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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/jun/16/uk-coronavirus-live-lockdown-has-been-disaster-for-society-says-william-hague
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| UK coronavirus live: Rashford calls on PM to 'do right thing' over school meals | UK coronavirus live: Rashford calls on PM to 'do right thing' over school meals |
| (33 minutes later) | |
| Labour backs call from England striker Marcus Rashford for the government to extend free school meals over the summer holidays | Labour backs call from England striker Marcus Rashford for the government to extend free school meals over the summer holidays |
| Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, joining the blog for the day. | |
| Here is the agenda showing what’s coming up. | |
| 9am: Senior medics and NHS leaders give evidence to the Commons health committee on delivering core NHS services during the pandemic. | |
| 9.30am: The ONS publishes weekly death figures for England and Wales. | |
| Morning: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet. | |
| 12.30pm: The Scottish and Welsh governments hold their daily press briefings. | |
| 12.30pm: Jesse Norman, a Treasury minister, is due to answer a Commons urgent question about the furlough scheme. | |
| Around 1.15pm: Johnson makes a Commons statement on “global Britain.” | |
| Around 2.15pm: Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, gives a Commons statement about the post-Brexit trade talks. | |
| 2.30pm: The Commons justice committee takes evidence from Peter Clarke, the inspector of prisons, and others on BAME disproportionality in criminal justice system. | |
| Around 3.15pm: MPs begin a three-hour debate on a Labour motion saying the government should fund the free school meal voucher scheme in England over the summer holidays. | |
| 5pm: UK government press conference. | |
| The work and pensions secretary – who oversees the government’s strategy on child poverty – has come in for a lot of criticism for this response to Marcus Rashford’s call for people to think about “parents who have had their water turned off during lockdown”. | |
| The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, wrote: | |
| The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has been speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning. He said the public would be “rightfully very unforgiving” if the UK experienced a second spike of coronavirus. He also said the government would not amend the 2-metre social distancing restriction until 4 July at the earliest. | |
| He was asked about yesterday’s criticism following the government’s launch of a racism commission. Labour pointed out that a string of similar inquiries and reports had completed recently and said it was time for “deeds not words”. | He was asked about yesterday’s criticism following the government’s launch of a racism commission. Labour pointed out that a string of similar inquiries and reports had completed recently and said it was time for “deeds not words”. |
| Shapps said: | Shapps said: |
| Footballer Marcus Rashford has been tweeting about his campaign for the government to extend the free school meals scheme into the summer, with the hashtag #maketheuturn | Footballer Marcus Rashford has been tweeting about his campaign for the government to extend the free school meals scheme into the summer, with the hashtag #maketheuturn |
| The shadow education secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, has been speaking to the BBC about the government’s refusal to extend the free school meals scheme into the summer during the coronavirus crisis. She said: | The shadow education secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, has been speaking to the BBC about the government’s refusal to extend the free school meals scheme into the summer during the coronavirus crisis. She said: |
| She pointed to Scotland and Wales: “They are going to do this over the summer holidays for their children, so why can’t the government in England do the same?” | She pointed to Scotland and Wales: “They are going to do this over the summer holidays for their children, so why can’t the government in England do the same?” |
| Looking ahead to today’s opposition day debate on the subject, Long Bailey added: | Looking ahead to today’s opposition day debate on the subject, Long Bailey added: |
| As I mentioned briefly earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released its latest employment statistics this morning. | As I mentioned briefly earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released its latest employment statistics this morning. |
| The new figures suggest the down turn has yet to feed through fully into unemployment thanks to the job retention scheme. But there was a sharp drop in the number of paid employees, down by 2.1% or 612,000 in May compared with March, and a huge increase in benefit claims. | The new figures suggest the down turn has yet to feed through fully into unemployment thanks to the job retention scheme. But there was a sharp drop in the number of paid employees, down by 2.1% or 612,000 in May compared with March, and a huge increase in benefit claims. |
| The ONS said there was a decline in hours worked by people in jobs, while jobless claims under universal credit jumped 23.3% month-on-month in May to 2.8 million and soared 125.9% or 1.6 million since March when the UK was placed in lockdown. | The ONS said there was a decline in hours worked by people in jobs, while jobless claims under universal credit jumped 23.3% month-on-month in May to 2.8 million and soared 125.9% or 1.6 million since March when the UK was placed in lockdown. |
