Markus Andrews

No contracts have yet been signed with hotel chains to provide rooms for mandatory quarantine, with just seven days to go to the introduction of the scheme at UK ports and airports, Downing Street has revealed.Measures announced last week will require an estimated 1,000 UK residents a day returning from coronavirus hotspots around the world to spend 10 days in isolation in hotels from 15 February.But hotel groups have complained of a lack of communication from government and Labour denounced the scheme as “too little too late”, as it is due to come into effect around a month after the discovery of the virulent new South African variant of Covid-19.Some 147 cases of the South African strain, which is thought to have some resistance to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, have been uncovered in the UK.Asked how many hotels were ready to receive travellers from the 33 hotspot countries, prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told a Westminster media briefing: “Last week, the Department of Health issued a commercial specification to hotels near ports and airports.“This asked for proposals on how they could deliver and manage quarantine facilities. No formal contracts have been awarded yet.”Countries covered by the quarantine hotel scheme include several South American and African countries where new Covid variants have been detected in large numbers of people. Foreign nationals are already covered by bans on travel to the UK from these areas.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 weekdaySome senior figures in the travel industry have cast doubt on the government’s figure of 1,000 arrivals per day, suggesting that the 10-day warning appeared intended to persuade the vast majority of those who might be affected to travel before the 15 February deadline.But Mr Johnson’s spokesman said he had no figures for numbers of people arriving back in the UK in time to beat the deadline.Travellers staying in quarantine hotels will be required to pay for their own accommodation, with bills expected to amount to over £1,000.Further details of the scheme will be announced later this week, said the PM’s spokesman. More

Theresa May wanted to call her husband to warn him that she had been photographed holding hands with Donald Trump before it “hit the media”, a new documentary has revealed.A former aide of Ms May explained that the awkward encounter unfolded while the then prime minister had visited the White House to persuade Mr Trump to make a supportive statement about Nato.According to the aide, who appears in the new BBC Documentary, Trump Takes on the World by documentary maker Norma Percy, Ms May was “surprised” when he took her hand as they walked through the White House.“He held her hand going through the colonnades, which took us all by surprise and took Theresa by surprise,” Fiona McLeod Hill, the former joint chief of staff at No 10, said.“But I think she felt she couldn’t really take her hand back, so she was stuck with the hand in the hand. And the first thing she said was ‘I need to call Philip just to let him know that I’ve been holding hands with another man before it hits the media’.”The encounter between the two leaders was described by British aides as well as Trump insiders and comes as part of an exploration of the former president’s relationship with other world leaders.The former prime minister has yet to respond to The Independent’s request for comment on the claims. 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 weekdayDuring Ms May’s visit, both leaders used the news conference to reinforce their commitment to the “special relationship” between the US and UK.Ms May said at the time that an “even stronger special relationship” between the two countries was in the interests of the wider world.KT McFarland, the former US deputy national security adviser, says in the documentary that Ms May reportedly gave the “image” that she was not a leader of “strength” to Mr Trump.Ms May was later reportedly subjected to Mr Trump in “full bloom” at lunch during her visit as the former president launched into a stream-of-consciousness rant, Thomas Shannon, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs says in the documentary.According to the documentary, Ms May tried to steer the conversation towards Vladimir Putin and asked if he had spoken to him, which he denied.Mr Trump’s chief of staff reportedly informed the former president that Mr Putin had in fact called the White House but that they had not put him through and they were scheduling a return call.Ms Hill explains the reported outburst that followed, detailing how “Mr Trump at this point looks not orange but red. He flipped. Furious.”The president’s unusual body language when entertaining high profile politicians often found its way into the headlines during his time in office, with experts having said he often used it in attempt to assert dominance.Mr Trump was seen similarly leading French President Emmanuel Macron around the White House grounds by the hand during a visit in 2018.Francois Hollande said in the documentary that he voiced concern over Mr Trump when advising Mr Macron, his successor.Mr Hollande said that he advised Mr Macron: “Don’t expect anything from Donald Trump. Do not think you’ll be able to change his mind. Don’t think that it’s possible to turn him or seduce him.”The former president is currently facing his second impeachment trial, where he will be tried in the Senate for a second time on 9 February.Trump Takes on the World begins on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC Two. More

Alex Salmond has decided to ditch a scheduled appearance at the Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish government’s botched handling of sexual harassment claims against him.Rather than appear at the investigating committee this week, the former first minister is now expected to give an explosive press conference to make a series of allegations about Nicola Sturgeon. Mr Salmond is angry that the committee of MSPs is refusing to publish his own dossier of claims against Ms Sturgeon and her government.The former SNP leader is claiming his successor misled the Scottish parliament and broke the ministerial code by giving “false” evidence about her meetings with him – an allegation she denies. Mr Salmond is understood to be planning to a press conference before Ms Sturgeon gives evidence to the inquiry next Tuesday. “Alex is going to get his story out one way or another,” a source close to the former FM told The Herald newspaper on the press event plan.A spokeswoman for the Scottish parliament said the committee had made clear to Mr Salmond he would be able to “speak freely” about his contact with Ms Sturgeon and his views on her actions at his own scheduled appearance on Tuesday.However, the committee is understood to have legal concerns about publishing documents produced by Mr Salmond and his team.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 weekdayIn a statement shared with the media last week last week, Mr Salmond claimed Ms Sturgeon had initially “suggested” she would back mediation into the allegations against him, before later deciding “against such an intervention”.The first minister faces a separate investigation led by James Hamilton QC over whether she lied to the Scottish parliament about how much Ms Sturgeon knew of allegations against Mr Salmond in the spring of 2018.Ms Sturgeon has claimed she was first made aware of the claims at a meeting with him at her home on 2 April, 2018. However, Mr Salmond claims his former chief of staff Geoff Aberdein had explained the background to her four days earlier, on 29 March.He also claims she knew that the 2 April meeting was Scottish government business rather than an SNP party business. The Scottish ministerial code states that all government matters should be recorded. More

A report to tackle the abuse of low-paid workers is gathering dust because of Boris Johnson’s lack of interest, says the man who carried it out.Matthew Taylor, who has stood down as director of Labour Market Enforcement, attacked the failure to act – amid controversy over whether workers’ rights will be watered down after Brexit.Nearly a year ago, Mr Taylor completed an investigation into whether protections are being flouted in sectors including hand car washes, agriculture, social care and construction.He also warned of a growing risk of exploitation as unemployment rises because of the Covid-19 pandemic and changes to the immigration system after Brexit.Now Mr Taylor has revealed he left the post last week, when his contract was not renewed – despite offering to work for free because he feared it being left vacant.“Ministers and officials appear to be indifferent or complacent about a body that was set up to ensure effective accountability and insight into the scale and nature of non-compliance,” he told The Times.Mr Taylor attributed the failure to act to “inertia and incompetence” – while acknowledging that “some people will think this is ideological”.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 weekdayHe said: “But the problem is, where you have inertia and incompetence, it does suggest that nobody is prioritising an issue.“One gets the sense that the government is caught on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, it has an inherited commitment to good work and a commitment to levelling up. And, on the other hand, it has deregulatory instincts.“It feels as though the government is flip-flopping between these two perspectives and it needs to decide what it wants to do in relation to work, and particularly vulnerable workers.”The criticism comes after the government launched another review into how to exploit post-Brexit freedoms to change rules for workers – only to back down after criticism.Mr Taylor, the chief executive of the Royal Society for Arts (RSA), was appointed director of Labour Market Enforcement in 2019 by Greg Clark, the-then business secretary.He previously investigated how to beef-up protections for workers without sick pay and holiday pay in the so-called “gig economy” for Theresa May, which produced some changes.An Employment Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech in December 2019, to take forward other aspects of those proposals – but has yet to appear after more than one year.The prime minister has been criticised for making the “levelling up” of the country his ambition, without explaining how to achieve it, or even defining what success would look like.Mr Taylor added: “Levelling up, which is an exciting idea, has to include ensuring that workers, particularly workers at the bottom end of the labour market, have the rights and entitlements that they deserve.” More

The minister responsible for the coronavirus vaccine rollout has suggested annual jabs or a “booster in the autumn” could be required to combat new variants of the disease.Nadhim Zahawi’s remarks came as official government data showed on Sunday that over 12 million people in Britain had now received a first dose of a Covid vaccine — putting the government on course to reach the 15 February target of inoculating 15 million in high priority groups.As Boris Johnson prepares to tell the nation how the government will begin unwinding the lockdown in two weeks, Mr Zahawi insisted he was confident the NHS would be able to reach the new “tough” target of immunising all those over the age of 50 by May.On Sunday, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford said their vaccine, which has enabled the UK to vastly accelerate its rollout programme, has been found to provide only limited protection against mild and moderate disease caused by the South African variant. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, was conducted by South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University. It analysed the E484K mutation in more than 2,000 people, with most of the participants considered young and healthy.In a statement, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said early data from the “small phase I/II trial” showed “limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant”.In a separate press release on Sunday, Oxford confirmed the study findings, adding that the vaccine appeared to provide minimal protection for “mild-moderate” Covid-19 infections from the South African variant. More than 100 cases have been found in the UK.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 weekdaySouth Africa suspended plans to inoculate its frontline health care workers vaccine in response to the study’s findings. It received its first one million doses last week and was expected to begin the rollout in mid-February, but the disappointing early results indicate that a vaccine drive using the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be useful in the country, where the new variant is dominant.However, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said the company believes the vaccine could protect against severe disease, with the neutralising antibody activity appearing similar to that demonstrated by other Covid-19 vaccines that have been found to protect against severe disease.They said researchers have already started adapting the vaccine against the South African variant and would “advance rapidly through clinical development so that it is ready for autumn delivery, should it be needed”.Oxford vaccine lead researcher Professor Sarah Gilbert provided the same assurances in an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, saying: “Maybe we won’t be reducing the number of cases as much, but we still won’t be seeing the deaths, hospitalisations and severe disease.“That’s really important for healthcare systems, even if we are having mild and asymptomatic infections, to prevent people going into hospital with Covid would have a major effect.”Professor Gilbert added her team has “a version with the South African spike sequence in the works”.“It’s not quite ready to vaccinate people with yet, but as all of the developers are using platform technologies, these are ways of making a vaccine that are very quick to adapt.”“This year we expect to show that the new version of the vaccine will generate antibodies that recognise the new variant. Then it will be very much like working on flu vaccines,” she said. “It looks very much like it will be available for the autumn.”Appearing separately on the programme, Mr Zahawi insisted that the UK is able to sequence the genomes of the variants “quickly” and then talk to the manufactures about securing modified versions of vaccines.He said: “I was speaking to [deputy chief medical officer] Jonathan Van-Tam this morning. We see very much probably an annual or booster in the autumn and then an annual [jab], in the way we do with flu vaccinations where you look at what variant of virus is spreading around the world, rapidly produce a variant of vaccine and then begin to vaccinate and protect the nation.”Meanwhile, the Department for Health said it had secured 20 million rapid tests made by a Derby-based manufacturer as the government seeks to extend its mass testing programme to companies with more than 50 employees who continue to travel to work during the coronavirus lockdown.The lateral flow antigen tests, which can return results in under 30 minutes, are the first British-made tests to be validated by Public Health England (PHE) in the laboratory and are in the final stages of clinical trial validation, authorities said.They will also bolster the government’s testing programme and will be deployed to test NHS and care home staff as well as in schools, universities, and for key workers.Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said: “Rapid lateral flow tests strengthen our national response to the virus significantly, helping us to identify the around one in three people who are asymptomatic and break chains of transmission in our workplaces and communities.”It is excellent to be working with a UK firm to deliver millions more of these rapid tests. I am committed to bolstering onshore UK manufacturing capabilities.” More

