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Tuesday 16 June 2020 10:50
Boris Johnson remains under pressure to reverse a decision not to extend free school meals vouchers into the summer break after the cause was taken up by England footballer Marcus Rashford. The Manchester United striker has vowed to keep up his campaign after a government spokesperson said they would not change their mind on the policy, which was implemented during the Easter break to limit the damages of lockdown.
Meanwhile the number of UK workers on payrolls fell by more than 600,000 in the early days of lockdown, new data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has suggested. Minister Grant Shapps, addressing the state of the economy, said “difficult days would lie ahead” if things do not pick up.
And 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.
MPs across the board have expressed concern over the state of the economy today, with Grant Shapps warning there are “difficult days” ahead if things did not start to pick up.
But Citizens Advice has warned it is seeing the impact of the issue already – and is advising someone on a redundancy issue every two minutes,
Dame Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Each job loss can mean a household struggling to make rent, cover their bills or pay for their food shop.
“The Job Retention Scheme has so far prevented many redundancies, but with more job losses on the horizon, the government must ensure people can access adequate support through the benefits system.
“It must also protect people who are facing eviction or harsh debt collection as a result of this pandemic.”
The idea that the UK should follow a policy of developing a “herd immunity” to combat the coronavirus has been a stick repeatedly used to beat the government with – with Number 10 repeatedly claiming there was no such ambition.
Now a government scientific advisor has said the language of his colleague David Halpern, who mentioned the idea in a controversial BBC interview, appeared to display a lack of concern for the amount of death the virus would cause.
“It does seem to indicate a lack of concern with the deaths of many people and particularly of vulnerable members of the population,” said Stephen Reicher a professor of social psychology at St Andrews University, who also sits on the behavioural science sub-group that feeds advice into SAGE.
More from Ben Chu below:
Our own Rob Merrick has more on Therese Coffey, the cabinet minister who has been accused of ignoring the substance of the argument footballer Marcus Rashford has put forward to continue free school meal vouchers through the summer.
No 10 has rejected the England striker’s call to pay for meal vouchers on the grounds that £63m is being handed to local councils in England to help the poor.
But discontent is growing among Tory MPs – leading some to predict the government may be forced to make some concessions on the matter.
More below:
The opposition on ending school meal vouchers during the summer is growing – now former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davison, who remains an incredibly popular force in the party across the UK, has told her colleagues to resolve food security issues.
Acknowledging the local authority (LA) funding put in place, she said she was baffled by the arguments of her Westminster (WM) colleagues.
In a sad anniversary for Westminster it is four years since MP Jo Cox was murdered in broad daylight by a far right extremist as she campaigned in her constituency.
Killed during a time of intense political division, many invoke the words in her maiden speech to parliament when celebrating her life – in which she said “we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us”.
The line used by Grant Shapps to defend their stance on school meals vouchers – that the government has already committed millions to the issue – has been rubbished by a member of his own party who says the money will not reach those in need.
Robert Halfon, the Tory chair of the Commons education committee, said: “The problem with these kinds of programmes is its very bureaucratic.
“People have to apply to the council, whereas the free school meal programme is very simple, families understand it and it goes to those who need it most.”
More below:
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Therese Coffey has been criticised for her response to footballer Marcus Rashford’s appeal for school meal vouchers to be extended.
Ms Coffey replied to the England striker on Twitter after he asked people to empathise with the plight of low income families, including those “who have had their water turned off during lockdown”.
“Water cannot be disconnected though”, the minister replied.
While she is technically correct, she has face backlash for exclusively responding to the 22-year-old’s appeal to fact check him, and not to address his concerns.
Shadow secretary for work and pensions Jonathan Reynolds has said he cannot understand why school meal vouchers are the hill the government wants to die on.
He told Radio 4’s
Today programme ”Even if you’re in the best position possible if you’ve been impacted by this virus – which is essentially the furlough scheme – you still lost a fifth of your income. There are a million people in the country we found out this week who are not covered by any scheme.”
He added: “The government has already spent quite a bit of money, it’s a relatively modest investment to make sure no child goes hungry over the summer holidays and I absolutely cannot understand why this is the hill they want to die on.”
He also urged the government to announce an emergency budget focussed on job protection.
Referring to the ONS figures released today, he said: “What they tell us is that we are heading towards the levels of unemployment not seen in this country since the 1980s.
