Connect with us

Published

on

COVID cases could hit 100,000 a day, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has warned – but he confirmed England will not yet move to the government’s plan B for dealing with pressures on hospitals this winter.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference on Wednesday, Mr Javid cautioned that the coronavirus pandemic “is not over”.

“Thanks to the vaccination programme, the link between hospitalisations and deaths has significantly weakened, but it’s not broken,” the health secretary said.

“So we must all remember that this virus will be with us for the long term and remains a threat to our loved ones, and a threat to the progress that we’ve made in getting our nation closer to normal life.”

COVID news live as UK seeing 1,000 coronavirus hospitalisations – latest updates

EMBARGOED TO 1300 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16 A Covid-19 booster jab being prepared at Croydon University Hospital, south London, as the NHS begins its Covid-19 Booster Vaccination Campaign. Picture date: Thursday September 16, 2021.
Image:
The health secretary urged people to get COVID booster jabs

On Wednesday, the UK recorded 49,139 new COVID-19 cases – the eighth day in a row that infections have been above 40,000 – and 179 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

And on Tuesday, the UK recorded 223 COVID-linked deaths – the highest daily number since early March.

More on Covid-19

Mr Javid said that current COVID deaths “remain mercifully low” – an assertion later questioned by one SAGE scientist – and the health secretary added he does not believe the current pressures on the NHS are “unsustainable”.

Mr Javid previously warned of coronavirus cases reaching 100,000 a day this summer ahead of COVID restrictions being lifted on “freedom day”.

Although cases did later rise to a summer peak of around 60,000 in one day in mid-July, they subsequently began to fall.

However, a recent rise in cases has led to calls for ministers to enact plan B of their autumn and winter COVID response strategy.

Under the government’s plan B, contingency measures could include the reintroduction of a legal requirement to wear face coverings in some settings; the potential introduction of COVID vaccine passports; and the possible return of the work from home command.

But Mr Javid said he would not yet be reintroducing COVID measures in England.

“We’re looking closely at the data and we won’t be implementing our plan B of contingency measures at this point,” he told the news conference.

“But we’ll be staying vigilant, preparing for all eventualities, while strengthening our vital defences that can help us fight back against this virus.”

The health secretary also urged people to take “little steps” that would make a “big difference”.

These include meeting others outdoors where possible, ensuring good ventilation, voulntarily wearing masks in crowded spaces and taking lateral flow tests.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘Landmark’ antiviral deals announced

“We’ve come so far thanks to the efforts of so many, but with winter ahead, we can’t blow it now,” Mr Javid said.

He also appeared to link the possible reintroduction of COVID measures this winter to the success of the booster jabs programme in the coming weeks.

The health secretary said that getting a top-up vaccination – which are being made available to the most vulnerable and over-50s – was “not just to save lives, but to keep your freedoms too”.

“Because all of these precious moments that we’ve been able to restore over the past few months – the loved ones we’ve been able to see and the collective experiences we’ve been able to share – they’ve been possible thanks to our vaccination programme and because so many of you came forward when it was your time,” he added.

“If we want to secure these freedoms for the long-term than the best thing we can do is come forward once again when that moment comes.

“After the decisive steps that we’ve taken this year, none of us want to go backwards now.”

Urging people to get vaccinated against both COVID and flu, Mr Javid said: “If we all play our part, then we can give ourselves the best possible chance in this race, get through this winter, and enjoy Christmas with our loved ones.”

Professor Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, said the health service was “very, very busy indeed” but added there was no one number of COVID admissions to hospitals that would trigger fresh interventions.

“What’s happening in one part of the country might not be happening in another part of the country,” he told the news conference.

“That’s been typical of the pandemic over the last 18 months and it’s possible that we will see that variation again.”

Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said the country was going into winter with a “really high level” of COVID cases.

“What we can see is that the cases now are almost as high as they were in July and actually not far off where they were last winter,” she said.

