PM has ‘great confidence’ test and tracing will begin on 1 June

Sir Keir Starmer has asked about the test and contact-tracing programme. He points out there has been no tracing for 10 weeks. “That’s a huge hole in our defences, isn’t it prime minister?”

PM claims Starmer ‘in ignorance of the facts’

Referring to Care England’s complaints that testing in care homes remains problematic, Sir Keir Starmer asked the PM: “What’s causing the delay in routine testing in our care homes?”

Boris Johnson replied: “I’m afraid he’s simply in ignorance of the facts” – claiming testing and had been ramped up and repeating his pledge to get 200,000 tests a day by the end of the month.

The PM said the UK was now doing “virtually more” testing than any other country in Europe.

‘What’s protective about that?’

Sir Keir’s Starmer has begun his questioning by asking about the government’s testing strategy, referring to Matt Hancock’s claim to have thrown a “protective ring”.

He cites the chief executive of Care England saying the government should have focused on testing in care homes “from the start”.

The Labour leader, who said people were discharged from hospitals back into care homes, asked: “What’s protective about that?”

Johnson replied by pointing out that the number of care home deaths has come down by 31 per cent.

PMQs gets under way

Boris Johnson has begun by saying the government would “take steps” to make sure people from the black and minority ethnic (BAME) are protected from the coronavirus.

Labour MP Claudia Webbe has asked what the PM will do to address the disproportionate number of cases in the BAME community.

The PM also announced 181 NHS workers and 131 social care workers have died from the coronavirus.

Outrage as care workers and NHS cleaners left out of bereavement scheme

NHS porters and cleaners and social care staff have been left out of a Home Office scheme granting families of health workers indefinite leave to remain in the UK if they die of coronavirus, it GMB union has revealed.

The government told the union an email not all staff would be covered. The GMB said: “This is heartless – it’s an outrageous scandal. We ask them to take the maximum risk – but they get minimal reward. Once again our lowest paid key workers are left out in the cold.”

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan tweeted that home secretary Priti Patel should “resign” if the details shared by the GMB were true.

Researchers identify ‘security flaws’ in contact tracing app

Security researchers have highlighted a number of potential flaws in the government’s contact tracing app. The issues have been flagged to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is involved in the app’s development, and it said it is in the process of fixing them.

The researchers also warned legal protections around data use are needed in order to better protect personal privacy on the app, which is currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight.

They say data associated with the app should be protected by legislation “from use by law enforcement, or any usage not directly related to Covid-19 prevention”.

In their study of the contact tracing app, security researchers Professor Vanessa Teague and Dr Chris Culnane identified a number of issues, including a weakness in the app’s registration process which could be exploited by hackers and used to manipulate data or create logs of fake contact events.

It also highlighted a flaw which means storing unencrypted data on a user’s phone could potentially be used by law enforcement agencies to determine when two or more people met.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe release extended

The British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s temporary release from an Iranian prison has been extended again, according to her MP.

Labour’s Tulip Siddiq tweeted on Wednesday: “Just spoken with Richard Ratcliffe – Nazanin’s furlough has been extended and she is NOT going back to prison today.

“This uncertainty is causing her and her family unimaginable stress. The Government must step up efforts to make sure her furlough is made permanent.”

Senior Tory says government ‘euthanising’ vulnerable MPs with Commons plans

We mentioned earlier the row brewing over plan to ditch the hybrid parliament next month. One senior Tory has now accused his own government of planning to “euthanise” vulnerable MPs when parliament comes back on 2 June.

Robert Halfon attacked the decision to abandon online voting and debate participation via Zoom. The education committee chair, who has cerebral palsy, accused ministers of favouring MPs who are “Tarzan-like and able to swing through the chamber, beating your chest”.

If there are MPs who are sick, shielding, or self-isolating, surely it is right to let them continue to vote online, and participate in committees also virtually via Zoom and Microsoft Teams,” he argued.

