UK coronavirus live: minister resigns over Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip
Artists in rural and urban locations across the world have been invited to create temporary light installations in their homes at dusk over the weekend of Friday 29 – Sunday 31 May as part of the online art project Lockdown and Light.
The project has been developed by Suffolk-based artists David Campbell Baldry and Jane Watt as part of the on-going biennial series Landscape and Light. They hope the installations will be visible to neighbours and passers-by.
To take part, participants are asked to upload still or moving images of their installations to Instagram and tag with #lockdownandlight and @lockdownandlight.
People in England could be allowed to socialise in larger groups in gardens or parks, Michael Gove has confirmed, but visiting family and friends indoors still appears some way off, my colleague Rowena Mason reports.
Speaking to broadcast media this morning, Gove signalled the possibility of more outdoor meetings – discussed at cabinet – could pave the way for barbecues, garden parties and other forms of socialising, although it is likely the physical distancing rules would still apply.
However, the prime minister gave no update about this on Sunday or Monday when he spoke at the daily press conference, while Gove talked only about bigger outdoor meetings being allowed “in the coming weeks”.
Gove also suggested it would be some time before pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars would return to normal.
There have been zero new deaths from coronavirus reported today in Northern Ireland by the Department of Health. The overall total according to the department remains at 514.
Public Health Wales said a further eight people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,282.
Another 141 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 13,556.
Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW)
The latest number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Wales has been updated.
The Tory former minister Stephen Hammond told his constituents in Wimbledon that Dominic Cummings’ actions may have undermined efforts to protect people from coronavirus, and he should have quit.
He said:
Whilst one might have some sympathy with his motives and his concern for his family, I am angry that so many have sacrificed so much for public safety and yet this man has decided his interpretation of ‘doing the right thing’ overrode the clear instruction of stay at home.
It is clear to me that Mr Cummings has broken some of the guidelines which we all were instructed to follow.
He added:
Public adherence to the rules is achieved by consent in this country and that is made much harder if people feel it is one rule for them and another for senior government advisers.
A threatening email sent to the bishop of Ripon is being investigated by North Yorkshire police, the force has confirmed.
Rev Helen-Ann Hartley said she had received a message on Sunday saying, “Stay out of politics or it will be the death of you”, following her criticism of the government over the Dominic Cummings row.
Hartley said she was following up the hate email with police, and the North Yorkshire force said in a statement:
A complaint has been made to North Yorkshire police and inquiries are ongoing into the matter.
The bishop previously said in a Twitter post that the government lacked “integrity, trust and leadership” in response to Boris Johnson’s press conference defending Cummings on Sunday. She added she missed her father’s birthday during the lockdown as he recovered from radiotherapy.
Tenants could face eviction without any legal representation when the coronavirus crisis freeze on home repossessions is lifted next month, according to warning letters sent out by county courts in London.
The letter detailing “arrangements for listing possession claims” at Brentford and Uxbridge county courts was circulated to organisations and lawyers involved in housing cases. It said hearings would restart from 29 June after the temporary suspension of mortgage and tenancy home repossession cases is lifted.
Initially many cases will have to be heard over video links while social distancing requirements remain in place. “The result is likely to be that, at least until the autumn, most possession hearings will take place remotely ie not by way of a face-to-face hearing in our court building,” the official communication states.
There “will be no physical presence of the parties or their representatives at the court building” and consequently staff will have to “encourage the taking of early legal aid assistance by defendants, point out that there will almost certainly be no ‘duty solicitor’ scheme in operation [and] stress will have to file and serve in advance of the hearing a witness statement/bundle with all the evidence needed …”
Sue James of Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre, a solicitor specialising in housing cases, questioned whether those in danger of losing their homes would all have the necessary technology to participate in remote hearings to enable them to prevent evictions or ability to consult lawyers in advance.
Other courts around the country are preparing a variety of approaches. “There should be a uniform policy,” James said. “You can’t start from the premise that there will be no duty solicitors. At court you normally talk to the tenant and landlord before the hearing. Tenants may not have computers to access the court remotely or have sufficient credit on their phones. Remote hearings for repossession cases are not workable.”
Following his press conference, 59% of Britons think Dominic Cummings should resign from his role as Boris Johnson’s senior adviser over his conduct during lockdown, a poll suggests.
The YouGov poll found 27% of those surveyed believe Cummings should not resign while 14% answered “don’t know”.
The data showed 52% of those surveyed who voted leave in the 2016 EU referendum want Cummings to resign, with 38% answering “should not resign” and 10% “don’t know”.
YouGov said it surveyed 1,160 adults on Tuesday.
YouGov (@YouGov)
% of Britons who think Dominic Cummings should resign
At her daily press briefing, Nicola Sturgeon set out further detail of the Scottish government’s new test and [rotect strategy, which will go live across all of Scotland’s health board areas on Thursday, the same day as the country’s lockdown restrictions are due to be eased.
