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UK coronavirus live: new restrictions placed on nearly 2 million people in north-east England
UK coronavirus live: up to four times as many people may be wanting Covid tests as can get them, MPs told
(32 minutes later)
Those in Newcastle, Northumberland, Gateshead, County Durham, North and South Tyneside and Sunderland banned from household mixing
Dido Harding gives evidence to Commons science committee; new restrictions placed on nearly 2 million people in north-east England
Harding says the number of tests being processed abroad is in the low tens of thousands.
The Labour MP Dawn Butler asked about reports that Randox, one of the private firms processing tests, was unable to process thousands of tests. Was it paid for these?
Harding says she cannot comment, because this episode is still being investigated, she says.
Harding says for a couple of days last week laboratories were running at over 100% of capacity. She says they were worried about that - implying there were concerns about whether processes could be properly followed like that.
Harding says there are two to three times as many people being tested in high prevalence areas.
Q: Is is true London council leaders have been told its testing capacity is being cut by 20%?
Harding says the number of tests allocated for London has come down, because of the need to prioritise places where the case numbers are higher. But she says she cannot confirm the 20% figure.
Harding says she knows that people find it frustrating seeing testing centres empty.
But the constraints are in the laboratories, she says. She says there is no point giving people tests if they cannot be processed. That would lead to people not getting results, she says.
More from Dido Harding’s evidence to the science committee
This is what Dido Harding told the committee about what the level of demand for tests is. She said:
Asked for an estimate of what the demand was, she replied: “It is multiples of the test capacity that we have today.”
Dido Harding is giving evidence to the Commons science committee now.
Greg Clark, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, goes first.
Asked what the testing capacity is, Harding says it is 242,817. She says 82,817 is NHS capacity, and 160,000 is pillar 2 capacity (commercial testing at places such as drive-through centres).
Q: What is the demand for tests?
Harding says it is hard to say. People sometimes try to book a test more than once, using different devices. But she says that the figure will be “multiples” of what the capacity is.
Q: How do you know that 27% of people are seeking a test when they don’t have symptoms? When booking, they have to say they have symptoms.
Harding says the organisation has used post-test surveys to find this out.
NHS England has recorded a further 18 coronavirus hospital deaths. The full details are here.
NHS England has recorded a further 18 coronavirus hospital deaths. The full details are here.
In Scotland there have been no further deaths, but 290 new cases, with 4% of people testing positive. (Yesterday’s figure was 3.6%.)
In Scotland there have been no further deaths, but 290 new cases, with 4% of people testing positive. (Yesterday’s figure was 3.6%.)
Public Health Wales has recorded three new deaths and 168 new cases.
Public Health Wales has recorded three new deaths and 168 new cases.
And in Northern Ireland there have been 149 new cases, but no further deaths.
And in Northern Ireland there have been 149 new cases, but no further deaths.
The Commons science committee has been taking evidence from Thomas Waite, director of the Joint Biosecurity Centre. He was asked about the claim floated by Anthony Costello last night that infections could be running at 38,000 per day. (See 9.06am.) He said “that’s not a figure I directly recognise” and went on to say that it may come from one of the many models SPI-M has. “SPI-M have a number of different models and there is a value in that,” he said.
The Commons science committee has been taking evidence from Thomas Waite, director of the Joint Biosecurity Centre. He was asked about the claim floated by Anthony Costello last night that infections could be running at 38,000 per day. (See 9.06am.) He said “that’s not a figure I directly recognise” and went on to say that it may come from one of the many models SPI-M has. “SPI-M have a number of different models and there is a value in that,” he said.
Asked by Greg Clark, the committee chair, if it sounds about right that there are about 10 times as many infections than are picked up, he said: “I don’t think that sounds right”
Asked by Greg Clark, the committee chair, if it sounds about right that there are about 10 times as many infections as are picked up, he said: “I don’t think that sounds right.”
Back to coronavirus, and this is from Tom Copley, the deputy mayor of London for housing.
Back to coronavirus, and this is from Tom Copley, the deputy mayor of London for housing.
Here is some reaction to the government’s latest statement on the internal market bill (see 2.21pm) from Brexit specialist commentators on Twitter.
Here is some reaction to the government’s latest statement on the internal market bill (see 2.21pm) from Brexit specialist commentators on Twitter.
From the Times’ Bruno Waterfield
From the Times’ Bruno Waterfield
From my colleague Daniel Boffey
From my colleague Daniel Boffey
From Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn
From Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn
From the Financial Times’ Peter Foster
From the Financial Times’ Peter Foster
From Raoul Ruparel, EU adviser to Theresa May when she was PM
From Raoul Ruparel, EU adviser to Theresa May when she was PM
From Prof Mark Elliott, professor of public law at Cambridge University
From Prof Mark Elliott, professor of public law at Cambridge University
From Katy Hayward, an academic and Brexit specialist at Queen’s University, Belfast
From Katy Hayward, an academic and Brexit specialist at Queen’s University, Belfast
From the Economist’s Matthew Holehouse
From the Economist’s Matthew Holehouse
Nicola Sturgeon was pressed at FMQs about visiting guidelines for care facilities, after families of care home residents lobbied members outside Holyrood yesterday, calling for a relaxation in “draconian” visiting guidelines.
