Minister says says he doesn’t think this is true Ruth May was dropped over Cummings; R value for all regions close to 1; death toll rises by 202 to 41,481;
- Operators can refuse to allow passengers to travel without face coverings
- Poorest areas of England and Wales hit hardest by Covid-19 – ONS
- GDP falls 20.4% in April as economy is paralysed by lockdown
- Headteachers berate non-stop guidance changes for England’s schools
- Coronavirus – latest global updates
That’s it from me today on the UK side. If you would like to continue to follow the Guardian’s coverage of the pandemic, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture.
Hartwig Fischer, the head of the British Museum, which has faced its own controversies about looted historical artefacts, said in response to Boris Johnson’s comments that there was “a debate to be had” about the removal of statutes.
He said:
There is not one simple single answer to that complex question, but I think the exasperation which is directed now against these sculptures is a pent-up anxiety and exasperation which is down to the fact that we have not addressed adequately this whole massive part of our past about shared complicated history. And that debate is far from being over, that will go on and it has to go on.
Related: Boris Johnson says removing statues is 'to lie about our history'
Prisons are starting to report spikes in violence, often linked to illicitly-brewed alcohol, as well as a rise in self-harm and suicide, as the heavily restrictive regime designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus continues, the chair of a prison watchdog network has warned.
In a letter to the justice select committee, Dame Anne Owers, the chair of the independent monitoring boards (IMBs), statutory bodies set up to monitor welfare of prisoners in individual prisons, said while prisoners were initially compliant, as lockdown restrictions in the community are relaxed, frustration is growing.
Q. When will student nurses get clarity on the shape their courses are going to take from September?
Powis says institutions are having to rethink the way they do teaching and effectively deliver training in a Covid context.
Q. What solid, measurable action is being taken to make sure the NHS and social care system is a safe, supportive place for BAME nurses?
Shapps says Kemi Badenoch is working with PHE on recommendations on this.
Q. Is it fair to say that UK businesses aren’t ready to trade with the EU without a deal at the beginning of the year?
Shapps says business is being provided with the certainty that the transition period will end at the end of the year.
Q. What would be the best replacement for quarantine system if the review concludes a different approach needs to be taken?
Shapps says air bridges / travel corridors with countries with lower infection are a potential way forward, along with testing at ports and airports.
Q. Is the government in talks with countries regarding air bridges, how are the talks going and have any countries declined to work with the UK so far?
Shapps says they don’t want to reimport the virus from abroad, hence an initial blanket quarantine.
Q. What do you say to businesses in the south-west who are actually quite worried about it [the R value]?
Shapps says stay alert and stay at home as much as possible.
Q. The R rate may have risen above 1 in the south-west [between 0.9 and 1.1]. Are we moving now towards the possibility of regional lockdown?
Shapps says a large number of tests are being produced, which gives more data about where issues could bubble up in future.
Q. Why has there been an increased in outbreaks in hospitals in the last week?
Powis says we are moving from community incidence, to over time there more local, discrete, individual outbreaks, including in hospitals and other settings.
Q. Given the dismal economic figures today, wouldn’t it be sensible to mandate wearing masks everywhere, not just on public transport, to get the economy back on its feet and stop further spread of the virus?
Shapps says face coverings on public transport not face masks.
Q. Is it true, and do you think it’s right, that the chief nursing officer Ruth May is either unwilling or unable to attend these press conferences any more because she won’t defend Dominic Cummings?
Shapps says he doesn’t think this is true as she has attended many times and he’s noticed one of her tweets is pinned on the No 10 Twitter feed.
Q. How can it be that where you live can double your chances of dying from Covid-19, doesn’t this show more needs to be done to deal with health inequalities?
Shapps says he agrees more needs to be done to level up health inequalities and linked issues such as access to opportunities.
Simon from Dorset asks what work is being done to establish if antibodies mean less risk of infection or possible immunity.
Powis says after any infection the body will generate antibodies to control the infection and ensure the virus doesn’t take hold in future infection.
David from Sunderland asks what specific plans the government has to create jobs.
Shapps says the government has an enormous battle on its hands in recovering from the pandemic.
People should avoid large gatherings, including to protest, Shapps says.
For the sake of your health and that of friends and families, don’t attempt mass gatherings, he says.
Jet Zero Council will be charged with making net zero emissions possible for future flights, Shapps says.
If you can work from home you should continue to do so, Shapps says.