The first minister said the required capacity of more than 15,000 tests a day was now in place, and around 700 contact tracers will be needed in the early phase, although by the end of the month there will be a pool of around 2,000 to draw on.
From Thursday, if people develop coronavirus symptoms they must book a test immediately and isolate themselves. If the test is positive, they will then hear from a tracer who will ask them about recent contacts in the community. Sturgeon emphasised that people’s data would be secure and only available to NHS Scotland.
She said that, like lockdown measures, the test and protect system was a “collective national endeavour”. She stressed that it should not be considered optional, with everyone needing to play their part to ensure its success.
Here are some key points from this afternoon’s lobby briefing, as Downing Street continues to grapple with the row over Dominic Cummings.
No 10 has reiterated its support for Dominic Cummings over allegations he breached the lockdown.
The PM’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing:
From the prime minister’s point of view, he has set out that he believes Dominic Cummings acted reasonably, legally and with integrity and with care for his family and for others.
Downing Street declined to answer numerous queries that remain unresolved after Cummings’ response to allegations he breached the lockdown, saying the adviser had “answered questions extensively”.
The spokesman said:
I can’t be a spokesman for special advisers, that’s not my job. If you have questions in that regard they’ll have to go elsewhere I’m afraid.
The PM asked Dominic Cummings to set out his explanation in public and he did that last night, he answered questions extensively.
Downing Street defended having previously told journalists Dominic Cummings was isolating at home during the lockdown.
The spokesman said he did not know the aide’s actual location at the time but had been pointing out he was not working in No 10.
Asked if he meant Cummings was in London, the spokesman said:
No, and the context of my answer was pointing out he wasn’t at work.
Asked if he knew where Mr Cummings was at the time, the spokesman said:
No. As in he wasn’t at work, I simply meant it in that context.
Downing Street was unable to explain why it said in a statement on Saturday that Dominic Cummings’ wife had been infected with suspected coronavirus, which the aide later contradicted.
The spokesman said:
He set out his account of what had happened yesterday. I think it was a very full and detailed account and there’s nothing for me to add to it.
This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby, highlighting more inconsistencies between Cummings’ rose garden statement and his wife Mary Wakefield’s piece in the Spectator.
Beth Rigby (@BethRigby)
A viewer points out an inconsistency in Cummings explanation of events
Mary Wakefield said when her husband fell ill (March 28) he couldn’t get out of bed for 10 days.
But in his statement yesterday Cummings said he drove to hospital to collect his son on Apr 3 pic.twitter.com/htA5gw1lqt
Asked about her reaction to the resignation of Scotland office minister Douglas Ross (see 9.31am.), the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said “fair play to him”.
She added that while she had already made clear her views on the handling of the row and the “retrospective rewriting of the rules”, she believed Ross had taken a “principled position”.
An NHS doctor has launched a legal challenge against the government for “the lack of protection provided by our ministers”. Dr Meenal Viz said:
I’ve seen many of my colleagues suffer and die due to the lack of protection provided by our ministers.
It was one death that hit home, the death of pregnant nurse Mary Agyapong – I held a one-woman protest outside Downing Street to show our ministers that we won’t stay silent and watch our colleagues die. I attended her funeral last week and saw the true depth of the grief that families are now going through.
Viz, who is also pregnant and has launched the legal action with her husband, said the government needed to be held accountable for its mistakes and had to “step up for all the doctors across the country” to protect all healthcare workers.
Dr Meenal Viz (@meenalsworld)
I’m a pregnant frontline doctor. #ClapForCarers is great, but for me it’s not enough. 👏
The peri-peri chicken restaurant chain Nando’s has announced the reopening of a further 54 outlets for delivery and collection across the UK and Ireland, with 40 more due to reopen on Wednesday. In a carefully monitored trial, it has until now only reopened a handful for delivery only.
All delivery orders placed through the Nando’s website can earn reward points which can be redeemed when the restaurants eventually open their doors for a full dine-in service.
The menu will be reduced to help staff maintain physical distancing in the kitchen and food preparation areas.
Each restaurant was working under strict government guidelines on top of existing health and safety procedures, Nando’s said. Every staff member was washing their hands more frequently and PPE was available for all staff to wear. Designated waiting areas had been set up for drivers and collection customers, and order volumes would be monitored to avoid queues building up.
A total of 1,200 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon said. That represents a total decrease of 69 from yesterday, including a decrease of 16 in the number of confirmed cases.
The first minister confirmed 36 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That is a decrease of four since yesterday.
Since 5 March, 3,589 patients who had tested positive and required hospitalisation had been able to leave hospital.
And in the past 24 hours, 18 deaths have been registered of patients who had tested positive for the virus. That takes the total number of deaths in Scotland under that measurement to 2,291.
