Inside Politics: No 10 set to extend self-isolation to 10 days

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There’s nothing like finding the missing piece of the puzzle. Scientists have finally discovered the origin of Stonehenge – after a hidden piece was discovered and helped pinpoint the source of the giant stones to a site 15 miles away. The coronavirus puzzle has so many missing pieces, it’s hard to know where to look for answers. Boris Johnson’s government hopes extending the isolation period for those with symptoms by three extra days is part of the solution when it comes to protecting the nation from a looming second wave.

Inside the bubble

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson will be launching a government drive to recruit more NHS staff, teachers and police officers – hailing the “heroic efforts” of public sector workers during the pandemic. It coincides with the release of new figures showing police and teacher numbers for England and Wales. Elsewhere, the ballot finally opens in Liberal Democrat leadership contest. Members have four weeks to choose between acting boss Sir Ed Davey and Layla Moran.

Daily briefing

LONGER TIME NO SEE: Health secretary Matt Hancock is expected to increase the length of time people with coronavirus symptoms will have to self-isolate from 7 to 10 days in England. With ministers looking at ways to mitigate the travel quarantine, The Telegraph thinks it could mean both the self-isolation time and the quarantine period being “standardised” at 10 days. Transport secretary Grant Shapps – returning from his very brief sojourn in Spain – said he “understood” all too well the frustration of holidaymakers, but could not rule out quarantines being brought in for other countries. Luxembourg is “likely” to be added this week after a government meeting last night, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, airline bosses urged No 10 to replace blanket quarantine with regional restrictions, arguing the sector is at risk of “permanently scarring”.

ZOMBIE LAND: Britain is thought to be on the brink of signing a post-Brexit trade deal with Japan in the next few weeks. One government official told The Sun the Japan deal “is happening and it is happening soon”. It came as international trade secretary Liz Truss said a deal with New Zealand was now a “step closer”, after the first round of talks finished up with the UK’s “like-minded friend and ally”. There’s plenty of grim economic news to focus minds on the desperate need for a deal with the EU. Experts have warned that thousands of “zombie companies” managing to get by during lockdown will struggle to survive in the next few months. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said many firms won’t be able to pay debts. First minister Nicola Sturgeon urged the Treasury to re-consider extending the furlough scheme.

DAMNED LIES AND STATISTICS: Shock, horror – it seems Boris Johnson hasn’t been telling the truth. The PM has made a number of “incorrect” claims about child poverty levels falling, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has said. Labour called on Johnson to “correct the record” after his telling off from the watchdog. No 10 will be more concerned about the latest coronavirus stats. NHS data showed Oldham recording 54.3 cases per 100,000 people last week – a rise of 191 per cent. The latest figures also show the “R” rate rising in four regions, and above the crucial 1 value in two areas of the UK. Epidemiologists told The Independent the government’s own policy failures would play a part in an “inevitable” increased infection rate in the UK. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA, criticised the lack of a “systemic approach” on mask-wearing and social distancing.

WE’VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU: Career spy Richard Moore has been appointed the new boss of MI6. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab hailed the “tremendous experience” of the new “C” – the “M” figure in the James Bond movies (the similarity of his name to Roger Moore got the former Bond star trending on Twitter). Speaking of recruitment, the Conservatives have begun advertising for a new £100,000-a-year No 10 spokesperson to front White House-style TV press briefings. Telegenic candidates will need “excellent risk management and crisis communication skills” and also have to be weird enough to “enjoy” working with “senior ministers, political advisers, officials and journalists”. Send your 500-word application to Downing Street by 21 August.

LONELY IN LONE STAR: Donald Trump tried to win friend and influence people on a campaign trip to Texas – making clear his support for new oil drilling by signing pipeline permits. “I don’t think Biden is going to do too well in Texas,” Trump claimed – despite multiple polls showing he is trailing in the lone star state. The president also claimed that he “never discussed” Russian bounties on the heads of US troops in Afghanistan with Vladimir Putin. Back in Washington, the heads of the world’s biggest tech giants (Facebook, Apple and Google) appeared before congress to deny they had become monopolies. David Cicilline, the Democrat in charge of the congressional committee, said online platforms had “wielded their power in destructive, harmful ways” and called for them to be broken up.

HAVE A LITTLE PATIENCE: Prime minister Scott Morrison called for patience in the state of Victoria, saying it would “take some time” to get on top of “significant community transmission”. The region will make face coverings compulsory as the state struggles to get a coronavirus outbreak under control. A new daily high of 723 cases were reported on Thursday. Residents in the Victoria city of Geelong will not be allowed to have visitors in their homes. Elsewhere, Brazil has reopened international air travel to foreign tourists after a four-month ban, despite a record number of new Covid deaths and cases. And Japan is also set to lift restrictions on the re-entry of some foreign residents next week, the country’s foreign ministry has announced.

On the record

“We are not at the point where there is a viable alternative to the 14-day quarantine.”

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden rejects airlines’ demands.

From the Twitterati

“If we can make this kind of pragmatic progress with Japan, surely the EU will not allow ideology to stop a deal with their biggest export market?”

Tory MP Jeremy Hunt by possible Japan trade deal...

“You're telling me we’ve left the EU, and the best trade deal we’ve been able to make with Japan is merely the same as if we had Remained in the EU?”

...but Green party campaigner Nathan Wade is unimpressed.

Essential reading

Andrew Grice, The Independent: Don’t lose sleep over a no-deal Brexit – it almost certainly won’t happen

Jess Phillips, The Independent: My job as an MP involves too many cases of hunger – fixing this is essential

Rosie Lockwood, The Times: Stop going on about the Tories’ ‘red wall’

Ross Andersen, The Atlantic: China is the world’s first surveillance superpower

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