Markus Andrews

The Scottish government will move as quickly as possible to inoculate teenagers if the measure is recommended by the UK’s official vaccination body, Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Scotland’s first minister said last week that her heart sang after the announcement the Pfizer jab had been had declared safe for use in younger people by the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). She told the Scottish Parliament her government would not hesitate if the jabs received the backing of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).”It is vital that we rely on expert advice in all of our vaccination decisions,” she said.”However, vaccination may well be an important way of giving children greater protection, minimising any further disruption to schooling, and further reducing community transmission of the virus.”The SNP leader also praised what she said were remarkable vaccination figures north of the border, even as she warned Scotland’s position was still “fragile”.The latest figures show Scotland recorded 695 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, but no deaths.Nearly three quarters of Scotland’s adults have now received a first dose of the vaccine and more than half have received two doses.But coronavirus cases are rising, with an increase of around 50 per cent in the last week.Because of the uncertain picture Ms Sturgeon said there would be no immediate changes to coronavirus restrictions in Scotland.But she said the vaccination programme may be reducing the proportion of people who require hospital treatment.”So… our position is still fragile. Case numbers are higher than we would like. The virus does still cause serious health harm. And, of course, it still has the potential to put pressure on our health service.”That is why we must continue to assess the data carefully, as we make decisions about whether and when to ease restrictions further,” she said.”But on the upside – and I want to stress I think it is a very significant upside – the vaccines do appear to be doing their jobs, and that should give us all firm grounds for optimism.” More

The Conservatives will gain five to 10 seats under a planned shake-up of Westminster constituencies, according to a leading election expert.The Boundary Commission proposals will see England gain seats, with the bulk of those in the south of the country – where Boris Johnson’s party is expected to benefit most.“My thought is that the Tories’ net gain will be five to 10 seats,” said Tory peer and election expert Lord Hayward.He said the gains would be partly due to the reduction of seats in Wales and Scotland and partly due to extra constituencies being created in Conservative heartlands in the south-east.Lord Hayward said: “There’s much more change than I expected. Obviously you’ve got to do a fair amount of change because what you’re working on is electorates that are over 20 years old now … there will be constituencies where people face a problem.”Some cabinet ministers are set to be affected by the planned changes aimed at making sure seats across the country have broadly similar numbers of voters.The upheaval could cause major problems for defence secretary Ben Wallace, whose Wyre and Preston North seat is set to be entirely absorbed.Health secretary Matt Hancock faces the prospect of having parts of his West Suffolk constituency merged with fellow Tory MP Jo Churchill’s Bury St Edmunds seat.Other changes could see Sir Keir Starmer’s north London constituency annex part of Jeremy Corbyn’s seat. The plans would see the Labour leader’s constituency of Holborn and St Pancras “eat” the Tufnell Park ward in Mr Corbyn’s Islington North patch.Meanwhile, Tory MP Michael Fabricant has complained bitterly at the proposals for his Lichfield in Staffordshire constituency – comparing the changes to those drawn up by British colonial mapmakers.“It bears all the hallmarks of boundaries drawn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Whitehall mapmakers in days of empire without any knowledge or care of the regions and people concerned.”Of the 533 existing English constituencies, fewer than 10 per cent remain unchanged under the proposals. Separate reviews will propose the constituencies in Wales, which is due to lose eight seats, and Scotland, which will be down two.Martin Baxter, founder of Electoral Calculus, said the changes could help the Tories overall, but “not as much as it might have done since they now hold some red wall seats themselves which might disappear”.The Boundary Commission is not due to make its final recommendations to parliament until July 2023 and its proposals are the subject of an eight-week consultation.“We want to hear the views of the public to ensure that we get the new boundaries for parliamentary constituencies right,” said Boundary Commission secretary Tim Bowden. More