“What we are not seeing is that dip down again at the other side of the peak and that is really important because we are kicking off the winter at a really high level of cases.

“Fortunately that is not currently working through into serious disease and deaths.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Sajid Javid is asked why Tory MPs were not wearing face masks during Prime Minister’s Questions

The health secretary on Wednesday also announced the UK has struck deals for two new coronavirus treatments.

The antiviral drugs, if approved by the medicines regulator, are expected to be given to those most at risk from the virus, helping to reduce the severity of symptoms and ease pressure on the NHS.

Amid mounting concern about rising cases, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents health bodies, has warned the country risks “stumbling into a winter crisis”.

And he has called on the government to enact “Plan B” of its strategy for coping with autumn and winter pressures on hospitals “without delay”.

Mr Taylor also called for a “plan C” to be outlined to health leaders, should the measures in Plan B prove to be “insufficient”.

However, speaking to Sky News earlier on Wednesday, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisted there would not be another national lockdown.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth accused Mr Javid of “complacency” at the Downing Street news conference.

“The so-called wall of defence against Covid is crumbling and today we needed a plan to rebuild it,” he said.

Responding to Mr Javid’s assertion that current COVID deaths “remain mercifully low”, SAGE member Professor Susan Michie posted on Twitter: “What kind of mercy is this?”

Continue Reading

Politics

Labour can’t ‘turn taps on’ for struggling councils, Sir Keir Starmer warns at local election launch

Published

on

By

Labour can't 'turn taps on' for struggling councils, Sir Keir Starmer warns at local election launch

Sir Keir Starmer has warned that Labour “can’t pretend that we can turn the taps on” to help struggling councils if he wins the next general election.

The Labour leader was speaking in Dudley at the launch of his party’s campaign for the local elections on 2 May, which are taking place against the backdrop of a bleak financial picture for councils across the country.

One in five council bosses have said they think it’s likely or fairly likely they will go bankrupt in the next 15 months, while the Local Government Association, which represents local authorities, has said there is a £4bn funding shortfall over the next two years.

Asked by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby whether he would “commit that money”, Sir Keir replied: “Councils of all political stripes are struggling with the lack of funding they’ve had over a prolonged period.

“And we need to turn that around – we will do that.”

Politics latest: Starmer asked if he’s a ‘Tory in disguise’

Although he did not promise additional funding, he did suggest funding settlement arrangements could be altered to help councils – suggesting one-year settlements had been detrimental to councils’ budgets.

More on Keir Starmer

“I think there is scope for different kinds of funding settlements,” he said.

“Talk to any council leader and they’ll say the one-year settlements are very difficult for us because we can’t spend money effectively and as well as we should.

“So it’s hard because there isn’t enough money. It’s even harder because it’s a one-year settlement. We can change that around with a three-year settlement.”

The shadow hanging over Labour policies is the dire state of public finances


Rob Powell Political reporter

Rob Powell

Political correspondent

@robpowellnews

While Sir Keir Starmer’s local election launch contained little new in the way of policy, it was still one of the clearest outlines of what drives the Labour leader as a politician and what would propel him in government.

Put simply – it is about restoring pride in the places people live and injecting a sense of integrity back into the workforces of those areas.

In a theme we’ll likely see returned to throughout the general election campaign, Sir Keir used the language of football to sketch this out – referring to the Potters of Stoke, the Glassboys of Stourbridge and the Hatters of Stockport.

Pride of place linked with the integrity of work given form through the plain-speaking language of football.

None of these identified problems are new.

This is the well of angst that lay behind the Brexit vote. This is the concept of ‘left behind’ communities Theresa May vowed to address. This is the problem to be solved through Boris Johnson’s ‘levelling up’ agenda.

So why should voters believe that this leader will prevail when so many others have failed? On this, there is still a considerable blank space. The answer being given today is devolution.

If local people are given more power over how to spend their money, this argument goes, they will spend it better and waste less.

The shadow hanging over all this is the dire state of the public finances. Or to put it another way, what many places need is cold hard cash.

