Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson is set to miss his own target to announce plans for the rollback of social distancing rules by the end of this month.Hopes of providing early clarity on the way forward for measures such as mask-wearing and the one metre-plus rule have been dashed by the surge in cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus in the UK.The official green light for the fourth and final step in England’s relaxation of lockdown rules is not expected until 14 June – a week ahead of the earliest date for the removal of restrictions on 21 June.But the prime minister last Friday he would “try and let people know by the end of the month about exactly where we think we’ll be on 21 June”, sparking expectations of an announcement before May ends next Monday on the conclusions of two separate reviews into social distancing measures and vaccine certification.Downing Street today declined to put a date on the announcement, saying only that it would be made “as soon as possible”.“We need to get the latest data on the variant first identified in India, particularly on issues such as transmissibility and its links to hospitalisations,” said Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson. “That will allow us to make final decisions.”Join The Independent’s health correspondent Shaun Lintern and science correspondent Sam Lovett, with two special guests, during an exclusive webinar What lies beyond the Covid Crisis? The virtual event will be held at 6.30pm on 26 May. To find out how to join and submit your questions ahead of it please sign up here.The spokesperson added: “With new variants such as this, and the need to gather as much data as possible to inform our decisions, it’s right to take the time to get that information before making those final decisions.”With a bank holiday on Monday, it is now thought that an announcement will not come before the start of June. More

Liz Truss has called for “border controls and paperwork” to be scrapped on Irish Sea trade, risking a fresh clash with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol.Asked if the government’s aim is to remove all red tape – despite those checks being agreed by Boris Johnson in his Brexit deal – the trade secretary replied: “Absolutely, yes.”Answering listeners’ questions on LBC Radio, Ms Truss also rejected farmers’ pleas to step back from a tariff-free trade deal with Australia – insisting it was “the gateway” to a boom in sales across Asia.She gave a cast-iron pledge about the current ban on hormone-injected beef, saying: “Hormone-injected beef will not be allowed into the UK – full stop.”And she gave a guarded response to Dominic Cummings’ explosive weekend claim that “herd immunity” was the policy pursued to defeat Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic last year.“Herd immunity was never the declared strategy,” Ms Truss said, at the “number of meetings” she attended.The trade secretary also appeared to acknowledge widespread criticism of the Sewell report into race disparities, when asked to name someone who praised it “other than the prime minister”.Want all the latest news, analysis and reviews direct to your inbox? Sign up to our full range of newsletters by clicking here “I would be guessing if I did,” she replied, after the study, ordered amid the Black Lives Matter protests, was accused of ignoring structural racism.Ms Truss acknowledged the failure to prosecute alleged rapists, with fewer than one in 60 cases now leading to a charge, admitting: “There’s a big issue on rape cases and I completely acknowledge that. We need to do more.”And she insisted gay conversion therapy will be banned, while saying: “We must make sure we are protecting under-18s from making irreversible decisions about their future.”On the phone-in, Ms Truss came under pressure from a caller who protested that the Protocol – introducing an Irish Sea border, to avoid one on the island of Ireland – had made Northern Ireland citizens “less equal”.She rejected the charge, but it was pointed out that either “we’re going to have this paperwork and these inspections or we’re not”.“The aim of the government is to make this as smooth as possible and deal with the issues,” Ms Truss said, but – asked if that meant “we don’t need border controls and paperwork” – replied: “Absolutely, yes.”On the Australia trade deal – which the prime minister has fast-tracked for agreement by next month’s G7 summit – the trade secretary urged farmers to grasp a big opportunity.Although Canberra does not currently levy tariffs, other huge emerging markets did, and those charges could be removed if the UK joins the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) of 11 nations.“What the Australia deal does is open doors to the wider Asia region,” Ms Truss argued, adding: “This is an overall opportunity.” More

