Boris Johnson news – live: Starmer says might back tougher Covid restrictions as fishermen attack Brexit deal

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Scottish Labour will have a new leader by the end of next month, the party has confirmed.

The leadership election was triggered by the resignation of Richard Leonard and the party’s executive has agreed a condensed timescale for any contest, with the Holyrood elections less than four months away.

Candidates have until midnight on Sunday to declare their intention to run and will require support from at least four of the party’s MSPs or its sole Scottish MP by midday the following Tuesday to be formally nominated.

Scottish Labour members and affiliated supporters will be able to cast their votes from 9 February until ballots close on 26 February.

The new leader will be announced the following day.

Reported government plans to replace a £20 weekly benefit uplift with a £500 one-off payment have been described as “madness” after experts said they would bring unemployment support to its lowest level in almost 30 years.

The proposal was denounced as an “inadequate sticking plaster” by Labour, which is campaigning to keep the weekly payment – worth £1,040 a year to 6 million of the UK’s neediest families and due to be scrapped in April.

Andrew Woodcock has more on this:

People are being forced to travel as far as 85 miles to attend Home Office appointments during the lockdown, prompting critics to claim the government is prioritising “distrust” of migrants over public health.

Ministers are being urged to act after it emerged vulnerable asylum seekers and visa applicants have had to take long journeys on public transport in recent weeks to comply with Home Office rules.

Substantive asylum interviews – during which the Home Office gathers information to determine whether someone should be granted asylum in the UK – were paused in response to the pandemic last March.

Biometric appointments, where UK visa applicants submit their fingerprints as part of the application process, were also suspended during the first lockdown as visa application centres closed.

However, both have since resumed and are continuing to take place throughout the new lockdown, despite soaring rates of coronavirus infection.

In the case of asylum interviews, individuals are currently being required to travel to Home Office buildings, only for the interview to then take place via video link – often with the interviewer joining from home.

May Bulman, our social affairs correspondent, brings you the full exclusive story:

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has been warned that relaxing lockdown early would be ‘very unwise’.

Professor John Edmunds said it would be a “disaster” to lift controls after the February completion of the first wave of vaccinations, covering over-seventies, health and care staff and people with significant medical conditions.

But he said that a return to normal life around the anniversary of the first lockdown on 23 March would also have “enormous consequences” for the NHS as the virulent new strain of Covid-19 tore through those yet to receive the jab.

The comments threaten to dash hopes of an early end to lockdown sparked by the success of the vaccination programme in reaching one in 20 of the population – almost 3.3 million people – by the end of this week.

Andrew Woodcock has the full story:

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested he would back further coronavirus measures, saying “the tougher the restrictions now the quicker we get the virus back under control”.

The Labour leader, answering questions following his speech to the Fabian Society’s new year conference, said he was “still worried” by the number of infections despite signs they are falling.

He said the “sense that we are through the worst” of the third wave is wrong, as he welcomed further restrictions on travel announced by the government on Friday.

Sir Keir said: “Nobody likes restrictions but the tougher the restrictions now the quicker we get the virus back under control, the quicker we reduce the number of hospital admissions and the quicker we get that number of deaths, tragically, down.”

He added: “[The NHS] is really under strain at the moment and we need to do whatever we can to reduce that strain, particularly in the next few weeks, which are going to be critical.”

The majority of the British public think Boris Johnson’s controversial bike ride seven miles from home during lockdown has undermined the police’s task of enforcing coronavirus restrictions, according to a poll.

The prime minister was spotted exercising in east London’s Olympic Park last week despite rules announced by his government dictating that exercise should only be taken locally.

Now a YouGov survey, commissioned by Crest Advisory, a crime and justice consultancy, found that 63 per cent of people thought the prime minister’s actions had made the police’s job harder. Three-quarters of Labour and Liberal-Democrat supporters took this position, as did 48 per of those who favour the Conservatives.

Rory Sullivan has more on this:

In pandemic news, the new Brazilian strain of coronavirus is likely to have already entered the UK before the government’s imposition of travel restrictions on the South American country, a leading epidemiologist has warned.

Professor John Edmunds, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said he would find it “unusual” if the variant, which has raised concerns around the world because of its increased virulence, was not in the UK.

Andrew Woodcock has the full story:

Labour will always be pro-European, Sir Keir Starmer said on Saturday.

Speaking at the FEPS-Fabian Society online New Year Conference, the Labour leader said: “Yes we have left the EU, that issue is settled. But we will always be European. And pro-European. And the Labour Party will always be an internationalist party.”

We’re expecting the video of the speech to be made available online soon.

Germany’s Christian Democrats elected Armin Laschet as chairman on Saturday, aiming to unify its divided party behind a new leader who they hope can succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor when she steps down after federal elections in September.