“Every essential worker and their family will be eligible for free coronavirus tests from today after the Government finally announced a three-step ‘test, track and trace’ battle plan to ease the UK out of lockdown. Health Secretary Matt Hancock dramatically announced swab tests will be available for up to seven million Brits who show symptoms of the deadly disease and will no longer be restricted to health workers and hospital patients. The scheme marks a long-awaited turning point in the Government’s policy and mirrors the rigorous regime used in South Korea, which bucked the trend by opting against lockdown and squashing its outbreak within weeks. Authorities will push forward with more testing to keep track of who is currently infected with the virus and who has had it already.” – Daily Mail
More:
>Yesterday: Video: WATCH: A shift in strategy as Hancock announces a scaling-up of testing and tracing. Today’s press conference.
“Home secretary Priti Patel is facing urgent calls to relax rules on the use of controlled drugs to treat seriously ill coronavirus patients, following repeated warnings that some are facing “significant and unnecessary distress and pain” because of the UK’s laws on palliative drug control. In a letter to Ms Patel, seen by the Financial Times, the head of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Martin Marshall, said the regulations should be changed for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis to facilitate the “more efficient and ethical supply” of drugs such as morphine, that help sufferers die with dignity. “We are aware of incidences where this has caused significant and unnecessary distress and pain to patients and their families at the end of their lives,” Prof Marshall wrote.” – FT
>Today: MPs Etc.: Coronavirus Count
“Boris Johnson is planning to return to No 10 as early as Monday to take back control of the coronavirus crisis amid Cabinet concerns the lockdown has gone too far. The Prime Minister has told aides to schedule catch-up meetings with individual Cabinet ministers next week to get fully up to speed. He will return at a critical time, with the country more than a month into lockdown, and ministers are relying on him to inject fresh impetus into plans for an exit strategy. Senior Cabinet ministers are concerned that a prolonged shutdown will lead to tens of thousands of companies collapsing and inflict irreparable damage to the economy. There are clear signs that businesses and the public are growing tired of the lockdown, with increasing numbers of firms reopening and car use on the rise.” – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
“As the Government battles with how to free Britain from the lockdown, it also emerged last night that a fresh divide has emerged among Cabinet ministers on how much the epidemic must be stamped out first. The Sun has also learned that Health Secretary Matt Hancock wants to push down the rate the virus is being transmitted – known as R – as much as possible, meaning the lockdown would have to last longer. He is backed by Foreign Secretary and stand-in leader Dominic Raab, who said on Wednesday that the lower R goes, the “more options” it would give the government in terms of what restrictions it can lift. But others such as Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Business Secretary Alok Sharma are arguing for businesses to be allowed to reopen as soon and as safely as possible.” – The Sun
>Today:
“Ministers are under mounting pressure to reveal their plans for easing lockdown restrictions after senior Tories said that Nicola Sturgeon was right to outline her strategy for a “new normal” in Scotland. The first minister published a 26-page “framework” for easing the lockdown and discussed plans for reopening schools, businesses and allowing small gatherings. She said that she wanted to have a “grown-up” conversation with voters about how to get back to a “semblance of normality” while acknowledging that some social-distancing measures could be in place for years. Her approach was rejected by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, who said the government’s clarity of message in telling people to stay home had helped to “flatten the curve”. He said that there was an “awful lot of work that still needs to be done”.” – The Times
>Today: Matthew Evans in Local Government: Devolution has caused confusion during this crisis
>Yesterday: Henry Hill’s Red, White, and Blue column: Carlaw complains to the BBC about its coverage of the Scottish Government
“We are making this unnoticed trade-off between freedom and security every day of our lives. We accept a low level of undetected crime, implicitly, as part of the price of living in a free society. We are making the same unnoticed trade-off with the nation’s health. The separation between health and prosperity is not absolute. If businesses collapse, the resulting loss of income will lead to deleterious health effects. The dilemma itself, though, goes back to antiquity. In his Poetics, an anatomy of the traits of tragedy, Aristotle writes that “although a doctor will not question whether to pursue health when acting as a doctor; it is possible for that doctor on another occasion to question whether health is an appropriate pursuit”.” – The Times
Editorial:
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Why it’s too soon to pronounce on the number of people who’ve died in Britain of the Coronavirus
“Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to offer 100 per cent guarantees on loans to Britain’s smallest businesses, after sustained pressure from Conservative MPs and the Bank of England. Mr Sunak’s colleagues say he is “weighing up” whether to go against his instincts and offer full state backing to loans of up to £25,000 to “micro-SMEs” struggling to get credit to see them through the coronavirus crisis. He said this week he was “not persuaded” that a total state guarantee was the right thing to do despite pleas from Tory MPs, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, and former Tory chancellor George Osborne to change course. But senior bankers are working with the Treasury on a new scheme, which could be launched as early as next week, targeted at as many as 1m of the smallest companies, typically employing a handful of workers.” – FT
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Commons sketch: Poor taste as the Business Committee tries to scrutinise Sharma
“The big difference in countries that are lending more is that those governments have taken on more of the risk – guaranteeing 90 or 100 per cent of the loans. The bank’s only involvement is as an intermediary. So why hasn’t Sunak done the same? His fear is that if you have such easy lending requirements, banks will lend irresponsibly and recklessly, leaving the Government with a big bill to pay. Labour thinks differently. It believes that, in a crisis, the only entity big enough to take on the required debt is the Government, which should borrow more until the crisis ends – a date which is defined not as the end of lockdown but the return of economic growth to its pre-lockdown level of output and growth… Covid-19 is changing the world, but here in the United Kingdom, in this sense at least, it is making British politics normal again: with a traditional argument between the Conservatives and Labour on spending.” – The i
>Yesterday:
“Contracts signed by the UK with international suppliers for kit to safeguard health workers were “not worth the paper they were written on” after countries imposed export bans in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, a senior NHS official said on Thursday. Mark Roscrow, director of NHS Wales’s shared services procurement, told MPs that contracts that had been placed for emergency deliveries of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the event of a pandemic were rendered worthless during the Covid-19 outbreak after countries including France and Germany prohibited their export. As the coronavirus crisis took hold, countries around the world began imposing bans on the export of certain medical goods, including PPE, in order to retain supplies for their own populations. The World Health Organization warned that this was putting pressure on global supply chains and meant that health workers could be left in unsafe conditions.” – FT
“Sir Keir Starmer has seen off an attempt by Corbynites to block an inquiry into the leaking of a report on the Labour Party’s handling of antisemitism allegations. Supporters of the former leader Jeremy Corbyn attempted to stop an independent party inquiry from examining how and why the report was leaked. A delegate from the Unite union tabled an amendment at a meeting of Labour’s national executive committee yesterday that sought to limit the scope of the inquiry into the report’s contents. The amendment was comfortably defeated, a sign that Sir Keir has consolidated his power in the party. Jon Lansman, the founder of the Corbynite group Momentum, was among those who voted against it.” – The Times
>Today: Iain Dale’s column: Starmer makes a good start. Now, just remind me. His predecessor was Jeremy…who?
“The British music industry faces a bitter split as representatives of the country’s biggest record labels oppose the appointment of Tom Watson as chairman of an influential group. The former Labour deputy leader was named the boss of UK Music on a reported salary of £60,000 for 40 days’ work a year. His appointment alarmed the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), whose members account for 85 per cent of music sales. Opponents complain that Mr Watson lacks sufficient knowledge of the music industry and have highlighted his support for false allegations of child sexual abuse. Victims of false claims have included Sir Cliff Richard. There have also been allegations that his appointment followed “cronyism” by influential New Labour supporters within the music industry.” – The Times
“Stricter controls must be put in place to stop the taxpayers’ bill for Parliament’s multi-billion pound restoration spiralling out of control, financial auditors warned today. The National Audit Office urged MPs and peers in charge of the project to ensure that costs do not slip, having seen the budget for Big Ben’s construction works soar by 176 percent. Under the current plans the entire building will be closed down for at least six years for the refurb to take place. MPs had originally pushed rival plans that would have seen only a partial vacating required, forcing builders to work around the Commons schedule. The idea has since raised its head again following the coronavirus outbreak. Veteran Conservative Sir Edward Leigh said “saving public money” should be the number one concern and last month called on authorities to temporarily move MPs to the House of Lords, rather than leave the premises entirely.” – Daily Express