The PM is confident in COVID ‘plan A’, but he knows better than to make firm promises
One thing the prime minister and his scientific advisers clearly agree upon is that when it comes to this winter, nothing should be ruled out.
Boris Johnson made a point of explaining the “toolbox” of measures available were varied, and outlined the coronavirus restrictions that could be reintroduced if a “plan B” were needed.
This is perhaps a prime minister who has learned the lessons of last winter and all those COVID-19 U-turns: promises are made to be broken, and plans can always change, but sometimes it’s better not to make them.
Chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, addresses the news conference
The prime minister was certainly hedging his bets.
But even in a more circumspect mode, the prime minister expressed confidence: that “plan B” could be avoided, and that wider lockdowns could be avoided too – so long as the number of people getting double-jabbed continues to go up.
The chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer backed Mr Johnson on the pressing importance of vaccinations, but when it came to his confidence on the ability to avoid reimposing restrictions there was no ringing endorsement.
Instead, Professor Chris Whitty warned against being presumptuous, saying we have not faced a winter with the Delta variant before and those who say they know how it could pan out have not understood the situation.
There was also what appeared to be a veiled warning from Sir Patrick Vallance.
The chief scientific adviser said when it comes to responding to a pandemic, the question for politicians is not just what measures you are willing to take, but when you are willing to take them.
Chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, goes through the latest data at the briefing
Was that reference to what happened last autumn, when the government chose not to follow the advice of scientific advisers to opt for a two-week “circuit breaker” as a response to a spike in cases?
What followed was waves of regional lockdowns, Christmas restrictions and three months of national lockdown in the new year.
The three men may have stood at the podium side by side, but as we’ve seen before in this pandemic, there appear to be gaps between what Mr Johnson hopes will happen, and what the scientists think will happen.
The difference this time is that the prime minister has given himself more room to manoeuvre.
J. Christian Giancarlo has stressed the importance of upholding values of liberty, privacy and economic freedom in a keynote address in London.
SIBAN’s executive secretary, Rume Ophi, stressed that Binance should reveal names to substantiate the claim and allow authorities to address wrongdoing.
Politics
Home Office should be split in two to curb migration, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick says
Former Tory immigration minister Robert Jenrick has called for the Home Office to be split in two as part of a 30-point plan to curb migration.
Mr Jenrick, who is seen as a potential Conservative leadership contender, has been ramping up pressure on Rishi Sunak over the issue after quitting his government post last year.
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In a report he co-authored for the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), a centre-right think-tank, the MP for Newark said the government must “undo the disastrous post-Brexit liberalisations” that have “betrayed” the public’s wish for lower immigration.
He proposed a number of policies that should be implemented ahead of the looming general election, including breaking up the Home Office to create a department more focused on border control.
He said voters “deserve a department whose sole mission is controlling immigration and securing our borders”.
The proposals also include capping health and care visas at 30,000, scrapping the graduate route for international students, and indexing salary thresholds for visa routes in line with inflation.
Mr Jenrick said: “It would be unforgivable if the government did not use the time before the general election to undo the disastrous post-Brexit liberalisations that betrayed the express wishes of the British public for lower immigration.
“The changes we propose today would finally return numbers to the historical norm and deliver the highly selective, highly-skilled immigration system voters were promised.
“These policies could be implemented immediately and would consign low-skilled mass migration to the past.”
Mr Jenrick was the immigration minister between October 2022 and December 2023.
He quit over the government’s inability to get the Rwanda deportation policy off the ground, and has since become one of the Mr Sunak’s loudest critics, particularly on migration.
Official estimates published in November indicated the net migration figure – the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving Britain – reached a record 745,000 in 2022.
The 2019 Tory manifesto promised to bring the “overall number down”.
The intervention comes amid a pessimistic mood with the Conservative Party following a bruising set of local election results.
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Rwanda bill ‘a bucket full of holes’
Many Tories on the right believe caps on legal migration and getting flights to Rwanda in order to “stop the boats” is the best way to give the party a fighting chance at the general election, which the prime minister has admitted he might not win.
Read More:
Home Office figures show how vital immigration is to the economy
The government is introducing a raft of restrictions in a bid to cut the number of people legally arriving in Britain, including a ban on overseas care workers bringing family dependants to the UK and a drastically hiked salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,700.
A government spokesperson said: “The prime minister and home secretary have been clear that current levels of migration are far too high. That is why the government announced a plan to cut the number of migrants that would have come last year to the UK by 300,000 – the largest reduction ever.
“This plan is working, with the latest statistics showing applications across three major visa categories are down by 24%.
“Our approach is fair – reducing immigration and ensuring businesses invest in and recruit from the domestic workforce, whilst prioritising the overseas workers and students who will contribute significantly to our economy.”
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