Nicola Sturgeon was pressed at FMQs about visiting guidelines for care facilities, after families of care home residents lobbied members outside Holyrood yesterday, calling for a relaxation in “draconian” visiting guidelines.
Sturgeon said that she understood how difficult this time was for people who had loved ones in care homes, adding that “visiting is a fundamental part of health and wellbeing. She said that around 40% of homes were now facilitating indoor visits, but that she also recognised that wider principle was at stake, not just about visiting but also about recognising the role of family members play in caring for their relatives.
Sturgeon said that she understood how difficult this time was for people who had loved ones in care homes, adding that “visiting is a fundamental part of health and wellbeing. She said that around 40% of homes were now facilitating indoor visits, but that she also recognised that wider principle was at stake, not just about visiting but also about recognising the role of family members play in caring for their relatives.
She said that the health secretary would be meeting family members campaigning for better visiting facilities tomorrow, and that she “hoped to open up further options for families as soon as it is safe to do so”. But she added that, having facing ongoing criticism about numbers of care home deaths, nobody should doubt “the real weight of responsibility we feel in reaching these decisions”.
She said that the health secretary would be meeting family members campaigning for better visiting facilities tomorrow, and that she “hoped to open up further options for families as soon as it is safe to do so”. But she added that, having facing ongoing criticism about numbers of care home deaths, nobody should doubt “the real weight of responsibility we feel in reaching these decisions”.
Sturgeon also confirmed that there were 290 new Covid cases yesterday, with 112 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and 52 in Lanarkshire, where a ban on indoor gatherings between households remains in place, as well as 47 in Lothian.
Sturgeon also confirmed that there were 290 new Covid cases yesterday, with 112 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and 52 in Lanarkshire, where a ban on indoor gatherings between households remains in place, as well as 47 in Lothian.
Local public health officials appear to have lost patience with the government’s response to rising cases of Covid-19.
Jeanelle de Gruchy, the president of the Association of Directors of Public Health has delivered a stinging attack on the approach in a blog posted this afternoon. She says:
In what amounts to a call for billions in centralised resources to be redistributed to local officials, she warns:
De Gruchy is the director of public health in Tameside, Greater Manchester where there have been at least 20 Covid-19 fatalities in the local hospital.
She said that the resources available to her colleagues nationally “fall woefully short of the scale of the task”, and in a swipe at Boris Johnson’s £100bn moonshot bid to start testing 10m people a day, she said:
Speaking to thousands of public health officials exhausted at the prospect of a second wave she added:
Downing Street has just issued a statement explaining in what circumstances it would use the provisions in the internal market bill IMB allowing it to overrule the withdrawal agreement (in breach of international law). This is a crucial issue. As discussed earlier (see 10.43am), Lord Keen of Elie seems to have resigned as advocate general for Scotland because he was worried that the powers in the bill were not there just for use as a last resort.
Overall today’s statement will go some way to defuse the row about the bill. But it will do more to appease Tory MPs and peers worried about the legislation than anyone in Brussels, and it does not amount to a clear climb-down. Judging by the instant reaction on Twitter, opinion as to the significance of the statement is very divided.
The full statement, entitled “Government statement on notwithstanding clauses”, is here. Here’s a guide to its conciliatory features - and its less conciliatory features.
Conciliatory features
1) The internal market bill is enormously provocative because it gives the UK government powers to ignore parts of the withdrawal agreement it signed less than a year ago - and because the very act of passing the bill would also arguably break international law, even if those powers were never used. Today’s statement says, effectively, that the UK would only use those powers in the bill if the EU breached the withdrawal agreement first. It says in its first paragraph:
2) The statement accepts that goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland should be liable to tariffs or import VAT if there is a “real risk” of their entering Ireland. This is only what the withdrawal agreement says, but the publication of the IMB suggested the UK was trying to wriggle out of this commitment.
3) The statement says confirms that the UK is committed to using the dispute settlement mechanisms in the withdrawal agreement. Again, this is only something the government signed up to in January, but publication of the IMB implied the government would not use these procedures. The statement says:
The final clause - “with the aim of finding a solution through this route” - implies using the dispute resolution mechanisms would take precedence over using the powers in the IMB.
4) The statement accepts that EU state aid law would apply to firms operation in Northern Ireland. Again, this is only what the government signed up for in the withdrawal agreement, but the publication of the IMB suggested it was having second thoughts. The statement says that what the UK would object to would be any attempt to apply EU state aid to firms operation in Britain if they had just a “trivial” link to commercial operations in Northern Ireland.