Labour has demanded that firms with Conservative links awarded government contracts during the coronavirus pandemic disclose their profits.Calling on ministers to “clean up” the Covid procurement procedures, shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said the British public was “paying a high price for this government’s mismanagement and waste”.In a speech on Monday, she will point to research from the Labour Party suggesting the total value of contracts awarded to companies with links to Tories amounts to £1.9bn. Ms Reeves will reveal she has written to 10 companies that have secured government contracts since the onset of the pandemic requesting they make public their profit levels.She will also urge that the government “claws back” money from firms that have failed to deliver fully, and outline proposals to boost transparency, outsourcing and the tendering process.During her speech at Labour’s headquarters in central London, Ms Reeves will say: “This government has eroded not only our public services to the brink of collapse, but so much of what it means to be an honourable and transparent government.“While this Tory government has denied key workers in our public sectors a pay rise, they paid 900 management consultants at Deloitte £1,000 a day to work on test and trace.”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 weekdayShe will add: “The public is also paying a high price for this government mismanagement and waste. The current Tory party is rife with conflicts of interest. It’s all cheques and no balances.“People expect all of us seeking government to spend their money with care and respect – and a Labour government will. “Labour will clean up government contracting by strengthening FOI [Freedom of Information], introducing a new independent anti-corruption commissioner, and an integrity and ethics commission to make us a world leader in good governance and transparency.”Last year, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a damning report on the contracts handed out under emergency rules as the government sought personal protective equipment for frontline health workers in the NHS during the initial phase of the crisis. It suggested some companies were fast-tracked for potential Covid contracts after tips from ministers and MPs.In response to Ms Reeves’ comments, a Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic British businesses have worked with our public services to help in the fight against coronavirus by delivering a wide variety of support, including PPE, hand sanitiser and ventilators. “Yet at every turn throughout the pandemic, Labour have tried to play politics and score political points. The Conservatives are getting on with the job, rolling out the vaccine and delivering on our commitments.”A government spokesperson added that the NAO report “made clear there is no evidence of minister involvement in procurement decisions or contract management”.They added: “We have robust rules and processes in place in order to ensure that conflicts of interest do not occur. Contracts are awarded on a combination of price and quality, not the political or other affiliations of owners or stakeholders.“During this unprecedented global pandemic, we have needed to procure contracts with extreme urgency to secure the vital supplies required to protect frontline NHS workers and the public. We make no apology for that.“We have strict protocols in place for spending public money to ensure we get critical equipment to where it needs to go as quickly as possible, whilst also ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.” More

Elton John has said the government “screwed up” by failing to reach an agreement with the EU for visa-free tours by British musicians and urged ministers to renegotiate the Brexit deal to avoid damaging the careers of a generation of artists.The singer said Boris Johnson’s negotiators either “didn’t care about musicians, or didn’t think about them, or weren’t sufficiently prepared” when they struck an agreement with Brussels late last year without concessions for performers.Last month The Independent revealed the government had turned down an offer from the EU allow visa-free tour access for musicians.Now John, one of the biggest musical acts to emerge from the UK, has warned the lack of an accord will damage a generation of up-and-coming artists who face new paperwork and costs to perform in the EU.“The situation we’re now in is ridiculous. Music is one of Britain’s greatest cultural exports”, he wrote in The Guardian. “It contributed £5.8bn to the British economy in 2019, but was left out of the Brexit trade negotiations when other industries weren’t. “Workers from some professions are still allowed to travel on business without applying for a visa. But not musicians. “Either the Brexit negotiators didn’t care about musicians, or didn’t think about them, or weren’t sufficiently prepared. They screwed up. It’s ultimately down to the British government to sort it out: they need to go back and renegotiate”.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 weekdayHe added his intervention was “not about Elton John” but instead about ensuring up-and-coming artists without access to the financial resources and team that he has been able to muster.“If you hate every note I’ve recorded… you [still] need to support musicians’ ability to tour,” he added. “Because if Brexit prevents many new musicians from touring, the only artists who are going to have any meaningful kind of live career are big, august, mainstream artists like me. And, trust me, I don’t want that any more than you do.”No 10 last month admitted an EU proposal to allow visa-free tours by musicians was rejected, apparently because of a belief it clashed with ending free movement.After initially claiming Brussels threw out a deal, the government acknowledged it did turn down a plan, as The Independent revealed – but has refused to explain the reasons for doing so.A Downing Street spokesman said the offer “fell short” of what was required, but a source has said the reason was a fear it involved travel rights that undermined the aims of Brexit.Culture minister Caroline Dinenage is set to face a grilling from MPs on the government’s provisions for artists looking to tour on the continent on Monday following a petition that has garnered more than 283,000 signatures in the wake of The Independent’s report.Last month the Incorporated Society of Musicians condemned “needless confusion” and urged the government “to put this issue to bed”.“It would be hugely welcomed by the music sector and fulfil the government’s own commitment made over many months to achieve frictionless work travel for musicians and other performers,” said Deborah Annetts, its chief executive. More

New red tape introduced as a result of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal means it is now easier for EU countries to import lamb from New Zealand than from Wales, producers have warned.Pete Robertson, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation Cymru, said that the iconic Welsh delicacy was one of many hit by additional costs, veterinary inspections and paperwork under post-Brexit trading relations.And he warned that the changes since the end of the UK’s transition out of the EU single market and customs union meant a large part of the principality’s agrifood sector was finding its business models no longer viable.One meat exporter had seen a £100,000 load of animal carcasses scrapped because a single one had fallen off a hook inside a lorry, while other businesses had seen consignments stopped for having forms filled in with the wrong colour ink, he said.Meanwhile, a ferry company reported freight volumes at Wales’s principal cargo port Holyhead down by as much as 70 per cent in the first weeks of January and by 50 per cent at the end of the month, as UK exporters give up on sea routes to the Republic of Ireland and Irish companies send trucks direct by boat to France or Belgium rather than use the “land bridge” across Britain to the continent.The evidence of the impact of Brexit emerged at a hearing of the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee earlier this week.Mr Robertson told the cross-party panel of MPs that food and drink producers across Wales had experienced unexpected additional bureaucratic burdens from Brexit, even if they felt they were well-prepared for the transition out of the EU single market and customs union on 1 January.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“Deliveries have been stopped because it’s blue ink not black ink, export health certificates that don’t have stamps in the right place have been halted,” he said.“We’ve heard of one particular exporter of meat who sent a whole lot of meat carcasses over to France and one of the carcasses had fallen off the hook. Ordinarily that one carcass would be taken away and the load would have been waved through. On this occasion, the entire load – £100,000 worth of meat – was scrapped.”Small-scale producers sending parcels as part of a larger consignment in a truck or container were finding a dramatic increase in paperwork and charges, with export health certificates a particular problem, he said.“One of our members has three stock-keeping units on a lorry,” said Mr Robertson. “Before the deal, it required two pieces of paper, and now it requires 41 pieces of paper. “There’s lots of costs in lots of different areas. So for example, you’d send a sample from here to Sweden or Finland and it used to cost you £30. It now costs you £85. “For the SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) sector in Wales, when quite often you’re  sending goods that only have a value of £25, that can be quite inhibiting and quite a cost challenge.”The changes have put Wales’s lamb at a disadvantage compared to rivals from much farther away, he said.“It’s easier to import into the EU New Zealand lamb than it is Welsh lamb,” said Mr Robertson. “There’ll be 20 times more checks of Welsh lamb going into the EU than there is for New Zealand lamb, because of the mutual recognition of the vet procedures. And actually we use a similar system to the EU system, while in New Zealand they use a different system.”He warned that difficulties can be expected to increase when grace periods for imports expire in April, bringing similar additional burdens to those experience now by exporters.“Until that goes through then it’s difficult to understand the scale of the impact on the business,” said Mr Robertson. “But clearly the food supply chains will be under pressure for sure.”He said that there were “a lot of businesses in Wales whose viability of their current business model going forward is under threat”, and warned MPs that there was no single “magic bullet” solution which could resolve their difficulties.Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake, a member of the committee, called for the UK and EU to restart negotiations to find a way of reducing the non-tariff barriers to trade created by Mr Johnson’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement.He described the situation outlined by Mr Robertson as “sobering”, adding that it “sadly reflects the problems businesses across Wales are facing when trading with the EU”. Mr Lake said: “It’s clear that further negotiations, as allowed under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, are required between the UK and EU with a view to achieve a mutual equivalence agreement to reduce non-tariff barriers.“The UK government must pursue these issues with urgency if we are to avoid businesses – including farmers, wholesalers, hauliers and fishermen – having to take difficult decisions.” More