500 payment [although that is only available to some low-income workers].

Updated

Cat Smith (Lab) says the government is paying too much attention to the interests of property developers.

Johnson says he has never heard so much “cobblers” in all his life.

He says the government’s planning reforms will protect the interests of local people.

Cherilyn Mackrory (Con) says there is real concern in the Cornish daffodil industry that they won’t have enough pickers this year.

Johnson says he is happy to meet Mackrory to discuss this. The government wants to develop a local labour force, and line up young people. But there are also 6 million EU nationals allowed to stay in the UK, he says.

Updated

Debbie Abrahams (Lab) calls for an inquiry into the deaths of people who have died after having their benefits cut.

Johnson says Abrahams will get a full account of what the government is doing to address this problem.

Johnson says he supports a plan for a memorial to Dame Vera Lynn.

Margaret Ferrier (Ind) asks about one aspect of fire safety guidance in surveys needed by someone buying a home.

Johnson says Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, is making a statement to the Commons soon to address the specific issue Ferrier is raising.

Alberta Costa (Con) says he welcomes the move to step 4. If we don’t move forward now, we risk opening up when the NHS is under more pressure.

Johnson says Costa is “spot on, completely right”.

He says he looked at the data this morning with the chief medical officer. They saw the extraordinary difference between the number of old people being hospitalised now, and the number earlier in the pandemic.

Stephen Timms (Lab), the chair of the work and pensions committee, says he and the chairs of equivalent committees in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are calling for the £20 universal credit uplift to be maintained.

Johnson says he wants to get people into work, rather than keeping them on welfare.

Theo Clarke (Con) asks about maternity services at Stafford hospital.

Johnson says options are being explored for restoring maternity services there.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, asks what the PM will do to restore the Act of Union and remove the border down the Irish Sea.

Johnson says the government is setting out its plans today. Nothing in the Northern Ireland protocol affects the territorial integrity of the UK, he says.

David Davis (Con) asks if the PM will commit to ensure every working-class child can use modern technology for education.

Johnson says he is looking at doing this.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says the Scottish government is more interested in settling up than levelling up.

He says Johnson said on 15 October last year that the NHS was not at risk of being overwhelmed and the elderly should be sacrificed. He says the PM was pushing for the virus to be allowed to run rampant. How can anyone put faith in a PM who typed the words “Get Covid and live longer”.

Johnson claims Blackford grossly mischaracterises what Johnson said. He says people understand the decisions he had to take were difficult. The government had to balance difficult harms on either side. There were no good options, he says. Lockdowns damage life chances, and mental health. He says there will be an inquiry. He is content he followed the scientific guidance, he says. He claims he did all he could to protect life.

Is that it?, Blackford asks. He says this glib approach to human life is not acceptable. He is not fit for office. This cabal should be made to answer under oath. Will the inquiry start immediately? And will he commit to giving evidence to the inquiry under oath before any election is held?

Johnson says he has ordered an inquiry. He does not think it should go ahead now, in the middle of a third wave. It should start next spring, when we will be “in a much, much better position”, he says.

  • Johnson refuses to commit to giving evidence to Covid inquiry on oath before the next general election.

Updated

Starmer says they need to check the line to Chequers is working; the PM is not answering the questions. He says nobody believes what the PM is saying. Johnson let the new variant into the country, and cases are soaring, he says.

Johnson says the government is protecting jobs. The opposition has no plan, he says. Labour seems to favour perpetual lockdown, he says.

Updated

Starmer says Johnson is inviting him to back the PM’s chaos.

He quotes the text message revealed by Dominic Cummings implying Johnson was happy to see old people die. Starmer says 83,000 people over the age of 80 have died. Will the PM apologise?

Johnson says nothing he can say will make up for the suffering people have experienced. He says there will be an inquiry. He defends his handling of the pandemic, and stresses the success of the vaccine programme.

Starmer says Johnson is making it up. How is business meant to plan on this basis. He says he is surprised that the PM cannot see the irony of announcing freedom day from isolation, and saying he will introduce vaccine ID cards when he used to say he would eat them. He is a superspreader of confusion, he says.

Johnson says the opposition leader has a choice between constructive opposition, and just scoring cheap points. He says it should be obvious why he wants to wait until all young people are fully vaccinated before making vaccine ID compulsory.

Starmer says it may be calm at the PM’s country retreat, but in the Commons they are heading for a summer of chaos.

He says the message changed yesterday hour by hour as to what would happen in terms of exempting critical workers from the isolation rules.

He quotes what was said at lobby on this, and says he does not know what it means.

Who will be exempt from isolation?

