Markus Andrews

The Labour leader said he had no symptoms and will be working from home until Monday 1 February in line with government advice.It is the third time Sir Keir has been forced to self-isolate after a member of his team tested positive for Covid-19 in December and a relative showed symptoms of the virus in September.It was not immediately clear whether he will face Boris Johnson virtually at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday or delegate the responsibility to deputy leader, Angela Rayner.Under the government’s instructions, individuals who are told to self-isolate by the Test and Trace service or the NHS Covid-19 app must not leave the home for any reason.A period of self-isolation lasts for 10 days from the first point of contact with a Covid-positive person, meaning the initial contact came late last week.Writing on Twitter, Sir Keir said: “This morning I was notified that I must self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has test positive for Covid-19. I have no symptoms and will be working from home until next Monday.”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 More

Britain risks becoming a “failed state” without serious reform to its governance structures, Gordon Brown has warned.The former prime minister urged the government to devolve more power to regions and to replace the House of Lords with a regionally elected chamber.  Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper Mr Brown said “the choice is now between a reformed state and a failed state”.His latest intervention comes as polls continue to show strong and consistent support for Scotland leaving the United Kingdom, which the former PM is opposed to.Mr Brown added: “It is indeed Scotland where dissatisfaction is so deep that it threatens the end of the United Kingdom.”For the first time, a majority of Scots now feel, according to recent polls, that Scotland and the rest of the UK are moving inexorably in opposite directions and nearly half of all Scots who have a view believe – against all the evidence – that Scotland would be better off economically independent, and they feel that the Union undermines Scotland’s distinctive identity.”While the crisis is deepest in Scotland, it is far from alone.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”Regional metro mayors – from Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool to Sheffield, Bristol and London – are demanding more powers from what they see as an insensitive, out-of-touch and overcentralised centre.”And in Wales it is not nationalists but the pro-Union First Minister Mark Drakeford who is leading calls for change.”But perhaps for too long we have left unstated the shared purpose and values that bind the UK together, and we have said too little about what we have in common: our shared beliefs in tolerance, liberty, civic responsibility and fairness, and our conviction that all benefit when we pool and share risks and resources across the country.”Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Monday morning Mr Brown said there was no democratic mandate for another Scottish independence referendum.
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A Cabinet minister walked out of an acrimonious breakfast television on Monday, branding it “insulting”.Therese Coffey turned off her camera after a back-and-forth with Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan over the UK’s high coronavirus death toll.The work and pensions secretary had told the presenter that the UK’s awful death rate from Covid-19 was because it had an obesity problem and an older population. When Mr Morgan suggested she was saying the public was “too old” and “too fat”, the minister replied: “I think that’s a very insulting thing that you’ve just said.”She added: “I also have to point out that you started this interview late. Unfortunately I have to go to other broadcasters as well, and I wish we had more time.”The presenter responded: “I haven’t interviewed you since May, so you can come back any time. “It was you that boycotted the programme. Please don’t play the ‘we haven’t given you enough time’ card, because we gave you eight months and you didn’t turn up.”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 weekdayBut Ms Coffey moved to turn off her camera, concluding: “I’m sorry Piers, I’m going to have to go to another broadcasters. Piers, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to go. You’ve already had 20 minutes of my time, I appreciate your time as well.”The government has had an acrimonious relationship with Good Morning Britain in recent years, at time refusing to send ministers to ITV’s flagship news programme because of Mr Morgan’s combative interview style. In November Downing Street lifted its boycott of the programme, sending Matt Hancock onto the show after a 201-day absence.  More

