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Tuesday 16 June 2020 19:59
Boris Johnson has reversed the decision to end free school meal vouchers next month. Following intense campaigning by Manchester United star Marcus Rashford, No 10 announced the major U-turn and said vouchers would be available for families over the holiday.
It comes as new figures show number of UK workers on payrolls fell by more than 600,000 in the early days of the coronavirus lockdown. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said “difficult days would lie ahead” if the economy did not pick up soon.
Elsewhere, people across the political spectrum have paid tribute to Jo Cox, the Labour MP who was murdered in her constituency by a far right extremist on this day four years ago.
Boris Johnson gives strongest hint yet that two-metre rule could be relaxed before pubs reopen in July
Boris Johnson has given his strongest hint yet that the UK’s two-metre social distancing rule could be relaxed in time for the planned 4 July reopening of pubs and restaurants, telling anxious businesses: “Watch this space, because we absolutely hear you.”
Speaking at the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Mr Johnson acknowledged that the virus was not yet beaten but insisted that the UK has now “turned the tide”, political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.
He said that the identification by British scientists of a treatment for the novel disease provided “the first chink of light” in the battle to overcome coronavirus.
Mr Johnson admitted he was coming under intense pressure to reduce the two-metre minimum distancing currently required in the UK, telling the briefing he was asked about it “the whole time”.
The PM is understood to have been lobbied not only by business but also by several cabinet ministers to give struggling companies a chance to restore their battered finances over the peak summer season, while medical and scientific advisers caution him not to take rash moves which could spark a fresh spike in infections.
Boris Johnson claims he was unaware of Marcus Rashford school meal campaign before U-turn
Boris Johnson has claimed he was unaware of footballer Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign until Tuesday when the government u-turned on plans to scrap vouchers over the summer, political correspondent Lizzie Buchan reports.
The prime minister said he had personally congratulated the Manchester United forward on his efforts to draw attention to the issue of disadvantaged children going hungry over the holidays.
Mr Johnson claimed he only became aware of the footballer’s high-profile bid to extend the free school meals voucher scheme on Tuesday – despite his spokesman being pressed on the issue by journalists on Monday.
After Boris Johnson’s reversal on free school meals, our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has put together this piece on the U-turns the prime minister has been forced to make in less than a year in office.
Brexiteer Tory MP urges government to let his dogs keep freedom of movement rights
Jon Stone reports.
Bob Stewart, the MP for Beckenham, said his “French-speaking” hounds crossed the Channel regularly on their EU “pet passports”.
Millions of Britons are set to lose the ability to live and work freely on the continent at the end of the year as a result of the UK’s departure from the bloc.
Children from BAME backgrounds are “twice as likely” to end up back in the youth justice system, MPs have been told.
The “large and growing proportion of children from BAME backgrounds” who are behind bars is being investigated by the Commons Justice Committee.
Keith Fraser, chairman of the Youth Justice Board, told MPs on Tuesday: “The summary (of re-offending rates) is that as a white young person, you are less likely to come back into the system to rehabilitation and resettlement is likely to be more successful.
“As a BAME young person, you are more likely to come back into the system, so twice as likely to come back into the system.”
A total of 738 children are currently detained in England and Wales in a variety of institutions including young offender institutions (YOIs).
The proportion of children from BAME backgrounds has risen from around 20% in 2016 to more than half, according to the latest government figures cited by the committee.
The number of children held in custody on remand has risen by 12% over the last year.
And 57% of the young people on remand are from BAME backgrounds, the committee was told.
PA
Not quite a U-turn, more of a Cruyff turn, except that Boris Johnson’s specific role is that of the bloke left staggering backwards and landing flat on his arse in front of a watching world, writes Tom Peck.
Indeed, as we reach for the analogies for Johnson’s inevitable decision to spin 180 degrees on the Marcus Rashford campaign for free school meals, it is hard to look beyond the incident in which York City’s Chris Brass infamously attempted a defensive overhead clearance but instead kicked the ball into his own face with such force that it not only rebounded into his own net but also broke his own nose.
Read more here:
Mr Asghar was the first ethnic minority member of the Senedd when he was elected for Plaid Cymru in 2007. He later defected to the Tories.
The MS for South Wales East was taken to hospital on Tuesday morning following a medical emergency.
The prime minister told today’s press conference he was unaware of an export ban on dexamethasone and that it sounded “peculiar” to him.
However the government’s own
list of medicines that cannot be exported from the UK or hoarded show it was banned for export in tablet form on 24 April – and as an oral solution or for injection as of today, 16 June.
He tweeted: Don’t merge @foreignoffice and @DFID_UK
“The problem is not our hugely respected development agency, but the lack of a confident coordinated UK strategy.
“Merging is bad diplomacy and worse development. Define a strategy + priorities, rather than move deckchairs in Whitehall.”
He added: “Most British diplomats lack the experience and skills to manage 100 million pound development programs.
“DfiD staff have no background in traditional diplomacy.
“Trying to pretend these two very different organisations are one, damages both.”
“Of course it’s a very difficult time for this country, but we are coming through it.
“I do think we are now starting to see the first chink of light, which I was perhaps a bit dubious about.”
The prime minister says “we have turned the tide on [coronavirus]” but “we haven’t yet finally defeated it”.
He wrote on Twitter: “The Coronavirus pandemic has shown us how deeply unequal our world is and how inter-connected we all are.
“Tackling global poverty and inequality matters more than ever – abolishing #DFID is a big mistake and shows just how skewed this Government’s priorities are.”
The prime minister says he has talked to footballer Marcus Rashford today and congratulated him on his campaign.
He added: “I think it’s right that we should be looking after families of the most neediest right now and that’s why we’ve got the Covid summer food plan that we’ve announced today.”
Rashford has raised £20 million for the FareShare charity to supply children free meals during the pandemic.
Downing Street today announced all pupils qualifying for free school meals in England will be given supermarket food vouchers to cover the six-week summer holiday, in a £120m government U-turn as Boris Johnson caved in to pressure from campaigners including the striker.
Read more on this here:
He also thanked the patients who volunteered as part of the study.
The prime minister says Dexamethasone, a cheap anti-inflammatory drug, is ready to be made available across the NHS, and there will be enough supplies in the event of a second peak.
Read more here:
Mr Johnson says it is good to see shops and businesses reopening this week and more children going back to school. The prime minister has sought to reassure parents it is safe for their children to return.
Boris Johnson, is currently giving the latest coronavirus figures at today’s daily briefing.
He says while the numbers are sad, they show the country is making “good progress”.
Today’s announcement by Boris Johnson is an act of political vandalism, writes Amanda Khozi Mukwashi.
Read more here:
Labour has called on the government to commit to a “back to work” budget to prevent soaring unemployment in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, business correspondent Ben Chapman reports.
Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s shadow chancellor, accused the government of following a “slow and confused” response to the Covid-19 health emergency with a similarly lethargic approach to jobs, despite the huge long-term costs of high unemployment.
Tony Blair has followed on from Gordon Brown and David Cameron in hitting out at the current prime minister’s decision to scrap the department for international development.
DfID was put founded by Mr Blair back in 1997.
He said: “I am utterly dismayed by the decision to abolish DFID. We created DFID in 1997 to play a strong, important role in projecting British soft power. It has done so to general global acclaim.
“It is a leader in both programmes and thought in development, helping millions of the world’s most vulnerable to be relieved of poverty and killer diseases.
“The strategic aims of alignment with diplomacy and focus on new areas of strategic interest to Britain could be accomplished without its abolition. Wrong and regressive move.”
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