Johnson says this is feeble stuff. He says he answered Starmer’s question in a letter. He claims Labour wants to keep the country in lockdown. Starmer cannot have it both ways, he says.

Hoyle interrupts Johnson. He says they cannot hear him, and need to turn up the volume. He tells Johnson his stand-in is keen to take over.

Johnson says Starmer was not listening. He says he explained in a letter that some workers would not have to exempt. He says Starmer is attacking the isolation system. That is “totally inconsistent” with his desire to stay in lockdown. Labour does not want to stay in step 4, he says.

Starmer says Johnson said everyone understands the position. But the government is “all over the place”. Yesterday one minister said the app was advisory, and another said it was about allowing people to make informed decisions. And Johnson tried to dodge the rules. So how can the public follow the rules?

Johnson says isolation is an important part of the armoury against Covid. When you are advised to isolate, you should do so. And even more important than isolation is vaccination, he says.

Sir Keir Starmer also thanks Commons staff for their work keeping people safe.

He wishes the “Chequers one” well in his isolation.

He says it was surprising Johnson was chosen for a pilot that allowed him not to isolate.

If someone is pinged, should they isolate?

Johnson says people know the answer to that. He says he understands the inconvenience of isolation. But he says isolation is a vital tool.

Updated

Sally-Ann Hart (Con) asks about the case for the HS1 extension from Ashford to Eastbourne.

Johnson says this is being reviewed. A decision will be made in due course, he says.

Updated

Boris Johnson says he is delighted to be taking part in the 60th anniversary edition.

He starts by thanking parliamentary, constituency and Commons staff before the summer break for all their work.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, starts by saying it is just over 60 years since the first PMQs. Harold Macmillan was the PM at the time. The then Speaker said he was trying it as an experiment. But now it is one of the most high-profile events of the parliamentary week, watched by people around the world.

Hoyle says he expects the exchanges to be “robust but orderly”.

PMQs

PMQs is about to start.

It will be the last before the summer recess.

Boris Johnson is still isolating, so he will be participating remotely from Chequers.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

The Office for National Statistics has published its latest figures for the percentage of adults in the four nations of the UK who would test positive for Covid antibodies. Here are the figures.

England: 91.9% (up from 89.8% a fortnight before)

Wales: 92.6% (up from 91.8%)

Northern Ireland: 90% (up from 87.2%)

Scotland: 88.6% (up from 84.7%)

These figures cover the week beginning 28 June. They are central estimates and are subject to 95% credibility intervals, set out in the report.

Testing positive for Covid antibodies means that someone has either been vaccinated or infected. Eventually their level in the body declines to the point where they cannot be detected, but scientists are unsure how long this takes.

Updated

Fewer than one in 12 people reported negative side-effects in the week after having a coronavirus vaccine, a study shows, while almost half reported feeling better, PA Media reports. PA says:

Some 7.9% of participants reported side-effects that disrupted their daily activities, with the most common including fever, headaches and fatigue, according to the Vac4Covid study which recruited more than 12,000 people across the UK.

Forty-five per cent of study participants said they felt better in the seven days following their jab, according to the researchers from the University of Dundee’s School of Medicine.

Updated

Tory MPs suspended for trying to influence judge in Elphicke case

Three Conservative MPs will be temporarily suspended from the Commons and told to apologise after being found to have tried to influence a judge presiding over the trial of a former colleague for sexual assault, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports. The one-day ban from parliament was handed down by the standards committee to backbenchers Sir Roger Gale, Theresa Villiers and Natalie Elphicke – the then partner of Charlie Elphicke, who was given two years in prison after being found guilty of three counts of sexual assault.

Here is the standard committee’s report, and here is Aubrey’s story.

As Suzanne Lynch, the Irish Times’ Washington correspondent reports, the US government wants the UK to stay within the “existing mechanisms” of the Northern Ireland protocol. She posted these tweets last night.

This phrase echoes what the Irish government is saying this morning (see 9.32am) about how it thinks any solution to the Northern Ireland protocol problems should be found “within the confines of the protocol”.

Paul Givan, the DUP first minister of Northern Ireland, has posted this on Twitter following a briefing he has had about the statement on the NI protocol being made in the Commons later.

Priti Patel criticised by home affairs committee chair for saying border controls effective against Delta variant

Cooper tells Patel that she does not think there is anyone in the country who think the government’s border policy worked to prevent the Delta variant spread in the UK. She says it is “quite troubling” that Patel is saying the policy worked.

Q: Nervtag said on 16 April that it was worried about new cases in India. Why did it take a full week from then to put India on the red list?

Patel says she does not accept that the government delayed putting India on the red list.

