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| UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet ahead of holding first daily briefing since illness | UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet ahead of holding first daily briefing since illness |
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| Robert Buckland admits government may fail to hit testing target; death toll in Scotland rises; more than 1,800 workers set to lose jobs at Oasis and Warehouse | Robert Buckland admits government may fail to hit testing target; death toll in Scotland rises; more than 1,800 workers set to lose jobs at Oasis and Warehouse |
| An attempt to overturn the judiciary’s temporary freeze preventing evictions and home repossessions during the pandemic is being made in the court of appeal. | |
| Lawyers for an insolvency firm have lodged an emergency application over the alleged failure to keep up payments on mortgages on two houses in Hertfordshire that were already the subject of a legal dispute. | |
| The judicial practice direction ensuring that no one would lose their homes during the outbreak or be the subject of legal action that could result in being made homeless was authorised by the master of the rolls, Sir Terence Etherton, who is head of the civil judiciary in England and Wales. | |
| Philip Rainey QC, acting for Mehmet Arkin, an insolvency practitioner, told the court of appeal in a hearing conducted over remote video links on Thursday, that the rules were “ultra vires” - having not been made in accordance with the law. | |
| “It’s particularly important during an emergency that restrictive measures have a proper basis in law,” Rainey told the court. “There are very good reasons why parliament would wish to impose restrictions on what would normally be acceptable in a democracy but there must be a proper legal basis.” | |
| The practice direction used by the judiciary, number 51.2, only refers to matters that the courts are “piloting” as experiments within the court system, Rainey said. It could not legally be the basis for the suspension of repossession actions which had been imposed. | |
| But Sir Geoffrey Vos, chancellor of the high court, suggested that the practice direction had been imposed in an emergency and that it was effectively “trialling” changes to the rules. “This is to see what measures can deal with [cases] in the context of a clogging up of justice”. | |
| Lady Justice Simler said the emergency rules did not prevent access to justice but merely imposed a 90-day delay on the process of house repossessions. | |
| Lawyers for the justice secretary, Robert Buckland QC, have intervened in the case because of its significance. | |
| The Housing Lawyers Practitioners Committee has also been permitted to intervene. In a statement issued before the hearing, the organisation’s co-chairs, Marina Sergides and Simon Mullings, said: “The issues are crucial to our members and their clients.” | |
| In their legal submissions to the court, lawyers for the HLPA said: “If the appellants succeed in persuading the court that [the practice direction] is ultra vires then [this freeze] will cease to apply to all possession claims.” | |
| That would expose many vulnerable people to losing their homes during the lockdown, they argued. “A significant proportion of members’ clients are also vulnerable as a result of physical and/or mental health problems, as a result of which they find it difficult properly to understand information and provide their solicitors with documents and instructions even face-to-face.” | |
| The submission added: “This is a time when litigants, particularly those of limited means, are liable to find it particularly difficult to engage with the courts and with their lawyers if they have them. Practitioners and the courts are under exceptional pressure and the resources available to them are depleted. The provisions take effect for a temporary period while court procedures in response to Covid-19 are evaluated and they are subject to review.” | |
| The hearing continues. | |
| Consumers still panic-buying toilet roll have another option from today. A brand new recycled toilet paper brand has been launched, with all profits helping to fund wellbeing packs along with travel and accommodation costs for NHS frontline workers. | Consumers still panic-buying toilet roll have another option from today. A brand new recycled toilet paper brand has been launched, with all profits helping to fund wellbeing packs along with travel and accommodation costs for NHS frontline workers. |
| So-called Serious Tissues was set up by the brains behind Change Please, a Big Issue Invest-backed social enterprise which helps get homeless people off the street by training them as coffee baristas. The new product is made from paper and cardboard recycled from offices and homes. | So-called Serious Tissues was set up by the brains behind Change Please, a Big Issue Invest-backed social enterprise which helps get homeless people off the street by training them as coffee baristas. The new product is made from paper and cardboard recycled from offices and homes. |
