Early evening summary
- Victoria Atkins, the Home Office minister, has dismissed claims that the government is involved in a “cover-up” intended to delay the publication of a report likely to expose police and media corruption. Speaking in response to a Commons urgent question, Atkins said that the Home Office had not even been given the report from the panel investigating the death of Daniel Morgan yet and that Priti Patel, the home secretary, was only insisting on seeing it ahead of publication to review it on national security grounds. Patel’s insistence on her right to redact the report has infuriated the panel that produced it, which insists that there are not potential national security issues with its contents, and as a result the panel is refusing to hand it over. Morgan was a private detective killed 34 years ago with an axe in a pub car park in south London. Chris Bryant, the Labour MP who tabled the urgent question, and one of the parliamentarians who did most to expose the media’s role in phone-hacking, told MPs that Morgan’s family had had no justice “thanks to corruption in the police and interference by News UK”. He asked Akins for an assurance that Patel has not discussed the case with News UK. He asked:
It is not difficult to see why powerful people, with very close friends in News International [Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper company, now called News UK] might want to delay or prevent this publication. So has the home secretary, or any of her advisers or officials, had any formal or informal discussion or correspondence on this matter with News UK, with Rebekah Brooks [the News UK boss] or with Rupert Murdoch? And will she publish the minutes of her department’s meetings with News UK over the past 12 months?
If not, won’t people conclude that the cover-up is still going on, and this isn’t the party of law and order, it’s the party of the cover-up?
Atkins sidestepped the question about contacts with News UK, but she insisted that the Home Office wanted to see the report published. She said the report would not be redacted or edited, but she added a caveat, saying the home secretary had to take into account national security. The SNP Peter Grant made a contrast between the government’s stance on this issue and its response to the revelations about the BBC and Martin Bashir. Grant told the Commons:
I can’t help thinking if things had been the other way round - if it had been Sun journalists who had lied to procure an interview with the late Princess of Wales and if it were the BBC that were alleged to be involved in covering up the reasons for a brutal murder on the streets of London - then the reaction on the government benches to this and [the BBC story] may have been very different.
That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.
The UQ is over, but Chris Bryant is making a point of order. He says “national security” can be used to cover anything.
Charlotte Nichols (Lab) asks if the government will re-establish Leveson part two, which will have the power to investigate News UK.
Atkins says the panel has been working on this for eight years. She says the government wants the truth to come out.
Updated
Atkins insists the government has “no interest in editing this report, none whatsoever”. It wants the truth to come out, she says.
Updated
In response to a later question, to support her claim that Priti Patel needed to clear the support on national security grounds before its publication, Atkins said the home secretary was privy to national security considerations that only a very small number of people were aware of.
In her response to Chris Bryant (see 5.28pm), Victoria Atkins, the Home Office minister, said the Home Office cannot block the publication of a report it has not yet received.
She said there was a very real desire in the Home Office to see the report published.
But the terms of reference for the panel said it would be reviewed by the Home Office prior to publication, she said.
She said the home secretary had to take into account possible national security concerns.
Labour's Chris Bryant asks for assurance report not being delayed as part of 'cover-up' to protect News UK
Chris Bryant, the Labour MP who tabled the question, takes issue with Atkins for calling the murder of Daniel Morgan a tragedy. It was a crime, he says. He says Morgan was axed to death in a car park.
He says “thanks to corruption in the police and interference by News UK, the family have had no justice”. That shames us, he says.
He says Priti Patel, the home secretary, has blocked publication of the report because she wants to review it. He says she has no power in law to do that.
He asks the government to agree a date for the report’s publication.
He says it is not difficult to see why people with close friends in News International might want to delay or prevent publication. (News International is the old name for what is now News UK, Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper business in the UK.)
He asks if Patel has had any formal or informal discussions on this with News UK, with Rupert Murdoch or with Rebekah Brooks, the head of News UK. If the minister won’t reply, people will conclude a “cover-up” is going on, he says.
Updated
Home Office minister answers urgent question on Daniel Morgan report
Victoria Atkins, a Home Office minister, is now responding to an urgent question about the Daniel Morgan report.
Atkins says the Home Office has asked the panel report that produced it to share the report with the Home Office, so it can be published.
She does not directly refer to the Home Office’s stand-off with the panel.
The DUP’s Gregory Campbell asks about the case of a BBC journalist who linked Israel to Nazi Germany in a tweet.
The tweet was posted seven years ago, before the journalist started working for the BBC. But Whittingdale says “anybody who can express such opinions should not be employed by the BBC”.
Updated
John Redwood (Con) asks how anyone who supports Brexit and loves England can think that the BBC will be fair to their views.
