‘Crucial’ people isolate when pinged, Number 10 says
It is “crucial” that people isolate when identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus, Downing Street has said.
A Number 10 spokeswoman said quarantining at home “remains the most important action people can take to stop the spread of the virus”.
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Why are so many asked to self isolate?
It comes after a minister suggested that isolating when pinged by the NHS COVID-19 app should be a matter for individuals and employers to decide.
Paul Scully, a business minister, told Times Radio: “It’s important to understand the rules. You have to legally isolate if you are on the… contacted by Test and Trace, or if you’re trying to claim isolation payments.
“The app is there to give… to allow you to make informed decisions. And I think by backing out of mandating a lot of things, we’re encouraging people to really get the data in their own hands to be able to make decisions on what’s best for them, whether they’re employer or an employee.”
But a Number 10 spokeswoman said: “Given the risk of having and spreading the virus when people have been in contact with someone with COVID it is crucial people isolate when they are told to do so, either by NHS Test and Trace or by the NHS COVID app.
“Businesses should be supporting employees to isolate, they should not be encouraging them to break isolation.”
This was reiterated by the prime minister’s spokesman, who told a regular Westminster briefing with journalists: “We want people, when contacted, either through NHS test and trace or through the app to isolate.
“It is an important tool that all of us can use, all of us can follow during this ongoing global pandemic.
“The minister did talk about the value that we’ve seen through the app in saving lives and breaking chains of transmission.”
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New self-isolation rules announced
Meanwhile, The Times has reported that another business minister, Lord Grimstone of Boscobel, stressed in a letter to one large employer that the app was only an “advisory tool” and that people were not under any “legal duty”.
It is not a legal requirement to isolate if pinged by the NHS COVID-19 app, but official health service guidance has been that people should “self-isolate immediately” when told to.
There is a legal compulsion to isolate if contacted directly by Test and Trace, however, with the potential for fines for those who do not comply.
Latest figures show that a total of 520,194 alerts were sent to users of the NHS COVID-19 app in the week to 7 July, advising them to isolate, a record number.
There have been calls for the app’s sensitivity to be tweaked, amid warnings that isolation is wreaking havoc on certain industries by creating staff shortages.
But the government has ruled this out in recent days.
From 16 August, under 18s and people who are fully vaccinated will no longer be told to isolate if they come into close contact with someone who has tested positive.
Instead, they will be encouraged to take a test. Anyone who tests positive will still be legally required to isolate, regardless of their vaccine status.
The government has announced it will not be drawing up a list of fully vaccinated “critical workers” that will be exempt from isolating for work purposes.
Instead, employers will have to apply to government departments to exempt workers who are ‘pinged’.
Boris Johnson, who is himself isolating after being identified as a close contact of the COVID-positive Health Secretary Sajid Javid, told a news conference on Monday that isolation is “one of the only shots we have got left in our locker to stop the chain reaction of the spread of C”.
“I’m afraid that at this stage it’s simply a consequence of living with COVID and opening up when cases are high in the way that we are,” the prime minister said.
The battle for West Midlands mayor is down to the wire after a partial recount of votes was ordered.
Incumbent Tory Andy Street’s hope of securing a third term in office remains on a knife-edge in the face of a stiff challenge by Labour’s Richard Parker.
The outcome of the contest is critical to Rishi Sunak after a hammering in the local elections, which saw the Conservative Party lose more than half of its councillors who stood for re-election across England.
It threatens to ramp back up the pressure on the prime minister, who was hoping for a repeat of the success enjoyed by Conservative Ben Houchen who held on as the mayor of Tees Valley and to dampen rumblings of rebellion among some Tory MPs.
Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson in the Electoral Dysfunction podcast said the rebels who want to move against Mr Sunak and change leader “would have a huge amount of fuel” if the party lost “one or other or both of Teeside and West Midlands”.
Mr Street had sought to distance himself from the Conservative brand during his campaign and instead ran on a personal platform.
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Sky News recently revealed Mr Street was sending out election literature with an endorsement from former prime minister Boris Johnson which urged people to “forget about the government”.
Read more:
The winners and losers
Charts tell story of Conservative collapse
Analysis: Labour’s future success is less clear-cut
His campaign website also made no mention of Mr Sunak on its homepage and was coloured in green rather than Conservative blue.