Conservative MPs have heaped pressure on the government to get children in England back to school as quickly as possible after the health secretary warned any return may be pushed back beyond the Easter break.Schools have been off limits to most since the beginning of the year, with only vulnerable pupils and the children of critical workers allowed to attend to limit the spread of coronavirus.While the government never set a formal end to the restriction, Boris Johnson said at the start of January he hoped to see schools begin to reopen “after the February half term”.However, Tory politicians have urged the government to make the resumption of face-to-face teaching a priority after Matt Hancock warned that pupils may have to continue to learn remotely until April – with this year’s Easter half term due to end on the 16th of the month.Mr Hancock said that while he hoped schools in England could reopen by Easter, it would depend on the levels of infection in the community at that time.“We have got to look at the data, we have got to look at the impact of the vaccination programme,” he told Sky News.“The education secretary has said that we will ensure schools get two weeks’ notice of return. I don’t know whether it will be then or before then. We have got to watch the data.”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 weekdayAs recently as Thursday Gavin Williamson had said that he hoped schools would be able to reopen before the April break – although Downing Street pointedly declined to endorse his comments.Tory MPs responded to the prospect of continued school closures by heaping pressure on the government to speed up the return to school, with education committee chair Robert Halfon demanding clarity on when in-person teaching would resume.Mr Halfon, who has written to the speaker of the house to force a response from the Department for Education, urged the government to produce “a routemap out of coronavirus to get children learning again at school”.Describing the possibility of closures lasting into April as “grim news” for parents and pupils, he wrote on Twitter: “We need to get our children learning again. The engine of government should be directed towards opening our schools. We face an epidemic of educational poverty and mental health otherwise.”Mark Harper, who has previously opposed large-scale lockdowns in favour of a tiered approach, added: “The prime minister himself said last August that ‘keeping our schools closed a moment longer than absolutely necessary is socially intolerable, economically unsustainable and morally indefensible’. I couldn’t put it better myself.”Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “Closed schools increases inequality, exposes the most vulnerable, and creates gaps that cannot be filled. We must open schools as soon as possible.”Meanwhile Esther McVey, the former work and pensions secretary, said vaccines should be offered to teachers as a matter of urgency to ensure a safe and swift return to classrooms.“Schools need to reopen for the child’s best interest and for families too”, she said.“If vaccinating teachers, after the most vulnerable in society, removes the barriers to reopening schools then we should do it. You can’t close schools and not have a workable alternative”.Mr Hancock said educators have a “good shout” when it comes to being high on the coronavirus vaccine priority list once the most clinically vulnerable have received their jabs.So far, along with the over 70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable, the only workforces to be prioritised for jabs have been those in health and social care.Across the country more than 6.3 million people have been given the first dose of a vaccine as of Saturday, making up 9.5 per cent of the UK population.“The challenge is the supply of vaccine, supply is the rate-limiting factor,” said Mr Hancock.“The question is who should have each dose as it comes in… and we’ve taken the decision, quite rightly, to go through in order of clinical need, starting with those who are most likely to die from this disease.“Of course we want to break the chains of transmission but we’ve also got to stop people dying from the disease if they catch it.“We’re going through those who are clinically vulnerable… and after that there’s a perfectly reasonable debate to be had about who should go in what order next.“Teachers have got a good shout to be very high on the list and those discussions are going on.” More

Keir Starmer accuses Boris Johnson of wanting to use Brexit to weaken legal protections for workers, and will use an opposition debate in the Commons today to demand that “all existing employment rights and protections must be maintained”.The prime minister has always rejected the idea that one of the Conservative motives for leaving the EU was to rid Britain of European law guaranteeing workers’ rights. And it is fair to say that the problem of “excessive” social protection has never been central to most Brexiteers’ arguments – except for the 48-hour working week, which was controversial when the Labour government legislated for it in 1998.  British worker rights were probably better than those in most member states when the UK joined the EEC in 1973, and remained so while we were a member, but clearly there is a possibility that they could be cut below the minimum levels required by the EU now that we have left. Hence the significance of a report by the Financial Times 10 days ago that the government was considering repealing aspects of EU employment law, including the 48-hour working week, the inclusion of overtime in calculating holiday pay and the duty of employers to record workers’ hours.   More

