Inside Politics: No 10 sets out plan to live with Covid

Government says it is now in position to consider scrapping all remaining restrictions as cases, hospitalisations and deaths fall, writes Matt Mathers

Monday 21 February 2022 08:28 GMT

Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the Munich Security Conference (Matt Dunham/PA) (PA Wire)

MPs are heading back to Westminster this morning following the recess, with Covid likely to dominate domestically as the government sets out its plan for living with the virus amid falling hospitalisation and death rates. The foreign agenda is still dominated by the Ukraine crisis, which shows no signs of abating, although presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin overnight agreed “in principle” to summit talks aimed at averting war. Elsewhere, Priti Patel has written to colleagues urging them to support her controversial crime bill and the Conservative Party is facing cash for access claims.

Inside the bubble

MPs return to the Commons today following recess. The house sits from 2.30pm with MoD questions, followed by any urgent questions or ministerial statements. Later, MPs go through the remaining states of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill on vocational training. Westminster Hall has a petition debate on reform of the Gender Recognition Act at 4.30pm.

Coming up:

– Small business minister Paul Scully on LBC at 7.50am

– Shadow social care minister Karin Smyth on talkRADIO at 8.20am

Daily Briefing

END IN SIGHT: Are we finally witnessing the beginning of the end of the Covid pandemic as we know it? Boris Johnson meets with his cabinet this morning to agree a plan for living with the virus as cases, hospitalisations and deaths continue on a downward trend. No 10 says the figures mean the government is now in a position to lift all remaining restrictions, with 81 per cent of adults now having had a booster dose. “The pandemic is not over but thanks to the incredible vaccine rollout we are now one step closer towards a return to normality and finally giving people back their freedoms while continuing to protect ourselves and others,” the PM said as he thanked the NHS for its efforts during the pandemic.

WHAT’S CHANGING?: It is expected that, in England, the legal requirement for self-isolation for those who test positive will be scrapped and free testing significantly scaled back as efforts are focused on vaccination, particularly among the elderly and vulnerable. Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, questioned the science behind the move, claiming that Johnson is using scrapping Covid laws to distract from the partygate affair and that the government should think very carefully before ending free testing. “We are not out of the woods yet,” he warned. Caroline Nokes, the former minister and Tory MP, said the Queen catching Covid made the timing of the plans a “bit tricky” for ministers. The PM will give a statement to parliament this afternoon before leading a Downing Street press conference later. We’ll have live updates throughout the day here.

DRUMBEAT OF WAR: In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Johnson warned that a Russian attack on Ukraine could turn into the biggest war Europe has seen since 1945 “in terms of sheer scale”. Western intelligence says Moscow is fully primed to launch an attack at short notice and the Kremlin yesterday rowed back on a pledge to end military exercise within striking distance of Kiev, the capital. Overnight Joe Biden, the US president and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, agreed in principle to hold a summit over Ukraine, according to the office of Emmanuel Macron, the French president. Macron said in a statement he had pitched to both leaders a summit on “security and strategic stability in Europe.” The White House said that Biden had accepted the meeting “in principle” but only “if an invasion hasn’t happened.” “We are always ready for diplomacy,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war.” Live updates here.

PARTYGATE: While many column inches and much airtime have rightly been taken up by the Ukraine crisis, the partygate scandal continues to hang over the PM like a dark cloud as he awaits the findings from the Met Police’s investigation into Downing Street drinks gatherings during lockdown. In his interview with the BBC, Johnson refused 17 times to answer questions on the process, despite there being no obvious legal implications in him doing so. “I understand your curiosity, but you’re just going to have to accept that for the time being – you won’t have long, alright, I hope – but for the time being you’re going to have to contain your interest,” he told interviewer Sophie Raworth, who is reportedly among the runners and riders in the race to replace Andrew Marr on a full-time basis, after the veteran journalist left the Sunday morning show last year. Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s politics editor and Mishal Husain, the Radio 4 Today presenter, are also said to be in the frame to replace Marr, who has joined the New Statesman as its chief politics commentator.

CASH FOR ACCESS: Conservative Party donors are being put on a secret “advisory council” with access to ministers and advisors in return for large donations, it has been revealed. The Sunday Times reported that property tycoons, hedge fund managers, and a Russian banker are among a secret club of donors to be given access to government. The board has 14 regular members, most of whom have given at least £250,000 to the Tory party as part of a supposedly “transactional arrangement”, the newspaper said.

CRIME BILL: Following a series of damaging defeats in the House of Lords last month, Priti Patel, the home secretary, has written to MPs urging them to back her controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, parts of which opposition parties say pose a fundamental threat to the right to protest. Patel says the bill, which returns to the Commons for reconsideration, is “vitally important as we overhaul the criminal justice system and make our streets safer.” Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, hit back, saying her opposite number was trying to criminalise people for “protesting noisily or singing in the street, rather than tackling serious crime.” “Too often under the Tories, criminals are getting away with it and victims are being let down.”

On the record

“The fact is that all the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun. That’s what our American friends think and you’re seeing these provocations now in Donbas – these explosions and so on – that we’ve been warning about for a long time. The plan that we’re seeing is for something that could be the biggest war in Europe since 1945 just in terms of sheer scale.”

PM on Ukraine.

From the Twitterati

“Since the news broke good wishes have come in from every bit of the political spectrum, wishing The Queen a speedy recovery. In a deeply divided politics, a reminder of what a unique figure she is.”