Ministers have drafted in more help from the military and extra support for testing and public health teams in parts of Greater Manchester and Lancashire after a surge in cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant first identified in India.It comes as new internal NHS data shared with The Independent reveals the region is seeing a rise in hospital admissions, with 13 new patients with Covid-19 admitted to Manchester hospitals by 8am Tuesday. Health secretary Matt Hancock said the new measures would include extra testing, as well as supervised in-school testing, and military support. He told MPs this approach had previously worked in south London and Bolton. Ministers have also extended their ‘minimise travel’ advice to include Greater Manchester and Lancashire. And local directors of public health will be given discretion to reintroduce face masks in communal areas in schools if they decide they are appropriate. Across England, the latest hospital data shows there were 878 Covid-19 patients in hospital with a total of 66 new admissions in the past 24 hours to Tuesday. Across the northwest there are 246 Covid-19 patients, with 163 across Greater Manchester.While admissions are rising the number of hospital discharges, 101 in the past day, has meant the number of cases in hospital overall has grown by just 19 on Tuesday.Mr Hancock announced the enhanced support as he told MPs the government faces a “challenging decision” over whether or not to lift remaining lockdown restrictions across England on June 21.He also made an appeal to those living in Greater Manchester and Lancashire to get tested and to have a coronavirus vaccine as soon as they are eligible, adding “because that is our way out of this pandemic together”. Official statistics released yesterday showed just a tiny number of those in hospital with the Indian strain of the virus have had two doses of the vaccine. Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has suggested that any delay to England’s roadmap to lift lockdown would only last a couple of weeks, because of the success of the vaccination programme.Mr Hancock told MPs: “We are providing a strengthened package of support, based on what’s happening in Bolton, to help Greater Manchester and Lancashire tackle the rise in the Delta variant that we are seeing there.“This includes rapid response teams, putting in extra testing, military support and supervised in-school testing.”“I want to encourage everyone in Manchester and Lancashire to get the tests on offer,” he added. “We know that this approach can work, we’ve seen it work in south London and in Bolton in stopping a rise in the number of cases.“This is the next stage of tackling the pandemic in Manchester and Lancashire and of course it’s vital that people in these areas, as everywhere else, come forward and get the jab as soon as they are eligible because that is our way out of this pandemic together.”The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We want to provide the package of support that has been effective in Bolton to a wider area… to tackle the cases of the Delta variant.” More

Paul Givan will be the new first minister of Northern Ireland, DUP leader Edwin Poots has announced.The Lagan Valley MLA will suceed Arlene Foster, who is resigning at the end of this month following a no-confidence vote by her party.Mr Givan, a creationist who has in the past supported the teaching of alternatives to evolution in schools, will be the first person to hold the role who is not also a party leader.Under Northern Ireland’s powersharing system, the first minister is joint head of government with the deputy first minister. If the first minister is a unionist the deputy first minister must be a nationalist and vice versa. Ms Foster is expected to step down formally at the start of this week, but her replacement will not take office until a succesful renomination process involving Sinn Fein has completed.Deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill will be automatically removed from office at the same time.Mr Givan said: “There is a huge responsibility that comes with this position, particularly in serving the people of Northern Ireland.”The change comes as the DUP sinks in the polls and loses ground to the harder-line TUV, more moderate UUP, and non-aligned Alliance Party.The announcement was not welcomed by all corners of Mr Givan’s party. Outgoing DUP economy minister Diane Dodds said it was “regrettable” that “that the new team announced today does not match the rhetoric about healing and bringing the party together”. More

