Boris Johnson news – live: Blair would’ve been better pandemic PM, Cummings says, amid Ireland Brexit warning

Tony Blair would have “obviously” done a much better job of leading the UK through the Covid pandemic than Boris Johnson, the prime minister’s former top adviser Dominic Cummings has said.

Asked by visitors to his blog whether the former Labour prime minister would have done a better job, he replied: “Obviously he’d have done a much better job – he would at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how goverment machine works, not trolley around all day.

“And my impression is since losing on Brexit he’s jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK.”

Full report from political editor Andrew Woodcock here:

During defence questions in the House of Commons, Labour’s John Healey asked Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, what proportion of the government’s defence equipment budget goes to the US, rather than British suppliers.

The shadow defence secretary told the Commons: “The Prime Minister has promised an extra 10,000 jobs in defence each year for the next four years. Buy British is the best way to deliver this promise so that we design and build for ourselves in Britain. It strengthens our economy, it strengthens our sovereignty. Now his defence equipment budget is now £19bn, what proportion goes not to Britain, but to US suppliers?”

Mr Wallace said buying from UK suppliers may not necessarily amount to “buying British”, adding it was important to buy abroad to keep a foot in the international market.

He said: “Many suppliers in this country may not be entirely UK in so far as their ownership of the country… We often insist that a significant proportion of those projects are made in the UK.

“For example, the Boxer vehicle which is over 65 per cent components UK made, including in Stockport for example the metal frame, does provide British jobs even if sometimes the ownership of the countries are indeed international.

“But of course it’s important to have international components because we also… want to sell abroad and if we shut everyone else out, we shouldn’t be surprised if they don’t buy from us.”

Kim Leadbeater has taken her seat in the House of Commons after winning the Batley and Spen by-election for the Labour Party.

The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox was welcomed into Parliament by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and was accompanied by party colleagues as she entered the chamber.

She opted to affirm her allegiance to the Queen during the brief swearing-in ceremony and then gave a thumbs-up to MPs on both sides of the Commons.

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, told MPs: “Could I just congratulate the honourable member for Batley and Spen for taking her place and also say my personal admiration for both her bravery and sense of duty in putting herself forward to stand for that seat after the tragic loss of her sister.”

A total of 598,442 people signed a petition opposing the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The signatures were delivered to the home secretary Priti Patel today by the campaign groups 38 Degrees, 350.org, Friends of the Earth, Global Justice Now, Greenpeace, Liberty, SumOfUs and Tipping Point.

It came as the draft legislation continued going through its remaining stages in the Commons, before being considered by the Lords.

Liberty director, Gracie Bradley, said: “No matter where we come from or what we believe, we all want to know we can speak out against injustice, to live life freely, as we choose, without fear of oppressive state surveillance and discrimination. Those in power want to take this away from all of us.

“Opposition to the Government’s dangerous proposals is growing in strength as people begin to understand how much this legislation would undermine fundamental rights. Those in power must listen to the chorus of opposition they are facing and scrap these plans.”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used by the British Army for the first time during a live-firing drill in Estonia.

Soldiers from the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade used an AI engine during Exercise Spring Storm, as part of Operation Cabrit, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

Operation Cabrit is a Nato exercise, which involves British service members working to tighten Euro-Atlantic security, in conjunction with French, Danish and Estonian forces.

During the annual Nato event, the technology was used by soldiers to carry out live-fire drills.

The MoD said the AI technology can cut through complex data to provide efficient information on the environment and terrain.

Major James Mcevoy, a member of the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade and user of the AI, said: “The kit was shown to outperform our expectations and has clear applications for improving our level of analysis and speed at which we conduct our planning.

“In future, the UK armed forces will increasingly use AI to predict adversaries’ behaviour, perform reconnaissance and relay real-time intelligence from the battlefield.”

Here’s a quick summary of whats coming up in the House of Commons this afternoon.

2.30pm: Defence questions

3.30pm: MPs consider the remaining stages of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

5pm: Health secretary Sajid Javid gives a statement on Covid-19 at the same time Boris Johnson gives a public press conference on the government’s plans for 19 July.

6pm: MPs consider the remaining stages of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Dominic Cummings has also promised more detail about the relationship between Boris Johnson and wife Carrie, who he described as a “wildcard”.

Mr Cummings said that Mr Johnson’s personality changed last year and that his wife was often “literally whispering” in the prime minister’s ear.

“In 2020, a new and very unwelcome version appeared – Boris-Carrie mode – which, like some demonic Russian virus, started overwriting previous Boris versions,” he wrote in his latest Substack blog.

A former farmer who posted an abusive tweet suggesting Scotland’s then-justice secretary sympathised with terrorists has been sentenced to a home curfew.

Stuart Smith, 63, was found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court in November last year of sending the message which read: “Humza Yousaf, good Scots name. I am sure he is 90 per cent backing Muslim killers. Be having a whip round for terrorist families soon.”

The offending tweet was sent on 14 November 2015 – the day after the Paris terror attacks, and appeared in the feed of Mr Yousaf, who is now serving as health secretary.

Sentencing Smith at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday, Sheriff Sean Murphy said the tweet was “an exhibition of narrow-minded religious bigotry”.

He sentenced Smith to restriction of liberty order requiring him to remain at his home in Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, between 7pm and 7am daily for six months.

Downing Street has confirmed that Boris Johnson will hold a press conference at 5pm.

He will be joined by England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.

The prime minister is expected to announce that almost all Covid restrictions will be dropped on 19 July.

You can follow the press conference live on our coronavirus blog at the link below:

Millions of people are set be disenfranchised under the government’s plans to require people to have identification in order to vote, Labour has warned.

The government says the proposed laws, introduced into the Commons today, are required to combat in-person voter fraud – despite little evidence of it being an issue in British elections.

Here’s policy correspondent Jon Stone with more details: