Boris Johnson news – live: PM condemns Wiley's 'abhorrent' antisemitic remarks, as No 10 announces crackdown on junk food

No mixed messages on unhealthy food, says No 10

Downing Street denied that it was sending out mixed messages by clamping down on “buy one, get one free” promotions on unhealthy products while also launching a scheme for discounts on meals out which will include fast food restaurants.

“The Eat Out To Help Out scheme applies to all restaurants and people will be able to choose a range of healthy options from the menus if they are trying to lose weight,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.

The scheme is aimed at protecting jobs in a sector “hit very hard by the coronavirus pandemic”.

Grant Shapps won’t be exempt from quarantine, No 10 confirms

Transport secretary Grant Shapps will not be exempt from the quarantine provisions when he returns from his Spanish holiday.

“The same rules apply to ministers as they do anyone else,” the PM’s official spokesman said.

Downing Street indicated Shapps remained in touch with his officials. “The transport secretary is in touch with his department,” the spokesman said. “He was involved in the decision-making process.”

Quarantined workers ‘may be entitled for Universal Credit’ says No 10

Downing Street has warned that “no travel is risk-free” during the pandemic, as the prime minister’s official spokesman confirmed that other countries could follow Spain in seeing the re-imposition of quarantines.

The PM’s official spokesman reiterated that the government expects employers to be “flexible” in allowing staff to work from home while self-isolating.

He said holidaymakers who miss out on work because of the quarantine period may be eligible for Universal Credit or employment support allowance – but not statutory sick pay.

“If there are people who need urgent support then they may be entitled to the new-style employment support allowance or Universal Credit.”

In the worst-case scenario, Downing Street said workers who lose their jobs because they are quarantining after returning from Spain could appeal to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).

Government should guarantee sick pay for returning holidaymakers, says union

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has called for sick pay to be increased and said “no one should suffer financially for following official advice to quarantine”.

She added: “It’s not holidaymakers’ fault that the guidance has changed. Wherever possible, employers should do the right thing and pay quarantined workers their full pay.

“The government must also make it clear that people who can’t work from home during quarantine will be eligible for statutory sick pay.

“And they should increase sick pay from £95 a week to at least the level of the ‘real living wage’ of £320 a week. In addition, ministers should change the law to stop employers from sacking quarantined workers.”

Peers question why environment has become ‘stumbling block’ in Brexit negotiations

A lack of trust and mixed signals from the government risk hampering a UK-EU agreement on the environment, it has been claimed. Peers in the House of Lords said that a failure to find common ground on setting an environmental level playing field could be “critical”.

The UK-EU political declaration, agreed in October 2019, included commitments not to reduce environmental and climate protection and ensure a “level playing field” of common high standards.

In a letter to environment secretary George Eustice, peers on the Lords’ EU environment sub-committee said that the government must build trust with the EU by strengthening its Environment Bill – and working with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on shared ambitions.

Lord Teverson, chair of the committee, said that there is room for an agreement which would not restrict the UK. “The environmental level playing field still appears to be a stumbling block in negotiations,” he said.

“The UK and EU have similarly ambitious aspirations so it should be possible to find common ground. Failure to reach an agreement could have a critical impact.”

Cat infection ‘spread from humans to animal’, says chief medical officer

Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England (PHE), has offered her thoughts on the cat in England contacting coronavirus.

“This is the first case of a domestic cat testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK but should not be a cause for alarm,” she said.

“The investigation into this case suggest that the infection was spread from humans to animal, and not the other way round. At this time, there is no evidence that pets can transmit the disease to humans.

“In line with the general advice on fighting coronavirus, you should wash your hands regularly, including before and after contact with animals.”

Government first case of ‘very rare’ coronavirus infection in pet cat

The virus responsible for Covid-19 has been detected in a pet cat in the UK for the first time.

“Tests conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Agency have confirmed that the virus responsible for Covid-19 has been detected in a pet cat in England,” said chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss.

“This is a very rare event with infected animals detected to date only showing mild clinical signs and recovering within in a few days.”

Although this is the first confirmed case of an animal infection with the coronavirus strain in the UK, there is no evidence to suggest that the animal was involved in transmission of the disease to its owners or that pets or other domestic animals are able to transmit the virus to people.

Spain wants to rebuild trust after UK drops it from safe list

Spain is working on regaining confidence and convincing other countries that its coronavirus outbreak is under control, a minister has said after the UK imposed a quarantine on holidaymakers returning from the country.

“We know that we are sailing through waters whose maps and characteristics are unknown to us, what we have to do is to regain that confidence and that element of security that is essential for the tourist activity,” agriculture minister Luis Planas told Antena 3 TV station.

The Spanish government is trying to convince Britain that it should at least exclude the Balearic and Canary islands, whose infection rates are very low, from the measure.

It follows remarks by foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Sunday insisting that: “Spain is safe, it is safe for Spaniards, it is safe for tourists.”

She added that her government would take measures regarding other countries if needed, based on epidemilogic data, but that there would be no tit-for-tat retaliation taking place.

PM once called health labels on wine ‘lunacy’

As Boris Johnson launches a new government health drive – which includes a consultation on calorie labelling for all alcoholic drinks – it’s not a bad time to look back at some of his previous remarks on the subject.

Johnson denounced health labels on wine bottles as “lunacy” as a backbench MP and urged producers to “fight, fight, fight” against their introduction.

