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UK coronavirus live: Starmer calls for children to be prioritised for testing as Labour's online conference opens
UK coronavirus live: officials meeting today to consider case for new restrictions for London, says Hancock
(32 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including the opening of Labour’s online conference
Health secretary says nation is at a tipping point and if people do not follow the rules further restrictions may be necessary
Sir Keir Starmer is now being interviewed by the BBC’s Andrew Marr. Marr starts with coronavirus, and Starmer is broadly repeated the points that he made on Sky earlier - that testing needs to be fixed, that the PM should apologise, that he should have fixed this over the summer, but that Labour would support new restrictions.
Q: Do you think £10,000 fines are too draconian?
Starmer says it is important to take action against the few people who are not complying with the rules.
Q: Would you dob in your neighbour?
Starmer says the police have got this right. They have focused on encouraging people to obey the rules. But where people aren’t, action should be taken.
Q: Boris Johnson calls you Captain Hindsight?
Starmer says Labour said earlier that testing needed to be sorted out. That was foresight, he says.
Q: Would you back a lockdown now?
Starmer says he does not want to second guess what the PM is doing.
Scotland’s health secretary Jeane Freeman has raised concerns about the impact of the newly-announced Covid fines on working people. Freeman said this morning:
Freeman told BBC Breakfast on Sunday that the Scottish government would announce new restrictions very shortly, “not necessarily today, but definitely by the early part of next week”.
Yesterday, first minister Nicola Sturgeon reiterated her call for a four nations Cobra meeting in the next 48 hours.
Q: Boris Johnson said tests would be turned around in 24 hours. That is not happening.
Hancock says around half of people get a result the following day.
(Within 24 hours and the next day are not the same thing. Now the government is focusing on the latter measure.)
Q: When do you think a useable vaccine might arrive?
Hancock says the Oxford vaccine is still at the front of the queue.
It could arrive this year. But it is more likely to come early next year.
He says, until the cavalry arrives (vaccines, mass testing and treatments), people must follow the social distancing rules.
Q: And if they don’t, how many people might die?
Hancock says he does not know.
And that’s it. The interview is over.
Q: Dido Harding said up to 1m people might be asking for a test every day. How many are getting them?
Hancock says it is over 200,000.
Q: So just one in five?
Hancock says the number of people asking for tests has gone down this week.
Q: You said people had a duty to get a test. You said, if in doubt, people should get them.
Hancock says he meant if people were in doubt about their symptoms.
He says 100,000 tests per day are going to care homes. It would be politically easier to give those tests to others, he says.
Asked if the government is considering a further national lockdown, Hancock says he is not ruling it out.
Q: Death rates are very low. Are you over-reacting?
No, says Hancock. He says death rates are a lagging indicator.
He says you can compare the UK to two countries. One gives a warning, another gives hope.
Spain saw the number of cases going up. At first people said, like Marr, that death rates were not going up. But they are now.
Belgium took a different approach. He says, as soon as cases started rising, it brought in restrictions.
Q: They weren’t very popular ...
Hancock says he is not interested in popularity.
Q: What about Sweden?
Hancock says Sweden does not provide a better model. It did impose some rules. And people followed strict social distancing measures voluntarily. But it has still had a much higher death rate than its neighbouring countries.
Matt Hancock is now being interviewed by the BBC’s Andrew Marr.
Marr presses him on whether he would report on a neighbour breaking the rules. He points out that Boris Johnson ruled this out last week. Hancock initially stresses the fact that most people are following the rules, but when pressed he says he would report someone to the police.
This is what Matt Hancock told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday about the possibility of restrictions in London.
In a statement issued on Friday Khan said he was “extremely concerned” about the “accelerating speed” of new Covid cases in London and that it was “increasingly likely” new restrictions would have to be imposed soon
Q: Do you have the stamina for the fight ahead?
Q: Do you have the stamina for the fight ahead?
Yes, says Hancock. He says incredibly motivated to do the right thing.
Yes, says Hancock. He says incredibly motivated to do the right thing.
