Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Matt Hancock says public have ‘civic duty’ to test and trace

Sign up here to receive this daily briefing in your email inbox every morning

Bad weather had delayed the launch of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon rocket set to carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The historic mission will be the first-ever private vehicle to send humans to the ISS. Boris Johnson is desperately hoping the launch of state-run test and trace system has the momentum to blast him clear of the Dominic Cummings’ lockdown drive scandal. Will the lift-off go without a hitch today? Will ongoing questions about his aide pull the prime minister back down to earth? I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing during the coronavirus crisis.

Inside the bubble

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone on what to look out for today:

The new test and trace scheme will be launched in England at 9am this morning, weeks before the NHS contact-tracing app is expected to be ready. Elsewhere, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and UK chief negotiator David Frost will be giving evidence to the Lords’ Brexit committee on how the trade deal talks have been progressing (or not progressing). Brussels’ chief deal-maker Michel Barnier is also set to brief the European Parliament’s conference of presidents.

Daily briefing

OFF TO THE TRACES: Boris Johnson has promised the new test and trace system will “change people’s lives”. From today, everyone with coronavirus symptoms is supposed to ask for a test or call 119. If the test is positive, the NHS will get in touch to find out who you’ve been in close contact with (anyone you spend 15 minutes or more with at less than two metre’s distance). Matt Hancock said it was a “civic duty” to engage with the contact tracers if you test positive – revealing that those having to self-isolate will be eligible for statutory sick pay. It seems the carrot and stick will be deployed: the government is considering financial penalties for people who don’t self-isolate. Will testing be quick enough to make the whole thing work? The PM said the target was to get results in less than 24 hours, but testing chief Professor John Newton admitted it would be “very difficult” to get home test results within 48 hours.

DING DONG, IS THE STORY DEAD? Johnson repeatedly clashed with MPs on the liaison committee over his right-hand man’s trip to Durham. The PM claimed the public were sick of the “political ding dong” – and it was time to “move on”. Probed further on the affair, Johnson said there was evidence clearing Cummings of some of the allegations. Asked by Labour’s Meg Hillier whether the cabinet secretary should see that evidence, the PM said he’d rather not “shuffle this problem into the hands of officials … working flat out to deal with coronavirus”. Hmm. Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt has become the most senior figure yet to criticise Cummings. She said there were “inconsistencies” in his story and called for him to apologise (but not resign), according to The Guardian. Despite 44 Conservative MPs calling for him to go, Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt said the Tories who want him out are “reluctantly throwing in the towel” for now.

FINE BLUE LINE: We still need to hear from Durham Police before a line can be drawn under drive-gate, however. And according to the BBC, the same force issued fines to two people from separate households who drove from London to County Durham during the lockdown. They were fined for travelling to Peterlee, only 13 miles east of Durham, one week after Cummings made his trip. A No 10 spokesperson said: “We are confident the police will use their common sense, discretion and experience.” Speaking of inquiries, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed there will be a full public inquiry into the Scottish government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. The SNP leader said it “undoubtedly include what happened in care homes” after it was revealed 900 hospital patients were discharged into care homes in March. Does it make a UK-wide public inquiry more likely?

PETTY THE FOOL: The US has now passed the grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-19 deaths. Worryingly, 20 states reported a rise in new coronavirus cases for the week gone by, according to Reuters analysis. Donald Trump appears to have more important things on his mind. Following his dispute with Twitter over the fact-checking of one of his tweets, the president is ready to sign an executive order targeting social media companies. It’s not yet clear what kind of petty crackdown he could attempt without legislation passed by Congress. Meanwhile, his rival Joe Biden called Trump “an absolute fool” for mocking the wearing of a mask at a Memorial Day ceremony.

ONE MOMENT, PLEASE: The European Commission’s chief Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled a £670bn plan to fuel the EU’s economic recovery. Describing it as “Europe’s moment”, she said the Commission would borrow from the market and then give two-thirds of the funds in grants and the rest in loans. Much of the money would go to Italy and Spain, the nations hit worst by the virus. “We either all go it alone, leaving countries, regions and people behind and accepting a union of haves and have-nots, or we walk that road together,” said Von der Leyen.

WIND-UP SPENDING CHRONICLE: The Japanese government has approved an enormous £897bn package of stimulus spending, doubling the emergency measures unveiled last month. It’s the biggest economic stimulus put forward anywhere in the world – amounting to almost 40 per cent of Japan’s output. Meanwhile, the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has launched a new radio show – Murakami Radio Stay Home Special – highlighting good news and playing Bruce Springsteen and Burt Bacharach songs to cheer people up.

On the record

“The brutal reality is this country didn’t learn the lessons of Sars or Mers and we didn’t have a test operation ready to go on the scale that we needed.”

Boris Johnson makes a big admission.

From the Twitterati

“An error to bench the brilliant Emily Maitlis. Absolutely nothing she said was incorrect. BBC Newsnight is a magazine programme, not a news bulletin. It is not a breach of impartiality to speak the truth incisively.”

Matthew d’Ancona is amazed Maitlis was reprimanded by the BBC over a ‘breach of impartiality rules’...

“So grateful to my friend and excellent colleague Katie Razzall for stepping in this evening. She did so because I asked for the night off.”

…but Maitlis says she wasn’t ‘benched’ despite the reprimand.

Essential reading

Alastair Campbell, The Independent: It’s a shame Johnson’s colleagues didn’t listen my advice on Cummings

Harriet Hall, The Independent: Why the ‘social bubble’ system could be a disaster in the making

Fraser Nelson, The Spectator: Lockdown was not needed to tame Covid, says Norway’s health chief

Kara Swisher, The New York Times: Twitter tsks, Trump fumes

Sign up here to receive this daily briefing in your email inbox every morning