No 10 exaggerated how close to death Boris Johnson was when he caught Covid-19, a Labour MP has suggested, triggering a political row.The prime minister was “not quite at death’s door as we were led to believe” when he was put in intensive care in April last year, Valerie Vaz claimed.Simon Clarke, a Conservative MP, hit back immediately, saying: “That’s an extraordinary thing to say. Are you impugning the prime minister’s integrity?“It is genuinely wrong to question how sick the prime minister was, he was in intensive care and very, very ill. We shouldn’t allow that to pass without comment.”Ms Vaz did not withdraw the claim, on the BBC’s Politics Live programme, but backtracked partially by admitting: “Honestly I don’t know – I’m not his doctor.”Mr Johnson spent three nights in intensive care, in London’s St Thomas’ Hospital, because of “persistent” coronavirus symptoms.Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, was put in charge of running the government and the prime minister was out of action recovering for several weeks afterwards.He was given oxygen, but was not placed on a ventilator, and is believed to have remained conscious throughout his ordeal.After leaving hospital, Mr Johnson posted a five-minute video message on Twitter in which he said “the NHS has saved my life, no question”.He named and thanked nurses who had cared for him, having stood by his bedside for 48 hours “when things could have gone either way”.“The reason, in the end, my body did start to get enough oxygen was because for every second of the night they were watching and they were thinking and they were caring and making the interventions I needed,” the prime minister said.And his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, said: “There were times last week that were very dark indeed. Today I’m feeling incredibly lucky.”Put under pressure over her allegation, Ms Vaz attempted to deflect the focus of the discussion onto Dominic Cummings, the ousted former chief aide now locked into a bitter war of words with Mr Johnson.“People have died. We’re talking about Dominic Cummings giving evidence [on Wednesday], aren’t we,” she said.“The issue is he was there. he will have made judgement calls with or without the prime minister at the time.“He was the right hand of the prime minister, making important decisions. There are 27,000 people who have died.” More

Downing Street has denied suggestions that Boris Johnson missed crucial meetings early in the coronavirus pandemic because he was working on a book he had promised to write about William Shakespeare.And the prime minister’s official spokesman rejected claims from former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings that the government’s initial response to the outbreak was to seek safety through “herd immunity”, telling reporters: “Herd immunity has never been government policy.”In a fresh stream of tweets ahead of his appearance before a House of Commons committee on Wednesday, Mr Cummings today said that as late as 14 March last year, advisers were “screaming” at Mr Johnson that the absence of a plan for lockdown would “kill at least 250,000 people and destroy the NHS”.He published graphs which he said showed that the official “optimal” plan in early March was to go for a “single peak strategy” which would see coronavirus cases soar during the spring and early summer. Under this scenario, it was thought that enough people would have gained immunity by catching the virus and recovering for it to fade away by the autumn, he said.But he said this “Plan A” was ditched because “it became clear the official system had given no thought to all the second-order effects of 250k dying, almost all without ICU care”.And he added: “True deaths would clearly be much [greater than] 250k cos there would be no NHS for anybody for months”.Reports have suggested that Mr Johnson is worried that Mr Cummings will claim on Wednesday that the PM missed five meetings of the government’s Cobra emergencies committee early in the pandemic because he was under pressure to deliver a book on Shakespeare in line with a contract he had signed.But his official spokesperson today told reporters he was “not aware” of Mr Johnson doing any work on the book since becoming PM.And asked if it was the reason for his absence from the Cobra meetings, the spokesperson said: “No.”Despite remaining at country retreat Chequers for the meetings in January and February 2020, Mr Johnson had been “leading the response throughout”, said the spokesperson, adding that it was not unusual for Cobra meetings to be chaired by a minister other than the PM.The spokesperson added: “Herd immunity from infection has never been government policy.“At all times we have been guided by the data and the latest evidence we have had through this coronavirus pandemic.“We set out our initial plan, which was published on March 3 and presented at press conferences.“As our understanding of the virus progressed, more data became available, it was clear that a national lockdown was needed to suppress the curve, save lives and protect the NHS from being overwhelmed.”Asked if Mr Johnson believed Mr Cummings was a liar, the spokesman said: “I haven’t asked him that question.” More

The “pandemic is over” if new Covid-19 variants are not sending more people to hospital, a vaccines expert says – but he urged the government to wait “a few more weeks” to know for certain.Professor Andrew Pollard, from the University of Oxford, said the weekend data – suggesting strong protection against the Indian variant after two jabs – was the “wrong exam question”.Ministers have seized on the Public Health England figures to say the prospects for lifting all remaining Covid restrictions on 21 June are “looking good”.But Prof Pollard said what mattered is whether infections have been “uncoupled” from hospitalisations and deaths, not the transmitting of mild symptoms, expressing hope that the data will show that.“The thing that makes this a pandemic is people going into hospital,” the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group said.“If the current generation of vaccines are able to stop people going into hospital – while there is still mild infections, people are getting the common cold with the virus – then the pandemic is over.“Because we can live with the virus – in fact we are going to have to live with the virus one way or another.“But it doesn’t matter if most people are kept out of hospital, because then the NHS can continue to function and life will be back to normal.”It would take “a few more weeks” for the data to emerge, Prof Pollard told BBC Radio 4, adding: “We just need a little more time to have certainty around this.”The comments come after Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said he is “increasingly confident” that the roadmap is on track to reach the fourth and final step next month.All social distancing measures could be scrapped, along with limits on people inside homes and hospitality and entertainment venues.The move was thrown into doubt by the surge in cases of the B1617.2 strain, originating in India, which is thought to be more infectious than the Kent strain and will become dominant.On Saturday, the PHE study revealed both Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are only marginally less effective against the Indian variant, but only after two doses.Ministers have been criticised for downplaying only 33 per cent effectiveness after a single dose – a steep drop on the 50 per cent against the Kent variant.Some experts are warning that the government is ignoring the real truth behind the figures – and risking a third wave of Covid, later this year.Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London, tweeted: “Sage has clearly warned that a variant that is highly transmissible and has a level of escape could possibly lead to levels of hospitalisations that exceed the [January] peak, even with vaccine roll-out continuing.” More

Belarus has been threatened with fresh UK sanctions after its “hijacking” of a flight to seize a dissident journalist, but outraged MPs say tougher action is needed.Ahead of talks with EU leaders on a joint response, the foreign secretary Dominic Raab toughened his stance, condemning the “outlandish action” and putting “further sanctions” on the table.But he was urged to go further – by summoning the Belarus ambassador and by suspending all flights over the rogue country, to prevent a repeat of the incident.The calls came after Roman Protasevich was arrested and accused of organising protests against President Alexander Lukashenko. He could face the death sentence.Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, demanded “very strict” sanctions be imposed on the Lukashenko regime, an ally of Vladimir Putin.And he warned: “In 2014 the Russian government – the closest ally of Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus – shot down a Malaysian aircraft and killed over 200 Dutch tourists.“These are not idle threats. These are very real threats from a government whose allies and friends have done exactly that only a few years ago.”Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, also speaking to Times Radio, said the UK should consider blocking flights from Belavia Belarusian Airlines over the “appalling” incident.“If I were the foreign secretary today, I would be demanding that the ambassador comes to see me in order to demand the release of Roman Protasevich,” Ms Nandy said.“There has got to be repercussions for this because it tears up the international rules. It just simply cannot be allowed to stand,” she said.The Ryanair plane, carrying 171 passengers from Greece to Lithuania, was close to its destination, when Belarusian air traffic control warned its crew there had been a report of a bomb on board.The pilot of a MiG-29, ordered to intercept the airliner, signalled it should land in Minsk – allowing Mr Protasevich, a 26-year-old opposition journalist, to be snatched by state security service officers.In a statement, Mr Raab said: “The UK condemns yesterday’s actions by the Belarusian authorities, who arrested journalist Roman Protasevich on the basis of a ruse, having forced his flight to land in Minsk.“Mr Lukashenko must be held to account for his outlandish actions. The UK calls for the immediate release of Mr Protasevich and other political prisoners held in Belarus.“The UK is working with our allies on a coordinated response, including further sanctions.”Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary branded the incident “state-sponsored hijacking” and claimed agents from Russia’s KGB were also on board the flight – as did the Irish government.“We believe there was also some KGB agents offloaded from the aircraft as well,” said Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign affairs minister.“The EU has to give a very clear response to this, otherwise we’re giving all the wrong signals.” More

Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds are planning to get married next summer, it has been reported.The couple have sent save the date cards to family and friends for an event to “celebrate their wedding” on Saturday, 30 July 2022, according to The Sun.Downing Street and aides to the prime minister have declined to comment, and the location of the wedding remains a closely-guarded secret.The couple announced their engagement, together with the news that they were expecting their first child, in February last year.They are believed to have delayed the wedding until 2022 to ensure it was not disrupted by Covid restrictions. Currently, a maximum of 30 people are allowed to attend a ceremony or reception in England.It will be Mr Johnson’s third marriage, having finalised his divorce from his second wife Marina Wheeler in 2020.His financial affairs have come under scrutiny in recent weeks, as No 10 struggled to explain how exactly the £88,000 refurbishment of Mr Johnson’s Downing Street flat, overseen by Ms Symonds, was paid for.Downing Street officials are said to be worried that embarrassing details about Mr Johnson’s finances could come up again this week, when former chief adviser Dominic Cummings appears before MPs.They are concerned Mr Cummings will claim the prime minister skipped crucial Covid meetings because he was working on a biography of Shakespeare to help fund the cost of his divorce to Ms Wheeler, according to the Sunday Times.Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds have a son, named Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson in a tribute to their grandfathers and the doctors who helped save Mr Johnson’s life when he was in hospital with Covid.Born in April 2020, Wilfred was the third baby born to a serving prime minister in recent history. More

Labour is to force a vote in parliament on introducing a minimum global rate of tax on corporations to stop multinationals undercutting high street businesses.US president Joe Biden is pushing for the policy at the OECD and G7 levels but the UK government last week publicly signalled it was not on board.Britain is the only country in the G7 to openly stand against the plan, with Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan backing Mr Biden’s proposal.Many large corporations pay very low effective rates of tax and Mr Biden had originally suggested that they should pay a minimum of 21 per cent. His treasury secretary Janet Yellen has since said 15 per cent would be a “starting point” before pushing for higher rates. But the UK government has been unenthusiastic about the idea and says the focus should instead be on making sure profits are paid in the country where revenue is collected rather than focusing on a minimum rate.They say Mr Biden’s plan would see tech giants simply pay higher taxes “in California when it ought to be paid in the UK”.But campaigners at the Tax Justice Network say the policy change, while not perfect, would bring an £13.5bn a year in extra tax to the UK exchequer. The UK has already separately introduced its own digital sales tax, which the Treasury estimates will raise around £500m a year from big US tech companies by financial year 2024-25.Rishi Sunak is expected to lead discussions with finance ministers at the G7 next month when the UK hosts the international meeting in Cornwall.Ahead of the meeting, Labour has tabled an amendment to the government’s finance bill on the policy, with the proposal to be voted on on Monday. “The Conservatives have a choice: they can join Labour in tackling large-scale tax avoidance or they can allow billions of pounds to leave Britain,” said Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor.“This global pact will bring in extra tax benefitting Britain, while stopping huge multinationals and online giants from undercutting our businesses. “By making sure they pay their fair share in Britain, we can level the playing field for our brilliant businesses, and build an economic recovery with thriving industries, strong public services and good, secure jobs for all.”A Treasury spokesperson said: “The UK has been proactive in pressing for an international solution to the tax challenges posed by digitalisation of the economy for a number of years. And the chancellor has made it a key priority of the UK’s G7 presidency.“We welcome the US administration’s renewed commitment to reaching a solution to these challenges through the OECD. It’s also crucial that any agreement includes changes to ensure digital businesses pay tax in the UK that reflects their economic activities.” More