In a newspaper column, the then MP for Henley dismissed advice on weekly alcohol units as “a load of bunkum” and said the risks of drinking during pregnancy were “not very great, frankly”.

He branded the then Labour government’s plans for health labelling as “infantilising elf and safety madness” which would not make “a fluid ounce of difference” to Britain’s alcohol intake.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the details:

Stormont to discuss quarantine for those arriving from Spain

Northern Ireland’s executive is set to meet later to discuss a decision to introduce quarantine for those arriving in the region from Spain.

Health minister Robin Swann announced the measure on Saturday night following similar moves across the rest of the UK.

The Ulster Unionist minister has requested a meeting of the executive to discuss what support or advice may be required for those facing the 14-day quarantine.

Travellers continued to fly to and return from Spain at Belfast International Airport on Monday.

UK electricity network emissions could turn negative by 2033, says national grid

“Immediate action” to promote cleaner, more efficient power will ensure the UK hits its 2050 net zero target and could even see electricity production emissions turn negative in 13 years if carbon capture and storage technologies are implemented, the National Grid has said.

In a detailed report examining four “future energy scenarios”, three out of the four models indicated the UK could hit net zero by 2050 or earlier – but warned reductions in emissions from areas including transport were essential.

Former PM Theresa May committed the government to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 shortly before leaving office last year.

‘Russia report deserves a far better response’

Will the revelations in the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC)’s Russia report be forgotten over the summer?

Duncan Allan – an associate fellow for Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia programme and former adviser to the Foreign Office – thinks it’s time for the government to take its recommendations seriously.

“The Russia report deserves better,” he writes. “The government’s response to the ISC report does precious little to strengthen the resilience of the very democratic system that Russia seeks to undermine.

“Russian decision-makers are unlikely to lose much sleep over the report and the UK government’s response. What they will take notice of are the government’s actions – and whether these really do match its rhetoric.”

Read more here:

Some BAME health workers still waiting for promised risk assessment

More than a quarter of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) NHS staff are still waiting for a risk assessment for Covid-19, data suggests.

Figures seen by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) suggest 73 per cent of BAME staff had had a risk assessment in England by July 17, but in some hospital trusts the figure was just 20 per cent.

Some trusts in the South West are thought to have made poorer progress than the national average, at 65 per cent, the HSJ said.

NHS England recommended risk assessments for BAME staff as long ago as April and has now extended the deadline for them to be completed to the end of July.

People from BAME backgrounds are thought to be at higher risk of poor outcomes from coronavirus, with health secretary Matt Hancock saying they are “disproportionately” dying from Covid-19.

Be prepared to cancel your holiday, government warns

British travellers to all countries should be prepared for their holidays to be cancelled under emergency coronavirus quarantine measures, ministers have warned.

The government has imposed surprise restrictions on travel between Spain, with two-week quarantines for anyone returning and mass cancellations for anyone with plans.

Helen Whately, health minister, said similar surprise measures could follow for other countries if data showed they were necessary. “What we are saying to people who are planning trips abroad is you need to keep an eye on the Foreign Office guidance, that you need to be aware of your tour operator’s policies and the travel insurance, and be mindful that we are in a global pandemic,” she said earlier this morning.

“If we see something going on like we’ve seen in Spain we would have to take action.”

It comes as trips to France, Italy and Greece were being cancelled in “large numbers” following the ruling by ministers on Spain, The Times reported.

Officials in both France and Germany have warned of possible new lockdowns as parts of Europe braced for a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

‘We all pay for social care already’

‘National Insurance’ is trending on Twitter at the moment. People are angry at reports that the government is considering making everyone over 40 begin contributing towards the cost of care in later life.

The idea is among a series of proposals being examined by Boris Johnson’s new social care task force – with people either compelled to take out insurance, pay more national insurance, or income tax once they hit the age ceiling.

Professor Ian McDonald tweeted: “We all pay for social care already. We pay national insurance throughout our lives, when we require little health care. When we are older we draw on it more, so it works out. Unless, you drain money out of the system to provide profit for private companies.”

Sunak ‘considering new tax on goods sold online’

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering a new tax on online goods, at least partly to help high street retailers compete in the battered economy.

The chancellor is mulling proposals for an online sales tax to provide “sustainable and meaningful revenue source for the government” and help shops, according to The Times.

The newspaper reports that the Treasury is considering a 2 percent on goods sold online, raising about £2bn a year. Another option would be a mandatory charge on consumer deliveries.

Meanwhile, chancellor Rishi Sunak and his deputy Steve Barclay are preparing to set out “Silicon Valley-inspired” investment in infrastructure and energy, according to The Telegraph. Barclay, chief secretary to the Treasury, is expected to make an announcement at the Onward think tank on Tuesday.

Eat Out to Help Out ‘contradicts the message’, experts warn

Experts have largely welcomed No 10’s new anti-obesity drive. But they have also warned the prime minister that the Treasury’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ initiative – granting everyone 50 per cent off meals in fast food restaurants throughout August – will undermine the effort to get people to lose weight.

“Offering subsidies on food which is particularly associated with being less healthy completely contradicts the other message around reducing obesity” said Prof Amelia Lake, professor in public health nutrition at Teesside University.

“On one hand we are hearing that tackling obesity is an urgent public health challenge, but on the other we are seeing actions that we know do not help us reduce obesity. There needs to be clear messaging and joined up action,” she told The Guardian.

TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson said including fast food outlets in the Treasury discount was “a bit crazy” – and said the government keeps “putting its foot in it”.