| Originally designed to help tackle the climate change crisis and save some of the 10m trees cut down every year to make toilet paper, the new product was meant to go on sale in the summer. But the launch was brought forward in response to the Covid-19 outbreak and to direct all profits to NHS Charities Together. | |
| Reports from adults concerned about child abuse have increased by almost a fifth during the coronavirus lockdown, the NSPCC has said. Its helpline received 2,216 calls about children facing neglect, physical and emotional abuse in the first four weeks of the lockdown. This compares with 1,867 calls made in the four weeks prior. Lockdown measures are likely to be “intensifying abuse and increasing the impact it has on children who can’t escape it”, the child protection charity said. | Reports from adults concerned about child abuse have increased by almost a fifth during the coronavirus lockdown, the NSPCC has said. Its helpline received 2,216 calls about children facing neglect, physical and emotional abuse in the first four weeks of the lockdown. This compares with 1,867 calls made in the four weeks prior. Lockdown measures are likely to be “intensifying abuse and increasing the impact it has on children who can’t escape it”, the child protection charity said. |
| At her daily briefing, Nicola Sturgeon has told the Scottish public it is highly unlikely that there will be a loosening of lockdown restrictions next week. | At her daily briefing, Nicola Sturgeon has told the Scottish public it is highly unlikely that there will be a loosening of lockdown restrictions next week. |
| Noting the next review lockdown guidance planned for 7 May, she warned that “it may well be too early even by this time next week to reduce the current restrictions”. Saying she wanted to be as open as possible, she stressed that “our assessment as of today of the data and the evidence is that it would not be safe” to lift the restrictions. | |
| She urged the Scottish public not to ease up on travel restrictions in particular, revealing that there has been a significant increase over the last week: people using concessionary bus travel by one-sixth, and car traffic up by 5%. | She urged the Scottish public not to ease up on travel restrictions in particular, revealing that there has been a significant increase over the last week: people using concessionary bus travel by one-sixth, and car traffic up by 5%. |
| Saying that she remained “an eternal optimist” that the situation would improve, she acknowledged that “everybody is getting really frustrated”, adding that it was “much tougher for certain groups of people, people with children, people who don’t have a garden, people who live in tenement flats”. She told reporters: “I can’t wave a magic want and make that frustration go away. What I can do is tell you why it is necessary.” | |
| Evidence is building that Covid-19 can cause blood clotting abnormalities in patients, which could increase their risk of death.Researchers in Ireland have reported finding that patients with severe coronavirus infection have micro blood clots in their lungs – something they say is not seen in other lung conditions, and could explain why people with severe Covid-19 have a drastic drop in blood oxygen levels. The study, published in the British Journal of Haematology by researchers at the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology, RCSI and St James’s hospital, Dublin, also reveals the higher the levels of various markers indicating abnormal blood clotting, the worse a patient’s prognosis. | |
| “Further studies will be required to investigate whether different blood thinning treatments may have a role in selected high-risk patients in order to reduce the risk of clot formation,” said Prof James O’Donnell director of the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology. | |
| It is not the first study to highlight clotting issues among those with Covid-19. Previous studies have suggested severe Covid-19 may be associated with an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and stroke – even in young people – while recent work by other researchers has also raised concerns about blood-clotting complications in Covid-19 patients. | It is not the first study to highlight clotting issues among those with Covid-19. Previous studies have suggested severe Covid-19 may be associated with an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and stroke – even in young people – while recent work by other researchers has also raised concerns about blood-clotting complications in Covid-19 patients. |
| The Irish team say unusual blood clotting may help to explain why people of some ethnicities appear to be at greater risk from Covid-19 than others, since black people have a higher risk of blood-clotting problems than white people and Asian people have a lower risk than both. | The Irish team say unusual blood clotting may help to explain why people of some ethnicities appear to be at greater risk from Covid-19 than others, since black people have a higher risk of blood-clotting problems than white people and Asian people have a lower risk than both. |
| “Our findings raise the intriguing possibility that pulmonary vasculopathy may contribute to the unexplained differences that are beginning to emerge highlighting racial susceptibility to Covid‐19 mortality,” the Irish team write. | |