If you can’t, you should try to avoid public transport, he says.
The transport secretary is speaking now.
The R rate remains unchanged from last week at between 0.7 and 0.9, he says, which is stable. They want to keep the R below 1.
Shapps is joined by Prof Stephen Powis, the national medical director for NHS England, and the chair of Network Rail, Peter Hendy.
As the government admits the R number may have risen above 1 in some parts of England (see 2.50pm.), the transport secretary will lead this afternoon’s press conference, which is due to begin shortly.
The Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said that a drop of 20.4% in GDP in April was unsurprising and generally in line with what the Bank had expected.
Speaking to Sky News, he said:
Well obviously it’s a dramatic and big number, but actually it’s not a surprising number.
The economy clearly closed down substantially in the end of March into April, so it’s not surprising. It’s actually pretty much in line with what we were expecting.
The Department of Health, in a breakdown of testing statistics on its website, said in the 24 hours up to 9am on Friday 59,973 tests were sent out for delivery and 42,406 were processed in person under pillar two of the testing regime, which includes swab testing of the wider population.
Some 40,058 tests were carried out on 23,703 people under pillar one - swab tests in NHS hospitals and Public Health England labs for people with clinical needs and health and care workers. This was the only pillar for which the number of people tested was given.
Fewer than one in six adults in England“strongly support” the easing of stay at home measures across the country, a survey suggests.
Only 15.6% of almost 2,000 adults surveyed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said they strongly backed the easing of the lockdown, which started on 10 May in England.
As stay at home guidance is being relaxed, with more shops and outdoor entertainment spaces opening, we will continue to monitor how safe people feel in different environments, including the workplace.
The R-values for all regions of the country are hovering close to the critical threshold of 1, according to government estimates published today, suggesting the epidemic is continuing to decline slowly.
The average R value for the UK, as a whole, remains at 0.7-0.9, with values ranging from 0.7-0.9 in the east of England to 0.8-1 in London, the Midlands and north-west England, with the highest value seen in south-west England at 0.8-1.1.
The Turner-prize winning sculptor, Anish Kapoor, described the prime minister’s opinion on statues as “bullshit”, adding:
Statues are not history; they are emblematic monuments to our past which can be thought to represent how we see ourselves and our history.
It is long overdue that we reassess these emblems and get rid of the bigots they portray. We must acknowledge the horror perpetrated in our names by these horrid individuals and seek to find nobler ways to make spaces of commemoration and history. This must now mean looking at the forgotten amongst us.
We cannot now try to edit or censor our past. We cannot pretend to have a different history. The statues in our cities and towns were put up by previous generations.
They had different perspectives, different understandings of right and wrong. But those statues teach us about our past, with all its faults. To tear them down would be to lie about our history and impoverish the education of generations to come.
Related: Boris Johnson says removing statues is 'to lie about our history'
Now for some lighter news. A zebra born at a Gloucestershire wildlife park has been named after Dame Vera Lynn in a nod to wartime lyrics used to inspire hope during the coronavirus pandemic.
Born on 7 June, Vera was named after the Queen punctuated a speech to the UK public during lockdown with words from Dame Vera’s 1939 song We’ll Meet Again.
First-ever baby zebra born at Bristol's Wild Place Project named after singer https://t.co/KDMu7YG61Rpic.twitter.com/BMTm4doGGz
The reproduction number, or R, of coronavirus across the UK remains between 0.7 and 0.9, while across England it is 0.8-1.0, according to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
Sage also published regional values for R in England for the first time, with thesouth-west having the highest range at 0.8-1.1.
Public Health Wales said a further 10 people had died after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,435, while the total cases increased by 77 to 14,658.
The latest number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Wales has been updated.
Data dashboard:
https://t.co/zpWRYSUbfh
https://t.co/HSclxpZjBh
Find out how we are responding to the spread of the virus in our daily statement here: https://t.co/u6SKHz0zsGpic.twitter.com/IYjyJlGlj5
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 41,481 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, up by 202 from 41,279 the day before.
The government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 52,000.
As of 9am 12 June, there have been 6,434,713 tests, with 193,253 tests on 11 June.
292,950 people have tested positive.
As of 5pm on 11 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 41,481 have sadly died.
More info:
➡️ https://t.co/r2YbE2e3O8pic.twitter.com/H97R4N7jTs
NHS England said another 70 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died, bringing the total number of confirmed, reported deaths in hospitals in England to 27,860.
