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UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson admits there is not enough testing capacity; 3,991 new cases recorded | |
(32 minutes later) | |
PM says testing capacity will be 500,000 per day by end of October; close to 4,000 lab-confirmed new cases reported in UK | |
Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chair of the defence committee, goes next. | |
Q: Can I meet with the chancellor to see what can be done to help service charities, who have lost revenue during the crisis? | |
Yes, says Johnson. | |
Ellwood urges the PM to make more use of the armed forces. They are trained for emergencies. | |
Sarah Champion (Lab) goes next. | |
Q: Are you frightened of parliamentary scrutiny of foreign aid? | |
No, says Johnson. He says he relishes it. He says there has been a suggestion that the DfID committee should be merged with the foreign affairs committee. But he says he can see the case for a separate committee dealing with aid. | |
Q: You mean there should be a separate committee? | |
Yes, says Johnson. But he says that is for the liaison committee to decide. | |
Sir Bernard Jenkin says that is what the liaison committee thinks too. | |
Q: What advice have you had from the Foreign Office as to the impact of the internal market bill on relations with the US, and a possible Biden administration. | |
Johnson says he would not discuss advice like that. But he is not aware of receiving any such advice. | |
Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chair of the foreign affairs committee, goes next. | |
Q: Do you consider what is happening to the Uighurs in China as genocide? | |
Johnson says genocide is a term with specific consequences in international law. He says he does not think the UK has used that term in connection with China. | |
Q: Will you let ministers and members of the royal family attend the winter Olympics in China in 2022? | |
Johnson says they will review that nearer to the time. | |
Q: Would you like to see Japan join the five eyes intelligence community? | |
Johnson says he is in favour of bringing groups together. But five eyes is a particular group; he says he is not aware of Japan having expressed an interest in joining. | |
The government has said that as of 9am on Wednesday there had been a further 3,991 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. That is the highest daily total since early May (although at that point far fewer people were being tested every day). | |
The UK has also recorded a further 20 UK coronavirus deaths. | |
The figures were published on the government’s coronavirus dashboard (although for some users it has been slow to update). | |
Q: Can you decouple crime and justice aspects of the negotiation from the trade aspects? | |
That is not favoured by the EU, says Johnson. | |
Sir Bob Neill, the Conservative chair of the justice committee, goes next. | |
Q: What are we doing to ensure that the UK continues to have access to EU crime and justice databases from January? | |
Johnson says there will be changes. But the UK will still be able to protect its citizens. | |
Q: Would you like the UK to get back into the European arrest warrant. The alternative won’t be as good? | |
Johnson says he wants speedy justice. | |
Q: Will the UK government allow the Scottish government to hold another independence referendum? | |
Johnson says he does not think a generation has elapsed since the last one. | |
Asked about opposition to the internal market bill in the US Congress, Johnson says the aspects of the bill that will protect the Good Friday agreement may not have been properly communicated to people. | |
The SNP’s Angus Brendan MacNeil goes next. | |
Q: Will you be able to find anyone to replace the advocate general for Scotland? | |
Johnson says he cannot comment on that. | |
Sir Bill Cash, the Conservative chair of the European scrutiny committee, goes next. | Sir Bill Cash, the Conservative chair of the European scrutiny committee, goes next. |
Cash says other governments have been in breach of international law without facing any sanctions. | Cash says other governments have been in breach of international law without facing any sanctions. |
Q: On sovereignty, do you agree that international law allows each state to give precedence to domestic law? “Sounds sensible to me,” says Cash. | Q: On sovereignty, do you agree that international law allows each state to give precedence to domestic law? “Sounds sensible to me,” says Cash. |
Johnson says he agrees. He wants a system that will protect parliamentary sovereignty, but also the integrity of the UK. | Johnson says he agrees. He wants a system that will protect parliamentary sovereignty, but also the integrity of the UK. |
Cash says he has 20 examples of EU overrides in UK law already. | Cash says he has 20 examples of EU overrides in UK law already. |
Q: Aren’t these examples of double standards? | Q: Aren’t these examples of double standards? |
Johnson says he thinks this is about the UK as a country ensuring that its “friends and partners” do not do something extreme or unreasonable in terms of implementing the Northern Ireland protocol. | Johnson says he thinks this is about the UK as a country ensuring that its “friends and partners” do not do something extreme or unreasonable in terms of implementing the Northern Ireland protocol. |