“Is it really morally just to say in effect to MPs, because you are not Tarzan-like and able to swing through the Chamber, beating your chest shouting to your constituents, ‘Look I am here!’ that you are effectively euthanised from the Commons?

“MPs who are disrupted by this awful pandemic are not just old horses to be sent to the knackers’ yard.”

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has more on the row:

Reopening schools in Northern Ireland will be ‘staged and difficult’

The reopening of schools in Northern Ireland is “likely to be staged and difficult”, said a teaching union representative – warning home-based learning will remain part of the 2021-21 school year.

Mark Langhammer of the National Education Union told Stormont’s education committee that when schools return there should be a “recovery curriculum” to help children readjust to the classroom.

Some schools have remained open throughout the pandemic to accommodate the children of key workers. Details of how the rest of schools in the six counties will fully reopen have not yet been announced.

“Realistically 2020-21 will be an unusual year also, it won’t be business as usual because reopening is likely to be staged and difficult,” Langhammer said.

“Obviously schools will not be accommodating all pupils at all times so home-based learning will remain at least in part.

“My best guess would be that somewhere between 20 per cent to 40 per cent of staff would be unlikely to be able to return due to underlying conditions, shielding, caring etc.”

Union says airlines ‘exaggerating’ impact of pandemic

Airlines are exaggerating the impact of the pandemic to make job cuts, a pilots union has warned. British Airways, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic are among the airlines that have announced plans to make thousands of staff redundant.

Brian Strutton, general secretary of Balpa, told MPs that carriers are looking to “take advantage of the crisis”.

Giving evidence to the Commons transport select committee, Strutton said: “I believe that airlines are exaggerating the problem. The predictions that some of the airline leaders are saying, of up to a five or six-year recovery, is not in line with industry standard predictions.”

He added: “Last week, Iata, the International Air Transport Association – which is usually the touchstone for these things – issued its new projections, and said that by the end of 2022 we would be back to 2019 levels.

“We’re in a trough at the moment, we will be coming out of it over the next two and a half years, and I think that airlines are egging the pudding too much to take advantage of the crisis to make changes and downsize their workforce unnecessarily.”

‘Let’s channel the spirit of 1945, says TUC boss

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), called on ministers to emulate the decade after the Second World War with more state intervention.

She said: “Seventy-five years ago, Britain was bloodied, battered – and broke. Yet after the war Britain’s economy grew faster than ever before. We did it not by pay freezes and cuts, but making the priority decent jobs for everyone, new homes, infrastructure and a new national health service.

“So let’s channel the spirit of 1945. Coronavirus doesn’t have to equal mass unemployment and a poorer, meaner country.”

Care home deaths ‘single greatest failure of the Scottish parliament’

A think tank has claimed care home deaths during the Covid-19 outbreak are “the single greatest failure of the Scottish parliament” since devolution.

Common Weal published a report on Wednesday outlining “failures” leading to the death toll in Scotland’s care homes.

National Records of Scotland statistics show more than 1,400 of coronavirus-related deaths in Scotland – 45 per cent – have been in such facilities.

Report author Nick Kempe states: “The nature of the deaths of care home residents was not taken to be a government responsibility and so the use of palliative measures was also left to providers. This almost certainly means many old people faced an absolutely unnecessarily uncomfortable and painful death.”

Kempe added: “To redress the disaster we need not just guidance but action from the Scottish government.”

Government mulls harsher sentences for those caught coughing in face of police officers

“I’m looking to double the sentences and we’re going to do that. I’ve been absolutely clear with the police about that.”

Testing blame game ‘unproductive’, says justice secretary

Robert Buckland has been talking about contact-tracing as well as schools this morning. The justice secretary admitted the app at the heart of the “test, track and trace” strategy won’t be “fully developed” in England for several weeks.

Asked whether the app would be in place by the time schools go back on June 1, Mr Buckland said: “I’m hoping we will see the tracing system start to work by that time.