| The number of people who believe the government did not act quickly enough in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak is increasing, according to a poll. | The number of people who believe the government did not act quickly enough in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak is increasing, according to a poll. |
| Two-thirds of adults think ministers brought in strict measures to deal with the emergency too late, a rise from 57% two weeks ago, the Ipsos Mori survey found. | Two-thirds of adults think ministers brought in strict measures to deal with the emergency too late, a rise from 57% two weeks ago, the Ipsos Mori survey found. |
| The snapshot poll said people were also becoming less concerned about the risks to them personally from the outbreak. In the past month, the percentage of people expressing concern about the risk to themselves over time has dropped nine points to stand at 69%. | |
| Tony Lloyd, the Labour MP for Rochdale in Greater Manchester, spent 25 days in Manchester Royal Infirmary with Covid-19, including 10 days in an induced coma on a ventilator. He spoke to the Guardian’s north of England editor, Helen Pidd, about the humbling experience, from strange dreams to how it’s changed him for good. | Tony Lloyd, the Labour MP for Rochdale in Greater Manchester, spent 25 days in Manchester Royal Infirmary with Covid-19, including 10 days in an induced coma on a ventilator. He spoke to the Guardian’s north of England editor, Helen Pidd, about the humbling experience, from strange dreams to how it’s changed him for good. |
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| Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalistEmail: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com | Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalistEmail: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com |
| The government is to step up its campaign to find British workers to pick fruit and vegetables during the coronavirus lockdown. | The government is to step up its campaign to find British workers to pick fruit and vegetables during the coronavirus lockdown. |
| The environment, food and rural affairs minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble said farms currently had sufficient seasonal labour. | |
| But he said the campaign to plug the gap left by having fewer pickers from abroad would be “escalated” next month. | But he said the campaign to plug the gap left by having fewer pickers from abroad would be “escalated” next month. |
| In a virtual Lords question time session, Gardiner said he was confident people would come forward to pick “excellent” British fruit and vegetables. | |
| Nicola Sturgeon starts her daily briefing by confirming 11,353 positive cases of coronavirus in Scotland, an increase of 319 from yesterday. | Nicola Sturgeon starts her daily briefing by confirming 11,353 positive cases of coronavirus in Scotland, an increase of 319 from yesterday. |
| There are now 1,748 patients in hospital with suspected or confirmed Covid-19, an increase of 21; 109 in intensive care, a decrease of five from yesterday. She also said that 2,538 patients who had the virus had left hospital since 5 March. | There are now 1,748 patients in hospital with suspected or confirmed Covid-19, an increase of 21; 109 in intensive care, a decrease of five from yesterday. She also said that 2,538 patients who had the virus had left hospital since 5 March. |
| But in the last 24 hours there were a further 60 deaths registered, taking that total to 1,475. | But in the last 24 hours there were a further 60 deaths registered, taking that total to 1,475. |
| A fifth of high street stores plan to stay closed permanently after the coronavirus lockdown unwinds, retail leaders have told MPs. | A fifth of high street stores plan to stay closed permanently after the coronavirus lockdown unwinds, retail leaders have told MPs. |
| Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, told the business, energy and industrial strategy select committee it has been the “worst time ever for retail” after the pandemic hit the UK. | Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, told the business, energy and industrial strategy select committee it has been the “worst time ever for retail” after the pandemic hit the UK. |
| He said 20% of retailers surveyed by the trade body claimed they did not intend to reopen after the lockdown. | He said 20% of retailers surveyed by the trade body claimed they did not intend to reopen after the lockdown. |
| Goodacre added: “For those even saying they would look to reopen, there is a huge caveat about the level of trade on whether they would continue to reopen. | Goodacre added: “For those even saying they would look to reopen, there is a huge caveat about the level of trade on whether they would continue to reopen. |
| “If the footfall is impacted and social distancing exists and they find it hard to meet needs of customers and workers, it would be more expensive to reopen than to stay closed.” | “If the footfall is impacted and social distancing exists and they find it hard to meet needs of customers and workers, it would be more expensive to reopen than to stay closed.” |