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UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson sets out England lockdown plans to MPs
UK coronavirus live: Starmer accuses Johnson of 'catastrophic failure of leadership' over England lockdown
(32 minutes later)
PM will insist there is ‘no alternative’ to a nationwide lockdown as he addresses House of Commons
PM insists there is ‘no alternative’ to nationwide lockdown as he addresses House of Commons
Johnson says support for the self-employed is being increased in November.
Karin Smyth (Lab) says the government should sack Dido Harding as head of NHS Test and Trace. She has been a failure, Smyth says.
The self-employed will be able to claim for 80% of past profits, not 40% as before, during October, Johnson says.
Johnson says NHS Test and Trace has achieved its target of getting the testing capacity up to 500,000 tests per day by the end of October.
Johnson says people will not be asked to shield again in the way they did in the last lockdown.
That figure has just been confirmed by an update on the government’s coronavirus dashboard.
But the clinically extremely vulnerable (the 2 million people asked to shield first time around) should only work from home, he says.
But, as the graph shows, although capacity has increased significantly in the last week or so, the number of tests actually being carried out is rising much more slowly. Critics would say there is no point having the capacity if it is not being used.
Johnson is now summing up the measures announced at his press conference on Saturday.
Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con), the chair of the liaison committee, says he will support the PM because no one else has set out a viable alternative. But he urges the government to publish a white paper on test and trace, and to publish more data behind the government’s decision making.
Remembrance Sunday events can go ahead if they are outside, and social distancing is observed, he says.
In response to a question from David Davis (Con), Johnson says the government has been looking at the case for extending use of vitamin D and an announcement will come shortly.
Johnson says he wants to thank people who have put up with local restrictions for months.
Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader at Westminster, says people in Wales have noticed that the government will only extend job support when jobs in the south of England are threatened. She says YesCymru, the independence movement, has gained 2,000 members in two days as a result. She thanks him for his contribution.
As far as possible, the government wants to continue using local and regional measures, he says.
Stephen Metcalfe (Con) asks the PM to review the ban on outdoor sports like golf and tennis.
But he says when circumstances change, policy must change too.
Johnson says the government has to break the chains of transmission.
Hospitals were in danger of being overwhelmed, he says. He says that means the “sacred principle” that everyone should get the treatment they need would not be honoured. And doctors would have to choose who to treat and who to ignore.
Sammy Wilson (DUP) says we were promised a Churchillian response. But instead Johnson is more like Lord Halifax, he says. He says we should not be surrendering to the virus.
He says, even if the government doubled hospital capacity, that gain would be swallowed up in a single doubling time of the virus.
Johnson says the medical advisers are optimistic about the future.
Johnson says it was right to try to get the virus under control using regional measures.
Fay Jones (Con) criticises the Welsh government for creating artificial barriers between England and Wales.
And he says he rejects claims he is acting more slowly than other European countries. The move to national measures has been faster than in France, he says.
Johnson says it is important people limit their travel.
Boris Johnson is speaking now.
Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says his party will back the lockdown. But he calls for the carers’ allowance to be increased in line with the increase in universal credit.
He says the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser described the “remorseless” advance of the virus.
Johnson says he will look at the idea.
It is spreading faster than the reasonable worst case scenario.
Charles Walker, a Conservative, says he will vote against the lockdown. He suggests we need a written constitution to guarantee people’s rights.
It is more prevalent in the north, but in the south-east and in the Midlands the doubling time is worse than in the north-west.
Johnson says he does not think that is necessary.
Without action, there could be twice as many deaths over the winter as in the first wave, he says.
Iain Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says he has repeatedly asked for the furlough scheme to be extended for Scotland.
Boris Johnson is about to make a Commons statement about the lockdown for England.
But the government only complied when England needed it, he says.
The list of MPs down to ask a question is here. There are 100 MPs on the list, so it may take some time.
He asks for a guarantee that the Treasury will fund a furlough scheme for Scotland whenever Scotland needs it.
Public Health Wales has recorded 1,646 further cases.
Johnson says the answer is yes. The furlough scheme is a UK-wide scheme, he says. He says Blackford was talking nonsense. Furlough already applies up there, he says.
That’s up 42% on the total for last Monday (1,158) and up 163% on the total for the Monday two weeks ago (626).
(Johnson is missing the point. The Scottish government wants an assurance that 80% furlough will apply there beyond November, if it needs a national lockdown, even if England is not in lockdown.)
Public Health Wales has also recorded three further deaths. That is half the figure for last Monday (6) but three times the figure for a fortnight ago (1).
Liam Fox, the former international trade secretary, suggests a new parliamentary committee should be set up to look at the case for a lockdown, to ensure the cure is not worse than the disease.
The details are here.