The fiscal constraints Labour appears to be wrapping around itself means that money is not there though.  Squaring that circle will be the central tension within both this local election campaign and the coming race for Downing Street.

He added: “I can’t pretend that we can turn the taps on, pretend the damage hasn’t been done to the economy. It has. The way out of that is to grow our economy.”

At the end of last year, councils told residents they should be prepared for reduced services and tax rises due to increasing cost and demand pressures.

In Birmingham, where the Labour-run local authority declared bankruptcy after being hit with a £760m bill to settle equal pay claims, council tax will rise by 21% over the next two years while £300m in cuts will be brought in over the same period.

Read more:
Labour will not bail out bankrupt councils, Rachel Reeves says
Why are councils going bankrupt?

At the campaign launch, Sir Keir said it was “unforgivable” the Tories did not follow through on their pledge to level up left-behind areas of the UK and said he had hoped to launch “a different election campaign here today” but could not because the “prime minister bottled it”.

The Labour leader said Rishi Sunak wanted “one last drawn-out summer tour with his beloved helicopter” and added: “We need to send him another message, show his party once again that their time is up, the dithering must stop, the date must be set.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt claimed Labour’s local election launch was a “smokescreen” and that when it was in office the party “devolved no powers to local authorities”.

Continue Reading

Politics

Sir Keir Starmer speaks of ‘frustration’ at Boris Johnson’s ‘unforgiveable failure’ to level up – but says idea was ‘right’

Published

on

By

Sir Keir Starmer speaks of 'frustration' at Boris Johnson's 'unforgiveable failure' to level up - but says idea was 'right'

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted Boris Johnson was “right” to propose levelling up but said he was “frustrated” by the former prime minister’s “unforgivable” failure to deliver.

The Labour leader also claimed the policy, which defined Mr Johnson’s premiership, was “strangled at birth” by his successor, Rishi Sunak.

Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby at the launch of Labour’s local election campaign in Dudley, Sir Keir said “the idea” of levelling up that was put before the electorate in 2019 by Mr Johnson was “right”.

But he added: “What that requires – and this is where I get frustrated – is if you really believe that… I’m afraid you’ve got to roll your sleeves up, you’ve got to put a plan on the table, you go the hard yards.

“And so what is unforgivable about Boris Johnson is, having made that the focus, he didn’t do the hard yards of delivery and that’s why people feel even more let down.”

Politics latest: Starmer asked if he’s a ‘Tory in disguise’ – as he accuses Rishi Sunak of ‘bottling’ election

The Labour leader was equally critical of Mr Sunak, whom he said had “strangled levelling up at birth because he wouldn’t put the funding behind it – and we know what the consequences are.”

However, despite criticising the Conservatives for their failure to put money behind the policy, Sir Keir refused to commit any new funding to local councils, which are straddling an estimated funding gap of £4bn over the next two years.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Starmer pushed on council funding crisis

He told Rigby his party “can’t turn on the spending taps” for cash-strapped local authorities but that funding settlements could be made longer to provide more stability.

“If we stabilise the economy, that will reduce inflation,” he said. “That’s been a big drag for councils.”

Another change Sir Keir put forward was a ban on no-fault evictions, which he said added to the “strain” on councils which then have to find alternative accommodation.

The ban on no-fault evictions is one of a number of measures that have been held up in the long-delayed Renters Reform Bill, which Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has been accused of watering down to appease sceptical backbenchers.

Read more:
Rayner will not publish ‘personal tax advice’ over council house sale
How Tory MPs could oust PM – and who could replace him

But Mr Gove said the Labour leader “couldn’t be more wrong” with his assessment of the government’s record.

“We are the party that’s been leading on levelling up for years now,” he said.

“The areas of the country in the Midlands and the North that Labour neglected for decades have had an infusion of cash and a power surge thanks to this Conservative government.

