Health News at Your Fingertips

With Boris Johnson due to make a statement to MPs on Covid and schools within the next hour, this is really only a half-time verdict, but Johnson will be hoping the second half goes rather better. In his exchanges with Sir Keir Starmer, he was defensive, unpersuasive, and frankly sounded rather beaten. Starmer asked why the UK death toll had been so high – rightly arguing that this is the one question on everyone’s lips – and Johnson stuck to the same line he deployed at last night’s press conference, that now is not the time to go into this. It’s a feeble holding position, and you could sense that he knew it. Starmer then ran through the familiar charge sheet about the PM being repeatedly slow to act, which was as compelling as it always is. Johnson did land a hit in his final answer, with his swipe about Starmer’s criticism of Kate Bingham, but it did not really alter the scorecard. He could tell he was floundering because at one point he appealed for MPs to work together in the national interest – always the last refuge of a minister who is sinking.

Starmer, was usual, was precise, effective – and somewhat understated. He always seems keen to criticise Johnson on grounds that would be persuasive to the public mainstream, rather than using arguments that appeal to Labour activists, and we saw that again today. One response to what Johnson said last night would be to attack his honesty; it is just not true for him to say he did everything he could have done to avoid Covid deaths. See 8.54am. But Starmer stuck to attacking Johnson on competence, not on probity. Whether or not this is the best tactic is probably a matter of debate.

The most newsy thing Starmer said was about prioritising teachers for the Covid vaccine. Ironically, for the second week in a row, this amounts to Starmer lining up at PMQs with a policy position favoured by Priti Patel. So far the government has been adamant that it won’t rewrite the phase one priority list for vaccinations, but ministers might start to wobble if they think Starmer (and Patel) have the public with them on this one.

Labour has issued a press release saying key workers should be included in phase one of the vaccination programme, which currently only covers people over the age of 50, health and care staff and people with serious underlying health conditions. At PMQs Sir Keir Starmer said teachers should be vaccinated during half term (see 12.13pm), but Labour is now saying a wider range of key workers should also get priority.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow chancellor, said:

The NHS rightly deserve congratulations for their impressive and speedy rollout of vaccinations. But now we need to go further and faster. Not only will vaccination acceleration save lives it will help us to carefully and responsibly reopen our economy and crucially ensure children are back in school as transmission reduces.

Ministers must bring forward plans to vaccinate key workers as soon as possible. Police officers, teachers, firefighters and transport workers are just some of the key workers who have kept society functioning through this pandemic and are more exposed to the virus. We cannot afford to slow our vaccination efforts now.

Boris Johnson will hold a press conference later, Sky’s Aubrey Allegretti reports.

Johnson says the government has been working flat-out to address the problems caused by the Covid outbreak at the DVLA in Swansea.

And that’s it. PMQs is over.

Paul Bristow (Con) asks the PM if he accepts people’s mental health has suffered during the pandemic. Will this be a factor in deciding when to lift lockdown.

Johnson says he knows this is a particular problem for people in the NHS.

Bill Esterson (Lab) says 1.8 million self-employed people have not had financial support from the government. When will the government offer them support?

He quotes from an IFS briefing on this issue published today.

Johnson says the government will continue to put its arms around people during the crisis.

Steven Bonnar (SNP) asks the PM to commit to extending the £20-per-week universal credit uplift.

Johnson says the government will continue to look after the people of this country.

Sally-Ann Hart (Con) asks about support for fishing communities.

Johnson says this has been an issue. The government is spending £23m to help fishing companies deal with red tape. But there will also be £100m spent to help the industry revive, he says.

Asked about pensioners living abroad who have had their government pensions frozen, Johnson says he will arrange a ministerial meeting on this issue.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Con) asks the PM for an assurance that his plan for the lifting of lockdown will show how areas can come out of the higher tiers.

Johnson says his statement later will cover schools. And he says in a few weeks’ time he will set out a broader roadmap for how the whole country can come out of lockdown.

Seema Malhotra (Lab) asks about leaseholders trapped in flats they cannot sell because of the cost of replacing cladding.

Johnson says Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, will publish a plan to address this shortly.

Damian Collins (Con) asks if the PM agrees there should be more data-sharing on vaccination take-up.

Johnson says all MPs want to see this. But there are particular issues with sharing medical records, he says.