Updated
Neale Hanvey, the former SNP MP who switched to Alex Samond’s Alba party just before the Holyrood election, says this episode shows that people in the rest of the UK are realising something that the people of Scotland have known for years. He says the BBC brand is broken in Scotland. He complains in particular about how it did not include Alex Salmond, the former first minister and Alba leader, in its leaders’ debates ahead of the election.
Tory MP Lee Anderson says he has ripped up his TV licence
Lee Anderson (Con) says he has ripped up his TV licence. The BBC will not get another penny from him, he says. He says his constituents (in Ashfield, in Nottinghamshire) should not have to pay for a service they do not use. He says the BBC should be a subscription service.
Whittingdale says there is a feeling that the BBC has lost touch with a large part of the population. But moving to a subscription model would be a very significant change, he says.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, says fraud is defined as deception intended to result in personal gain. He says Martin Bashir made false representations to persuade Diana to do something that she would not otherwise have done. He asks if this case is being referred to the director of public prosecutions.
Whittingdale says he thinks the Metropolitan police has been asked to look at this.
Whittingdale says there is case for 'greater oversight of journalistic decisions' at BBC
Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con) says the problem with the BBC is that it sees accountability as a threat to its independence.
Whittingdale says he thinks there is a need for much stronger oversight of the editorial decision-making process.
He says the BBC board oversees a vast range of things. But there is case for “greater oversight of journalistic decisions and editorial decisions”.
He says the BBC’s review will report by September. The government will look at it closely.
Updated
Whittingdale repeats the point about how the culture of the BBC needs to change. It is made up too much of people “with the same mindset, the same background, from the same part of the world”.
Graham Stringer (Lab) asks if Whittingdale agrees the BBC needs a “deep cultural change”. Whittingdale says he does agree.
He says the BBC must be “properly reflective” of the diversity of thought, and of geography, in the country. It should not just comprise people who “pat themselves on the back” and “turn a blind eye when accusations are made”.
But he says the new management recognises this, and is determined to address it.
Whittingdale says there have been “dreadful failings” by the BBC in recent years.
But they all took place before the new charter was put in place, he says.
This is what Richard Sharp, the chairman of the BBC, said on this topic in an interview with the World at One today. Sharp said:
I take comfort from the fact that Martin Bashir is no longer here, I don’t take comfort - yet - from understanding why he was rehired, we will find that out. That is being examined by the executive and they will report to the board on that.
Culture committee chair says 'more than whiff of criminality' about how Bashir obtained Diana interview
Responding to Whittingdale, Julian Knight, the Conservative chair of the culture committee, who tabled the UQ, says there was “more than a whiff of criminality” about what Martin Bashir did.
Smith says that his sources have told him that when Bashir was rehired by the BBC as a religious affairs correspondent, he was not even interviewed. He says there is a suspicion that Bashir was just hired to keep his mouth shut.
Whittingdale says the BBC is now investigating this.
Updated
Culture minister John Whittingdale says BBC governance to be reviewed after Bashir scandal
John Whittingdale, a culture minister, is responding to the UQ.
He says the Dyson report makes “shocking reading”.
He says it shows an appalling failure to uphold journalistic standards.
He says the BBC deserves credit for setting up the inquiry. But the BBC now needs to consider how its reputation for competence can be restored.
He says it is not the government’s job to interfere in editorial decisions. But it must put in place a robust system of governance, he says.
He says a mid-term review was anticipated when the BBC charter was renewed. That is due next year, but will start now, he says.
The BBC has announced its own review, he says.
The UQ is over. We’re now getting one on the BBC, and the Dyson report into Martin Bashir.
In his response to Dominic Raab’s opening statement, Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee who tabled the urgent question, urged the UK government to call for the suspension of the Nord Stream 2 as part of it retaliation. He said:
This attack was a hijacking that turned into a kidnapping and now is a serious violation of the human rights, not just of Roman Protasevich who has been held by the Belarussian authorities, but of every passenger and member of the crew on that airliner.
This is a direct threat not just to those who may be distanced to regimes like Belarus but to all of us who are at risk of overflying a state like that.
Tugendhat said the government was “absolutely right” to impose the new rules on flights. But he went on:
Will [Raab] also go one step further and will he call for a suspension of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and the Yamal energy pipeline that flows through Belarus which is where the money comes from that supports this tyrannous regime?
It’s vital to the security of the UK people that we stand strong against this, otherwise everyone flying to Thailand, to Australia, to many other destinations will have to wonder not only what they may have done to offend a regime that they’re flying over but even what somebody else on the aircraft - somebody they’ve never met before - has done.
Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chair of the Commons defence committee, asks Raab if he thinks the measures he has announced will really impact the Belarusian regime.