Johnson says that is a matter for the Commons. He says existing select committees have been looking at this already.
Mark Davies, the bishop of Shrewsbury, has joined other bishops (see 11.41am) in speaking out against the government’s decision to ban church services during the lockdown.
Johnson is responding to Starmer.
In a message to parishioners he said:
He says he makes no apology for trying to avoid a lockdown.
On Sky News Charles Walker, a vice chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, has just said he expects 15 Tory MPs to rebel when the Commons votes on the lockdown for England on Wednesday.
It was not wrong to support a local approach, or support test and trace. Both of those have done a “heroic job” in their way.
No 10 would be delighted to keep the rebellion down to that level. There were 42 Conservatives rebels when MPs voted on the compulsory 10pm closing time for pubs.
He says Labour should stop knocking test and trace.
NHS England has recorded 118 further hospital deaths for people who have tested positive for coronavirus. There were 36 in the north-east and Yorkshire, 29 in the north-west, 26 in the Midlands, 12 in London, eight in the east of England, five in the south-east and two in the south-west. The details are here.
People need to self-isolate more than they are doing, he says. And he implies that Labour’s criticism is hindering this.
That is 14% down on the total for yesterday (137), but 30% up on the total for last Monday (91) and 55% up on the total for the Monday two weeks ago (76).
He says the measures will end on 2 December. MPs will vote on what happens next.
Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, has suggested that the Covid crisis has led to the border between England and Wales becoming the hardest it has been for centuries.
He claims people want to see politicians working together.
At his press conference in Cardiff, Drakeford said police forces on both sides of the border would have a role to play to make sure people did not travel from England to Wales to “escape” the month-long English lockdown.
Starmer says Labour will vote for the lockdown.
He also said that people in Wales would not be allowed to travel to England or abroad without good reason even after his county’s “firebreak” lockdown ends next Monday. However, people will be able to travel within Wales without restrictions.
But it wants the government to use the time wisely.
Asked if this was the “hardest” the border had ever been, the first minister said:
He says it must fix the test and trace system.
Drakeford said rules were being drawn up in England to stop people from travelling to Wales without good reason. He said: “Our police forces but also police forces across the border will have to play their part to ensure that is enforced.”
Job support should be made at least as generous as it was in the spring.
But he also argued the better solution was to persuade people to obey the rules rather than have to impose penalties on those who broke them.
And he asks the PM to clarify how the lockdown will end. Will it only happen when R falls below 1? Or will some areas exit lockdown first?
Here are the main lines from the No 10 lobby briefing.
Starmer says Leicester has been under restrictions for 127 days already.
The prime minister’s spokesman said MPs will get a vote on whatever restrictions replace the lockdown in England when it is due to end on 2 December. He said the government would “seek to” go back into a tiered system, but pledged a Commons vote on any replacement.
The spokesman defended the decision not to allow pubs to sell takeaway alcohol during the lockdown. He said:
And he defended the decision not to let golf courses and tennis courts remain open. He said:
He suggested that further announcements about the delivery of rapid coronavirus tests will be announced soon, with the army involved in distributing them. He said:
He said the PM expected MPs to continue travelling to parliament during the lockdown.
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will seek to agree joint rules for Christmas, Downing Street said today.
Following a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, chaired by the Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and attended by the devolved administrations, No 10 said all four governments would “work together on a joint approach to the Christmas period”.
At his news conference Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, said the ban on non-essential travel outside Wales during November, while the English lockdown is in force (see 1.16pm), would also cover flights from Cardiff airport. He explained:
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, has attacked over-centralisation by Westminster and called for English mayors and devolved administrations to be given seats in a reformed House of Lords.
In his first major speech since becoming Scottish Tory leader, Ross said there was mounting evidence “trust has broken down” between Boris Johnson’s government and the leaders of the UK’s nations and regions during the Covid crisis and the Brexit transition process.
That was largely driven by the prime minister’s centralisation of power and “winner takes all” attitude to Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, Ross told the Tory-leaning think tank Policy Exchange in London.
“The Covid-19 crisis has put the structures for interaction between the UK government, devolved administrations and indeed the English mayoralties to the ultimate test,” Ross said. That had fuelled widespread discontent with Johnson’s government.
Ross hinted heavily that he sided with the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs who have warned Johnson his recent approach has exposed “deep structural and systemic disadvantage faced by our communities”.
His warnings to Johnson follow a surge in support for both the Scottish National party and for independence during the Covid crisis, putting Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and first minister, on course for a majority in next May’s Holyrood election.
At his news conference Mark Drakeford said that when the Welsh “firebreak” lockdown ends next week, Welsh people will not be allowed to cross the border into England without a reasonable excuse while the English lockdown is in force. He said:
Drakeford said that needing to cross the border for work was clearly a reasonable excuse.
