Boris Johnson news: PM accused of ‘stoking fear and division’ with criticism of Black Lives Matter protests as government makes U-turn on Brexit border checks
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Boris Johnson has said it is “absurd and shameful” the Winston Churchill national monument is at risk of attack by protesters this weekend, and warned Black Lives Matter supporters that the responsible thing to do is “stay away from these protests”.
The prime minister went further and claimed the tearing down of statues constitutes “lying about our history”, before claiming that the demonstrations had been “hijacked by extremists intent on violence”. Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson Christina Jardine responded by accusing Mr Johnson of “stoking division and fear in our communities.”
Full border controls with the EU won’t be ready until at least six months after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020, the government has announced. It comes as the latest GDP figures show the British economy shrank more than 20 per cent in April.
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Scaffolding placed around Churchill statue ahead of protests
The Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square is among the memorials being protected by authorities ahead of fresh protests.
Scaffolding was filmed being put up around the statue on Thursday evening. It came amid fears of clashes on Saturday between right-wing groups who vowed to “defend” selected memorials and Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is being temporarily covered for its protection.
“The overwhelming majority of protests have been peaceful, but after recent damage the decision was taken by the Greater London Authority City Operations Unit to cover it.”
Violent protesters ‘could be jailed within 24 hours’
Any protesters deemed violent could be jailed within 24 hours of being arrested as authorities attempt to deter trouble at marches across the UK, according to reports.
The fast-track court plans come as more Black Lives Matter demonstrations, as well as far-right counter-protests, are expected this weekend.
Justice secretary Robert Buckland has told magistrates to use a similar model to the one used in the response to the 2011 riots, according to The Times.
The plans could lead to people suspected of causing vandalism, criminal damage or assaulting a police officer being jailed within 24 hours of their arrest in an attempt to defuse disorder.
Airlines launch legal action against government
British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair have now launched legal action against the government’s “flawed” 14-day quarantine policy.
The airlines announced they have asked for a judicial review to be heard “as soon as possible”, claiming the measures introduced this week will have a “devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy”.
They said they have seen no evidence of when proposed air bridges between the UK and other countries will be implemented.
Instead, they want the government to re-adopt the policy it introduced on March 10, which saw passengers from countries deemed at high risk of coronavirus infection being order to self-isolate on arrival in the UK.
Among the claims made by the airlines in their legal challenge to the quarantine are:
- The guidelines are more stringent than those applied to people confirmed to have Covid-19.
- There was no consultation on scientific evidence provided for “such a severe policy”.
- People from overseas commuting weekly to the UK are exempt.
‘Did the government put politics before saving BME lives?’
Runnymede Trust director and a member of the independent Sage group of scientists Dr Zubaida Haque has raised questions about the government’s failure to publish recommendations of how to reduce disproportionate ethnic minority deaths from coronavirus.
Asking whether equalities minister Kemi Badenoch misled parliament with her statement that PHE were “not able to” make recommendations within the published report, she added: “This is exactly what the Black Lives Matter protests are about: it is about the lives of BME people being perceived as expendable and it is about not being heard.”
Not time to ditch two-metre rule, says Sturgeon
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that further suppression of the virus must come before any talk of relaxing the two-metre social distancing rule.
Covid-19 infections continue to fall
The number of people with Covid-19 in England “has decreased in recent weeks”, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
The number of average infections per day since the end of April has fallen from 5,600 new infections per day to 4,500, according to the latest figures.
The ONS publishes snapshot data on how many people at any one time are infected with Covid-19 based on swab results from households across the country. The figures look at community infections and do not include care homes or hospitals.
EU experts see some risk of return to lockdown in second wave
The risk of a second wave of coronavirus infections big enough to require European lockdowns to be re-imposed is moderate to high, EU health experts have said.
A pandemic risk assessment by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) also predicted a moderate pick-up in infection rates in the coming weeks, although it said transmission has passed its peak in most European countries.
“The pandemic is not over,” ECDC director Andrea Ammon said in a statement accompanying the assessment.
She said that while there are decreasing trends of Covid-19 infections across Europe, efforts are still needed to limit the spread of the disease.
Death rates twice as high in England’s deprived areas, new figures show
People living in more deprived areas are experiencing coronavirus death rates more than double those living in wealthier parts of the country, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Covid-19 mortality rates more than halved in all but two regions in England between April and May, the latest ONS figures show.
Yet the statisticians pointed to an ongoing trend which has seen the poorest parts of the country hardest hit by the disease.
There were 128.3 deaths per 100,000 people in the most deprived council areas – 118 per cent higher than the 58.8 deaths per 100,000 in the least deprived parts of the country.
Sarah Caul, head of mortality analysis at the ONS, said: “People living in more deprived areas have continued to experience Covid-19 mortality rates more than double those living in less deprived areas.
“General mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, but Covid-19 appears to be increasing this effect.”
Relatives of Covid-19 victims call for inquiry now
The famility members of nearly 500 people who have died from coronavirus are calling for an immediate snap public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic so lessons can be learned quickly to prevent further deaths.
The founder of the group said he believed his own father's death could have been prevented. Matt Fowler told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "He was only 56, so he has gone way, way before his time.”
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has more details.
‘Betrayal’: Farage reacts to expected U-turn on border checks
The Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has responded to the news the government is set to backtrack on its plan to introduce full border checks with the EU from 1 January
“The first betrayal, this is a very bad sign,” he tweeted. Farage also called the boarding up of the Winston Churchill statue as “surrender to the mob”.
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