Raab says he is not sure what Ellwood is proposing. He says there is a danger of making the country ever more dependent on Russia.
This is what Dominic Raab said in his opening statement.
We are urgently seeking full details of precisely what took place in relation to Flight FR4978 but the scenario as reported is a shocking assault on civil aviation and an assault on international law.
It represents a danger to civilian flights everywhere and it is an egregious and extraordinary departure from the international law and the international practice that guides international civil aviation under the Chicago Convention.
We’re calling for the council of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) to urgently convene to address thoroughly and rigorously this incident.
The regime in Minsk must provide a full explanation for what appears to be as I said a serious violation of international law.
[Belarusian leader Alexander] Lukashenko’s regime must be held to account for such reckless and dangerous behaviour.
For our part we’ve summoned the Belarusian ambassador, and the minister for the European neighbourhood is conveying our condemnation of these acts as we speak.
We are working with our international partners to explore every potential diplomatic option at ICAO, at the UN Security Council, at the OSCE and at the G7.
Beyond the diplomatic track we’re actively considering and co-ordinating with our allies on further sanctions on those responsible for this outlandish conduct.
To ensure the safety of air passengers, I’ve also worked with the Transport Secretary to issue a notice to all UK airlines to cease ... flights of Belarusian airspace and to suspend the operating permit on the Belarusian airline Belavia with immediate effect.
And as a precautionary measure, the UK Civil Aviation Authority will be instructed not to issue any further ad hoc permits to any other carriers flying between the UK and Belarus.
I know the whole House will join me in condemning unequivocally this reprehensible action under the Lukashenko regime.
The UK will stand firm in protecting freedom of the media, upholding international law and maintaining the safety of international civil aviation.
Julian Lewis, the Conservative chair of the intelligence and security committee, asks for an assurance that the government will not be tempted to appease Belarus through fear of driving it into the arms of Russia.
Raab gives that assurance. But he says, as well as applying pressure, the government must leave “the door of diplomacy” ajar in case more pragmatic voices in the Belarusian regime are able to take positive steps.
Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, tabled the urgent question on Belarus. He has welcomed the government’s decision to stop UK airlines from flying through Belarusian airspace. He says this is something that he and other chairs of equivalent foreign affairs committees, from Europe and the US, proposed in a joint letter.
Responding to @CommonsForeign chairs around the world following the interception of a civil airliner over Belarus, @DominicRaab announced that flights to Belarus are grounded and overflights stopped. That’s what we’ve been campaigning for. We need others to follow. pic.twitter.com/f3N8IxPIvV
— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) May 24, 2021
John Howell (Con) asks if an international arrest warrant should be issued for President Lukashenko.
Raab says for a case like that you need quite specific information.
Raab says the Alexander Lukashenko regime in Belarus looks “very dug in”. It has the “protective umbrella” of Moscow for its support, he says.
In the Commons Alyn Smith, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesperson, says what happened to the Ryaniar jet was “almost unimaginable”. He asks what role Russia played in this.
Raab says he does not have clear details on Russia’s involvement. But he says it is hard to believe that this would not have happened without “at least the acquiescence of the authorities in Moscow”.
Raab tells MPs that the UK has imposed sanctions on 99 individuals and entities from Belarus.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, told Raab in the Commons that the government could count on Labour’s support on this matter.
This is from Grant Shapps, the transport secretary.
Following the forced diversion of a @Ryanair aircraft to Minsk yesterday, I’ve instructed @UK_CAA to request airlines avoid Belarusian airspace in order to keep passengers safe. I have also suspended Belavia’s operating permit.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) May 24, 2021
Raab tells MPs UK airlines have been told to suspend flights through Belarusian airspace
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, starts by explaining what happened to the Rynair flight. There were more than 100 passengers abroad, he says.
He says there is no evidence to support claims there was a bomb threat.
Roman Protasevich was detained on spurious charges, he says. Raab says the UK is demanding his immediate realease.
He says what happened to the flight was a threat to flights everywhere.
He says the UK wants to seen an urgent meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to discuss this.
He says UK airlines have been told to suspend flights through Belarusian airspace.
And he says the operating permit for Belavia, the Belarusian airline, has been suspended for UK.
Dominic Raab to answer Commons urgent question about Belarusian 'hijacking' of Ryanair flight
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, is about to answer a Commons urgent question about Belarus forcing a Ryanair flight to land at Minsk so the authorities could arrest opposition blogger Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega. This has been described as a “hijacking”.
Our latest story about the incident is here.
And here is the statement Raab put out about this earlier.
