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Boris Johnson is said to be facing a growing revolt over how coronavirus rules are agreed and imposed amid signs voters are increasingly uneasy with the Prime Minister’s handling of the pandemic.
Mr Johnson will try on Wednesday to secure a six-month extension to Covid-19 special powers, but the chair of the backbench 1922 committee Graham Brady is reportedly winning wider support for an amendment which would allow MPs to vote upon any new measures – such as local lockdowns – before they are implemented.
It comes after a poll revealed that Labour has a three-point lead over the Conservatives, putting Sir Keir Starmer above Mr Johnson for the first time.
Meanwhile, Professor Mark Woolhouse, a member of the Sage scientific advisory group, warned that a third coronavirus wave is “entirely possible”, while Labour MP David Lammy said a ban on mixing households in London was “very likely”.
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Walkers have flocked to climb up Mount Snowdon, the UK’s second highest peak, despite government warnings to stay away from crowded tourist spots amid the recent spike in coronavirus infections.
The Welsh mountain, which is in Snowdonia, one of the country’s top tourist destinations, is popular in part because it can be walked on foot without specialist climbing gear.
Local lockdown curbs in London are “very likely”, Labour frontbencher David Lammy has warned as he admitted he was “very, very worried” about riots erupting in the capital.
Ten million people in the capital have been put on notice for tougher restrictions after 33 boroughs were added to the Government’s watchlist as “areas of concern”.
Labour calls for university testing and condemns Christmas campus lockdown fears
As the Government again refused to rule out a Christmas lockdown for university students this morning, Labour’s shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “We have to put safety and public health first obviously, but we have said, Labour has said, we think that students should be allowed home at Christmas and to enable them to do that we need an effective test, trace and isolate system in place.”
She added: “Cardiff University for example, in my constituency, is testing every single student and their staff on arrival at campus. Gavin Williamson should be talking to universities to make sure they can all do that and put support in place for them to do that.”
London residents once again appeared to get around the new 10pm curfew on Saturday night by moving parties from the pub to the street.
The blanket restriction, which kicked in on Thursday, is enforceable by law and pubs and restaurants can lose their licence for ignoring it.
‘Very worried’ about riots in London as local lockdown ‘very likely’, says Lammy
Asked if London would face a ban on households meeting, David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “Testing capacity in the city is down 43% because of the Government taking away the ability to test successfully here in the city, and allocating it to other parts of the country, so we’re in a very very difficult place… it’s very likely that London will find itself in this situation.”
On the risk of public disorder rising, the shadow justice secretary said: “It worries me greatly that you could see unemployment in a constituency like mine beyond 40%. We did see civil disorder in the past, I don’t want to see civil disorder again, I don’t want to see streets on fire, but I’m very, very worried this morning.”
David Lammy: 10pm curfew mired in contradiction as crowds spill out of pubs
Labour’s shadow justice secretary David Lammy told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “There cannot be a situation in which we have two different public health messages to the people of this country.
“The Government is the lead, the Government has the science, so we support the Government in the restrictions it has to bring forward, but it does look like the 10pm – it’s not clear where that came from – has led to a situation where people are bubbling out of pubs, they’re hanging around towns and they’re potentially spreading the virus.”
Government again refuses to rule out Christmas lockdown for students
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden did not guarantee that university students would be able to return home at Christmas.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I very much want students to be able to go home at Christmas, and if we all pull together and observe these new rules, we follow the guidance, then we will be able to get to a point where that should be possible.”
Shadow justice secretary David Lammy told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “We want young people home with their families at Christmas time and they need the testing to make sure that that can happen.”
He added: “By Christmas we would have had the coronavirus for nine months, that we couldn’t get a test, track and trace system in place by then has got to be described as pathetic.
“Of course we should be able to get students back with their families after a term at university.”
10pm curfew is evidence-based, Government insists
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden insisted there was “definitely science” behind the 10pm curfew for hospitality venues.
He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “There is definitely science behind it, that’s why we’re requiring people to be seated in pubs and restaurants, so that stops the flow of them to and from the bar.
“We are reducing the closing times to stop people staying later and drinking. And the point about all of this is that everyone has their part to play. If we all play by the rules, we can ensure that there are not further, more draconian restrictions.”
On theatres not reopening, he said: “Against this backdrop of rapidly rising infections, much as I would like to contemplate further easements we can’t do it at this stage.
“We are working intensively with all of the arts sector and theatres to see how we can mitigate risks so that we can go down that path – but we have had to stall on that path, given where we are with the rapidly rising infections.”