“We’re the people who’ve given power to mayors in the Tees Valley and in the West Midlands, who’ve had a decisive impact on raising wages, levering in investment, empowering local communities.

“Labour are late to this game and also they come with nothing new to say. No new money, no new powers, no plan at all.”

Continue Reading

Politics

Angela Rayner will not publish ‘personal tax advice’ over council house sale – unless Tories do the same

Published

on

By

Angela Rayner will not publish 'personal tax advice' over council house sale - unless Tories do the same

Angela Rayner has said she will not publish the “personal tax advice” she received on the sale of her council house despite a police development over her living arrangements.

Labour’s deputy leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she was “confident” she had done “absolutely nothing wrong” with regards to the sale of her council house and whether she should have paid capital gains tax on it.

Ms Rayner said she had been “very clear on my advice that I’ve received” – but asked why she would not put that legal advice into the public domain, she said: “Because that’s my personal tax advice. But I’m happy to comply with the necessary authorities that want to see that.”

Sir Keir Starmer later threw his support behind his deputy at the launch of Labour’s local election campaign in Dudley, telling the audience that she had not broken any rules and was right not to publish the legal advice.

Asked if his deputy should resign if found to have done wrong, Sir Keir said: “Angela has answered I don’t know how many questions about this. She has not broken any rules, she has in fact taken legal and tax advice which has satisfied her, and us, and me about the position.”

Politics live: Tory blames ‘pesky peers’ for blocking Rwanda plan

Although Ms Rayner has resisted putting her tax advice in the public domain, she has committed to hand over the information to the police and HMRC – something Sir Keir agreed with.

When pressed further on why she would not publish the advice – and whether she would accept the same reasoning from a Conservative politician – Ms Rayner suggested she would be willing to do if her Tory critics did the same.

“If we’re all going to have a level playing field and we suddenly decide that Conservative ministers need to hand over their tax affairs, if you show me yours, then I’ll show you mine,” she said.

The Labour leader made comparisons with Ms Rayner’s situation to “beergate”, when he and Ms Rayner were investigated, and later cleared, over allegations of breaching COVID lockdown rules ahead of the Hartlepool by-election in May 2021.

And he said: “Where does this end? Are you going to be calling for Tory ministers to publish their legal and tax advice going back over the last 15 years? That is where this ends.”

The defence of Ms Rayner came after Greater Manchester Police confirmed it was “reassessing” its initial decision not to investigate allegations made about her living arrangements after receiving a complaint.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Labour shadow minister defends Rayner

The Labour MP has come under the spotlight in recent weeks over the sale of an ex-council house she previously owned in Stockport, having been accused of avoiding capital gains tax – something she has denied.

But she has also faced scrutiny over claims that in 2010, she may have lived primarily at her then husband’s address, despite registering to vote under her own – which could be a breach of electoral rules.

Ms Rayner has said she paid bills and council tax and was registered to vote at the home she brought through Margaret Thatcher’s “right-to-buy” scheme. If it was her primary address, as she has claimed, she would not have had to pay capital gains tax on it when she sold it in 2015 for £127,500 – making a £48,500 profit

However, there have been claims that despite registering at Vicarage Road, she was primarily living at Lowndes Lane, Mr Rayner’s address.

Greater Manchester Police looked into the claims and initially said there was no evidence of an offence being committed.

However, James Daly, the Tory MP for Bury North who filed the original complaint about Ms Rayner, followed up with the force and said they had failed to properly investigate the allegations – prompting them to reassess their initial decision.

Read more:
Angela Rayner pleads for ‘privacy’ after row over house sale

How Tory MPs can oust PM – and who could replace him

In a fresh statement released on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the force said: “We have received a complaint regarding our decision not to investigate an allegation and are in the process of reassessing this decision.

“The complainant will be updated with the outcome of the reassessment in due course.”

The claims first surfaced in a book about Ms Rayner by former Conservative Party deputy chairman and Tory donor Lord Ashcroft, which has been serialised in the Mail On Sunday.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Continue Reading

Trending