And when it was put on the red list, the Delta variant had not yet been identified in the UK as a variant of concern, she says.

Priti Patel gives evidence to Commons home affairs committee

Priti Patel, the home secretary, is giving evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.

Yvette Cooper (Lab), the chair, opens the questions. She asks why border measures have failed to keep out new variants.

Patel says she does not accept that the border controls failed.

Cooper says the border systems “clearly did fail” because the Delta variant has now spread all over the country.

Updated

Verdict from the commentariat on Cummings's BBC interview

If you haven’t watched it already, Laura Kuenssberg’s BBC interview with Dominic Cummings mentioned earlier (see 9.26am) is well worth watching. He gave evidence to MPs for seven hours about Brexit, but this interview covers a lot not discussed in that hearing, like Brexit and Cummings’s relationship with Boris Johnson. And even though Cummings sets out his views regularly on his blog, there is a lot to be gleaned from actually watching someone being interviewed. Those smirks were remarkably telling.

The Independent’s John Rentoul has posted a transcript.

And here is some reaction from commentators.

From the FT’s Robert Shrimsley

From the Telegraph’s Christopher Hope

From the Economist’s Anne McElvoy

From Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn

Stephen Bush in a New Statesman column says the interview showed Cummings talking on the record about an important political project. Here’s an extract.

Small group of people in British politics – some of them in the House of Commons, some of them working for thinktanks, some in campaigning organisations of one kind or another, and some in the media – have a shared set of views about how the country should be run. They successfully take over a political party, remake it, and then the country. Eventually, they fall out and the political project collapses ...

The Cummings story is also the story of the New Labour project, the government of David Cameron and the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. Had history gone a little bit differently, it might also have been the story of the governments of William Hague or Ed Miliband or Jeremy Corbyn ...

Can Cummings find another way back to relevance? It’s certainly possible. The suggestion he semi-floated of a new party is difficult for anyone to pursue that we no longer have a UK-wide election in which proportional representation is used means that new political parties are going to need to have very distinctive regional identities to survive and thrive, as it is only in Wales, Scotland and London that they don’t need to overcome first-past-the-post. But a lot of the most interesting ideas on the right at present are coming from the rationalist right and you can easily see how, if that way of looking at the world gains greater prominence in the Tory party, there’s a way back for him even if his account of the political project he was part of isn’t wholly accurate.

My colleague Zoe Williams in her Guardian sketch of the interview says Cummings is “nothing but a revolutionary Oakeshottian”. She says:

Michael Oakeshott, you’ll remember of course, infected the conservative worldview for decades in the middle of the last century with his deep cynicism and profound lack of purpose. Politics is no great project, but rather the men in it “sail a boundless and bottomless sea … There is neither harbour nor shelter, neither starting place nor appointed destination”.

From the FT’s Jim Pickard

From PoliticsHome’s Kate Proctor

From Lionel Barber, the former FT editor

From the broadcaster Richard Coles

Updated

Meat processing industry says supply chains 'starting to fail' because of Covid isolation staff shortages

Food supply chains are “starting to fail” because of workers isolating over coronavirus contacts, an industry leader has warned as he criticised Boris Johnson’s effort to ease the “pingdemic”, PA Media reports. PA says:

The meat industry trade body said it cannot rely on the prime minister’s new exemption for some fully-vaccinated critical workers because the bar has been set “very, very high”.

In the face of widespread criticism from businesses over staff shortages as Covid-19 cases soar, Boris Johnson announced a plan for a “small number” of critical workers to be able to continue their functions.

But the British Meat Processors Association chief executive, Nick Allen, criticised “confusing messages” from the government as he said ministers have not clarified who is applicable.

“There’s an air of despondency creeping through the industry really. Until now we’ve managed to keep the food supply chain running but there’s a sense of we’re starting to fail on that front,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Asked if production lines are stalling, he said: “They are. It’s happening already. We’re starting to see that at retail level and in restaurants – everyone is struggling to get things out really.”

He said the industry is not clear who is covered by the exemption for a small number of double-jabbed critical workers.

“It was made very clear to us late yesterday that this exemption will be for very, very few people. They described it as setting the bar very, very high and we’re certainly not counting on that,” he said.

Pubs and shops have complained about having to close because of the number of people being “pinged” as contacts by the NHS Covid-19 app, while medics have also raised concerns.

Updated

This is from Rem Korteweg, a Brexit specialist at the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch foreign policy thinktank, on the UK plans for the Northern Ireland protocol expected to be announced today.

John Kerry, the US president Joe Biden’s climate envoy, told the Today programme this morning that the resilience of peace in Northern Ireland was a “constant concern” to the White House. Asked about the future of the Northern Ireland protocol, Kerry said:

There’s a constant concern.