The UK condemns yesterday’s actions by the Belarusian authorities, who arrested journalist Roman Protasevich on the basis of a ruse, having forced his flight to land in Minsk. Mr Lukashenko must be held to account for his outlandish actions.
The UK calls for the immediate release of Mr Protasevich and other political prisoners held in Belarus. The UK is working with our allies on a coordinated response, including further sanctions. The UK also calls for the ICAO Council to meet urgently to consider the regime’s flouting of the international rules safeguarding civil aviation.
Priti Patel has declined to say how much, if anything, travellers to the UK might need to pay for a planned new digital visa system, part of a series of sweeping changes to the immigration and asylum system outlined by the home secretary, my colleague Peter Walker reports.
A total of 51,254,436 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and May 23, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 321,770 on the previous day.
As PA Media reports, NHS England said 31,826,805 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 101,708 on the previous day, while 19,427,631 were a second dose, an increase of 220,062.
Among the many ongoing mysteries about Boris Johnson’s off-duty life, including who (initially) paid for his wallpaper, holidays and organic, home-delivered food, we have a new one – is he trying to finish a long-delayed book about Shakespeare, as well as being prime minister?
At Monday’s lobby briefing Johnson’s spokesman vehemently denied a claim in the Sunday Times that the PM missed initial meetings of the Cobra emergency committee early last year as he was trying to finish the book, for which he signed a contract in 2016. “No,” the spokesman said. “The prime minister has been dealing with the response to this pandemic throughout.”
He was, however, slightly more circumspect when asked if Johnson was working on the book at all while in No 10, saying only: “Not that I’m aware of.”
Earlier reports have said Johnson had to abandon the contract and pay back the advance once he became PM. His publisher said it had been delayed “for the foreseeable future”. But on the book’s Amazon page it is scheduled to come out in hardcover in March 2022, with the title The Riddle of Genius. A riddle it certainly is.
Much of the Downing Street lobby briefing was taken up with questions about Dominic Cummings. (See 1.34pm.) Here are some of the other lines that emerged.
- Downing Street said the World Health Organisation’s investigation into the origins of the Covid pandemic needs to “explore all possible theories”, following reports that workers at Wuhan’s virology laboratory were treated in hospital as far back as November 2019. According to the Wall Street Journal, a US intelligence report says three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) sought hospital care a month before China reported the first cases of what became known as Covid-19. Asked about the revelations, the prime minister’s spokesman said:
The WHO investigation into the origins of the virus is ongoing and we have been clear throughout that it must be robust, transparent and independent.
The investigation needs to explore all possible theories on how Covid-19 made that jump from animals to humans and how it spread and that’s vital to ensure we learn lessons from this crisis and prevent another global pandemic.
- The spokesman played down prospects of government’s review of social distancing rules being published this week. At one point Boris Johnson said it would be published before the end of May. But today the spokesman refused to confirm that timetable, just saying the review would be published as soon as possible.
- The spokesman denied that Johnson missed meetings of the government’s emergency Cobra committee last year because he was working on his biography of Shakespeare. According to a report in the Sunday Times (paywall), government officials are worried that Dominic Cummings will make this claim in his evidence to MPs on Wednesday. But the spokesman said the claim was not true.
- The spokesman denied a claim in the Daily Mail that the wife of a Tory donor paid part of the cost of luxury food worth £27,000 delivered to the PM at Downing Street. Asked about the report, the spokesman said: “The costs of food for personal consumption while at Downing Street are met by the prime minister.” Asked about the Mail claim that the food from Daylesford organic farm shop was also supplied at a discount (meaning it could qualify as a donation), the spokesman said he did not have anything more to add. The Daylesford shops are owned by Carole Bamford, whose husband, the JCB boss Lord Bamford, is a major donor to the Conservatives. Asked if the PM used his own money to pay for the food, the spokesman said: “Like I said, the costs of food for personal consumption are met by the prime minister.”
- The spokesman would not comment on reports saying Johnson has set 30 July 2022 as the date for his wedding to Carrie Symonds, saying that was a personal matter
- Johnson will host a reception in Downing Street later for NHS staff to thank them for their work during the pandemic, the spokesman said.
- The spokesman dismissed suggestions that the UK’s “nul points” ranking in Eurovision was related to Brexit. He said he felt confident in saying “we don’t think it was anything to do with Brexit”. (One theory is that European voters were punishing Britain for leaving the EU.)
There are clusters of the Covid variant of concern first detected in India in Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan and Swansea, the chief medical officer for Wales, Frank Atherton has said.
Atherton said the numbers were low – 57 confirmed cases of the variant across the country - and there was no sign of an increase in hospital admissions – but Wales was a couple of weeks behind England in seeing its effect.
