Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Dominic Raab says 'fighter' Boris Johnson will pull through

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The BBC has faith in the healing power of music. As Boris Johnson battled the coronavirus during his second night in intensive care, Radio 4 played his favourite song – The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun – “in the hope that it might reach him”. Dominic Raab, standing in for the prime minister, has faith too. The foreign secretary said his friend will be back at No 10 “in short order”. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing during the coronavirus outbreak.

Inside the bubble

Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Dominic Raab will chair the cabinet’s C-19 “war cabinet” this morning. An update on Boris Johnson’s condition is expected at the Downing Street briefing for journalists at noon. In Raab’s in-tray will be a letter from the Lib Dems proposing a new committee of MPs, chaired by Labour leader Keir Starmer, to scrutinise the government’s handling of the crisis. And the Treasury select committee will question HMRC bosses via video as part of their inquiry into the economic impact.

Daily briefing

PULLING FOR YOU: Describing Boris Johnson as not only a boss but also a “friend”, Dominic Raab said: “I’m confident he’ll pull through … he’s a fighter. And he’ll be back at the helm, leading us through this crisis in short order.” Raab suggested the government was postponing next week’s scheduled review of whether to continue the lockdown, saying decisions would happen “when the time is right”. He also dodged a question on whether he has the authority to change strategy, saying only that he had been asked to deputise “as long as is necessary”. The chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance struck a cautiously optimistic note when discussing new cases of the virus. He said it was possible we’re seeing “the beginning of change in terms of the curve flattening a little bit”. New cases of Covid-19 fell slightly to 3,634 on Tuesday, from 3,802 the previous day and 5,903 on Sunday. Because of the lag between hospital admissions and deaths, we can expect the number of fatalities to level off in two to three weeks, said Vallance.

ROLLS ROYCE ROLLS ON: Rishi Sunak is next in line to take over if Raab cannot carry on working, Downing Street has confirmed. Explaining who would be the next so-called “designated survivor”, the PM’s spokesman said: “The chancellor would follow on from the foreign secretary.” Former Tory PM David Cameron – sending his best wishes to his “very tough, very resilient” former tennis partner – played down the need for a national unity government. He said the government will be able to carry out Johnson’s plan of action, praising the civil service as “a Rolls Royce machine”. Labour leader Keir Starmer said he had been in touch with Raab and vowed his party would “act in the national interest”. But he will not be entirely uncritical – saying the opposition would support ministers, but also “push them further where we need to”. Elsewhere, councillor Sheila Oakes, the mayor of Heanor, has had the local Labour whip withdrawn after she said on Twitter that Johnson “completely deserves this”.

FLEXIBLE FRIENDS: Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove – having described Raab as “the person who is running the country” during a round of TV interviews – later revealed he was self-isolating at home after a family member displayed symptoms of the virus. He said he was continuing to work “as normal”. One of Gove’s jobs was updating the Commons select committee on the Brexit process. He explained the structure of trade negotiations with the EU were “likely to change” and they were “exploring flexibility”, but didn’t give much more detail. The UK’s chief negotiator David Frost vowed talks with Brussels would continue, saying he and EU counterpart Michel Barnier would soon decide on a timetable for videoconferencing in April and May. It comes as a new poll found just 19 per cent of people support the government’s strategy of severing ties with the EU at the end of 2020 no matter what.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE: Donald Trump has accused the World Health Organisation (WHO) of being “very China-centric”, claiming the body made bad decisions about the initial outbreak. “We’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO,” said the president, before clarifying that he would look into ending the £122m the US gives to WHO each year. “They seem to err always on the side of China ... we will look at ending funding, because you know they called it wrong.” Trump also used promised to “provide support” to African-Americans, currently suffering from higher rates of the disease in the US. “They’re getting hit very, very hard,” he said. Trump was also defended in-person voting held in Wisconsin on Tuesday after the Republicans blocked the Democrats’ attempts to delay the election. Asked about the long queues of people, he said: “I don’t know anything about any lines.”

POST-LOCKDOWN PARTY: The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak began, has re-opened its road and rail connections after a strict travel ban was put in place at the end of January. Residents and visitors with a “green” code on an mobile app showing they are healthy will now be allowed leave the city, and around 200 flights are set to depart on the first day. The city celebrated the end of its long shutdown with a spectacular light show party along the Yangtze river at midnight. People were seen waving flags and chanting “Wuhan, let’s go!” Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities reported no new deaths from the coronavirus for the first time since it began issuing daily briefings more than two months ago.

MONEY AND MASKS: Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO of Twitter, has said he will donate $1bn (around £810m) towards “relief” efforts to beat the pandemic. Dorsey said it would represent around 28 per cent of his net wealth, but did not say exactly how the money would be spent. In Turkey, the government has launched an ambitious spending programme to get free surgical masks out to 82 million people, launching a website where residents can register to receive five free masks per week delivered by the national postal service. In Canada, prime minister Justin Trudeau gave a TV address in which he advised citizens to begin wearing masks. He was mocked on Twitter for saying wearing a mask “prevents you from speaking moistly on people”. The PM quickly admitted “speaking moistly” was “a terrible image”.

On the record

“He’s got a tremendous zest for life, and getting things done, and for leading and for taking decisions.”

David Cameron sends a message of support to the PM.

From the Twitterati

“It’s still not clear who is running the country. Bottom line: who currently has the authority to authorise a nuclear strike? Boris Johnson? Dominic Raab? Or someone else?”

Piers Morgan wants more clarity on the chain of command...

“Piers: why on earth would anyone have to authorise a nuclear strike? Ludicrous at any time but especially now.”

…leaving journalist Neil Clark puzzled.

Essential reading

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Yes, thousands are suffering with coronavirus – but Boris Johnson’s is still a special case

Holly Baxter, The Independent: The rich killed New York City then abandoned at the first sign of trouble

James Savage, New Statesman: Why Sweden is Europe’s coronavirus outlier and what it means

Tom McTague, The Atlantic: Britain just got pulled back from the edge

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