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Politics
Boris Johnson pays tribute to polling station staff who refused to let him vote without photo ID
Boris Johnson has paid tribute to the villagers who Sky News revealed turned him away from a polling station when he tried to vote without a valid photo ID – under rules he introduced.
The former prime minister said he attempted to cast his ballot using a magazine sleeve with his name and address on as proof but was prevented from doing so.
The requirement to provide photo ID was introduced by Mr Johnson during his time in Downing Street as part of the Elections Act 2022.
The move was controversial over fears it would bar people from voting, particularly among disadvantaged groups.
Local election live: Khan likely to cling on to London – as West Midlands on knife-edge
Mr Johnson had been seeking to vote in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for Thames Valley was being elected.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, he said: “I want to pay a particular tribute to the three villagers who on Thursday rightly turned me away when I appeared in the polling station with nothing to prove my identity except the sleeve of my copy of Prospect magazine, on which my name and address had been printed.
“I showed it to them and they looked very dubious… within minutes I was back with my driving licence and voted Tory.”
Read more:
The winners and losers
Charts tell story of Conservative collapse
Analysis: Labour’s future success is less clear-cut
Thursday’s election is the first time many voters in England and Wales have had to present ID to vote under provisions first rolled out at last year’s local elections.
As well as driving licences, other acceptable forms of ID include passports, proof of age cards, blue badges, and some concessionary travel cards.
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The government has also said it intends to make veterans’ ID cards a valid form of voter identification after former service personnel were turned away.
Veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer apologised to those who had been unable to use the document to vote, vowing to “do all I can” to have it added to the list of valid identification.
Labour said the government has had years to ensure the card was included, having begun rolling out the scheme in 2019.
Politics
Labour has ‘searching’ to do after losing votes in areas with high Muslim population, Jess Phillips says
The Labour Party has some “searching” to do following its underperformance in areas with a high Muslim population, according to MP Jess Phillips.
Speaking to political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Birmingham Yardley MP said her party will have to “wake up and face” the issues that lead to it losing seats to the Greens, independents and the Workers Party of Britain.
Ms Phillips said: “There are some issues with regards to independents and Greens that the Labour Party is going to have to wake up and face tomorrow morning, Monday morning, whenever it is.
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“There are some results in places, you know, Labour heartlands, where they maintain the council, of course, in places like Newcastle where the Greens are making strides.
“I very much expect, as the mayoral votes come in, that in places like Birmingham, Bradford, places with high Muslim populations, as we’ve seen overnight in Oldham, that the Labour Party will have some questions that they have, and some searching to do themselves.
“However, you cannot spin it any other way than this is a good night for the Labour Party.”
Analysis from Sky News shows that areas with a Muslim population below 5% saw the Labour Party’s vote share increase by 1.1 percentage points.
But areas with a Muslim population above 20% saw Sir Keir Starmer’s party lose 17.9 points from their vote share.
Local election results: Follow them as they come in here
One of the issues that is thought to be impacting the Muslim vote is Labour’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
Labour lost control of councils in Oldham and Kirklees, with victories for independent candidates opposed to the party’s stance on the war in Gaza.
It is hard to crystallise the exact impact on the elections, as a number of Labour councillors have defected from the party over Labour’s stance on the Middle East conflict.
George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain also targeted Labour seats on the issue of Gaza, and won four – including unseating the deputy leader of Manchester council Luthfur Rahman in Longsight.
The BBC reported that Labour were pessimistic about their chances in the race for the West Midlands mayoralty – which covers Ms Phillip’s constituency – with one journalist saying a Labour source told them: “It’s the Middle East, not West Midlands that will have won Street the Mayoralty. Once again Hamas are the real villains.”
This was decried by the Labour Party on the record, with shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth saying: “This is utterly unacceptable. I’m pleased the Labour Party have quickly and rightly condemned it.
“This is a racist quote which has not come from anyone who is speaking on behalf of the party or whose values are welcome in the party.”
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, was asked on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge about whether the party’s stance will change.
She said the party does “recognise” the party’s stance on the conflict has been a “factor in some areas”.
Ms Cooper added there were areas where Gaza was “partly” a factor and there were also “council factors” as well.
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She added: “So it’s lots of different things.
“But undoubtedly many people feel really strongly about this – and rightly because tens of thousands of people have been killed, including the majority of them women and children.
“We desperately need an immediate ceasefire, but we have the hostages released. We need the urgent humanitarian action that’s needed.”
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