The CMO said his team was keeping a close eye on developments in the north-west of England because of the porous border between the region and north Wales. “It’s a watch-with-caution approach,” he said.
Giving her first press conference as the Welsh government’s new health and social services minister, Eluned Morgan, said her priorities included tackling the impact of long Covid and the impact on the nation’s mental health of the Covid crisis.
She said she “strongly” requested Welsh citizens not to travel abroad except for essential purposes. “We would ask people to look at the broader picture, how our economy could come to a grinding standstill again if a variant takes hold.”
A survey released by Public Health Wales has found that 42% of people surveyed thought their mental health is worse now than it was before the pandemic, with women and younger adults more likely to report this than others, and 38% felt that their physical health is worse now.
Opposition parties are to press Nicola Sturgeon to consider splitting the role of Scotland’s chief law officer after questions about potential conflicts of interest were raised during the Alex Salmond inquiry.
The Liberal Democrats and Labour have called for the lord advocate, the Scottish government’s chief legal adviser and a cabinet member, to no longer serve simultaneously as head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) because those dual roles could raise doubts about their impartiality.
With the Lib Dems hoping to table questions in Holyrood this week, their calls were triggered by the resignation of Lord Wolffe, the current lord advocate, and his deputy, Alison di Rollo, the solicitor general, following the Holyrood elections earlier this month. Scottish law officers often quit when a new government is appointed.
Calling for Wolffe to resign, Salmond alleged there was collusion between different arms of the Scottish state in his prosecution for sexual assaults in 2020, and questions about Wolffe’s parallel role advising ministers and civil servants when Salmond successfully sued the government over its internal inquiry into assault allegations by female officials in 2018.
A Holyrood inquiry failed to substantiate Salmond’s allegations but said those dual roles were a concern: Wolffe had been a conduit for the government inquiry report being passed to police. In a split decision rejected by Scottish National party members, the Holyrood committee said while Wolffe managed that with “integrity and professionalism”, this case highlighted:
a long-standing tension in the lord advocate’s dual roles. The committee notes that public perceptions are important in this regard and seeks reassurance that the existing arrangements continue to command confidence in the independent exercise of these two important roles.
Liam McArthur, the Lib Dem’s justice spokesman, said Wolffe’s resignation “is an opportunity to consider how the role works going forward. [Now] is the time to separate the lord advocate’s position as the Scottish government’s legal advisor and appoint an independent director of prosecutions to run the COPFS.”
No 10 brushes aside reports Cummings wants to use Covid committee hearing to force PM out of office
On Wednesday Dominic Cummings, who was the mastermind behind the Vote Leave campaign (which played a huge role in making Boris Johnson prime minister) and the most powerful aide in Downing Street until he resigned late last year, will give evidence to a Commons committee hearing on coronavirus. He intends to use it to rubbish Johnson’s handling of coronavirus, in particular criticising him for repeatedly being late to lock down. He has been rehearsing many of his arguments already on his Twitter feed, and his allies have been briefing that his ultimate aim is to bring Johnson down.
Needless to say, this took up quite a bit of time at today’s lobby briefing. Here are the key points on this topic.
- Downing Street brushed aside reports that Cummings wants to force Johnson out of office. Asked if Johnson was concerned by these reports, the PM’s spokesman said:
The prime minister is focused on delivering the commitments he’s made to the public - the biggest rail reform in 25 years, transforming high streets up and down the country, the home secretary’s border and immigration speech today. That’s what the prime minister is focused on.
No 10 clearly hopes that the taint of malice will lessen the impact of the claims that Cummings makes on Wednesday. But when asked explicitly if Johnson wanted people to take this into account when Cummings gives his evidence, the spokesman just said that Johnson was focused on delivering on his commitments.
For evidence of Cummings’ intentions, read this by my colleague Heather Stewart, which quotes “a senior Tory how knows Cummings well” as saying: “I think he wants to get Boris out.” Or read this (paywall) by the Times’ Rachel Sylvester, who says Cummings is out to destroy a third Tory leader. Or this (paywall) by the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman, who quotes an “associate” of Cummings as saying, with reference to the committee hearing, “he’ll shoot to kill”.
- No 10 restated its claim that it never pursued a policy of “herd immunity” at the early stage of the pandemic last year. The PM’s spokesman said:
Herd immunity from infection has never been government policy.
- But the spokesman did not deny Cummings’ claim that there was an abrupt change of strategy by the government in March last year. He was asked about this claim from Cummings, one of his numerous tweets on the topic.