My principal concern is now climate and it’s not my portfolio but, suffice to say, President Biden is deeply immersed in the issue. He’s been dealing with it for years on the foreign relations committee.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken is as knowledgeable and has worked with the president on this for years and they’re both deeply committed in making certain that the agreement holds and there is peace ultimately.

Updated

Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s European affairs minister, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that any solutions to the problems at the Northern Ireland/Great Britain border had to be found within the confines of the NI protocol.

Asked how he would respond to the proposals expected to be announced by David Frost and Brandon Lewis today (see 9.26am), Byrne said:

We’re going to listen carefully to what the British government have to say.

We’re willing to discuss any creative solutions within the confines of the protocol but we have to recognise as well that Britain decided itself to leave the single market of the European Union, to apply trade rules, to apply red tape to its goods that are leaving Britain, to goods that are coming into Britain.

Updated

UK to set out new Northern Ireland protocol plan after Cummings admits Brexit could be mistake

Good morning. In his interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg broadcast last night, Dominic Cummings, the key strategist behind the Vote Leave campaign and Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, admitted that he could not be sure Brexit was a good idea. He said:

Questions like is Brexit a good idea? No-one on earth knows ... what the answer to that is.

And when Kuenssberg asked him to confirm that he was not sure Brexit was a good idea, he replied:

I think anyone who says they’re sure about questions like that has got a screw loose, whether you’re on the remain side or our side ... I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say Brexit was a mistake.

Cummings did, though, stress that he still thought Brexit was a good thing.

Today Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, and Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, will be making statements in the Lords and in the Commons respectively about the government’s latest proposals to change the Northern Ireland protocol. We can be fairly sure that neither of them will be admitting that Brexit might be a mistake (still a hanging offence in Johnson’s Downing Street), but the content of what they are saying will illustrate why Cummings has a point. That is because they will be proposing changes to an international treaty that Johnson signed only last year. And it is demanding changes because the UK still has not found a solution to the Irish trilemma; the Brexiters wanted to take Britain out of the single market and the customs union, to avoid a GB/NI border down the Irish Sea and to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

They were told this was impossible. When Johnson signed the protocol, he agreed to new GB/NI border controls, but these are now deeply unpopular with unionists in Northern Ireland and he is effectively seeking to rewrite the protocol to minimise or eliminate them.

Here is my colleague Lisa O’Carroll’s preview story.

And here is an extract from the Financial Times’ preview story (paywall), which has details of what Frost and Lewis are expected to propose.

In a move that officials called a “wholesale change of approach”, Lord David Frost, Cabinet Office minister, will outline a strategy that seeks to eliminate most of the checks on the Irish Sea trade border that came into force in January.

And in a warning that Britain could suspend the Northern Ireland protocol in its Brexit deal with the EU if the bloc does not give way, Frost will claim the UK is already within its rights to activate the article 16 override clause in the agreement ...

Frost’s proposals are expected to include an “honesty box” approach, where companies that said their goods were destined only for sale and use in Northern Ireland should be exempted from checks on the Irish Sea border.

Britain also wants Brussels to agree to a dual-standards regime that would allow goods that conform to UK rules to circulate freely in Northern Ireland alongside EU-compliant products, so long as they were labelled as only for use in the region, according to people with knowledge of the proposals.

Another strand of the proposals is expected to seek to remove any role for the European Commission or the European Court of Justice in the operation of the Northern Ireland protocol.

The EU is likely to view these proposals as unacceptable, although Johnson seems to be hoping that eventually Brussels will decide to back down rather than escalate the dispute in a way that would put the Northern Ireland peace process at risk.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: The ONS publishes figures on Covid antibody levels, and on the impact of long Covid on people’s lives.

10.30am: Priti Patel, the home secretary, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee. The session will cover Covid border policy, Channel crossings and violence against women and girls.

12pm: Boris Johnson faces Sir Keir Starmer at the last PMQs before the summer recess.

12.30pm: Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, gives a statement to MPs about the Northern Ireland protocol. At around the same time Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, will deliver the same statement in the Lords.

Around 1.30pm: Helen Whately, the social care minister, makes a statement to MPs on the NHS. She is likely to confirm that NHS staff are being offered a 3% pay rise.

2pm: Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, holds a press conference.

3pm: Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, gives a speech on plans to reform judicial review.

Politics Live has been a mix of Covid and non-Covid news recently but today I will be focusing largely on Priti Patel at the home affairs committe, PMQs and the Northern Ireland protocol statements. For more coronavirus developments, do follow our global Covid live blog.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com

Updated

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