First to 50 push-up battle at PMQs?

Keir Starmer was asked about the prime minister’s push-up stunt (he did some during his Mail on Sunday interview) when he appeared on Good Morning Britain earlier. Host Piers Morgan asked: “Can you do more than one push-up?”

The Labour leader replied: “I can. I was thinking of PMQs this week … Maybe question one should be, ‘First to 50?’”

Morgan said: “You know what I would actually pay good money to watch that.”

One more serious issues, he said: “We lost that December election really badly and I don’t want anyone in Labour party and Labour movement to ever forget that … It’s for me to win the trust of the British people back in the Labour party as force for good and force for change.”

‘Labour can’t just give up the Brexit fight’

Tuesday marks the final deadline for the UK to request an extension to the transition period ending on 31 December.

Political commentator Michael Chessum says neither Labour nor the wider political left having raised the issue clearly, so the result is a foregone conclusion: there will be no extension, and the UK will leave the orbit of the EU at the end of December.

“Brexit is, and always has been, a battle for the kind of country Britain will become,” he writes. “It is too late to stop it entirely, but if Labour is to remain attached to political reality then it must develop a strategy to resist, oppose and, eventually, reverse the Brexit juggernaut.

Read more here:

‘Sedwill was roadblock to Cummings plans’

Our political commentator Andrew Grice has taken a closer look at cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill’s looming exit from No 10.

The prime minister and his allies “judged that Sedwill was like Macavity the Mystery Cat when the Covid-19 crisis erupted”, he writes.

“His crime was to be seen as a roadblock to Dominic Cummings’s post-Brexit mission – to shake up the civil service.”

Political appointees ‘more likely to be yes-men’, warns ex-cabinet secretary

Former mandarins have criticised the big shake-up at No 10. The changes not only see Sir Mark Sedwill depart as cabinet secretary, but his role as national security adviser filled by the PM’s Europe adviser David Frost – a political appointment rather than an impartial civil servant.

Ex-cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell said: “I’m worried about the appointment of David Frost as national security adviser because I’m not quite sure how putting a special adviser in that role works.”

He told the BBC that political appointees were “more likely to be yes-men” rather than “speaking truth to power”.

Government refuses to abolish coronavirus law used unlawfully in every prosecution

The government is refusing to repeal a “draconian” coronavirus law – despite it being used to wrongly prosecute scores of people.

The Coronavirus Act has not been used lawfully in a single criminal case since it came into force in March, according to a review by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Gregor McGill, the CPS’ director of legal services, said the application of the law was improving and errors had “significantly reduced” in May.

When asked by The Independent why the CPS did not stop police using the Coronavirus Act, given the 100 per cent rate of unlawful prosecutions, he replied: “It’s not for the CPS to stop charging offences, it’s to make sure that it’s appropriate.”

Leicester mayor says government suggesting local lockdown extension

The mayor of Leicester – the city facing the country’s first local lockdown amid a spike in coronavirus cases – has slammed the “intensely frustrating” process of getting information from the government.

The city has recorded 866 of its 2,987 coronavirus cases in the last two weeks – sparking speculation that its inhabitants could be plunged into a localised lockdown.

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and the council’s director of public health Ivan Browne will meet government officials on Monday morning to discuss the latest coronavirus testing data.

“Frankly it’s been intensely frustrating,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“It was only last Thursday that we finally got some of the data we need but we’re still not getting all of it and it was only at 1.04am this morning that the recommendations for Leicester arrived in my inbox.

“What they’re suggesting is not a return to lockdown, it seems that what they’re suggesting is that we continue the present level of restriction for a further two weeks beyond 4 July.”

Defunding the police ‘nonsense’, says Keir Starmer

When asked about one of the political aims of the Black Lives Matter movement, to defund the police, Sir Keir Starmer described it as “nonsense”.

The Labour leader, who was pictured taking the knee in support of Black Lives Matter, told BBC Breakfast: “Nobody should be saying anything about defunding the police.

“I was director of public prosecutions for five years, I’ve worked with police forces across England and Wales bringing thousands of people to court, so my support for the police is very strong.

“There’s a broader issue here. The Black Lives Matter movement – or moment, if you like – internationally is about reflecting something completely different, it’s reflecting on what happened dreadfully in America just a few weeks ago and showing or acknowledging that as a moment across the world.

“It’s a shame it’s getting tangled up with these organisational issues, with the organisation Black Lives Matter, but I wouldn’t have any truck with what the organisation is saying about defunding the police, that’s just nonsense.”

Starmer: I’m sweating blood to rebuild trust in Labour

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “sweating blood” to rebuild public trust in his party, despite a recent poll suggesting that public opinion favoured his leadership over that of Boris Johnson.