He says he could increase the number of tests available for drive-through centres. But that would mean taking some away from care homes. He wants to do the right thing, he says.
He says he could increase the number of tests available for drive-through centres. But that would mean taking some away from care homes. He wants to do the right thing, he says.
He says in Belgium they were seeing a second wave. But they brought in new restrictions, essentially on socialising, and that enabled them to bring the second wave under control.
He says in Belgium they were seeing a second wave. But they brought in new restrictions, essentially on socialising, and that enabled them to bring the second wave under control.
He says “we can get through this - until the cavalry comes” in the form of mass testing, vaccines and treatments.
He says “we can get through this - until the cavalry comes” in the form of mass testing, vaccines and treatments.
And that’s it. The Hancock interview is over.
And that’s it. The Hancock interview is over.
Hancock says he is not apologising for the performance of NHS Test and Trace. He defends what staff have done.
Hancock says he is not apologising for the performance of NHS Test and Trace. He defends what staff have done.
Hancock says his officials are meeting today to consider the need for lockdown measures in London. He says he has discussed this with Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London.
Hancock says his officials are meeting today to consider the need for lockdown measures in London. He says he has discussed this with Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London.
Khan wants new restrictions imposed in the capital from as early as tomorrow.
Khan wants new restrictions imposed in the capital from as early as tomorrow.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is now being interviewed on Sky.
UPDATE: See 9.20am for the full quote.
He says the nation is at a tipping point. If people do not follow the rules, including the rule of six, further restrictions may be necessary.
He says the rules are being toughened.
Q: If you knew somebody was breaking the rules, would you report them?
Yes, says Hancock. And everyone should.
Hancock says people should report anyone ignoring social distancing or self-isolation rules. When Boris Johnson was asked a similar question in an interview with the Sun last week, he was not as explicit as this, saying he did not approve of a “sneak culture”.
He repeats the point about the need for people to follow the rules. And if they have the virus, they have to self-isolate.
Q: Are people following the rule of six?
Hancock says people did relax over the summer. But they must follow the rules. If he was not worried about this, the government would not be introducing £10,000 fines.
But the government is also offering much more support to people who do need to self-isolate.
He says self-isolating isn’t like being in lockdown. You must not leave your home.
Q: Why are you a vegetarian?
Starmer says he gave up meat a long time ago, for the body and for the environment. But he does miss meat, he says.
And that’s it. The interview is over.
Q: If the SNP win the Scottish parliament elections, should there be another independence referendum?
Starmer says Labour does not want a second referendum.
He say the Tories are focusing on Brexit and the SNP on independence. But they should be focusing on coronavirus.
He says there should be a Cobra meeting on Covid.
Q: In January you said, if the SNP won a majority at Holyrood, they would have a mandate for a referendum.
Starmer says, if the SNP win a majority, that will have to be looked at by Westminster. But Labour will be arguing against that.
Q: So there should be a second referendum?
Starmer sidesteps the question. He says he wants to focus on “the here and now” for the moment.
Q: You wanted a second referendum. But now you are telling the PM to deliver Brexit. Will you back any deal?
Starmer says he will consider the deal. But a deal is in the national interest.
The PM promised a deal.
He signed the withdrawal agreement. Did he know what was in it? If he did, why did he mis-sell it to the public? Or was it incompetence - not knowing what was in the deal?
Q: Do you really want to move on? Or is this just a political position?
Starmer says the last parliament could not agree on anything.
Q: What are your principles?
Starmer says the UK is out of the EU. The leave/remain debate is over.
But of course he wants to get into power, he says. That is what he is politics for. He wants to change lives. And you don’t do that from opposition.
Q: What is your message for the Labour conference?
Starmer says he wants to stress that Labour has a new leadership. He has spent the last six months listening to what people think about the party. He is focused on 2024.
Q: It’s not very subtle, is it? Corbynites won’t like this.
Starmer says they lost the last four elections.
He is listening to people. And he will take decisive action, for example on anti-semitism.
He says Jewish groups told him they would judge him by his actions, not his words. He is happy with that.