A former senior civil servant who held jobs at both Greensill Capital and the Cabinet Office has defended his appointment, as he rejected suggestions he was “double-hatting” as “not appropriate”.Defending his dual role, which emerged during the Greensill lobbying scandal, Bill Crothers described it as a “transitional arrangement” as he departed public service, and insisted: “No conflict happened”.The arrangement came under intense scrutiny earlier this year, as Sir Eric Pickles, the chair of the government’s lobbying watchdog, demanded to know why the Cabinet Office had allowed the situation, described as “shocking” by Labour.Mr Crothers had worked as the government’s chief procurement officer and remained a civil service employee when he joined the now-collapsed firm as an a part-time adviser to its board in 2015.The emergence of the overlap in Mr Crothers’ role in both government and Greensill prompted Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, to order every government department to trawl through their staff’s employment to examine any other cases of paid employment outside the civil service.The rapid review found dozens of senior civil servants held paid employment alongside their role in government, but added “they are often providing contributions to wider public life — for example as a magistrate, reservist, school governor or charity trustee”.Appearing at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Mr Crothers insisted: “My intention was the completely follow the rules in spirit and in form. I was transparent in all that I did and no conflict happened.”He claimed that during the summer of 2015 he had several conversations with the former cabinet secretary Lord Jeremy Heywood, who passed away in 2018, and the ex permanent secretary John Manzoni, regarding him “transitioning back into the private sector”.“In the press the phrase ‘double hatting’ has been used and I just feel that is not appropriate,” he told MPs.“This was a transitional arrangement and indeed both Jeremy Heywood and John referred to it as a transitional arrangement.”Mr Crothers, who suggested he was being recruited for his previous private sector experience, added: “When I had those conversations with Jeremy Heywood and John Manzoni, I was clear I was becoming an adviser to Greensill and in due course would become a director.”The former civil service employee also suggested Lord Heywood had told him Lex Greensill was a “man of the highest integrity and he was supportive of me joining Greensill Capital’s board”.Mr Crothers, however, declined to say how much he was paid by the firm, only telling MPs: “I just don’t think it’s appropriate to be specific.“What I can tell you is that it was commensurate with the income that I’d been earning with Accenture as a senior partner. It was substantially more than a civil servant.” More

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator says the bloc is ready to act “firmly and resolutely” if the U.K. fails to honor its commitments under the divorce deal that was supposed to keep trade flowing after Britain left the EU.Maros Sefcovic’s comments, published Tuesday in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, came a day before he holds talks with U.K. Brexit Minister David Frost on implementing the agreement,The relationship between the two sides has grown tense amid concerns over the so-called Northern Ireland protocol, part of the deal that is designed to protect the peace process in Northern Ireland by keeping an open border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. The protocol has sparked anger in Northern Ireland because it creates a customs border between the region and the rest of the U.K., creating new red tape for businesses. Pro-British unionists also fear it will weaken the ties between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.The EU says the provisions — agreed upon by the U.K. and the EU as part of Britain’s exit terms from the 27-nation bloc — are needed to protect the EU single market.The U.K. angered Brussels earlier this year when it unilaterally extended a grace period delaying the inspection of many supermarket items shipped to Northern Ireland from England, Scotland and Wales. The Telegraph reported that the U.K. may extend this action to include chilled meats such as sausages and ground beef, which won’t be allowed into Northern Ireland from July 1 unless the two sides strike a deal.Sefcovic cautioned against such action, saying negotiators should strive to achieve “mutually agreed compliance paths.”“If this does not happen, and if the U.K. takes further unilateral action over the coming weeks, the EU will not be shy in reacting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure that the UK abides by its international law obligations.”While Sefcovic didn’t specify what those actions might be, the Times of London quoted an unidentified EU official as saying the bloc was ready to impose trade sanctions and retaliatory tariffs. Britain accused the EU of taking an unnecessarily “purist approach” to the new rules.”There’s no case whatsoever for preventing chilled meats from being sold in Northern Ireland,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman, Max Blain. “We are working very hard to try and resolve these issues consensually,” “Time is starting to run out and solutions are urgently needed,” he added. More

Controversial plans to collect and share patients’ NHS data have been delayed as ministers seek to reassure the public over its ramifications.Health bosses believe the information will save lives by helping to develop cures for serious illnesses.But experts had warned patients were being kept in the dark about the use of the data on treatments, referrals and appointments stretching back 10 years, and called for the scheme to be paused.Now ministers have announced that it will be delayed to allow time to talk to patients and doctors and “ensure the data is accessed securely”.The collected data is anonymised, to protect the identities of patients.But the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) had expressed concerns the plans were being implemented too quickly, without sufficient patient consultation.Under the earlier timetable, the BMA said patients had only until June 23 to opt out and ensure their data was not given to NHS Digital. But ministers said the scheme would be put back until the start of September.Health minister Lord Bethell told peers: “Data saves lives. We have seen that in the pandemic and it’s one of the lessons of the vaccine rollout.”He said the GP data programme “will strengthen the system and save lives”, but added: “That’s why we are taking some time to make sure that it is as effective as possible so the implementation date will now be September 1.”We will use this time to talk to patients, doctors and to others to strengthen the plan, to build a trusted research environment and to ensure the data is accessed securely.” More