Britain could face a third wave of coronavirus, Government scientific advisor warns
Professor Mark Woolhouse, a member of the Sage scientific advisory group, said a third wave was “entirely possible”.
“That’s entirely possible, a scenario I mentioned earlier does actually include this possibility,” the epidemiologist told BBC’s Andrew Marr.
‘This is just another demo that lockdown doesn’t solve the problem, it defers it. That is why we need some kind of cavalry on the horizon or alternatively if we think that vaccine is not going to be available in six months, or 12 months or two years or whenever it may be, that we do need alternatives.”
Culture Secretary stresses need to move quickly as Tory revolt grows
Oliver Dowden told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that it is “”important MPs hold us to account” as a Tory rebellion grows over Covid-19 powers being introduced without parliamentary scrutiny.
He said: “I think it’s important in a crisis like this when things are moving very rapidly that the Government has the power to move quickly, and that is the power that the Government was given through the initial legislation earlier this year.”
But he said “these are very difficult choices we’re making” and “it’s entirely right that Government ministers are scrutinised by parliament through this process”.
More revelry at 10pm curfew
Crowds of drinkers appear to have realised fears that the 10pm pubs curfew would spark chaos on weekends.
Following similar packed scenes in central London on Thursday and Friday nights, the first two days of the curfew, there were reportedly packed street parties in Liverpool last night too.
Journalist Charlie Haynes tweets:
Coronavirus rules are draconian, Tory MP says
MPs must share in the “dreadful burden” of decision-making on coronavirus restrictions, Conservative former minister Steve Baker has said.
He is one of at least 40 Tory rebels who are pushing the Government to give MPs a chance to debate and vote on Covid-19 rules before they come into force.
Mr Baker told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “MPs should be sharing in the dreadful burden of decision in these circumstances and not just retrospectively being asked to approve what the Government has done.”
He said there were “plenty” of MPs who would back the amendment, and that he thought it would be selected by the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Mr Baker described the coronavirus rules as “draconian”, and said he and colleagues were putting forward a “very modest proposal” that they should vote on law before it comes into effect.
“How do people think that liberty dies? It dies like this with Government exercising draconian powers, without parliamentary scrutiny in advance, undermining the rule of law by having a shifting blanket of rules that no-one can understand.”
An issue preventing users of the NHS Covid-19 app in England logging a positive test result has now been resolved.
However, people who book a test outside the app still cannot log negative results.
Concerns were expressed when it emerged people tested in NHS hospitals or Public Health England (PHE) labs or those taking part in the Office for National Statistics infection survey could not enter their results on the newly-launched app.
Sir Keir Starmer is ahead of Boris Johnson for the first time, new polling suggests, as the Prime Minister faces a huge revolt over sidestepping parliament to impose sweeping coronavirus rules.
Labour is on 42 per cent, three points clear of the Conservatives on 39 per cent, according to an Opinium survey for the Observer.
iPads for care homes to help families stay in touch
Thousands of care homes across England will be given access to iPads as a way to help residents keep in touch with family in the face of rising coronavirus cases and limited visits.
The technology will be a “gateway” for people to keep in touch with loved ones, Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said.
Under the Government’s adult social care winter action plan, revealed last week, visitors to care homes in areas with high numbers of coronavirus cases will continue to be constantly supervised.
Any facility listed by Public Health England’s (PHE) surveillance report as being an area of intervention should immediately move to stop visiting, except in “exceptional circumstances”, according to the plan.
Announcing the £7.5 million programme to provide up to 11,000 iPads, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the technology could help residents and staff.
Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.
Stick with us as we bring you all the latest news, both from the UK and around the world.
That’s all for our live coronavirus coverage this evening.
Tune in again tomorrow for more live updates.
Frontline workers will be recognised, the PM has announced:
PM says key workers will be recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours
Boris Johnson has announced that frontline workers who played a key role in the fight against coronavirus will be recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours next month.
The Prime Minister praised the “dedication, courage and compassion” shown by the recipients. They will be honoured along with people recognised for a broad range of achievements.
Just in…
Labour urges Government to promise students they can go home for Xmas
Labour has called on the Government to promise that university students will be able to return home to their families at Christmas.
Shadow education secretary Kate Green has written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson calling for “urgent clarity and reassurance” from the Government that university environments will protect students.
The issues continue:
Positive result function on virus app fixed but problems continue
An issue preventing users of the NHS Covid-19 app in England logging a positive test result has now been resolved.
However, people who book a test outside the app still cannot log negative results. Concerns were expressed when it emerged people tested in NHS hospitals or Public Health England (PHE) labs or those taking part in the Office for National Statistics infection survey could not enter their results on the newly-launched app.
