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People will no longer be told to wear face masks from later this month, a Cabinet minister says, with England on course to lift almost all Covid restrictions.Robert Jenrick gave an upbeat message on the “very promising” data – ahead of the planned completion of the roadmap out of lockdown on 19 July.The new phase would see “we as private citizens make these judgements rather than the government telling you what to do”, the local government secretary said.And he confirmed mask-wearing would be voluntary, saying: “The state won’t be telling you what to do, but you will want to exercise a degree of personal responsibility and judgement.“So different people will come to different conclusions on things like masks for example.”On Saturday, the British Medical Association pleaded with the government not to scrap all face covering rules, with Covid cases rising sharply and a third wave underway.But Mr Jenrick said the successful vaccination programme meant England could “move to a much more permissive regime” on 19 July, although no final decisions have been taken.“We are now reaching a different phase in the virus. We are not going to put the Covid-19 virus behind us forever, we’re going to have to learn to live with it,” he told Sky News.“The fact that we’ve got to the point where 83 per cent of adults in this country have had at least one jab, we should be able to think about how we can return to normality as much as possible.“The data that we are seeing, and that the prime minister is reviewing at the moment ahead of his decision point on the roadmap, looks very positive.“It does seem as if we can now move forward and move to a much more permissive regime where we move away from any of those restrictions that have been so difficult for us, and learn to live with the virus.”Sajid Javid, the new health secretary, also hinted that so-called ‘Freedom Day’ will go ahead in full in 19 July – describing the health arguments for doing so as “compelling”.“We are going to have to learn to live with Covid and find ways to cope with it, just as we already do with flu,” Mr Javid wrote in a newspaper article.But Labour’s Rachel Reeves attacked off-the-record briefings that the data is heading in the right direction, telling ministers to “present the evidence” from scientists.“It is important, if QR codes are going to stop, if the masks are going to come off, that we are absolutely confident that is the right thing to do,” the shadow Chancellor said.Boris Johnson is expected to announce decisions on social distancing rules and Covid-certification certificates to enter large events in the coming days, ahead of giving the step 4 go-ahead on 12 July. More

Voters in Japan’s capital are electing the Tokyo city assembly amid worries about health risks during the Olympics, opening in three weeks, as coronavirus cases continue to rise. In Sunday’s balloting, 271 candidates are vying for 127 seats. Eligible voters total 9.8 million people in the megacity with a population of nearly 14 million.Public opinion surveys show most people want the Games canceled or postponed again. Behind the fears is the lagging vaccination rollout, with only about 10% of the population fully vaccinated.Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike called in sick two weeks ago, citing exhaustion, and was not seen in public until Friday. Her routine role would have been to stump for her party, Tomin First, the biggest with 46 seats in the assembly heading into the election. Neither Koike nor her party pushed for a cancellation, but instead called for the Games without fans in the stands. The organizing committee has said a decision on attendance restrictions was still being studied. The only major party clearly advocating for the Olympic to be canceled was the Communist Party, which held 18 seats. The Democrats a leading opposition party, raised questions about the Olympics but pushed other issues in their campaign, such as economic aid for those hurt by the coronavirus. The Olympics, opening July 23, bring together 15,000 athletes and more than 50,000 officials, including corporate sponsors and dignitaries, as well as 70,000 volunteers. Some medical experts have warned it could become a COVID-19 superspreader event, warning that new cases in Tokyo, now totaling several hundred, could shoot up to thousands. Olympic team members and officials are more likely than the Japanese public to have been fully vaccinated. The ruling Liberal Democrats the party of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, which previously had 25 seats in the Tokyo assembly, are likely to increase their representation as the momentum of Koike’s party has fizzled, according to Japanese media reports. But most people were still undecided. Koike, a former news anchor, became Tokyo’s first woman governor in 2016, and was reelected to another four-year term in a 2020 landslide. She is a proponent of gender equality, comparing the situation in Japan to “an iron plate,” rather than “a glass ceiling.” Analysts say Koike, previously a parliamentary lawmaker, may be contemplating a return to national politics. Parliamentary elections are expected later this year. ___Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama More

Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel hold a joint press conferenceBoris Johnson is facing calls to bring in the army to prevent the collapse of supermarket supply chains due to the combined effects of Covid and Brexit.Industry leaders say there is a shortfall of at least 60,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers because of “a perfect storm” of EU drivers shunning the UK and cancelled licence tests cancelled because of the pandemic. The crisis has already left some firms such as Haribo struggling to get their goods into supermarkets.The warnings came after Brexit minister David Frost admitted that the UK could be confronted with a “series of rolling crises” because of the Northern Ireland protocol he negotiated with the EU.Meanwhile Labour has demanded that the Greensill inquiry is scrapped after it emerged the lawyer chosen by Boris Johnson to run the “independent” investigation was a former Tory candidate and party member.Deputy leader Angela Rayner said the appointment of Nigel Boardman – who is a non-executive board member at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – was another example of cronyism.“After stuffing non-executive director posts with political acolytes, it appears the prime minister is now appointing Tory cronies to lead investigations too,” she said.“This investigation is clearly independent in name only and needs to be scrapped in favour of a properly independent investigation that will get to the bottom of what has been going on at the heart of government.”Labour is hoping for an upturn in fortunes after the narrow win in the Batley and Spen by-election, with Sir Keir Starmer preparing a nationwide tour to set out Labour’s vision for a more united country.Follow live updates below…Show latest update

1625295758Good morning and welcome to the Independent’s live coverage of UK politics today.Peter Stubley3 July 2021 08:021625296302UK faces ‘a series of rolling crises’ over Brexit protocol in Northern Ireland, warns Lord FrostYou might have thought the latest Brexit crisis was over, after the EU agreed to a three-month delay to restrictions on the sale of chilled meats from the UK to Northern Ireland.Boris Johnson had claimed the “wurst is behind us” in the so-called “sausage war” following his summit with German chancellor Angela Merkel, who said she was optimistic of solutions to trade difficulties.However, Brexit minister Lord Frost has now issued another salvo in their ongoing attempt to get the EU to water down the protocol that he himself negotiated.In an article in the Irish Times, Lord Frost and Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said that the extension “addresses only a small part of the underlying problem”.They called for a “new balance” to be reached and again accused the EU of taking an overly strict approach to the regulations – this time calling it “a theological approach frozen in time”.They said: “The current process to resolve all these difficulties is not working and risks creating a series of rolling crises as we lurch from one deadline to another.”In short, a seriously unbalanced situation is developing in the way the Protocol is operating – this risks economic harm in Northern Ireland and damage, in turn, to the essential balance within the Belfast Agreement itself.”Peter Stubley3 July 2021 08:111625296851German chancellor Angela Merkel also expressed optimism about the prospects of fully-vaccinated British holidaymakers travelling to Europe quarantine-free.Mrs Merkel suggested restrictions could be eased soon for “double-jabbed” Brits travelling to Germany, as the Delta variant continues to spread outside the UK. The German leader had been behind a push to coordinate other EU countries to clamp down on travel from the UK.But appearing beside Boris Johnson on a visit to the UK, she took a different tack and said her country could lift travel restrictions for those who have had two injections in the “foreseeable” future.Peter Stubley3 July 2021 08:201625297548Meanwhile Boris Johnson will be hoping to ride on a wave of patriotic enthusiasm over the performance of the England football team.Yesterday Downing Street released a photograph of the prime minister standing on a giant St George’s flag ahead of tonight’s game against Ukraine in Rome.It prompted criticism that Mr Johnson would not have done the same for Scotland or Wales had they managed to get to the quarter finals.And Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell suggested the PM should have gone the whole hog and worn an England tracksuit.Peter Stubley3 July 2021 08:321625297965Raining on England’s parade?Alas, thunderstorms and heavy rain could put a dampener on fans hoping to enjoy a barbecue while watching Wimbledon and the Euro 2020 quarter finals today.Peter Stubley3 July 2021 08:391625298242The government has announced its latest round of coronavirus funding, with £60m going to museums, galleries and heritage sites across England.Among the recipients are the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), Natural History Museum and British Library, The Imperial War Museums, Tate, National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Parks, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).Peter Stubley3 July 2021 08:441625298754Hancock to blame for Batley and Spen defeat, say Tory MPsLabour’s victory in the Batley and Spen by-election has led to angry Tory MPs pointing the finger at Matt Hancock.Conservative party co-chairwoman Amanda Milling admitted that the health secretary’s resignation had come up on the doorsteps in Batley and Spen. Voters “had some issues” after Mr Hancock’s affair was exposed, she conceded.One Conservative MP who campaigned in the West Yorkshire constituency in recent weeks said: “Without Hancock we would have won it.”Peter Stubley3 July 2021 08:521625299339PM must ‘turn rhetoric into action’ to tackle climate changeBoris Johnson must quickly “turn rhetoric into action” if he is to successfully lead the world in tackling the climate and nature crises, an eminent British scientist has warned.Prof Sir Robert