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| UK coronavirus live: Nicola Sturgeon says Boris Johnson lockdown changes not safe for Scotland | UK coronavirus live: Nicola Sturgeon says Boris Johnson lockdown changes not safe for Scotland |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| PM to publish 50-page ‘blueprint’ and address Commons later as Starmer says Johnson’s strategy ‘unravelling’ due to lack of clarity | PM to publish 50-page ‘blueprint’ and address Commons later as Starmer says Johnson’s strategy ‘unravelling’ due to lack of clarity |
| Judging by the comments, a lot of readers enjoyed Piers Morgan’s clash with the Tory MP Andrew Bridgen on Good Morning Britain this morning. Bridgen was defending the PM and his record on coronavirus. You can watch it in full here. | |
| The stark contrast between death rates for care home workers and their NHS counterparts, revealed today by the Office of National Statistics, has triggered an angry reaction from the care sector. The ONS found that 45 men and 86 women working in social care died from Covid-19 in England and Wales, based on death registrations up to 20 April. (See 12.16pm.) This was around twice the mortlity rate from the virus experienced among NHS workers whose likelihood of being killed by the virus was in line with the general population.Care England, which represents many of the largest care home providers, said it was wrong to blame its members for a failure to supply enough personal protective equipment because their ability to buy kit was hampered at the start of the pandemic by central government moving to commandeer supplies for the NHS.“The government completely stopped our supply chain,” said Martin Green, chief executive of Care England. | |
| By 24 April there were 5,890 deaths from Covid-19 in care homes in England and Wales, according to ONS figures based on what is written on death certificates. On Sunday, HC-One, the largest provider of private care homes, said it alone had lost 829 residents to confirmed or suspected cases of the disease. Boris Johnson conceded in his Sunday evening TV address that there had been “awful epidemics in care homes”.Care home staff have also been struggling to get tested and tests for residents with suspected cases have been limited, operators say, with tests not carried out after an outbreak has been confirmed in a home. | |
| As our colleague Rowena Mason reported yesterday, Momentum, the Labour group set up to promote Jeremy Corbyn and his brand of politics, has criticised Sir Keir Starmer for not advocating rent cancellation for people who cannot afford to pay their landlords because they have lost work because of coronavirus. | |
| Our colleague Owen Jones, a prominent Labour leftwinger, also tweeted on this last week. | |
| This might seem like an arcane policy dispute in a party that is out of power, but it is interesting because it is the first serious indication of Starmer falling out with the Labour Corbynite left. A lot will depend on whether this becomes the norm, and, if so, who prevails. | |
| During his LBC phone-in this morning Starmer was asked about this by a Labour party member who is also renting who asked why he should support Starmer when Starmer was prioritising his landlord’s income over his own. Starmer said he was glad the issue had been raised, because we wanted to clear this up. He made two arguments. | |
| Starmer said that, if the government cancelled rents, landlords would be entitled to compensation. That would not be a good use of public money, he argued. He said: | |
| He said that, if renters did lose their job, he favoured helping them through the benefits system. He said: | |
| Almost 400,000 people have signed a petition demanding that parents should be given the choice about whether or not to send their children back into schools once they start reopening to more pupils next month. | |
| The petition was launched following Boris Johnson’s announcement on Sunday that the government plans to press ahead with opening primary schools in England from as early as June 1, starting with reception and years 1 and 6, followed by the rest of the primary year groups. | |
| Currently schools are only open to a tiny minority of pupils, who are either children of key workers or pupils classed as vulnerable, and many parents and head teachers are concerned about the safety implications of opening up to more pupils - particularly younger pupils who struggle to observe social distancing rules. | |
| The Change.org petition, which was started by London parent Lucy Browne, states: | |
| The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, has expressed concern that Boris Johnson’s announcement on changes to lockdown could lead to more coronavirus cases in Wales. | |
| Drakeford said he was worried that the prime minister was not as clear as he ought to have been on what the changes meant across the UK. | |
| He warned people not to travel from England to Wales to exercise and said there had been an increase in traffic in Wales over the weekend. | |
| Speaking at the daily press conference in Cardiff, Drakeford said he still believed that all parts of the UK were moving in the same direction, making small adjustments to the lockdown. | |
| But he said: | |
| Drakeford said the four Welsh police forces had reported a “distinct increase” in activity over the bank holiday weekend and suggested this was after many UK national newspapers reported that a major easing of the lockdown was on the horizon. There was also an increase in traffic and alcohol-related violence associated with VE Day celebrations. | |