54/ On 14/3 one of the things being screamed at the PM was ‘there is *no plan for lockdown* & our current official plan will kill at least 250k & destroy the NHS’. Cf the graph: ‘optimal single peak strategy’ with 3 interventions. That was the official plan, which was abandoned
— Dominic Cummings (@Dominic2306) May 24, 2021
The spokesman said that at all times the government was guided by the data, and that “as more data became available [in March last year], it was clear a national lockdown was needed to suppress the curves, save lives and protect the NHS from being overwhelmed”.
On “herd immunity” being policy at one point, Cummings is broadly right, although he and ministers are defining this in different terms, which gives No 10 a modicum of cover. It is true to say that the government never actively wanted people to be infected by the virus, and at no stage did anyone every just contemplate doing nothing and allowing the virus to spread and hoping that the population would develop herd immunity. But Cummings is right to say that in late February and early March one of the objections to a full suppression strategy (lockdown) was that no herd immunity would build up, and that when restrictions were lifted, there would be a big new wave of infections. That is why a softer, mitigation policy was advocated. This is what Cummings means when he says the government was relying on herd immunity and there is plenty of evidence to show he is right because Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said as much at the time. This strategy was only abandoned when the modelling made it clear it would be disastrous.
- No 10 refused to say if Johnson considered Cummings honest. Asked if Boris Johnson viewed Cummings as honest, the spokesman said he had not asked him that question.
Updated
This is from my colleague Peter Walker, who has just been listening to the No 10 lobby briefing. As he says, the prime minister’s spokesman found it hard to say a good word about the man who this time last year was often described as at least the second most powerful man in Downing Street.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman asked in lobby briefing if the prime minister believes Dominic Cummings is honest.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) May 24, 2021
Spokesman: “I haven’t asked him that question.”
Traditionally, when No 10 don’t ask the PM a question, it’s because the answer might be uncomfortable.
I will post a full summary of the briefing shortly.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has said that people aged 18 to 29 in Scotland can now register for their vaccine. But the website where people register does not say how long people might have to wait until they can get their jab.
If you are aged between 18 and 29, you can now register for your Covid vaccination here. Please do - it is the best way to protect yourself and others, and get us all back on the path to normalityhttps://t.co/6VnRhbh3OM
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 24, 2021
Priti Patel, the home secretary, has delivered her speech on immigration reform this morning. I will post a summary when I have seen the full text, but the Home Office has already published a policy document (pdf) setting out the plans.
Britons reduced their trips abroad by almost 75% in 2020 due to pandemic, ONS says
The number of visitors to the UK from overseas dropped by nearly three quarters in 2020, new figures show. PA Media reports:
Office for National Statistics data published this morning showed that overseas residents made 11.1 million visits to the UK in 2020 - 73% fewer than in 2019.
The figures also showed that overseas residents spent £6.2bn on their visits to the UK in 2020, 78% less than the previous year.
People from the UK made nearly 75% fewer trips abroad in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ONS said.
New figures show that UK residents made 23.8 million visits abroad in 2020, down 74% on the previous year.
The ONS data also found that UK residents spent £13.8bn on visits abroad in 2020, 78% less than in 2019.
Updated
There will be three urgent questions in the Commons this afternoon.
3 UQs today from 3.30pm:
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) May 24, 2021
1. @TomTugendhat to ask @DominicRaab on what measures he has taken to respond to the interception of a civilian aircraft by a Belarusian fighter and the detention of a journalist.
2. @julianknight15 to ask @OliverDowden on the findings of Lord Dyson’s report into the BBC.
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) May 24, 2021
3. @RhonddaBryant to ask @pritipatel when she will publish the report of the Independent Panel into the death of Daniel Morgan.
Truss says UK wants to eliminate need for border controls and paperwork under Northern Ireland protocol
On her LBC phone-in this morning Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, was unable to name anyone who supported the report from the government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities chaired by Tony Sewell. (See 9.54am.) Here are some more lines from what she said:
- Truss said that under the free trade deal being negotiated with Australia no hormone-injected beef would be allowed into the UK. Asked how she would ensure this, she said:
We have export health certificates that stop that happening ... I can absolutely guaranteed that no hormone-injected beef will be entering the United Kingdom.
- She said the UK government wanted to eliminate the need for border controls and paperwork for goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland. Under the post-Brexit arrangements set out in the Northern Ireland protocol some checks, particularly on food products, so apply. The UK government is trying to get the EU to agree to minimise these, and Truss said Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, was negotiating this with Brussels. Asked if the aim was to ensure there was no need for border controls, border inspections or paperwork, Truss said: “The aim of the government is to make this as smooth as possible.” Asked again if that would mean no need for border controls or paperwork, she replied: “Absolutely.” And when asked again if that was the government’s aim, she said yes. But what she is proposing would go beyond what the UK actually agreed to when it signed the protocol.
- Truss claimed that the UK’s dismal performance in Eurovision was would be improved if there was more competition for a candidate. She even suggested the BBC should no longer be involved. This is from LBC’s Theo Usherwood.
Liz Truss wades in on Eurovision and our null points from the weekend.
— Theo Usherwood (@theousherwood) May 24, 2021
It's not about Brexit. It's down to the fact we don't have proper competition to select our candidate.
She says LBC should perhaps run it instead of the BBC.
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An alliance of councillors could form to take control of Durham county council off Labour for the first time in more than 100 years, PA Media reports. PA says:
Independents, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are holding meetings to discuss how they would share power in what was once a stronghold of the Labour party.
Labour has 53 of the 126 councillors, which is 11 short of a majority.
The Conservatives have 24 and Liberal Democrats 17, with most of the remainder made up of Independents who are aligned in three groups.
John Shuttleworth, the leader of one of them – the Durham County Council Independent Group – said the public wanted change and Independents would not shore up a Labour-controlled council.
The councillor told the PA news agency: “There is a will for all of us to come together under an alliance that we can run jointly for the benefit of everybody. People have voted for change.”
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There was a controversy about some of the latest data released by Public Health England at the weekend about coronavirus and the variant originating from India, B.1.617.2. On Saturday morning PHE sent out a press notice, embargoed for the Sunday papers, headlined on the finding that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective against the India variant after two doses. But the press notice also acknowledged that the two vaccines were only 33% effective against the India variant three weeks after the first dose (compared to 50% against the Kent variant, which is now the dominant one in the UK), and on Saturday night PHE published three technical reports with more information about the Indian variant, some of which was not reassuring.
There was this technical briefing (pdf) on variants, focusing on the India one; this variant data update (pdf); and this risk assessment (pdf).
Last night Prof Christina Pagel, head of the clinical operational research unit at University College London, posted a long Twitter thread explaining the new figures. It starts here.
LONG THREAD on B.1.617.2 & latest PHE data covering:
— Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) May 23, 2021
1) latest tech report on B.1.617.2 (aka "India" variant)
2) vaccine efficacy against B.1.617.2
3) consequences for roadmap
4) avoidability... or not.
Pagel’s conclusion is that it is too risk to move to step 4 of lockdown easing in England on 21 June.
29. The data do NOT support moving to step 4 of the roadmap unless the current risk assessment of B.1.617.2 reduces significantly. pic.twitter.com/13Ta8IzP0s
— Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) May 23, 2021
30. Right now, we should reintroduce masks in schools, accelerate vax and make vax more accessible to communities, support people to isolate and support businesses & schools to improve ventilation.
— Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) May 23, 2021
31. If B.1.617.2 does not start looking less scary, we must wait until we have fully vaxxed more people.
— Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) May 23, 2021
IF cases keep going up next week - consistent with continued rapid growth of B.1.617.2 - we should consider rolling back step 3 of roadmap.
John Burn-Murdoch, the Financial Times’s data specialist, also posted a good thread on Twitter last night summarising the findings. It starts here.
Lots of questions still bouncing around on vaccine efficacy vs B.1.617.2, so here are some follow-ups to our Saturday morning story:
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) May 23, 2021
Thread follows, and @SarahNev and I published a new story last night covering all the details including transmissibility: https://t.co/ePMmez2OHM
Ruth Maguire, a Scottish National party MSP who chaired Holyrood’s equalities and human rights committee, is taking a leave of absence from the Scottish parliament after cervical cancer was diagnosed.
Maguire, who was re-elected the MSP for Cunninghame South on 6 May, said she was told on 27 April she had stage 3 cervical cancer. She said doctors believed it was treatable, but it had taken until now to “process what this means for me and talk things over with my family”. She went on:
For now, I will concentrate on doing everything I can to get well and strong again and I thank everyone for their understanding. Being re-elected to serve my community is a privilege that I hold dearly every single day and I look forward to when I can resume my full duties.
This morning Prof Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, said that if the vaccines keep people out of hospital, the pandemic would be over. In an interview on the Today programme he was asked about data from Public Health England released at the weekend about the effectiveness of the vaccines at protecting people from infection. But focusing on protection from infection was “the wrong exam question”, he suggested. He went on:
The thing that makes this a pandemic is people going into hospital. And so what we really need to know, and we don’t have the data yet for certain, is how well both vaccines are performing in preventing people from going into hospital.
And what we’ve seen so far in the pandemic is that protection from vaccines against hospitalisation and death is much, much higher than the protection against mild infection, which is what these tests are detecting.
So what I’m waiting for is the answer to that exam question ... to find out whether these infections that we’re starting to see a little bit with this current variant are completely uncoupled from hospitalisations and deaths, but we just need a few more weeks to get more evidence around that.