Watson, a former top scientific adviser to both the UK government and the White House, said that Britain is leading the way in setting targets to tackle both crises, but that these must be followed up with credible policies if they are to have any meaning.He pointed to a recent assessment by the government’s own advisers which warned that the UK is currently not on track to meet its key goal of slashing emissions by 78 per cent on 1990 levels by 2035.Downing Street said the government will set out its “overall strategy for achieving net-zero emissions… by the end of this year”.Peter Stubley3 July 2021 09:021625299740Stop playing politics over climate change, says Greta ThunbergProfessor Watson’s warning (see previous post) echoes comments made by climate activist Greta Thunberg at a climate summit in Austria on Thursday.Ms Thunberg accused politicians of “roleplaying” and pretending they were taking action while actually opening up new coal mines and oil fields.She took aim at those who were “playing politics, playing with words and playing with our future, pretending to take responsibility, acting as saviours as you try to convince us things are being taken care of.”“Meanwhile the gap between your rhetoric and reality keeps growing wider and wider. And since awareness is so low, you almost get away with it,” she added.And in a dig that could have had Boris Johnson in mind, the activist accused politicians of “bragging about your ambitious climate commitments… and then being caught not even being close to reaching those targets.”Peter Stubley3 July 2021 09:091625300596Boris Johnson has now tweeted a video of himself shouting “Come on England” while standing on a giant St George’s flag outside Downing Street.He said he had signed the flag – along with Geoff Hurst, Gareth Southgate, and Peter Shilton – to back the Football Association’s campaign to respect diversity across the nation.“Discrimination has no place in football and we want to ensure a fun and inclusive environment for everyone,” he added.Peter Stubley3 July 2021 09:23 More

The army should be called to distribute goods to supermarkets amid a driver shortage sparked by Brexit and Covid, the government has been told.Industry leaders are warning of gaps on shelves because of an “unimaginable” collapse of supply chains triggered by a shortfall of at least 60,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.Sweets giant Haribo is among firms struggling to get stocks into shops, because of “a perfect storm” of EU drivers shunning the UK and tests cancelled because of the pandemic.Boris Johnson was confronted about the problems in the Commons – but ducked a call to relax post-Brexit immigration rules to allow more drivers to work in this country.Now it has been revealed that the use of the army was raised at meeting of industry representatives and officials from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).A delegate from Premier Foods, which owns brands including Mr Kipling, Bisto, Ambrosia and Paxo, pointed out that some military personnel hold HGV licenses.“This was one of many ideas put forward in an industry brainstorming session,” a spokesman said, while insisting the firm had “plans in place to manage the situation within our supply chain”.At the meeting, Asda, Britain’s third largest supermarket group after Tesco and Sainsbury’s, said the grocer was “just about keeping our head above water”.But it warned that any spike in demand this summer would “give us significant challenges and disruption”.The British Retail Consortium said: “The government must rapidly increase the number of HGV driving tests taking place while also looking for a longer-term solution to this issue.”The Road Haulage Association has also urged the prime minister to act, warning overseas drivers are unsure of their rights to work in the UK, following withdrawal from the EU.In the Commons, Mr Johnson was urged by a Scottish National Party MP to “add HGV drivers to the UK shortage occupation list”.“Everybody knows that there have been huge problems with the shortage of HGV drivers in this country, and that has only been compounded further by Brexit,” David Linden warned.In response, the prime minister said: “I think the most important thing is to get our entire workforce back at work.“There are currently millions of people still on furlough. Of course there are labour shortages at the moment, but we need to get people back into work, and that is why we have to continue to roll out the vaccines in the way that we are.”A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said it had not received a formal request to provide support and a government spokesperson said: “There are no plans to use military personnel in this scenario.” More

Former European Union leader and ex-Prime Minister Donald Tusk was elected head of the strongest party in Poland’s fragmented opposition on Saturday. Tusk, 64, said he is returning to Polish politics and to the opposition Civic Platform party to help fight the “evil” of the current right-wing government.His comeback is expected to reignite the bitter political rivalry of decades with Jaroslaw Kaczynski 72, the leader and chief strategist of the Law and Justice party that now runs the government with two small partners. Tusk co-founded Civic Platform, a center-liberal party, in 2001. It ruled Poland for eight years — most of the time with Tusk as prime minister — before the current conservative team won power in 2015. “I know that many Poles were waiting for this black dream to be over,” Tusk said about the current government of Law and Justice that has put Poland on a collision course with the EU.