The number of deaths of patients with Covid-19 by region are as follows:
One further coronavirus-linked death has been reported in NorthernIreland, taking the total reported by the Department of Health to 539.
There were 16 new confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total to 4,838 since the pandemic began.
UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) in NI.https://t.co/YN16dmGzhvpic.twitter.com/oskHVFAF49
England’s chief nurse, Ruth May, was dropped from one of Downing Street’s daily coronavirus briefings after refusing to publicly back Dominic Cummings’ behaviour during the lockdown, according to the Independent.
A senior NHS source was quoted as saying:
A No 10 Spad [special adviser] asked her directly how she would answer the Dominic Cummings question and she refused to play along and told them she would answer the same way as Jonathan Van-Tam. She was dropped immediately from the press briefing.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has given his reaction to Michael Gove’s confirmation that the UK will not be seeking an extension to the transition period.
has always been open to an extension of the transition period. At today’s Joint Committee, we took note of UK’s decision not to extend. We must now make progress on substance. To give every chance to the negotiations, we agreed to intensify talks in the next weeks and months.
At the start of her daily press conference, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that three more people have died from coronavirus in the Scotland.
Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon says a further three people with #COVID19 have died bringing the total deaths in the country to 2,442.
Get the latest #coronavirus news: https://t.co/MM9B2TegVZpic.twitter.com/2uwvByWFpN
Johnson also urged people not take part in anti-racist protests this weekend, claiming that a “growing minority” was using the demonstrations to attack the police and public property.
He said:
What makes me sad about what’s happening today, is that you’ve got a situation in which the statute of Winston Churchill, who is a national hero, has had to be boarded up for fear of violent attack. That, to me, is both absurd and wrong. You should not have a situation in which people who are protesting on one basis are violently attacking the police or public property.
I’m afraid what’s happened with these demonstrations, is that .... a growing minority unfortunately have hijacked them, and they are using them as a pretext to attack the police to cause violence, and to cause damage to public property.
PM Boris Johnson says he understands "why people feel outraged" and are taking part in protests against discrimination and racism
But "we should not support a demonstration that is in all probability... going to end in deliberate and calculated violence"https://t.co/hoRXHc6QXGpic.twitter.com/r5ZhBWrMfM
Related: Boris Johnson says removing statues is 'to lie about our history'
Boris Johnson has insisted the UK economy can bounce back after the lockdown largest drop in GDP since records began.
The prime minister said he was “not surprised” at official statistics indicating the UK during April had experienced the largest single drop in economy activity since records began as a result of the coronavirus shutdown.
We’ve always been in no doubt this was going to be a very serious public health crisis but also have big, big economic knock-on effects. I’m afraid I’m not surprised by the figures we have seen.
The UK is heavily dependent on services, we’re a dynamic creative economy, we depend so much on human contact.
The vice-president of the EU Commission Maros Sefcovic has said Michael Gove “could not have clearer” in ruling out an extension to the transition period.
Speaking after talks with Gove, Sefcovic said:
He [Gove] referred to the very clear position of not asking for the extension even though, as you know, our President Ursula von der Leyen was ready to provide for one.
He explained that this was the promise which was given to the British citizens in the election campaign and also Prime Minister Johnson was very explicit on this issue.
Press conference by Vice-President @MarosSefcovic following the second meeting of the #EU-UK Joint Committee
Full press conference and pictures available here:https://t.co/uAzxJFFK7jpic.twitter.com/vSjpcJu6rS
I have to underline that the meeting took place in very good atmosphere and I am glad that at the end of our discussions we also arrived at some positive results, which I believe would pave the way forward for the proper implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement.
However, with some six months to go before the end of the transition period we still have lots of work to do.
The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, has said it is thought the R figure in Wales has gone from 0.8 to 0.7.
He said this may give “additional headroom” for lockdown easings.
We need to use the headroom to allow more economic activity to happen. Coronavirus is a health crisis but it is also an economic crisis.
We will stick to the path we have chosen.
The Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said he has “formally confirmed” to the EU the UK will not extend the Brexit transition period, adding:
The moment for extension has now passed.
I just chaired a constructive EU Joint Committee meeting with @MarosSefcovic
I formally confirmed the UK will not extend the transition period & the moment for extension has now passed. On 1 January 2021 we will take back control and regain our political & economic independence pic.twitter.com/nZjNpez8LI
Here is our story on the prime minister’s comments about the removal of statues of controversial figures from public spaces.