The EU has threatened swift and firm retribution if Boris Johnson violates his Brexit deal again to avoid new trade controls he agreed would apply to Northern Ireland. In a strongly worded warning commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said Brussels would “not be shy in reacting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure that the UK abides by its international law obligations”.But environment secretary George Eustice said it would be “bonkers” if chilled meats such as sausages and mince were blocked from export from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland from the end of June under the terms of the deal agreed by Mr Johnson in 2019.The UK government is threatening unilaterally to extend a “grace period” on the products in the same way that it already has with supermarket supplies and parcels, enraging Brussels by breaching the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol.The PM’s official spokesperson told reporters: “There’s no case whatsoever for preventing chilled meats from being sold to Northern Ireland.“We want to work with the EU to find a solution. That is the focus. That’s why we have submitted 10 papers to the Commission proposing potential solutions and we are keen to hear from the EU.”Mr Eustice suggested that the European Commission had been “slow to engage” with the impending implementation of protocol rules on chilled meats.But Theresa May’s former chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, said it appeared that Mr Johnson and his Brexit negotiator Lord Frost had always intended to breach the terms of the agreement they negotiated and signed.“They knew it was a bad deal but agreed it to get Brexit done, intending to wriggle out of it later,” said Lord Barwell. “The EU has no intention of letting the UK wriggle out of what it signed up to, so we should expect UK/EU relations to get worse before they get better.”The row burst into public ahead of a meeting between Šefčovič and Frost on Wednesday over the troubled Northern Ireland protocol.The UK says the agreement it negotiated and signed last year is having a more damaging effect on Northern Ireland than it had anticipated, and wants the EU to relax some of the requirements.Businesses in the province, who have so far been supportive of the agreement, warned overnight that their faith in it was being tested by the two sides, and said the situation would get worse.Mr Šefčovič and his opposite number Lord Frost have had their teams locked in technical talks for months on how to better implement the deal, but with little to show for it.The province’s loyalist community are also opposed to the new barriers to trade the deal introduces down the Irish Sea, which were introduced as a way of keeping the border with the Republic open. The UK has already unilaterally extended grace periods on the deal up to October, a move the EU says breaches the agreement both sides negotiated but which Britain says is necessary to keep supermarkets supplies.Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Tuesday, Mr Šefčovič said the protocol was the “best solution” to “the type of Brexit that the current UK Government chose”.”No one knows it better than Lord Frost himself, then the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator,” he added.The EU could trigger a Brexit treaty mechanism that would ultimately lead to heavy tariffs on UK exports and the suspension of parts of the trade agreement.EU officials say patience is wearing thin and that the UK needs to implement the protocol as negotiated.Nathalie Loiseau, an MEP on the European Parliament’s UK coordinating group and Emmanuel Macron’s top ally in Brussels, told the BBC: “The reality is that the UK negotiated, signed and ratified two agreements with the European Union, and the European Union expects the UK to stick to its commitments and implement them.”Asked what measures the EU could take, she said: “There are a number of possibilities within the TCA – if the UK keeps on breaching its promises, breaching its commitments, there can be tariffs, there can be quotas on some products exported to the European Union.”Mr Eustice said he expected US president Joe Biden to come down on the UK side of the argument when he arrives in Cornwall later this week for the G7 conference.Asked about a possible intervention by US president, who has previously warned the UK over the issue, Mr Eustice told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I suspect that any US administration would be amazed if you were to say, for instance, that a sausage from Texas couldn’t be sold to California, there would be an outright ban – they really wouldn’t understand how that could even be contemplated.” More