“Today, evil rules in Poland and we are ready to fight against this evil” Tusk said. The EU and its court have opened procedures against Poland’s current government, saying its changes to the justice system and opposition to some EU decisions, including on relocation of migrants, have gone against the 27-member bloc’s principles and undermine democracy.Massive street protests have been held against changes to the judiciary and tightening of the abortion law. Tusk said his return was dictated by the conviction that Civic Platform is “necessary as the force … that can win the battle with Law and Justice over Poland’s future.”“There is no chance for victory without the Platform,” said Tusk, adding he has a sense of responsibility for the party that he had founded and led for many years before taking on the position of EU Council head in 2014. Civic Platform seemed to lose its energy and high profile following his departure. Asked later by journalists about chances for a united opposition bloc, Tusk replied “the more the better, the more together, the better,” but gave no specifics. One of the strongest personalities in Poland’s politics, Tusk said he was launching a series of visits across the nation, with a trip Monday to the northwestern region of Szczecin, that was recently hit by torrential rains. Party member and former foreign and defense minister Radek Sikorski said Tusk’s main goal now is to “restore the trust in victory among all those who do not accept the destruction of Poland’s position” by Law and Justice. The Law and Justice government continues to lead opinion polls thanks to its generous family bonuses and conservative policies that appeal to the Catholic majority in society. But the pressure of accumulating disputes with the EU and an internal struggle for power and influence have been visibly shaking the unity and loyalty in the coalition, which recently lost its majority in parliament, after some Law and Justice lawmakers left the ranks. Poland’s parliamentary elections are scheduled in the fall of 2023, but some politicians have been hinting that the weakening power of the ruling coalition may result in an early vote. More

Boris Johnson’s pick to run the “independent” inquiry into the Greensill lobbying scandal is a former Conservative party member and candidate, it has been revealed.The appointment of Nigel Boardman had already sparked allegations of “cronyism” because he is a non-executive director of the business department – and his father was a Tory minister.The high-flying lawyer also opposed David Cameron’s limited curbs to lobbying practices a decade ago – and is an adviser to the law firm Slaughter and May, which has received £7m of government contracts.Now documents from the 1986 London borough elections show Mr Boardman stood to be a Conservative councillor in Islington, north London, where he lived at the time.He trailed home ninth out of 10 candidates, The Guardian reported, but was an “active member” of the local party, a former associate told the paper.Labour has called for the inquiry – which is believed to have been completed and handed to the government – to be abandoned altogether.“After stuffing non-executive director posts with political acolytes, it appears the prime minister is now appointing Tory cronies to lead investigations too,” said Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader.“This investigation is clearly independent in name only and needs to be scrapped in favour of a properly independent investigation that will get to the bottom of what has been going on at the heart of government.”The controversy comes amid allegations that Jeremy Heywood, the late Cabinet Secretary, is being set up as the fall guy by the inquiry – instead of a focus on how Cabinet ministers responded to Mr Cameron’s lobbying.The former prime minister bombarded his former colleagues with requests on behalf of Greensill Capital, a collapsed finance firm which employed him.Rishi Sunak replied to text messages to say he had “pushed” civil servants to explore how Greensill could be included within the emergency Covid-19 loan scheme.And Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, discussed a proposed payment scheme with Mr Cameron and Mr Greensill – which was subsequently introduced by the NHS.Dave Penman, the general secretary of the senior civil servants’ union the FDA, has warned against scapegoating and urged the inquiry to accept submissions on behalf of Lord Heywood’s widow.“The Nigel Boardman inquiry was set up to understand the origins of a scandal that ended with a former prime minister pleading for taxpayer cash for his employer,” he said.“Fingers were very quickly being pointed at the civil service to distract from the inconvenient truth that David Cameron sought, and was granted, privileged access to cabinet ministers.”A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “This is an independent review. Nigel Boardman is a distinguished legal expert, having undertaken a number of reviews scrutinising the government, and he was asked to lead this review following the appropriate due diligence checks.” More