He made it clear in his thread on Twitter that he believes removing statues, including of imperialist figures, is “to lie about our history”.
Related: Boris Johnson says removing statues is 'to lie about our history'
The prime minister Boris Johnson has waded into the debate about the role of statues in public history in the wake of anti-racism protests across the UK.
In a thread on Twitter he claimed the protests had been “hijacked by extremists” and said it was “absurd and shameful” that the statue of Winston Churchill was at risk of attack.
We cannot now try to edit or censor our past.
Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial.
We cannot now try to edit or censor our past. We cannot pretend to have a different history. The statues in our cities and towns were put up by previous generations.
The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country – and the whole of Europe – from a fascist and racist tyranny. 1/8
The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have called for an extension to the Brexit transition period, warning Boris Johnson it would be “extraordinarily reckless” to exit the bloc at the end of the year amid recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to the prime minister, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford said “fundamental issues” still remain between the UK and EU negotiators after the most recent round of talks on a deal.
No-one could reproach the UK government for changing its position in the light of the wholly unforeseeable Covid-19 crisis, particularly as the EU has made it clear it is open to an extension request.
We therefore call on you to take the final opportunity the next few weeks provide to ask for an extension to the transition period in order to provide a breathing space to complete the negotiations, to implement the outcome, and the opportunity for our businesses to find their feet after the enormous disruption of recent months.
The National Portrait Gallery will not reopen its doors until 2023.
The gallery, currently closed because of the pandemic, had hoped to welcome back visitors before it was due to close on 29 June as part of a £35.5m redevelopment project.
We had very much hoped we would be able to reopen the gallery to visitors before our refurbishment commenced, but sadly it is now clear that this won’t be possible.
We understand how disappointing this will be for many people who had planned to visit the gallery for a final time.
Coronavirus mortality rates more than halved in all but two regions in England and Wales between April and May, the latest ONS figures show.
After rising between March and April, age-standardised mortality rates fell by more than 50% in all regions except the north-east, and Yorkshire and the Humber.
Good morning everyone! I’m Lucy Campbell, taking over the blog for the remainder of the day. Please feel free to get in touch to share news tips and stories we should be covering. Your contributions are always very welcome.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
The British public are deeply divided over the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, according to a new poll published by the Evening Standard.
The Ipsos MORI survey finds that Boris Johnson wins a run-off between him and the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, over who makes the “most capable prime minister” by 43% to 38%.
POLL@Keir_Starmer has best ratings for any Opposition leader since Tony Blair in mid-90s* reveals our exclusive @IpsosMORI poll in tonight's terrific @EveningStandard
(* ie - just before Blair won his record-breaking landslide)
.https://t.co/5r4Q0vtihf
Infections from Covid-19 have continued to fall, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The ONS snapshot infection survey showed a further fall in infections in the latest data, covering 25 May to 7 June, with an estimated 33,000 people infected at any time over this period, compared to 53,000 in last week’s figures.
The estimate is based on tests on nearly 20,000 people in the community, but excludes those in hospitals and care homes.
More volunteers are urgently needed to take part in fast-tracked clinical trials to help develop potential Covid-19 treatments, a government research agency chief has said.
Although more than 100,000 people have enrolled to take part in the crucial public health research, Professor Nick Lemoine, of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), said “large numbers of people” are needed to generate the scientific evidence required to establish an effective treatment or vaccine for the disease.
Breaking: Over 100,000 participants have now enrolled in urgent #COVID19 research supported by the NIHR. But the scale of the challenge and the number of treatments being investigated mean we still need many more participants https://t.co/kVusq03zJO#priorityCOVIDresearchpic.twitter.com/6ecUaAJVWy
New data reveals the poorest in England and Wales have been hit the hardest by coronavirus. People living in the most deprived areas died of Covid-19 at double the rate of those living in the most wealthy areas, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The figures show people living in the poorest 10% of England died at a rate of 128.3 per 100,000, compared with those living in the most wealthy 10%, who died at a rate of 58.8 per 100,000, between March and May this year. (Poverty is based on the relative deprivation of small areas which are broken into deciles in the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019.)
The same pattern was reflected in Wales where the equivalent rates were 109.5 deaths compared with 57.5 deaths per 100,000.