Asked if he thought he would make a better prime minister than Johnson on Sky News, Starmer said: “I focus on the fact that last December the Labour party lost very badly in a general election, and that’s our starting point.

“I’ve got a mountain to climb to get our party from where it is to where it needs to be to win the next general election, and I’m sweating blood on that.

Starmer has said he stands by his decision to sack Rebecca Long-Bailey from her role as shadow education secretary last week.

Speaking on Sky News, he said: “When I took over as leader of the Labour party, I said I would root out antisemitism, and I’ve been judged by my actions, not by my words.”

Starmer also said the chancellor urgently needs to introduce a July budget, and criticised the government for being “asleep at the wheel” on the issue of reopening schools.

Starmer questions why PM was so ‘determined’ to move top civil servant during pandemic

Asked about Sir Mark Sedwill stepping from his dual role as cabinet secretary and national security adviser as part of an alleged wider shake-up of the civil service, Labour leader Keir Starmer said the PM should not be focusing on reshuffles in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

Speaking on Sky News, Sir Keir said: “I don’t think that now is the time to start moving around senior civil servants. We’ve got an economic crisis just around the corner.

“Spend your time getting the budget together, spend your time getting schools back open, rather than moving around senior civil servants at this time. It’s a question of priorities.”

When asked if he saw Sir Mark’s stepping down as a de facto sacking, Sir Keir added: “It seems to me obvious that the prime minister wanted to move the cabinet secretary and was determined to do so.

“Why you do so in the middle of a pandemic and a crisis instead of actually focusing on the crisis, is a question the prime minister needs to answer.”

He added: “What we can’t have in a crisis like this is a prime minister who shifts responsibility from himself to somebody else … Don’t think know is the time to start moving around senior civil servants.”

PM finds warm words for his department cabinet secretary

Williamson promises ‘detailed’ plan for schools reopening this week

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said advice on how schools will fully reopen in England will be set out “at the end of this week”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “What we will be doing at the end of this week is setting out further advice as to what the full return of all pupils looks like and giving clear steers to how schools should operate.”

In response to a question from a science teacher, he acknowledged efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus will be more challenging in secondary schools.

“It’s going to be more complex within secondary schools,” he said.

Williamson said the government was still consulting on how to get children back to school.

Asked if there will be a “detailed” plan this week, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There will.”

PM ‘wants Brexiteer to replace Sir Mark Sedwill’

Education secretary Gavin Williamson did not deny that Boris Johnson would seek a Brexiteer to replace Sir Mark Sedwill as Cabinet Secretary.

When asked, Williamson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The prime minister’s search is to get the very best person into that role and applications will be opening from next month to get someone of the very highest calibre to step into some big shoes.”

According to The Telegraph this morning, Johnson is keen to have a Brexiteer in the role.

The report comes after Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister who has been tasked with overhauling Whitehall structures, used a speech on Saturday to call for the government to “be less southern, less middle class” and “closer to the 52 per cent who voted to Leave and more understanding of why”.

Labour backs local lockdown measures for Leicester

The Labour MP for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe, has said she believes a local lockdown is necessary for her constituency where 866 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the past two weeks, because of “significant levels of African and Asian minority ethnic communities” and “significant levels of poverty”.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, she said: “There are significant worries and significant problems in terms of inequalities and high levels of poverty that I’m concerned about.

“That is the context in which this Covid-19 is operating in. So I’m very concerned, and I really do believe that where the data allows we need to ensure that we engage in processes to protect lives, and I think we need to go into therefore more localised lockdown to protect lives and ensure that we can address this virus.

“The government hasn’t reassured us. Thus far, the messages and the communication from the government have been unclear, and it has been difficult, and I really don’t understand what communities are meant to follow.”

On the economic impact of having to go back into lockdown, Webbe added that “there have been gaps in the government’s support and safety net” for those needing extra financial support.

Not the right time for coronavirus inquiry, says PM

Boris Johnson has insisted it was not the right time to hold an inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Boris Johnson told Times Radio: “We owe it to all those who have died, all those who have suffered to look at exactly what went wrong and when.

“I totally understand that and we will. I happen to think that the moment is not right now, in the middle of really getting things going, still dealing with the pandemic, when everybody is flat out.

“I don’t think the moment is right now for consecrating a huge amount of official time to all that, but we are learning lessons the whole time and we obviously will draw the right conclusions for the future.”

The PM acknowledged he had been “very lucky” in his recovery from coronavirus.

