Brexit news – live: Trade not down due to leaving EU, says No 10 as Labour accuses government of ‘cronyism’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his government is “very confident” in all of the vaccines being used in the UK, despite recent findings suggesting the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine may offer only limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of Covid-19.

“All of the vaccines are effective in protecting against death and serious illness,” Mr Johnson said, according to Sky News, as the UK marked seeing more than 12 million people vaccinated so far.

Addressing concerns over the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine head-on, the PM said: “We also think, in particular in the case of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, that there’s good evidence it’s stopping transmission as well.”

He said he had “no doubt that vaccines generally are going to offer the way out”.

Mr Johnson made the comments during a visit to a coronavirus test manufacturing facility in Derby, where millions of rapid response tests are being produced for rollout in the UK.

Forcing an employee to have the coronavirus vaccine in order to keep their position would be “discriminatory,” No 10 has said.

In a Westminster briefing on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said taking a vaccine is “not mandatory and it would be discriminatory to force somebody to take one”.

The comment came after The Telegraph reported that some ministers believe companies that adopt a “jab for a job” stance would be protected by health and safety laws.

The outlet quoted a government source as saying: “Health and safety laws say you have to protect other people at work, and when it becomes about protecting other people the argument gets stronger.”

No 10 does not appear to agree, however, making clear it could be considered discriminatory to threaten someone’s job or withhold employment over their vaccination status.

Wales Health Minister Vaughan Gething has said he is “deeply sorry” to have to mark the milestone of more than 5,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the country.

“I’m deeply sorry for every single life that’s been lost, every family who’s been affected,” Mr Gething said, according to PA.

“Right from the outset of this pandemic, we made a point of recognising that these aren’t just numbers, these are people who are loved and valued and leave others behind.”

He said the Welsh Government had taken “extraordinary measures” to prevent the spread of coronavirus and reduce its impact.

However, he said: “Despite all of that, we know that more than 5,000 people have lost their lives.”

“I’m afraid we can be terribly confident that without the measures that we’ve all taken together, more people would have come to harm and more families would be grieving the loss of a loved one,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important that we all stick with what we’re doing to help drive down rates even further.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested border controls could play a greater role in the effort to prevent new coronavirus variants from reaching the UK when infection rates are further reduced.

Asked about the possibility of introducing tougher measures, the PM told reporters: “They are most effective, border controls, when you’ve got the rate of infection down in your country,” according to PA.

“At the moment we’ve greatly reduced the rate of infection from the peak, where it was a few weeks ago, but it’s still extremely high and for border controls really to make that final difference so you can isolate new variants as they come in, you need to have infections really much lower so you can track them as they spread,” he said.

The prime minister noted that it was true that “we in the UK are capable of seeing variants arise here,” as has been the case with the Kent variant of Covid-19.

However, he said: “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to be relying very much on border controls as we get the rates of infection down overall.”

The Conservatives have regained their lead over Labour, according to a new poll, as the opposition party continues to struggle to maintain a consistent lead over the government.

Research by YouGov, conducted last week, showed the Tories on 41 per cent, up by 4 percentage points, and Labour on 37 per cent, down by 4 points.

You can find the full results below:

Rogue customs agents with no “knowledge or experience” are offering help with post-Brexit chaos after Michael Gove failed to recruit enough officials to guide firms through the new red tape, a trade adviser has warned.

Anna Jerzewska, an independent customs expert, said firms were being “dumped by their long-term customs broker in favour of a larger client that they can charge more”.

Our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, has the full story below:

A Democratic Unionist Party MP has been condemned for referring to an all-black line-up for a gospel edition of Songs of Praise as “the BBC at its BLM [Black Lives Matter] worst”.

Campaigners have accused Gregory Campbell of “race-baiting” over his comments and called on him to apologise.

Our reporter, Matt Mathers, has the full story below:

The UK’s terrorism threat level has been reduced from “severe” to “substantial” due to a significant reduction in the momentum of attacks across Europe, the government has said.

Home secretary Priti Patel told MPs that the lowered threat level still meant an attack on the UK remained “likely” and warned that the public should remain vigilant.

“The decision to lower the threat level from severe to substantial is due to the significant reduction in the momentum of attacks in Europe since those seen between September and November 2020,” Ms Patel said.

“However, the UK national threat level is kept under constant review and is subject to change at any time.

“Terrorism remains one of the most direct and immediate risks to our national security.”

Buckingham Palace has rejected a report that suggested the Queen blocked legislation in the 1970s to conceal her private wealth as “simply incorrect”.

The Guardian reported that the monarch’s private lawyer lobbied ministers to change a draft law enabling companies used by “heads of state” to be exempt from new transparency measures.

Our reporter, Tom Batchelor, has the full story below:

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said a contract with a diagnostics company in Derby to supply millions of rapid lateral flow coronavirus tests will strengthen the national response to the coronavirus pandemic “significantly”.

SureScreen Diagnostics has become the first British manufacturer contracted to supply Covid-19 tests to the government.

In a Monday tweet, Mr Hancock said said the deal with SureScreen Diagnostics would see at least 20 million more rapid lateral flow tests rolled out.

“These tests strengthen our national response to the virus significantly, helping identify the around 1 in 3 asymptomatic people & break chains of transmission,” he said.

The tests are expected to be used as part of the government’s rapid testing programme for people without Covid-19 symptoms, including home care staff, school workers and others.