Ministers have been urged to intervene after a mass outbreak at the DVLA’s offices in Wales, by a union declaring the government agency’s response a “scandal”. More than 350 employees at the UK vehicle licensing agency’s contact centre in Swansea tested positive in the four months to December, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to above 500.Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething is among several senior politicians to say he is “concerned about anecdotal reports” emerging from the offices – with the BBC and The Observer reporting that some symptomatic employees had been encouraged to return to work, amid an alleged “culture of fear”.Both outlets also reported complaints that “archaic” IT systems meant many employees could not work from home, and that close contacts were not always sent home to self-isolate, with workers allegedly advised to turn off their Test and Trace apps to prevent notifications of an infection risk.For those who fell ill, absences of more than 10 days have triggered a warning, The Observer reported, citing a complaint received by Public Health Wales’s outbreak control team.A DVLA spokesperson strenuously denied each of these allegations.“It is a scandal that DVLA are not doing more to reduce numbers in the workplace when Covid infections are on the rise,” said Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) general secretary, Mark Serwotka.“Our members are telling us they are scared to enter the workplace for fear of catching Covid-19.“Ministers must intervene and ensure DVLA are doing their utmost to enable staff to work from home and temporarily cease non-critical services.”Asked about Mr Serwotka’s warning and call for action at the top of government, a Department for Transport pointed to a DVLA statement and comments highlighting that there are no active cases inside the Swansea contact centre, with just four people currently self-isolating following a positive test across the 6,000-strong agency.“Staff in roles that enable them to work from home are doing so and have throughout, in line with current government advice,” the DVLA statement said. “However, in view of the essential nature of the public services we provide, some operational staff are required to be in the office where their role means they cannot work from home.”A DVLA spokesperson said the agency had extensive safety measures in line with government advice and worked closely with Public Health Wales and local health and safety agencies.It has opened an additional facility for on-site staff in Swansea, and workers are regularly reminded of the requirement to self-isolate if told to do so by the Test and Trace app, the spokesperson added.
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The government has repeatedly criticised prosecutors for doing “no more than applying the law”, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.Max Hill QC, the director of public prosecutions, defended decisions in two recent immigration cases that drew the ire of the Home Office as Priti Patel attempts to crack down on irregular journeys to Britain. In the first, the CPS dismissed charges against 69 Albanians who had been charged by the Border Force with entering the UK illegally, but had not reached the country.“In both cases, we have done no more than apply the law, which is for parliament and not us to decide,” Mr Hill told The Independent.“We’re absolutely clear that any prosecuting authority must be free, and is free, to make independent decisions following the law … that independence does lead to [opposing] positions taken by the general public or even by the Home Office. We have no difficulty in scrutiny of our decisions.”The CPS overturned prosecutions of the passengers, but maintained charges of facilitating illegal immigration against three alleged crew members.After the decision was announced, a Home Office spokesperson said it was “disappointed” that the proceedings were discontinued and that it was “working with the CPS urgently to resolve the issues raised by this case”.“Knowingly entering the UK without leave is a criminal offence and anyone who has committed such an offence should be prepared to face prosecution,” a statement sent to the media added.But Mr Hill said the passengers of migrant boats who have no role in organising or controlling crossings should not be charged, and “can be dealt with perfectly appropriately by immigration scrutiny and removal rather than prosecution”.A month later, the CPS dropped charges against seven Nigerian stowaways who had been accused of trying to hijack an oil tanker off the coast of the Isle of Wight.Police dealing with incident aboard ship in English ChannelProsecutors said mobile phone footage showed the ship and crew were not put in danger and there was no attempt to take control of the vessel.A Home Office spokesperson said it was “disappointed” by the CPS’ decision, adding: “It is frustrating that there will be no prosecution in relation to this very serious incident and the British people will struggle to understand how this can be the case.”Abusive posts were directed at the CPS’ Twitter account following the comment, with prosecutors called “f***ing clowns” and “pathetic”.Mr Hill said all cases were considered on their merits and the same legal tests, and that it would have been “quite wrong” to maintain charges which would not have survived scrutiny in court.“Initial reports that led to the military intervention suggested a hijack or possible hijack but on cold, calm review it transpired that the stowaways had not committed the criminal offence of endangering a vessel,” he added.“We do perform a valuable function, which is to ensure that cases that should not proceed, don’t proceed. That’s where our independence is absolutely critical and these recent two cases prove an absence of political interference. Rather, they prove our independence.” More

The SNP first minister faced tough questions after a dramatic escalation of a bitter row over the non-disclosure of legal papers, with prosecutors set to release key evidence.Mr Salmond, the former leader, alleges WhatsApp messages suggest Peter Murrell – the SNP’s chief executive and Ms Sturgeon’s husband – put the police under pressure to pursue sexual harassment allegations against him.
In March last year, he was acquitted of all charges of sexual assault and attempted rape, following a two-week jury trial.
Asked about the controversy, Ms Sturgeon vowed: “I did not mislead parliament. And that’s what I will say all too clearly when I get the opportunity.”The first minister was expected to give evidence to a Holyrood inquiry in the coming days, but said her appearance had been delayed by a “couple of weeks”.On the Andrew Marr Programme, she was asked “what you knew and when you knew it about the allegations against Mr Salmond”.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 weekdayBut Ms Sturgeon insisted she would “never apologise for doing everything I can to make sure that complaints about sexual harassment were investigated”.
And she replied: “I appear to be simultaneously accused of colluding with Mr Salmond to somehow cover up the accusations of sexual harassment on the one hand – and then, on the other hand, of being part of some dastardly conspiracy to bring them down.”
Asked about her own spokesperson accusing her predecessor of spreading “conspiracy theories”, Ms Sturgeon said: “There are false conspiracy theories being spun about this.”
She added: “I will sit before that committee and I will set out my account of what happened, given the very difficult situation that I faced, and people can make their own judgments on that.”
Ms Sturgeon has insisted she first found out about a complaint against Mr Salmond on 2 April 2018 – and that she forgot about a meeting with his former aide four days earlier, which was not recorded.
“If the SNP win the Scottish election in a few months’ time, on the proposition of giving the Scottish people that choice, then what democrat could rightly stand in the way of that?” she asked.
She ducked a question about whether she would hold an advisory “home-made Scottish referendum” if Mr Johnson – as expected – refuses to sanction an official poll.
“I want to have a legal referendum, that’s what I’m going to seek the authority of the Scottish people for in May,” Ms Sturgeon said, “and, if they give me that authority, that’s what I intend to do. That’s democracy. It’s not about what I want or about what Boris Johnson wants, it’s about what the people of Scotland want – and the increasing evidence is that they want independence.” More