PM promises ‘Rooseveltian’ revival – and says local lockdowns part of ‘whack-a-mole’ strategy

Boris Johnson has warned the UK economy faces “bumpy times” ahead as he set out his desire for a “Rooseveltian approach” to rebuilding after the pandemic.

In a rare broadcast interview, the PM said the coronavirus crisis had been “a disaster” for the UK and an economic effort similar to US president Franklin D Roosevelt’s “New Deal” was needed to lift the UK out of the doldrums.

Johnson said it would be wrong to return to “what people called austerity” and made it clear that he wants to boost infrastructure spending to avert a devastating hit to the economy.

In his interview with the Radio Times, he said: “This has been a disaster, let’s not mince our words, this has been an absolute nightmare for the country.”

Johnson said he worries about coronavirus deaths and infection rates every day.

But he told the Times Radio that it was crucial to be ready to crack down on local flare-ups using a “whack-a-mole” strategy.

When asked if he was still worried that total deaths and the infection rate remained too high, he added: “Every day I worry. Local hospital admissions are coming down, so are the death numbers. They are much, much lower than they were a few weeks ago and that is encouraging.

“But the crucial thing is to make sure we are ready to crack down on local flare-ups. We have a whack-a-mole strategy.”

PM’s best route to re-election is to focus on ‘war on woke’, survey finds

Boris Johnson’s best route to re-election could be to focus political debate on cultural issues in a “war on woke”, new research has suggested.

Analysis of social and economic values found a deep disconnect between Tory MPs and the electorate on the economy – but a closer alignment on issues like traditional values, law and order and tougher sentencing.

Conservative MPs’ views on business and the economy were way to the right, not only of the average voter but also of Tory supporters and members, the Ipsos Mori survey for the UK in a Changing Europe (UKCE) think tank found.

On social issues, the survey found the position is reversed, with Labour MPs considerably more liberal than their own voters.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has all the details:

PM trying to politicise civil service, claim Lib Dems – as cabinet secretary to step down in September

The cabinet secretary and national security adviser Sir Mark Sedwill announced he will stand down in September. It comes amid plans for a wide-ranging shake-up of Whitehall, driven by the ambitions of Boris Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings to streamline the civil service machine.

Liberal Democrat acting leader Ed Davey said the prime minister appeared to be indulging his adviser’s wish to “politicise” the civil service.

Labour said it was “concerning” that the preoccupation of the prime minister and his senior aide was “reshuffling Whitehall” at a time when jobs are under threat as the UK comes out of lockdown.

The head of the FDA union for top civil servants Dave Penman said the government would “emerge weaker” from the loss of “one of the outstanding public servants of his generation”, and suggested “corrosive” briefings against Sedwill might make potential successors think twice about applying for the job.

Tory infrastructure plans all ‘talk, talk, talk’, says Keir Starmer

As Boris Johnson attempts to relaunch his premiership with promises to invest in infrastructure to get Britain out of the coronavirus slump, Labour leader Keir Starmer has issued a warning that the record of Conservative-led governments over a decade has been “talk, talk, talk rather than build, build, build”.

In a bid to move the political focus on from the Covid crisis to the recovery, Johnson is set on Tuesday to announce the creation of a “Project Speed” taskforce to accelerate tens of billions of pounds-worth of investment in railways, roads, hospitals and homes over the next decade.

He is also announcing a 10-year schools rebuilding programme, with more than £1bn allocated for the first 50 projects.

Starmer pointed out that many government programmes had failed to deliver the promised investment, such as a £2.3bn Starter Homes Initiative announced in 2015 which produced no new properties.

The Labour leader urged Johnson to commit to a “route to recovery that works for the whole of Britain”, pointing out that government investment per person in areas like Yorkshire, the East Midlands and the South West is less than half that seen in London.

PM reveals 10-year schools rebuilding programme

Boris Johnson will attempt to kick-start the economy after Covid-19 with a decade-long schools rebuilding plan.

The PM is expected to announce a spending blitz during a speech on Tuesday as he lays the groundwork for the UK to spend its way out of the coronavirus downturn by undertaking a vast building programme.

Part of the plans will include a 10-year undertaking to improve school facilities, along with sprucing up classrooms currently in use.

A £1bn cash injection will see construction work start on the first 50 projects as soon as September 2021, Downing Street said.

Another £560m will go towards school repairs in this financial year while further education colleges will see £200m of the £1.5bn promised by chancellor Rishi Sunak at the Spring Budget to transform college estates over the next five years fast tracked so work can be brought forward.

“As we bounce back from the pandemic, it’s important we lay the foundations for a country where everyone has the opportunity to succeed, with our younger generations front and centre of this mission.”

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond.