Markus Andrews

Dominic Raab has offered to visit Beijing in an effort to calm tensions between UK and Chinese authorities over what critics say has been an erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.Relations between London and Beijing have soured since last summer when China imposed a national security law on the city following months of protests.Activists said the move was used to stifle dissent and curb media freedom and other liberties that were promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. “I’ve offered to go to Beijing,” Mr Raab said during a call organised by the Conservative Friends of the Chinese to mark the Lunar New Year. “For me it’s not more difficult to talk when we have a challenge. That’s the time the foreign secretary must engage in dialogue. “We will always have the door of diplomacy open and will always look for the positives.”While the UK considers China’s actions in the semi-autonomous financial hub to be in violation of the 1997 Sino-British Joint Declaration, Mr Raab said “there is always a course on which we can chart back”.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe Independent has contacted the UK foreign office for comment.The Chinese government maintains that Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms, guaranteed under the handover agreement, remain intact. More

The judicial review proceedings will argue that the new checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland were imposed without the consent of the public.Ms Foster is joined by DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, the party’s Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and chief whip Sammy Wilson, as well as former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib, Eurosceptic peer Kate Hoey and Jim Allister, the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice party.She said: “Fundamental to the Act of Union is unfettered trade throughout the UK.”At the core of the Belfast Agreement was the principle of consent yet the Northern Ireland protocol has driven a coach and horses through both the Act of Union and the Belfast Agreement.”Neither the Northern Ireland assembly, the Northern Ireland executive nor the people of Northern Ireland consented to the protocol being put in place or the flow of goods from GB to NI being impeded by checks. They certainly did not consent to the arrangements for those checks being determined by a power over which we have no democratic say.”Ms Foster said the judicial review was part of a “five-point plan of opposition” which also seeks to challenge the protocol in Westminster and Stormont.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThat campaign includes a boycott of north-south ministerial engagement on issues related to the contentious trading arrangements.Ms Foster also launched a petition calling for the triggering of Article 16 of the NI protocol and “remove any impediment or barrier to unfettered trade within the United Kingdom”. The debate on the issue is due to take place at Westminster on Monday.The Northern Ireland protocol is designed to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland and effectively moved the regulatory and customs border to the Irish Sea, with a series of checks, certifications, inspections and declarations now required on many goods being shipped into the region from Great Britain.Nationalists and the Irish government are committed to retaining it, while the EU has accused the UK of failing to observe the agreement properly.SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said: “The DUP’s legal action against the Ireland protocol is ill-judged and will only further entrench the febrile political environment as well as creating further uncertainty for people and businesses.”There will be few with sympathy for the argument that the protocol, which prevents a hard border in Ireland and guarantees dual market access for local businesses, breaches the Good Friday Agreement.”Micheal Martin, the Irish prime minister, has urged the DUP to put politics aside to find a practical resolution to problems after Brexit. He pointed out that the DUP was previously happy to work with the protocol on a practical level, “although they didn’t agree with it”.Additional reporting by Press Association More

Families will be reunited at the end of March – in time for Easter – and allowed to meet up in each other’s gardens, after key tests for the current danger posed by the pandemic were met.Outdoor sports facilities, including tennis and basketball courts, will also reopen on 29 March, and organised sports – such as grassroots football – will resume, Boris Johnson will announce.The moves will follow the start of the lifting of the lockdown in England on 8 March when, as expected, all schools will reopen in a controversial “big bang” approach.From that date, people will also be allowed to sit down for a drink or picnic with one other person, instead of just meeting them for exercise, The Independent understands.The two-part unwinding of some restrictions will be unveiled on Monday – alongside four new tests for future decisions, which Mr Johnson will insist will be taken “cautiously”.They will be; no slowdown of vaccinations, that jabs reduce hospitalisations and deaths, that the NHS will not be overwhelmed and that new dangerous variants of Covid-19 do not take root.Other curbs will then be lifted “step-by step across the whole of England at the same time”, as the earlier plan to return to local tiers of differing restrictions is abandoned.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThose steps will also be taken at further three-week intervals, to give ministers and scientists time to judge the effects of gradually increasing the amount of household mixing.Ahead of a statement to the Commons, Mr Johnson promised people that “the sacrifices each and every one of you has made” would not be put in jeopardy.“Our decisions will be made on the latest data at every step and we will be cautious about this approach, so that we do not undo the progress we have achieved so far,” he said.“We have therefore set four key tests which must be met before we can move through each step of the plan.”The reuniting of families for Easter is likely to buy the prime minister vital breathing space with anti-lockdown Tories, who have demanded an end to all legal restrictions by the end of April.It will temper criticism if, as expected, no strict dates are set down for the reopening of non-essential shops and pubs and restaurants, or for holidays to be allowed.Crucially, outdoor gatherings will be allowed under either the resurrection of the “rule of six”, or with two households meeting up.This is designed to avoid a repeat of the penalising of larger families who fell foul of a strict limit of six people mixing.Downing Street will argue the new rules are both a “sensible increase” in social contact, while recognising the pandemic has hit people unable to see loved ones the hardest.It means the restriction that prevents anyone from travelling outside their local area, other than for work or medical reasons, is also likely to be scrapped.The “big bang” reopening of schools comes despite the opposition of trade unions and, it was reported, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer.Care home residents in England will be allowed one regular visitor from 8 March, it has already been announced.The full details of the strategy were decided at a meeting of senior Cabinet ministers and government scientists on Sunday.As well as the focus on education, Mr Johnson said he would “be prioritising ways for people to reunite with loved ones safely”.He will also publish the first official data on the success of the vaccines in reducing infections and transmissions, which are expected to be hugely encouraging.With the epidemic currently in sharp retreat, he will again face calls from his own party to end all legal coronavirus restrictions “by the end of April”.“At that point, people should be able to get on with their lives,” said Mark Harper, who leads the anti-lockdown Covid Recovery Group of Conservative MPs.The 8 March unlocking flows from the success in offering vaccines to all 15 million people in the highest-risk groups by mid-February, with three weeks then allowed for immunity to develop.Matt Hancock, the health secretary, signalled the same approach in future, saying: “If you lift a measure and there’s more social contact it takes typically about a week for people to become symptomatic.“It then takes another couple of weeks to be able to see the effect of that, because it’s not just one person passing to another, it’s if that chain continues.”Mr Johnson will chair a virtual meeting of the full Cabinet, before unveiling the details to MPs on Monday afternoon. A vote will follow “in the coming weeks”. More

Many Labour supporters and some commentators say that Keir Starmer’s opinion poll ratings are disappointing. What they usually mean is that they dislike Boris Johnson and think that he has handled the coronavirus badly, and as a result believe that Labour ought to be miles ahead in the polls by now.In fact, the polls suggest that enough people think the government has handled the crisis well to keep the Conservatives afloat, and an overwhelming majority think the government has done well on vaccines.What has happened in the past few weeks, then, is that the prime minister and the Conservative Party have received a modest boost in the polls thanks to the vaccines, and this has little to do with what people think of the Labour leader. More

The Savanta ComRes survey for The Independent found that fewer than a quarter (24 per cent) of people in England trust the prime minister “completely” or “a lot” to lift restrictions in a safe way, against 31 per cent who said they do not trust him to do so.And the poll showed voters across the UK want Mr Johnson to act cautiously in his roadmap for the return to normality, due to be set out on Monday.The PM is expected to confirm that he wants schools to reopen to more children on 8 March, with later relaxations of restrictions following in line with progress on Covid-19 infections, hospitalisations and vaccinations.But just 26 per cent of those questioned agreed that children should go back to school in early March, as the PM has suggested. A further 26 per cent said he should wait until after the Easter holidays and 38 per cent later.Appetite for a swift return to schools was far lower in the 18 to 44 age groups which include most parents – among whom around 40 per cent want children in classrooms by Easter – than in older age groups (61 per cent).And there was little appetite for any other relaxations of restrictions in the coming weeks, with just 15 per cent saying that the “rule of six” should be restored in March, to allow social gatherings of up to six people outdoors.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayOnly 17 per cent backed the return of hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons, 16 per cent non-essential shops and 12 per cent pubs, cafes and restaurants next month.Overall, just 8 per cent of English voters said they trust Mr Johnson “completely” to take the country out of lockdown in a safe way, compared to 16 per cent who trust him “a lot”. Some 17 per cent said they did not trust him much and 14 per cent said they did not trust him at all, with 37 per cent said they were “somewhere in the middle” and 8 per cent did not know.The findings may reflect voters’ experience of hearing Mr Johnson say last year that he could “turn the tide” on Covid-19 in 12 weeks, encourage people to Eat Out to Help Out in the summer and then promise family reunions at Christmas, only for harsher restrictions to be imposed in three separate lockdowns.Trust was strongest among Conservative voters (38 per cent do trust and 16 per cent do not) and residents of Yorkshire and the Humber (34 to 24) and lowest among Labour voters (16 to 48) and Liberal Democrats (10 to 53) and in the northeast (16 to 40) and northwest (18 to 38).In a sign of how social distancing practices and mask-wearing have become deeply embedded in British social life, the poll indicated that many people are willing to stick with them long after the July target by which all adults are due to have been vaccinated. Just 7 per cent across the UK said they wanted to get rid of social distancing rules and masks in indoor public spaces in March, 7 per cent in April and 16 per cent by the summer.By contrast, 25 per cent said they were willing for social distancing and 24 per cent mask-wearing to remain in place until the end of 2021. Some 26 per cent said both practices should continue into 2022.And 9 per cent said that the practice of wearing face-coverings should stay forever, as is the case in some east Asian countries, while 7 per cent said we should keep to two-metre distancing rules indefinitely.Savanta ComRes associate director Chris Hopkins said: “The data shows a fairly cautious outlook from the public, perhaps mirroring the government’s own recent approach, regarding when various restrictions are likely to be lifted. Only half say that the government should allow children to return to school by Easter, arguably the one restriction the government have been most bullish on lifting sooner.“However, considering the public are more likely not to trust the prime minister to lift restrictions safely than they are to trust him, it’s perhaps not a surprise that the public would prefer a more cautious approach that doesn’t involve having to lockdown again, and therefore it’s understandable that some of the more common measures, such as mask-wearing and social-distancing, are not seen by the public as needing to be lifted before 2021 is out.”Overall, the poll indicated that many Britons are willing to stick with restrictions to Easter and beyond, but a clear majority want the life to be closer to normality by the summer.By Easter – which this year falls in early April – 45 per cent want hairdressers and beauty salons open, 43 per cent nonessential shops, 34 per cent pubs and restaurants and 29 per cent gyms and swimming pools. Some 40 per cent want the rule of six in outdoor spaces and 32 per cent in homes by Easter.But by the start of the summer, demand for relaxation increases dramatically, with 72 per cent wanting hairdressers and beauty salons open, 70 per cent nonessential shops, 68 per cent pubs and restaurants and 61 per cent gyms and swimming pools. By the summer, 67 per cent want to be able to gather in groups of up to six outside and 60 per cent in people’s homes.The poll indicated that Britain’s office workers are happy to carry on working from home for some time. Just 11 per cent of those questioned thought the return to the office should come in March, 19 per cent in April and 26 per cent by the summer. Some 19 per cent were willing to wait until the end of 2021 and 8 per cent until next year, while 4 per cent said office workers should never go back to the old pattern of travelling to their workplace.Perhaps surprisingly, younger age-groups were less impatient for the return of pubs, cafes and restaurants, with 32 per cent of 18-24 year-olds wanting them open by Easter, compared to 42 per cent of over-65s.The 25 to 34 year-old age group and Londoners were keenest to get back to the office, and over-55s were the group most likely to want shops open.Londoners were the most eager to meet up with friends and family, with 44 per cent saying the rule of six should be back outdoors and 35 per cent indoors by Easter, compared to 26 per cent outdoors and 25 per cent indoors in Northern Ireland.Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,170 adults across the UK, including 1,817 in England, between 12 and 14 February.  More

The health secretary also appeared to deflect responsibility onto his officials, after a judge said the secrecy “breached legal obligations” over the spending of billions of taxpayers’ money.Asked if he would resign, Mr Hancock replied: “No” – arguing it was “not true” to say he had refused to publish contracts, some of which went to friends of senior Tories.Publication was “delayed by, on average, just over a fortnight”, he said, even “in the heat of the crisis” when the pandemic struck last year.“That’s what the court found and I think any secretary of state in my position would absolutely back my officials in doing the right thing – saving lives,” Mr Hancock said.“Some of the paperwork got a little bit delayed and I’m absolutely backing my team who did a phenomenal job in incredibly difficult circumstances.“All these rules – we followed them absolutely with transparency,” he claimed on Sky News. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe government is required to publish all contracts with a value of more than £10,000 within 30 days of them being awarded.But research showed that, by the beginning of October, the deals for only £2.68bn worth of around £15bn spent on buying personal protective equipment (PPE) had been released.It highlighted contracts with Ayanda Capital (£252m), Clandeboye Agencies, a confectionary product firm (£108m) and Pestfix (£345m). Companies offering to supply PPE were processed through a high priority “VIP lane” for referrals by MPs, peers and others with political connections, an inquiry found last year.The court ruled that failure to publish the contracts breached the “vital public function” of transparency over the spending of “vast quantities” of taxpayers’ money. But Mr Hancock came out fighting, insisting the contracts had been published after, on average, 47 days – rather than the required 30.“We published them just over a fortnight later than they should have been and there’s a reason for that – and the reason is that there was a global shortage of PPE and we needed to buy PPE to save lives.“My officials, with my full support, spent every waking hour buying PPE so that even though we came close we never actually ran out of PPE in this country.”And he told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “People can make up their own view about whether I should have told my team to stop buying PPE and spend the time bringing forward those transparency returns by just over a fortnight.“Or whether I was right to buy the PPE and get it to the front line. You tell me that that is wrong. You can’t. And the reason you can’t is because it was the right thing to do.” More

An explosion in the number of people “living in destitution” is piling pressure on Rishi Sunak not to abandon help schemes in next month’s Budget.The total leapt from 197,400 to 421,500 households in 2020 – a rise of more than 200,000 in a single year – amid the devastating slump triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, research has found.Destitution is defined as serious poverty, meaning two adult households living on less than £100 a week or £70 in the case of a single adult.It also raised the alarm over stark regional disparities – with the north-west among the hardest hit – and official unemployment statistics failing to reflect the worrying reality.“As a result of lockdowns, levels of destitution seem to be rising across the country,” Professor Jagjit Chadha, the NIESR’s director.“But what’s terribly worrying is that in certain regions – in the north-west in particular – we might see some 4, 5 or 6 per cent of the population living in destitution.”Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayAnd he added: “Families who can’t work, who work in the industries that are most affected by Covid – like hospitality, the restaurant trade, industries requiring social proximity, which account for around a tenth of all employment in this country – they will continue suffering for some time to come. It’s not just going to end when we’re all vaccinated”.The research has been carried out for a Channel 4 Dispatches investigation to be broadcast tomorrow, entitled ‘Britain’s £400bn Covid Bill: Who Will Pay?’.The chancellor is keen to start plugging that £400bn budget black hole, but is under pressure to extend the furlough scheme beyond its current expiry at the end of April.A plan to extend the £1,000-a-year boost to Universal Credit by only a further six months is certain to provoke a major row on Budget day, on 3 March. The analysis found that, across the UK, the proportion of households living in destitution rose from 0.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent in 2020.Prof Chadha also warned: “The kind of unemployment numbers we’ve currently got seem to be underreporting the true level of unemployment.“Given the level of activity we’ve had in the economy – the extent to which it’s fallen – unemployment could rise to at least 8 or 9 per cent, or even further.” Louise Casey, Boris Johnson’s former adviser on homelessness, is pressing for a Commission along the lines of the 1940s Beveridge Report to examine the growing crisis.“Government can, if it wants to, do something on a different scale now,” she said.“The nation has been torn apart and there’s no point being defensive about that. We’ve got to work out how not to leave the badly wounded behind.” More

The UK should be vaccinating children “as fast as we can” to keep schools open, a leading government scientific adviser says.“Until we’ve all been vaccinated – I include children here – then there is going to be significant risk,” warned Professor John Edmunds.Trials are underway in the safety of extending the jabs programme from adults, but no plans have been announced by the government.Prof Edmunds, who sits on the Sage advisory committee, said ministers could be “confident” in easing some restrictions, pointing to the very low risk of infection outdoors.But he said: “We’re all at risk and we can all spread the virus. I think there is an argument for turning to children as fast as we can.”And he added: “There has been major disruption in schools – and will continue to be major disruption in schools until we have vaccinated our children.” Ahead of the expected go-ahead to reopen all schools on 8 March, the professor warned it could push the R number above 1 – meaning the epidemic would be growing again – so other restrictions must stay.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday“If we eased off very rapidly now, we would get another surge in hospitalisations, so we have to ease very gradually,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.“Otherwise we will put the health service under pressure again and we’ll get a surge in hospitalisations, and indeed deaths.”Cautioning that the South African variant is being “held in place now, as everything else is being held in place by the lockdown”, Prof Edmunds added: “The risk comes really when we release the lockdown.”Boris Johnson will release his “roadmap” for lifting lockdown in England on Monday afternoon, after finalising the details in meetings with scientists and key ministers today.At least some schools will reopen on 8 March, the date when care home residents will be allowed one regular visitor and – probably – the rules on meeting people from other households outdoors will be relaxed.One option is for households to be able to meet in each other’s gardens for the Easter weekend at the start of April, with non-essential shops also likely to open that month.But pub organisations believe no date will be set for the full reopening of hospitality – extremely unlikely to be before May – although outdoor eating and drinking could be allowed earlier.The health secretary, Matt Hancock, again insisted the unwinding would be “cautious”, pointing to almost 20,000 people still in hospital with Covid-19.“The vaccination programme, while clearly going very well, will take time to be able to reach all people who have significant vulnerability, especially because we need to get the second jab to everybody,” Mr Hancock said.“We have seen throughout this pandemic that there have been moments when things haven’t got as we expected – for instance, when the new variant was first discovered in Kent.” More