Inside Politics: Boris Johnson moves UK closer to Europe with ‘stay indoors’ message

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In dark times music remains a beautiful force. But it can be ugly too. As Italian opera singers fill the air with arias to lift the spirits of house-bound Italians, a bunch of drunken Brits in Benidorm have been captured singing “we’ve all got the virus na na na”, as they refused to comply with the local Covid-19 quarantine. Is Boris Johnson finally singing from the same hymn sheet as his European colleagues? The PM has now introduced stringent social distancing measures, but the UK still remains slightly out of tune with the rest of the continent. Let’s hope we aren’t left whistling in the dark. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for at Westminster today:

Day two of the PM’s daily news conferences, but before that, at 2pm, Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS’ chief executive, will be giving evidence on coronavirus preparedness to the health select committee of MPs. Another select committee, the Treasury one, meets at 9.15am to hear from Robert Chote, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which provided the independent forecasts on which last week’s Budget was based. His views on the effects of the pandemic on the economy since then, just a few days ago, will be interesting.

Daily briefing

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR: Last week Boris Johnson told us many of our loved ones would die. The prime minister has now taken the kind of action he hopes can save lives – urging the British people to stop all unnecessary travel, work from home if they can, and avoid going out to pubs, clubs and theatres. Anyone who lives with someone with a cough or a temperature is now advised to stay at home for 14 days, and the government won’t be “supporting” any gatherings using emergency workers. “Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others,” Johnson said – arguing it was “overwhelmingly worth it” to try to flatten the coronavirus’ upward curve. The PM was warned by his experts that the faster-than-expected rise in cases in Italy showed radical social distancing was the only way to bring deaths in Britain down from 260,000 to perhaps – at best – a few thousand. Having switched course, Johnson suggested school closures and curfews were possible options. “We are keeping all measures under review.”

EMOTIONAL RESCUE: One of the awful things about all this is not knowing when it will end. We face many months without the simple joys of theatre, football and Friday night drinks. As people begin to adjust to idea this isn’t going to be a temporary blip, chancellor Rishi Sunak has begun working on a new bailout package for businesses. Sunak is set to appear at the now daily No 10 press conference later to explain new financial measures. There’s already a lot anger about Johnson telling people to keep clear of “social venues” without actually forcing their closure – leaving them less likely to be able to claim insurance. “The government needs to give clear instructions and detail on the support package to rescue the sector,” said Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association. Julian Jessop, a fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, is among those suggesting a temporary “universal basic income”, perhaps around £1,000 per person per month, to get us through the crisis. Labour also wants to change the law to bar landlords from evicting tenants who fall into rent arrears, having already called for rent and mortgage payment holidays for those hit by the virus.

LABOUR’S LOVE NOT LOST: Could the scale of the crisis lead to a kind of wartime bi-partisanship? Both the Budget and emergency legislation put forward to deal with the outbreak are expected to be “nodded through” this week without Labour calling for votes. We don’t know all the details in the emergency legislation health secretary Matt Hancock will outline today, but it is understood that they will include powers for police and immigration officers to detain individuals “for a limited period” if there are concerns they may be infected with the coronavirus. Health minister Edward Argar thanked his “colleagues” on the opposition benches for their support so far, calling them “good and decent people”. Which was unusual. All is not entirely harmonious, however. Jeremy Corbyn met the PM on Monday night and urged him to take heed of Labour’s concerns – especially about extending sick pay cover. The 70-year-old Labour leader declined to say if he would self-isolate soon, with the age group expected to be asked to stay at home from this weekend. Johnson said MPs and peers aged over 70 would be expected to observe the advice.

LE GRAND FERMETURE: If we’re still easing ourselves into a state of shutdown, much of Europe is already there. France joined its neighbours Italy and Spain in lockdown, with Emmanuel Macron’s government banning everyone from leaving home for at least 15 days. The president also offered a 300bn Euros “guarantee” that no French company would go under because of the social distancing measures. The EU, meanwhile, will effectively close its borders for 30 days by banning the “non-essential” entry of all foreign nationals (although British citizens will be exempt because of the Brexit transition period). There is mounting exasperation Johnson has yet to close all schools, as many European countries have already done. The hashtags #Covid19Walkout and #CloseTheSchoolsNow were both trending on Twitter on Monday, with many parents deciding to keep their children at home. Many families, of course, don’t have that option without further difficulty.

PERFECT 10: Johnson joined his fellow G7 leaders for a one-hour conference call on Monday, with the nations agreeing to “do whatever is necessary” to fight the outbreak and co-ordinate vaccine research. Similar to Johnson, Donald Trump urged Americans on Monday to halt most social activities for 15 days and not to congregate in groups larger than 10 people in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus across the US. “I’m saying we are doing a very good job within the confines of what we’re dealing with,” the president said when asked about his previous claim his government had “tremendous control” over the virus. Asked to grade his response to the crisis on a scale of 1 to 10, Trump gave himself a 10. Not everyone agrees with about that.

On the record

“We are in a war against an invisible killer.”

Health secretary Matt Hancock tells the Commons what we are up against.

From the Twitterati

“Mr @jeremycorbyn, respectfully, you are over 70. Please prepare for isolation.”

Tory MP Nadine Dorries, now recovering from Covid-19, very kindly urges Corbyn to get ready to stay at home…

“Parliamentarians will presumably want to set a national example in respect of self-isolation. Bit of a dilemma perhaps for the leader of the Labour Party @jeremycorbyn, who is 70.”

…as ITV’s Robert Peston suggests he would be setting an example.

Essential reading

Tom Peck, The Independent: At this most desperate hour, Britain desperately needs better than Boris Johnson

Layla Moran, The Independent: Arresting homeless people over coronavirus sounds like dystopian horror. We must stop it becoming reality

Nesrine Malik, The Guardian: The great British defence is dangerous in this time of crisis

Chris Cillizzia, CNN: Donald Trump’s surreal alternate universe on coronavirus

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