Asked if the pandemic could be declared over if hospital admissions could be kept low, Pollard replied:
If the current generation of vaccines are able to stop people going into hospital, whilst there is still mild infections, people are getting the common cold with the virus, then the pandemic is over.
Because we can live with the virus, in fact we are going to have to live with the virus in one way or another, but it doesn’t matter if most people are kept out of hospital because then the NHS can continue to function and life will be back to normal. We just need a little bit more time to have certainty around this.
Pollard also said it was not certain yet that people would need booster jabs in the autumn to make their original vaccinations more effective against the new variants.
Equalities minister Liz Truss can't name anyone who supported government's race commission report in LBC interview
Liz Truss’s main job is international trade secretary, but she is also the minister for women and equalities (the cabinet minister running the Government Equalities Office) and in her LBC phone-in she was asked what the government had done to promote racial equality in the year since George Floyd was murdered in the US.
Truss said that the government has published the report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, chaired by Tony Sewell, and that it had been “very important in setting a new agenda for how we’re dealing with racial equality is Britain”.
But when the presenter, Nick Ferrari, pointed out that the report had been widely condemned, Truss started sinking. She did not accept his point, when she challenged to name anyone who had supported it, she could not.
Here is the key exchange.
NF: You must accept secretary, it was widely condemned.
LT: There was a lot of support for the report.
NF: From whom?
LT: From a number of people - I think of them of the top of my head, but a lot of people said this is a common sense approach ...
NF: Lord Woolley, the head of [Operation Black Vote] said it was ridiculous, so many other campaigners, I can give you names. Give me the name of someone how actually lauded it outside the prime minister.
LT: I’ll get back to you. I can’t remember offhand.
Ferrari said that, in fact the report attracted a “deafening silence” in terms of support. (It was widely condemned by experts for the shallowness of its analysis.) Later, when Ferrari offered Truss a further chance to name anyone who supported the report, Truss said “I would be guessing if I did”.
This Guardian article by David Olusoga is one of many published at the time explaining why the report was seen as so poor.
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Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, is taking questions on LBC now. I will post highlights later.
She has not had a call yet from Emily from Islington, but her Labour shadow, Emily Thornberry, has got some particularly tough questions for her.
I’ve written to Liz Truss asking her to come to Parliament this week and face questions about the offer she has made to Australia on agricultural tariffs, and what it means for our farmers. The first proper debate on this deal should not take place only after it has been signed. pic.twitter.com/7je7deMUdQ
— Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) May 24, 2021
People who need to self-isolate to get separate accommodation in pilot scheme
Good morning. Self-isolation for people who have tested positive for coronavirus, or for people who have been in contact with people testing positive, has been an important tool in tackling the pandemic, and will continue to be vital in containing local outbreaks, but it can be very hard for people to comply. Today the government has announced that it is piloting new schemes to help people self-isolate in England, including offering people alternative accommodation.
In its news release summarising the pilots, the Department of Health and Social Care says:
The government is to launch nine trailblazing pilots in England to test new, creative ways to help ensure people stick to self-isolation rules in areas with higher prevalence of infection including from new variants.
In partnership with local authorities, the government is backing the pilots with £12m which will be used for a range of initiatives including providing alternative accommodation for people in overcrowded households, social care support such as increasing existing social care support for vulnerable adults and providing ‘buddying’ services for people whose mental health has been affected by lockdown and the variant outbreaks, and language communications support for individuals where English isn’t their first language. These pilots are designed to encourage people most at risk of catching and transmitting Covid-19 to come forward for testing and to self-isolate successfully if they test positive.
The pilots are taking place in Newham; Yorkshire and Humber; Lancashire (Blackburn & Darwen, and Blackpool); Greater Manchester; Cheshire and Merseyside; Kingston; Hackney; Peterborough, Fenland and South Holland; and Somerset. Different areas are trying a mix of different approaches, and the alternative accommodation plan is being tried in Newham, and in Peterborough, Fenland and South Holland.
James Jamieson, chair of the Local Government Association, said:
Rapidly targeting local outbreaks and supporting people to self-isolate when required is absolutely crucial to our continuing fight against coronavirus.
These pilot schemes will provide further insight into what works best in supporting those who test positive and their contacts to do the right thing to protect themselves, their families and their wider communities.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, takes part in an LBC phone-in.
11am: Priti Patel, the home secretary, gives a speech on immigration at a Bright Blue/British Future conference.
12pm: Downing Street is expected to hold its daily lobby briefing.
Politics Live has been a mix of Covid and non-Covid news recently, and that is likely to be the case today. For more Covid coverage, do read our global 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.
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