Brexit news – live: Minister hints at U-turn on NHS pay as Jewish community in NI struggles to get kosher meat

Places of worship in Scotland will reopen for communal gatherings on 26 March, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The first minister said the the limit on congregations would rise from 20 – the number seen before lockdown – to 50 people.

Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has told MPs that another coronavirus surge is inevitable.

Speaking to the science and technology committee on Tuesday, he said this would happen because not everyone will have had the vaccine.

“We hope it doesn’t happen soon, it might for example happen later in the summer if we open up gradually or because of the seasonal effect it might happen over the next autumn and winter,” Prof Whitty said.

Shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves has urged the government to put 100 unpublished coronavirus contracts into the public domain by the end of the week.

The Labour frontbencher referred to the High Court ruling last month that ‘the public were entitled to see who this money was going to and what it was being spent on and how the contracts were awarded’.

A judge confirmed last week in a court order that 100 contracts still remain unpublished.

Health minister Edward Argar did not directly address Ms Reeves’ question in his response for the government.

Democracy campaigners have hit out at the government’s plan to require voters to show ID, calling the proposals “deeply damaging”.

Halima Begum, the director of the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think-tank, told The Guardian: “People from black and minority ethnic groups are less likely to be registered to vote, vote and be elected.”

“Many voters do not have photo ID, and that ownership of ID can differ by socioeconomic groups, with citizens from Bame communities at a particular potential disadvantage,” she added.

The Independent’s political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports :

Political donations are not subject to the same level of checks as opening a bank account or giving to charity.

Dr Alistair Clark, from Newcastle University, told MPs on the public administration committee that he saw “no reason why all parties shouldn’t have to apply those money laundering regulations as well.”

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has more:

The chancellor faced calls in the Commons to give NHS staff a 15 per cent pay hike to compensate them for a “decade of lost pay”. Zarah Sultana, the Labour MP for Coventry South, said: “NHS workers have seen their pay fall by more than 10 per cent in real terms in the past decade.

“So instead of handing out fortunes to mates and donors, will the chancellor heed the calls of trade unions and NHS staff and give them the pay rise they deserve – that’s 15 per cent to make up for a decade of lost pay?”

Steve Barclay, the treasury minister, responded for the government by claiming she was “simply wrong on the facts”.

Boris Johnson has refused to comment on Zac Goldsmith’s accusation that Prince Harry was “blowing up his family” at the royal’s couples much talked about interview with Oprah.

On Twitter, Lord Goldsmith responded to suggestions the royal couple had “dropped bomb after heavy bomb on Buckingham Palace” by saying: “Not ‘Buckingham Palace’ – Harry’s family. Harry is blowing up his family.”

The PM’s spokesman refused to get embroiled in the royal drama this afternoon and repeated Mr Johnson’s words before viewing the interview last night, when he said: “I’ve spent a long time now not commenting on royal family matters and I don’t intend to depart from that today.”

The Independent’s political editor Andrew Woodcock has the details

Downing Street has today said that Boris Johnson is yet to be invited for a Covid vaccine.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It remains the case I’ve not heard that he’s been invited to have one yet but when he does he will more than happily come forward and take the vaccine.”

People aged 56 to 59 in England have been invited by the NHS to start booking in their jab from next week.

Mr Johnson is 56, so could soon be queuing with other Brits ready to take one of the coronavirus vaccines in the weeks ahead.

US climate change envoy John Kerry has warned the UK that “coal has no future” amid growing consternation about plans for a large new coal mine in Cumbria, and urged action from the world’s largest polluters.

Mr Kerry told BBC’s Newsnight programme: “The marketplace has made a decision that coal is not the future.”

He added: “All over the world people have made a decision to move to cleaner fuel than coal, which is the dirtiest fuel in the world. In America and elsewhere … most banks will tell you ‘we’re not going to fund a new coal plant’.”

Harry Cockburn reports

Barriers to trade caused by Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, such as new red tape and VAT charges from January 1, are causing “major problems” to 35 per cent of retailers and traders importing from the EU.

A large numbers of parcels are being blocked or returned and deliveries cancelled, said the report by international delivery company ParcelHero.

The Independent’s political editor Andrew Woodcock has the details

Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce an easing of outdoor restrictions in Scotland.

Matt Mathers reports on when we’ll hear from the first minister:

The government has faced serious criticism over its plans to cap a pay rise for NHS workers at 1 per cent.

However, justice secretary Robert Buckland has hinted that ministers could amend the proposal after an independent pay review.

“I think that we need to see what the recommendations are, and I very much hope that the outcome … that the work that has been done by NHS workers will be recognised in a way that is appropriate,” he said.

MEP Guy Verhofstadt has ridiculed the UK’s replacement to the Erasmus student exchange programme.

The new Turing scheme – named after the famous English mathematician Alan Turing – is due to start in September.

The Belgian politician suggested that it was a poor imitation of the EU’s scheme, saying that you don’t need to be Turing “to see who suffers from Brexit here”.

Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, has said it is “inevitable” that coronavirus cases will go up as social mixing restrictions are lifted.

But he told the Commons Science and Technology Committee that ministers were following scientific advice “consistent with minimising that increase as you open things up”.

“The sequencing of opening outdoor things before indoor things is consistent with the advice Sage has given,” he added.

Health care workers in England were due to receive a higher pay rise than the 1 per cent proposed by the government, the head of the NHS has said.

Speaking to the Commons health committee on Tuesday, Simon Stevens said more than a million staff were scheduled to get a 2.1 per cent salary increase from April.

He added that the pay review body should be allowed to do its work without “fear or favour”.

Here’s our health correspondent Shaun Lintern with more:

A former DUP councillor has said he is a happier person after leaving the party following its “twisted” and “bitter” actions against him.

Guy Spence, who served as Belfast’s deputy mayor, announced his resignation from the DUP a year ago.

Explaining the decision 12 months on, he tweeted: “After many years I couldn’t stand for the twisted, bitter & hateful actions set out against me & my values. 

“Fuelled by those wanting to cause me harm.”

Matt Mathers reports:

The Jewish community in Northern Ireland is having difficulty obtaining kosher meat for Passover due to post-Brexit trade disruption, the DUP has said.

Arlene Foster, the country’s first minister, said: “This is something which is very concerning.

“We have a very small Jewish community here in Northern Ireland. The fact that they cannot access kosher meat is something that would cause me a great deal of concern.”

Ministers must do more to support “forgotten” social care workers, organisations in the sector have said.

This comes after former health secretary Jeremy Hunt criticised the chancellor for not prioritising social care in his budget last week. He said the announcement gave “little hope for [a] social care sector bruised and demoralised” by the pandemic.

My colleague Jon Sharman has the details:

A new crackdown on protests by Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter is necessary because of their “huge inconvenience”, the justice secretary Robert Buckland has said.

The government could make it illegal for demonstrations to block parliament, the courts or the distribution of newspapers.

“We’ve got to think about the sometimes huge inconvenience caused to other people going about their lawful business,” Mr Buckland said.