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Friday 12 June 2020 17:35
Boris Johnson has said it is “absurd and shameful” the Winston Churchill national monument is at risk of attack by protesters this weekend, and warned Black Lives Matter supporters that the responsible thing to do is “stay away from these protests”.
The prime minister went further and claimed the tearing down of statues constitutes “lying about our history”, adding: “We cannot now try to edit or censor our past.”
Full border controls with the EU won’t be ready until at least six months after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020, the government has announced. It comes as the latest GDP figures show the British economy shrank more than 20 per cent in April.
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He says the idea of ‘air bridges’ was being considered but played down suggestions that talks with specific countries was already taking place.
The transport secretary said he expected Ruth May would be appearing again at future briefings.
“I don’t think it is true,” he said. “She has attended them many times before. I notice that at the top of the No 10 Twitter feed I see one of her tweets pinned.
“I am absolutely sure she has been a regular contributor before and I am sure she will be back here again.”
Grant Shapps said he ‘doesn’t think’ it is true that the chief nurse had been dropped from the briefings after she refused to defend Dominic Cummings.
Independent’s health correspondent Shaun Lintern.
Daily briefing coronavirus update
‘We must never be complacent about stamping out racism in this country’, says Grant Shapps before warning people not to attend the protests planned throughout this weekend.
“Please for the sake of your health don’t attend mass gatherings… let’s protect lives as well as livelihoods.”
Grant Shapps said there was “huge public support” for mandatory face coverings.
He said fines could be issued to anyone not wearing them but added that a “gentle approach” to enforcement would be used over the “first couple of days”.
“Remembering your face covering should be the same as picking up your phone, your wallet or your purse whenever you’re leaving your house,” he said.
Grant Shapps highlights the continuing fall in the number of coronavirus patients in hospital.
There are currently 5,607 people in hospital with Covid-19, down from a peak of 20,697 on 12 April.
Of those, 392 are occupying mechanical ventilator beds, down from 671 on 4 June.
Transport minister Grant ‘A66’ Shapps is heading up today’s briefing at Downing Street.
NHS England medical director Steve Powis and Network Rail’s chairman Sir Peter Hendy will also be taking questions.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said that a drop of 20.4 per cent in GDP in April was not surprising given the lockdown.
He told Sky News: “Well obviously it’s a dramatic and big number, but actually it’s not a surprising number.
“The economy clearly closed down substantially in the end of March into April, so it’s not surprising. It’s actually pretty much in line with what we were expecting.
“Now the big question of course is obviously what happens next. We monitor a lot of very high-frequency data these days, we have a lot of access to that data. Which is why we had a reasonably good read on what was going to happen in April.
“We see signs of the economy now beginning to come back into life in the high-freq data, we do see that. It’s early days, and obviously I don’t want to emphasise too much. It’s a gradual coming back into life but we do see those signs.”
Wales resists calls to follow England in easing lockdown
Wales’ first minister has vowed to continue the country’s cautious approach to lifting the lockdown in comparison to England.
“I want you to know that whatever happens elsewhere and however loud the demands to do things differently might be, we will stick to the path we have chosen.
“Your safety and that of your family will always be at the forefront of our thinking as we move to rebuild our society and our economy in Wales.”
In Wales people are restricted to journeys of five miles for leisure and non-essential shops remain closed.
R remains unchanged across UK
However in the southwest of England the range is between 0.8 and 1.1, and between 0.8 and 1.1 across England.
The “R” represents the average number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to. An R number above 1 can lead very rapidly to exponential growth.
Tamworth MP Christopher Pincher said the statue of Sir Robert Peel, former prime minister and founder of the Metropolitan Police, was being covered up by the council to “protect it from agitators who can’t get their history right”.
Writing on Twitter, he said: “The council is doing this because of the threat to the statue and man of whom we are all proud.
“These threats help no one, but distract from a message of peaceful protest.”
The MP appears to be referring to claims that anti-racism campaigners wrongly targeted statues of Peel after mistaking him for his father (also Sir Robert Peel), who made his fortune in the cotton trade and opposed the abolition of slavery.
George Osborne has stepped down as editor of the Evening Standard – to become editor-in-chief.
He will be replaced by David Cameron’s sister-in-law Emily Sheffield, former deputy editor of Vogue.
UK coronavirus death toll rises by 202
The Covid-19 death toll has risen by 202 over the past 24 hours, the government announced on Friday – bringing the total to 41,481.
It comes just days after leading scientist who advised the government to implement lockdown warned that deaths from the pandemic could have been halved if restrictions were introduced sooner.
Two-metre rule could be reduced, PM hints
Boris Johnson has indicated that the 2-metre social distancing rule could be reduced if infection rates continue to fall in the community, even if transmission in care homes and hospitals keeps the crucial R figure high.
The prime minister is coming under intense pressure to cut the minimum distance, with pubs and restaurants warning that the existing rule will make it unviable for them to reopen.
But there are concerns that the so-called R rate – which measures the average number of people each Covid-19 patient infects – is remaining stubbornly close to the 1 figure above which scientists warn it will not be safe to ease lockdown.
Millions of jobs at risk, union warns
Millions of jobs are at risk unless the government commits to large-scale investment in the economy, a union has warned, after the alarming GDP figures showed that output shrank by 20 per cent last month.
Our business correspondent Ben Chapman has the details:
Schools will not return full-time if 2m rule stays, say academy leaders
Academy leaders have poured cold water on the government’s plans to get all children back to school full time by September, saying lessons will not be logistically possible if 2m social distancing guidelines remain in place.
Hamid Patel, chief executive of the Star Academy group, which runs some of the UK’s best performing schools, is calling for urgent recognition that schools may not be able to fully reopen unless drastic action is taken.
Mr Patel, who also sits on the board of the education watchdog Ofsted, told the BBC that if the ambition is “genuinely for all schools to reopen in September, open and honest discussions are needed” about what “workable solutions” could be achieved.
Death rates twice as high in England’s deprived areas
London still has the overall highest mortality rate over the past three months, with 137 deaths per 100,000 people — more than a third higher than the next highest region, the latest ONS figures show.
Nine of the 10 local authorities with the highest Covid-19 mortality rates since March were London boroughs all struggling with poverty and overcrowding problems — with Brent, Newham and Hackney the very worst hit since the crisis began.
More details here:
NEW: Full border controls with EU won’t be ready until at least six months after UK leaves single market
Full border controls with the EU won’t be ready until at least six months after end of the Brexit transition period, the government has just announced.
Businesses importing goods from Europe will be asked to keep records from 1 January next year of what tariffs they need to pay but will not be asked to pay them until July.
The government says it will phase in full controls from April on products of animal origin, with the extra forms and customs declarations required for all traders three months later.
Officials say they were working on the basis that full controls would be in place for July but that they could be delayed even longer if there is significant disruption.
The EU is expected to impose full border controls on goods travelling from the UK on 1 January as planned.
Sadiq Khan: ‘stay at home’
“My message to Londoners: please do not take to the streets to protest this weekend,” the mayor of London has said. “For yourselves, for family members, who may be vulnerable to Covid-19, and for the wider cause: stay home and find a safe way to make your voice heard.”
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