Nine out of 10 local authorities with the highest Covid-19 age-standardised mortality rates were in London. Brent had the highest overall age-standardised rate with 210.9 deaths per 100,000 population, followed by Newham (196.8 deaths) and Hackney (182.9 deaths).
The poorest in England and Wales have been hit the hardest by coronavirus. People living in the most deprived parts died of Covid-19 at double the rate of those living in the most wealthy areas according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics pic.twitter.com/rZLgfG9f0w
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK now stand at 291,409. There’s more here on the latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of the virus in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
You can find out more here on how the disease has been progressing where you live:
Related: England: are coronavirus cases falling or rising near you?
Uber has said that it will make face coverings mandatory for drivers and passengers across the UK from Monday.
The minicab app firm’s regional general manager for northern and eastern Europe, Jamie Heywood, said: “For months we’ve been urging people to stay home, for their safety and the safety of drivers who make essential trips.
Crime recorded by Britain’s largest police force has started to rise after a sharp drop when lockdown measures were imposed.
The Metropolitan police said all recorded crime in London dropped to 48,349 offences in April, down from 65,633 the previous month, and compared with 74,898 in April 2019.
There’s a fairly damning quote from a UK-based foreign diplomat in a piece from the Telegraph’s Jeremy Warner today about the manner in which the UK has navigated the Covid-19 crisis.
“What has become of your country?” Warner was asked by the diplomat. “We see only a ship of fools, and a plague ship at that.”
The shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, has said the government needs to “get a grip” on the coronavirus test-and-trace system because “it is holding us back economically as well as in health terms”.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, she said: “We have to get that test, track and isolate system working properly.
Virgin Atlantic has become the latest airline to leave a vapour trail of furious customers who are now being told they will have to wait up to four months to receive refunds for cancelled flights.
Following warnings in May from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), more airlines have started processing refunds to customers, after initially trying to get customers to accept vouchers rather than the full cash refund to which they are entitled.
Don’t book thro Virgin, I will be waiting 120 days for a £1700 refund for cancelled flight - unacceptable!
Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, has insisted a move to enable all shops to open on Friday had not been fast-tracked in response to the opening of retailers in the Irish Republic.
Retailers were given the all-clear by Stormont ministers on Thursday following a reduction in the numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths.
One third of people who tested positive for coronavirus and were referred to the NHS test-and-trace app were not successfully contacted because they “simply didn’t feel like answering the phone”, the health minister Edward Argar has said.
In the first week of the app being in use, 8,117 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England had their case transferred to the NHS system.
Edward Argar, a junior minister at the Department of Health and Social Care, is being pressed on BBC Radio 4 about when the test-and-trace app, which has been trialled on the Isle of Wight, will be ready.
He’s repeating that new ministerial mantra that the app is (altogether now) the “cherry on the cake”.
On an already difficult day for the government, the Financial Times has this piece on how ministers are braced for a wave of job cuts as big companies prepare to launch redundancy consultations before they have to start picking up some of the cost of furloughed workers.
Ministers are reported to fear that many large companies may rush out announcements on job cuts in the coming days and weeks.
Matt Hancock is facing legal action from the daughter of a man who died from Covid-19 in a care home in which the health secretary is accused of a “litany of failures” and misleading the public with his claim to have “thrown a protective ring” around care homes.
Dr Cathy Gardner launched a high court claim on Friday after her father, Michael Gibson, a retired headteacher, died in an Oxfordshire care home in early April. He became infected after a patient who tested positive for the virus was discharged from hospital into the home.
The size of the fall in GDP due to the coronavirus lockdown is a first, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has said.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well, 20% is really unprecedented.
Lost lives and livelihoods: One-fifth(20.4%) of the British economy going off a cliff in April's lockdown and Britain still suffering Europe's highest death toll are a damning double-whammy for incompetent Boris Johnson pic.twitter.com/VElyWRbpgi
It’s been no secret that the UK growth figures for April would be a horror show. With the economy in full lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic it was inevitable that activity would take a hit of historic proportions.
All that was at issue was whether the news from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) would be bad, really bad, calamitous or so far off the scale that even the most hardcore pessimist had not envisaged it. In the end, it was merely calamitous.
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s liveblog coverage of coronavirus developments in the UK, where the country has been learning about what a full month’s lockdown does to its economy.
The economy slumped by 20.4% in April in the biggest monthly decline since records began, as the coronavirus lockdown paralysed the country.
Related: Britain's GDP falls 20.4% in April as economy is paralysed by lockdown
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