“We now know enough to not be too slow in our response to unemployment and that’s why we think there should be an emergency budget and there should be one focus of that budget which is jobs, jobs and jobs again.”
Giants of the hospitality industry have written to the prime minister to call for action to support the sector in the face of continuing challenges posed by Covid-19.
The letter, organised by Deliveroo CEO Will Shu and backed by executives from firms including Pret a Manger, Wagamama and Pizza Hut, urges support on a range of areas including rents, taxation and staffing costs amid concerns the government’s plan for reopening will leave swathes of businesses at risk.
The signatories told the PM “While your re-opening strategy currently envisions restaurants beginning to open dine-in services from early July, requirements around social distancing, though critical for public safety, mean that it will be impossible for restaurants to operate at full capacity.
It adds: “Without Government support to help restaurants to generate revenue and cover costs, tens of thousands of restaurants may be forced to permanently close their doors in the coming months. That is why we are proposing that the Government considers the following policy solutions, which we believe would help to ensure that the restaurant sector is able to recover and thrive, as we all want it to.”
Transport secretary Grant Shapps is the minister doing the media round this morning – fielding questions on the state of the economy and employment, as well as on the matter of free school meals.
He told BBC breakfast the government was “wrapping its arms around the community” via the furlough scheme and payments to local government bodies – including a £63m pot devoted to supporting local authorities so they can go on to support those in need.
Speaking of Marcus Rashford’s involvement on the debate, he told Radio 4’s Today programme it was “great to see him getting involved”.
He also reallocated the application of the government’s metaphorical limbs – telling the radio show the government is “wrapping our arms around the British economy” amid suggestions from ONS data that more than 600,000 fell off payrolls at the start of the lockdown.
Acknowledging there were “difficult days would lie ahead” if the economy does not pick up, he said he understood people who are on the furlough scheme, which ends in October, are “concerned about the future of their employment” and the government faces the task of “restarting the economy but without restarting the virus”.
“You have got to make judgment calls about whether two metres, for example, needs to remain in place or whether you can bring it down.”
More than two million children in the UK have done almost no schoolwork at home during the coronavirus lockdown, according to researchers.
On average, pupils locked down at home in the UK spent an average of 2.5 hours on education, the report concluded. The figure is less than half that found by previous research – implying that “learning losses are much greater than feared”.
“Most homework consisted of assignments, worksheets and watching videos,” the UCL study found. “On average children were given two such pieces of homework a day.”
More from Peter Stubley below:
Labour’s Rebecca Long-Bailey has urged Tories concerned by the end to free school meal vouchers over the summer holiday to look beyond political affiliation and focus on the food poverty children across the country face.
Her party will hold a Commons debate later today on the issue – which was highlighted by footballer Marcus Rashford – allowing disgruntled Conservative MPs the opportunity to air their grievances with the policy.
Some have already spoken out on Twitter over the last 24 hours to express concern with the end to the vouchers, which are not ordinarily offered during school breaks, but were extended during Easter at the height of lockdown.
Ms Long Bailey told BBC Breakfast that the issue “is about humanity”.
“There will be many Conservative MPs today watching this and having read Marcus’ letter who will be agonising about whether they support the Government or not in this because they will want what’s best for children”, she said.
“So, I’m asking all politicians, whatever party they’re in, this is not about party politics, this is about making sure children don’t go hungry over the summer holidays.”
More than 600,000 people fell off UK payrolls between March and May as the lockdown hit Britain’s jobs market, according to the latest official figures.
Universal Credit claims jumped 23.3 per cent between April and May to 2.8 million and soared 125.9 per cent or 1.6 million since March when the lockdown began.
According to the Office for National Statistics’ early estimates, the number of paid employees dropped by 2.1 per cent or 612,000 in May compared with March.
More from Ben Chapman below:
The Labour party has backed Marcus Rashford’s call for a u-turn on the government’s free school meals policy – amid concern for the government over the number of Tory defectors likely to turn on the PM if the matter is put to a vote later today.
Shadow Education Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey will say: “Any government that is willing to let the poorest children in the country go hungry needs to take a long hard look at its priorities.
“Shamefully, children go hungry every year, but this summer will be especially difficult for many families as job losses and reduced incomes hit household budgets.”
More from our Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin below:
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