A plan to drop all isolation and testing rules for double-jabbed people who have been in contact with a Covid case is set to put Boris Johnson on a fresh collision course with scientists.Ministers are expected to agree that the fully vaccinated will not only be exempt from having to stay at home for ten days – but will only be “advised” to take daily tests, with no legal requirement to do so.The change would bring England into line with countries such as the US and Germany, amid a warning that up to a million people a day will be forced into quarantine unless rules are relaxed.Follow live: Plans to axe isolation rules for double-jabbed under fire amid early second vaccine warningBut a leading public health expert said those rules were “slowing infections” and urged ministers not to abandon daily testing, if isolation for fully vaccinated people is scrapped.“The midway proposal is the daily testing of contacts,” said Christophe Fraser, professor of pathogen dynamics at the University of Oxford.“So, when you receive the close contact notification – the one that says you have been close to somebody for an extended period of time – the possibility being looked at is you would take a test for 7 days after you have been pinged by the app.“That would be a very promising way to reduce the amount of disruption for people.”Official estimates suggest that infections will increase by as much as 26 per cent if both restrictions are axed, according to The Times which reported it.Government scientific advisers have also warned that most people will refuse to take daily tests, which means compliance with quarantine guidance will go “out the window”, it said.Professor Fraser told BBC Radio 4: “Yes, we are seeing a break of the link between infections and hospitalisations, but we are also seeing some young people, unfortunately, being hospitalised and being quite seriously ill.”And Stephen Griffin, a viral oncologist at the University of Leeds, told The Times: “Lateral flow tests are not enough to absolve you from quarantine.”Nevertheless, the plan for no isolation and only “advisory” tests is expected to be signed off at a meeting of the Covid operations committee on Monday.It would get underway towards the end of August – with the government willing to accept the risks of higher infections to ease disruption for businesses and public services.It must first wait for results from a current trial where 40,000 people are being asked to take daily tests instead of self-isolating.Hospitality businesses want the rules changed more urgently, to avoid summer holidays being ruined by hundreds of thousands of people a day being told to isolate each day.At present, the test and trace system is telling an average of three contacts of each case to isolate – but that number is expected to increase if all restrictions in society are lifted on 19 July. More

It was a by-election that pollsters, bookies — and, yes, even The Independent — suggested might be all but a Tory shoo-in.Boris Johnson’s party was supposed to take the West Yorkshire seat of Batley and Spen on Thursday, just as it had done in Hartlepool two months earlier.Voters would, it was said, abandon Labour in droves, angry about international issues, local grievances and being taken for granted by a series of red-rose MPs dating back to 1997.Even as late as 2am on Friday, rumours were doing the rounds at the counting hall that Labour’s candidate Kim Leadbeater might slip to third place.Yet when the 16 runners and riders were finally called to the stage at Cathedral House in Huddersfield just before 5.30am, it was only Leadbeater clutching a small slip of paper: a victory speech.The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox squeaked to victory over her Tory rival Ryan Stephenson by 13,296 votes to 12,973 — a margin of just 323. George Galloway, who some predicted would decimate the red vote, came third with 8,264.How did this 45-year-old with no political experience snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?The first thing to note is that it wasn’t a Labour triumph; the party’s vote share dropped by 7.4 per cent.The new majority is some 3,000 smaller than that left by Tracy Brabin, who stood down in May to become the new mayor of West Yorkshire.Pertinently, the fact that Galloway was able to notch up almost 10,000 votes – many of believed to be from working class Muslims – indicates a vital part of Labour’s historical electoral base may be moving away from the party.Yet in one of the most toxic by-elections in recent memory, just getting over the line will be viewed as an achievement.“Why did she win?” ponders Afzal Khan, the Gorton Labour MP who spent much time campaigning in the constituency. “Because she was an excellent candidate, bags of energy, inspirational. Voters just liked her. She has a long track record of working for this community and that’s what voters want to see.”Many here on Friday morning were just pleased the election was over. Accusations of intimidation, violence and criminal damage have marred the the campaign. Labour activists have reported being egged, insulted and threatened by Galloway supporters. They accused him of weaponising Muslim anger by misrepresenting Labour’s position on Palestine. A video emerged of Leadbeater, who has a female partner, being accosted in the street over LGBT+ education in schools. In a shameful low, the woman whose sister was stabbed to death in this very constituency had to be given police protection.Yet the insidiousness of what Leadbeater faced may have ultimately helped her cause. By Monday, with Galloway supporters appearing ever more aggressive, red-rosed campaigners noticed a slight shift on the doorstep; Leadbeater was being praised more and more for her dignity in the face of abuse.“There were shops and houses with his [Galloway’s] posters in the window but when you spoke to people, they absolutely weren’t impressed by what was happening” says Habiban Zaman, a ward councillor in Batley East who, despite fancying a shot at parliament herself, continued to back Leadbeater through the campaign.“They were saying all the right things to us but you don’t know if they’re just saying that to be polite. I really didn’t know. All I know was it [the feedback on the door] didn’t match with what newspapers were saying.” More