5) The statement says it would be unacceptable for the UK to refuse to grant the UK third country listing for agricultural goods “for manifestly unreasonable or poorly justified reasons”. Until now the government has implied that any refusal to grant third country listing would be unacceptable. The prospect of the EU refusing listing seems remote, but Boris Johnson has offered it as his main justification for the IMB.
On the other hand ...
Less conciliatory features
1) The statement does not quite commit the government to only using powers in the IMB once the dispute settlement mechanisms in the withdrawal agreement are exhausted. It implies this - see 3) above - but it also says the IMB powers would be activated “in parallel”, which implies something different.
2) The statement does not explicitly commit the government to always accepting the outcome of any dispute settlement. Yesterday Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, refused to give a commitment on this.
3) The statement says the UK would regard any EU insistence on exit summary declarations for goods going from Northern Ireland to Britain as justification for using powers under the IMB. As one example of what it would view as a breach of the agreement by the EU, it cites:
The UK claims the “unfettered access” clause in the protocol means the exit summary declarations should not apply. But elsewhere the protocol says they should apply for NI/GB trade, and the EU is insisting on them. This issue matters to Johnson because in the election campaign last year he famously told Northern Ireland business leaders that he wanted any such forms thrown in the bin - even though the deal he had agreed did require them, as other government ministers admitted. It is as if No 10 is now trying to retrospectively justify what Johnson said.
At the end of Matt Hancock’s Commons statement, the Twickenham MP Munira Wilson used a point of order to object to what he said earlier (see 12.39pm) about her being wrong about people in Twickenham being able to book tests in the town by pretending to live in Aberdeen. She said she had emails to back up her claims, and suggested that Hancock was accusing his constituents of lying. Hancock said that he had looked into this after Wilson first raised the point on Tuesday and that he had been assured that safeguards were in place in the booking system to stop this happening.
In the Commons, in response to complaints about the unavailability of tests, Matt Hancock adopted a reasonably sympathetic tone. But his cabinet colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, was much more confrontational during the business statement earlier when he was asked about testing.
In response to criticism of testing from Labour’s Valerie Vaz, Rees-Mogg said:
In the Commons a few minutes ago the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, asked Hancock to condemn what Rees-Mogg said. In his reply Hancock ignored the point about Rees-Mogg and just told Lucas she should welcome the fact that testing capacity was increasing, and that 3,000 tests were carried out in Brighton last week.
An anti-independence campaign has said only a minority of Scots believe a second independence referendum should be a priority, with most saying next May’s Holyrood elections should focus primarily on the economy and public services.
Scotland in Union, a pro-UK group led by a former Labour MP, Pamela Nash, has attempted to dampen growing expectations of a second independence vote in the near future by asking voters to rank a new referendum against other topics.
Asked to select their top three choices, Survation found 58% of voters opted for tackling the coronavirus pandemic; with 50% prioritising the NHS and social care; 41% the economy; 23% jobs and 20% education. Those were the main five choices; 18% chose the environment and climate change, and 11% ranked constitutional affairs and independence as a top three priority.
Asked whether a second independence referendum was “a priority at this time”, 28% said yes and 63% said no, with 35% of SNP voters saying it was not a priority (57% of SNP voters said it was a priority). Asked if it would make Scotland more divided, 50% of all voters said it would and 35% said it would not.
Scotland in Union commissioned the poll after a surge in support for independence this year: most have found a yes majority, with the latest putting the yes vote as high as 55%, excluding don’t knows. Voters have responded positively to Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership during the coronavirus pandemic, pushing SNP support as high as 57%.
Turning away from coronavirus for a moment, the European commission has rejected Boris Johnson’s claim that it is not carrying out Brexit negotiations in good faith. Johnson made the claim when giving evidence to the liaison committee yesterday. Today, at the regular European commission briefing, the commission’s chief spokesman Eric Mamer said:
Mamer also said the EU was still calling on the UK to drop the internal market bill - or at least the provisions allowing it to override the withdrawal agreement - by the end of this month, despite the concession to Tory MPs announced last night. He said:
When Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem MP for Twickenham, asks about testing, Hancock criticises her for what she said about the system in the Commons two days ago. That was when Wilson said people in Twickenham were obtaining tests locally by pretending to live in Aberdeen. Hancock did not directly address this claim on Tuesday, but today he says Wilson made a claim that “turned out to be wrong”. He says MPs have a duty to explain things “fairly and straight and properly”.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Con) asks Hancock if he will prioritise teachers for testing.
Hancock says test kits have already been sent to schools. Tests are available, he says.
In the Commons Labour’s Stella Creasy asked if the private contractors providing testing services would face a financial penalty for tests being unavailable.
Hancock ignored the question, and just said it was the duty of everyone contributing to the test and trace service to make it work as effectively as possible.
In his opening statement Hancock said the new restrictions in the north-east would affect people in Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham.
From Friday, residents in these areas will be banned from socialising with other people outside their own households or support bubble, while food and drink venues will be restricted to table service only, Hancock said.
Leisure and entertainment venues must close between 10pm and 5am.