“I think it won’t necessarily be as widespread and as full-blown as we would like, I think that would develop over the next several weeks, over the next month or so.”

Asked to respond to work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey’s comments on Tuesday, Buckland said it is “unproductive” to blame others for mistakes.

Buckland said the government had chosen to protect the NHS ahead of care homes when the decision was made on 12 March not to do community testing.

Asked on Sky News whether NHS had been put “first and foremost” at the start of the outbreak, he said: “That’s right and I think that was absolutely essential. Now is not time to blame people. I think that would be wholly counterproductive.”

Quarantine plan not yet in place, admits Priti Patel – who says she is happy to send child back to school

The government is still to finalise how it will implement quarantine measures for people arriving in the UK, home secretary Priti Patel has said.

“We are still developing measures, so we are not in the position to say ‘this is how it’s going to work’,” Patel said during an interview on LBC radio.

“In terms of how this will work, we will be announcing this shortly,” she said, confirming only that the duration of quarantine would be 14 days.

Patel also told LBC’s Nick Ferrari she would be happy to send her child back to school in June.

“I’ve seen some heroic teachers do amazing things during this crisis to keep schools open for children of key workers and vulnerable children.”

Rees-Mogg accuses opposition of enjoying ‘Zoom’ parliament too much

Today sees the final day in the House of Commons chamber before a 12-day Whitsun recess – and Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg is under pressure to allow MPs’ contributions via Zoom to continue when the House resumes on 2 June. 

Rees-Mogg doesn’t appear too happy about the idea, however – accusing the opposition parties of avoiding their responsibilities.

He told the ConservativeHome website’s podcast: “Frankly, the opposition like having a hybrid Parliament because what is the opposition there to do? It’s there to stop the government getting things done.”

Minister says ‘I don’t know’ when schools will reopen

A cabinet minister has admitted he does not know if schools will reopen on 1 June as planned, amid a backlash from councils and teaching unions.

Robert Buckland rowed back from the target date – less than two weeks’ away – acknowledging safety fears and that town halls probably had the power to keep some schools closed.

“I’m not going to sit here and pretend that suddenly on 1 June everything will be uniform – I don’t know,” the justice secretary said.

Buckland told BBC Breakfast: “So we’re all working towards June 1 and planning for that return, but I accept the point that there may well be issues from employers that need to be addressed which might not mean we’ll see a uniform approach on June 1.”

A total of 11 local authorities, including some Tory-run, have either stated outright opposition to the reopening, or warned it must be delayed.

PM hails ‘national treasure’ Captain Tom as knighthood awaits

Captain Sir Tom Moore said he is looking forward to being knighted by the Queen and joked that he hoped she would not be “heavy-handed with the sword”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “I’m looking forward to that. I hope she’s not very heavy-handed with the sword as by then I might be rather a poor old weak soul.”

He added: “There’s a future for everyone and there’s room for expansion in kindness throughout, everybody has some kindness somewhere.

“Please expand your kindness to everyone that you possibly can and, as you’re going out, give everybody a little smile and see if they’ll smile back. This is something which might do a lot of good.”

Boris Johnson described Sir Tom as a “true national treasure” and praised his “fantastic fundraising” which he said “provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus”.

Serco says sorry for sharing email addresses of contact-tracing recruits

Serco has apologised after it accidentally shared almost 300 email addresses of new recruits to the coronavirus contact-tracing programme.

The outsourcing giant is helping the government sign up people to support efforts to track and trace cases of Covid-19.

But an error at Serco occurred saw 296 addresses being included in a CC (carbon copy) section of an email rather than BCC (blind carbon copy), meaning they were visible to recipients. It is understood that all the affected recruits had given the company permission to use their personal email addresses.

Serco is not intending to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) following the error and is not aware of a complaint being made.

A spokesman for the company said: “In error, email addresses were visible to other recipients. We have apologised and reviewed our processes to make sure that this does not happen again.”