Starmer says children should be prioritised for testing, like NHS key workers. They should be able to get a test within 24 hours, and results within 24 hours.
Q: How much extra testing capacity would be needed for this?
Starmer says the government should have increased testing capacity over the summer.
Q: But what is needed now?
Starmer says Sage said some time ago that, in the autumn, 500,000 people might have Covid symptoms at any one time. So they knew what the demand would be.
The system should be able to test 500,000 people a day.
Q: Isn’t it unrealistic to prioritise children, when so many other people need tests too?
Starmer says this problem has been known about for months.
He says parents have seen children, or whole classes, sent home.
And this is not going to end. It could go on for months, he says.
He says that does not amount to a meaningful return to school.
He says everyone knows that children get bugs at school. He cannot believe the government did not scenario plan for this.
Sky’s Sophy Ridge is interviewing Sir Keir Starmer now.
She starts by asking if he backs the government plans briefed overnight for fines of up to £10,000 on people who refuse to self-isolate.
Starmer says he does support these plans.
But he say that he thinks in most cases people are obeying the rules.
Q: Would you support the government if it calls another national lockdown?
Starmer says he does not think a second national lockdown is inevitable.
The priority is to sort out testing, he says.
If he were the PM, he would apologise for the problems with testing. He would make fixing it his first priority. And he would bring back the daily briefings, he says.
In his Sunday Times interview Sir Keir Starmer also said, when asked if he watched the Queen’s address to the nation on Christmas day, that he watched it live. “In times of crisis and in difficult times people do look to the monarch as a voice and a symbol of what it is that we are as a country,” he said.
(The question was probably prompted by the criticism Jeremy Corbyn received when he answered a question on this last year.)
Starmer was also asked if he would every be willing as PM to use a nuclear weapon. He replied: “That’s not a question anybody who’s serious about being prime minister will ever answer.”
In fact, many prime ministers and leaders of the opposition have said they would be willing to use the nuclear deterrent in extreme circumstances - although generally they never discuss how extreme those circumstances would have to be.
At least two of the Sunday newspapers have interviews with Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the Labour conference.
Nigel Nelson has spoken to him for the Sunday Mirror and his article is headlined: “Keir Starmer slams Boris Johnson as ‘not up to it’ - but offers to help save Christmas”. Summarising Starmer’s message, Nelson says the Labour leader believes “opposition politicians have a duty to pull together to rescue Britain because the PM is so useless”. That does not sound quite the way Starmer normally phrases things, but it does seem a reasonable summary of his message. Starmer told Nelson:
And Caroline Wheeler has interviewed Starmer for the Sunday Times (paywall). For their headline, the Sunday Times have chosen a softish line - albeit one that does not reflect well on Labour MP. It says: “Once you’ve worked with donkeys, Labour MPs are a breeze.” Starmer’s parents used to look after rescue donkeys and Starmer told Wheeler:
Good morning. Today was meant to be the first full day of the Labour party conference in Liverpool. Now it has been reduced to what effectively sounds like a prolonged Zoom call but some conference fixtures remain. There will be major speeches from the leading figures in the shadow cabinet, the Sunday papers are more Labour-heavy than usual and Sir Keir Starmer is doing a series of broadcast interviews this morning.
Of course, the coronavirus crisis dominates everything. Overnight Starmer has called on the government to prioritise children for testing. In a statement he said:
In response, the Conservatives issued this statement from their co-chairman, Amanda Milling. She said:
A lot of parents who were trying unsuccessfully to get tests for their children last week may be surprised to learn that they were being prioritised. But no doubt we will hear more on this soon from Matt Hancock, the health secretary, who is also giving interviews this morning.
Here is the agenda for the day.
8.30am: Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary are also on the programme.
9am: Starmer and Hancock are also interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
10am: Labour’s online conference, Labour Connected, starts. The opening remarks will be broadcast here, but most events are from members only.
10am: Starmer and Hancock are also interviewed on Times Radio.
11am: Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, speaks at the Labour conference.
Here is our global coronavirus live blog.
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