| While Johnson has said people will be able to travel to exercise, the message in Wales is that people should exercise locally. | |
| Drakeford said: | |
| I want to be clear in Wales it is Welsh law that applies. Travelling to Wales to exercise is not to exercise locally. | |
| He said signs would inform motorists of this on major routes in Wales but he said there were no plans to actually shut the border. | |
| Drakeford said he had sympathy with people who would not grasp the differences between what was allowed in England and Wales. “I do have sympathy with people who haven’t heard that message with sufficient clarity because of the way it was announced yesterday,” he said. | |
| He added: | |
| He once again called for more regular meetings between the four UK nations. | |
| Asked if he was worried that the tone of Johnson’s announcement could have an impact on the number of Covid-19 cases in Wales, he said: “I have to be concerned about that.” He added that he didn’t want to see the “headroom” Wales currently has in dealing with the crisis eroded “because people are exercising freedoms they have elsewhere but not in Wales.” | |
| Asked whether the furlough scheme would remain longer in Scotland, Sturgeon said she wants the financial government to stay as long as needed. | |
| “If we have different parts of the UK on slightly different timelines, then the schemes have to recognise that,” she added. | |
| An estimate published last week suggests 26,000 people in Scotland have been infected with the virus, Sturgeon said. | |
| Sturgeon said there is not any plan or any need for increased policing at the Scottish border. | |
| It’s not for me to judge whether these actions are premature for England, Sturgeon said, but insisted actions to ease the lockdown are premature for Scotland. | It’s not for me to judge whether these actions are premature for England, Sturgeon said, but insisted actions to ease the lockdown are premature for Scotland. |
| “I can’t judge the right speed for England, but it is my responsibility to judge the right speed for Scotland.” | “I can’t judge the right speed for England, but it is my responsibility to judge the right speed for Scotland.” |
| Sturgeon said she still wants as much alignment as possible with all four UK nations, but it has to be guided by science and advice as it applies in Scotland. | Sturgeon said she still wants as much alignment as possible with all four UK nations, but it has to be guided by science and advice as it applies in Scotland. |
| When Guardian Scotland editor Severin Carrell asked whether Scotland would also be adopting England’s five colour alert system, Sturgeon said she didn’t have a definitive answer yet. | When Guardian Scotland editor Severin Carrell asked whether Scotland would also be adopting England’s five colour alert system, Sturgeon said she didn’t have a definitive answer yet. |
| “Ideally, it would be good if the whole of the UK had the same system of phasing, maybe not the same dates and timescales,” Sturgeon said. “We would certainly be very open to looking at what the UK government publishes today.” | “Ideally, it would be good if the whole of the UK had the same system of phasing, maybe not the same dates and timescales,” Sturgeon said. “We would certainly be very open to looking at what the UK government publishes today.” |
| Sturgeon said she doesn’t want to play “Russian roulette” with people’s lives in response to Scotland’s different response to the easing of the lockdown. | Sturgeon said she doesn’t want to play “Russian roulette” with people’s lives in response to Scotland’s different response to the easing of the lockdown. |
| Sturgeon said the differences in easing the lockdown are not down for political reasons, but factor in the different spread of the virus across the UK. | Sturgeon said the differences in easing the lockdown are not down for political reasons, but factor in the different spread of the virus across the UK. |
| “I think the prime minister has to make it clearer when he is talking only for England,” Sturgeon said. | “I think the prime minister has to make it clearer when he is talking only for England,” Sturgeon said. |
| “What I don’t think is right for any government to do is to say we’re encouraging people to go back to work who haven’t worked so far before the guidance on what a safe working environment is has been published. That’s the bit that should come first,” Sturgeon said. | “What I don’t think is right for any government to do is to say we’re encouraging people to go back to work who haven’t worked so far before the guidance on what a safe working environment is has been published. That’s the bit that should come first,” Sturgeon said. |
| When asked about a Scottish resident who works on a construction site in England and been told to return to work, Sturgeon said the position in Scotland has not changed. | When asked about a Scottish resident who works on a construction site in England and been told to return to work, Sturgeon said the position in Scotland has not changed. |
| “We are saying to businesses that have not been operational so far, we are not encouraging you to get back to work right now,” she added. | “We are saying to businesses that have not been operational so far, we are not encouraging you to get back to work right now,” she added. |
| Scotland’s R number is between 0.7 to 1, Sturgeon said. She believes that R number has come down from above 3. | Scotland’s R number is between 0.7 to 1, Sturgeon said. She believes that R number has come down from above 3. |