| ONS deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow said: “The slowdown in the economy is now visibly hitting the labour market, especially in terms of hours worked.” He added: “We haven’t quite seen the down turn feed through into unemployment yet.” | ONS deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow said: “The slowdown in the economy is now visibly hitting the labour market, especially in terms of hours worked.” He added: “We haven’t quite seen the down turn feed through into unemployment yet.” |
| You can get the latest updates on this on our Business Live Blog here. | You can get the latest updates on this on our Business Live Blog here. |
| Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford, who called yesterday for the government to extend its free school meals voucher system for low-income families over the summer holiday period, is not easily deterred. | Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford, who called yesterday for the government to extend its free school meals voucher system for low-income families over the summer holiday period, is not easily deterred. |
| Despite Downing Street rejecting his plea, Rashford has a column in the Times this morning, in which he writes: | |
| He concludes: | He concludes: |
| Labour will use an opposition day debate in the Commons today to demand free school meals vouchers are extended over the holidays during the coronavirus crisis. | Labour will use an opposition day debate in the Commons today to demand free school meals vouchers are extended over the holidays during the coronavirus crisis. |
| The prime minister’s official spokesman confirmed yesterday that the scheme will end when the school term ends, saying Rashford had been “using his profile in a positive way to highlight some very important issues”. | The prime minister’s official spokesman confirmed yesterday that the scheme will end when the school term ends, saying Rashford had been “using his profile in a positive way to highlight some very important issues”. |
| The scale of discontent among Conservative backbenchers over the 2 metre rule was clear yesterday, when senior Tory MPs publicly urged Boris Johnson to cut it down to 1 metre or 1.5 meter. Scientists tell the Telegraph today that the 2-metre rule has no basis in science. Professors Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson, from the University of Oxford, write: | The scale of discontent among Conservative backbenchers over the 2 metre rule was clear yesterday, when senior Tory MPs publicly urged Boris Johnson to cut it down to 1 metre or 1.5 meter. Scientists tell the Telegraph today that the 2-metre rule has no basis in science. Professors Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson, from the University of Oxford, write: |
| Meanwhile, 90 firms – including Wagamama and Pizza Hut – have written to the prime minister to say the sector faces massive job cuts without more help and if the 2-metre rule remained in place. You can read the story on the BBC here. | Meanwhile, 90 firms – including Wagamama and Pizza Hut – have written to the prime minister to say the sector faces massive job cuts without more help and if the 2-metre rule remained in place. You can read the story on the BBC here. |
| Good morning and welcome to our UK news blog, which will take in developments in the coronavirus crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement. | Good morning and welcome to our UK news blog, which will take in developments in the coronavirus crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement. |
| The Office for National Statistics has released official employment figures, revealing that paid employees dropped by 2.1% or 612,000 in May compared with March. The number of people temporarily away from work, including furloughed workers, rose by 6 million at the end of March into April. | |
| The former Conservative party leader William Hague, writing in the Telegraph in advance of the publication of the data, said the coronavirus lockdown has been a “disaster for our society” that will cause economic catastrophe for hundreds of thousands of people. He said that, like Dunkirk, lockdown has been “a heroic operation in itself but the result of a massive failure”. | The former Conservative party leader William Hague, writing in the Telegraph in advance of the publication of the data, said the coronavirus lockdown has been a “disaster for our society” that will cause economic catastrophe for hundreds of thousands of people. He said that, like Dunkirk, lockdown has been “a heroic operation in itself but the result of a massive failure”. |
| The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, will be speaking to broadcasters this morning, so I’ll bring you the highlights from that. The business secretary, Alok Sharma, is due to answer questions from MPs in the Commons around 11.30am. The shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, will then ask an urgent question on the impact of corona on the economy, which will be responded to by Jesse Norman, financial secretary to the Treasury. | |
| I’m Frances Perraudin and I’ll be bringing you updates this morning. You can email me on frances.perraudin@theguardian.com if you think there’s something I’ve missed and contact me on twitter on @fperraudin. | I’m Frances Perraudin and I’ll be bringing you updates this morning. You can email me on frances.perraudin@theguardian.com if you think there’s something I’ve missed and contact me on twitter on @fperraudin. |