EU launches legal challenge against UK over 'unlawful' Gibraltar state aid

• Leaked Nicola Sturgeon report: 'Hard to believe' she did not know

• ‘One-stop shop’ to cut multiple appeals by failed asylum seekers

• PM: 'The jab is safe. The thing that isn't safe is catching Covid'

• Coronavirus latest news: No 10 plays down concerns of third wave

The European Union is taking the UK to court over the failure to recover illegal state aid worth around £86 million.

The Commission ruled two years ago that the state aid, which was granted before Brexit, had been deemed "unlawful and incompatible with state aid rules, and therefore the aid must be recovered".

State aid rules require "as a matter of principle", that it be recovered "to remove the distortion of competition created by the aid." Recovery must happen “as quickly as possible", the Commission added.

Executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy, said: "The aid granted by Gibraltar in the form of corporate tax exemption for passive interest and royalties gave an unfair advantage to some multinational companies and had to be recovered by the United Kingdom and the Gibraltar authorities.

"However, more than two years after the Commission adopted this decision, the aid has still not been recovered in full and sufficient progress has not been made in restoring competition. That is why we have decided to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice for failing to implement this decision."

A UK Government spokesperson said: "The UK and the Government of Gibraltar are working closely together and with the Commission on the case.

"The Government of Gibraltar has already recovered some of the aid, and continues to work to recover the outstanding aid in compliance with the Commission decision, and to bring this case to a satisfactory conclusion as soon as possible."

04:03 PM

And that's it for another day....

While Europe attempts to kick-start its stuttering vaccine programme, the UK has just announced a new record for daily jabs - 647,378 in total across the four nations.

Boris Johnson is soon to be confirmed as an extra number to that list, joining ministers including James Cleverly and Nadhim Zahawi, as the top team moves to reassure the public that the AstraZeneca vaccine is the best way to avoid the third wave that Europe is on the cusp of.

Sir Keir Starmer and Mark Drakeford have already had theirs. It's not clear whether Nicola Sturgeon will join them any time soon, although the Scottish First Minister has plenty of more pressing issues.

Her spokesperson did not mince words in their rejection of the leaked report - while the Scottish Conservatives have been just as vocal in their condemnation.

But with more than 2,200 responses to our daily poll, it seems the vast majority - 89 per cent - think while she should resign she won't.

For more on that, and the rest of the day's news, carry on reading below.

03:55 PM

The senior Tories with the secret Soviet past

His footfall cushioned by heavy snow, Peter Young slipped silently out of his hotel on a cold December evening in 1979 and took the Moscow subway to the end of the line, writes Kirsty Buchanan.

Read Kirsty Buchanan's story of how ministers and business bosses went undercover as idealistic students to undermine the Russian regime here.

03:47 PM

Rishi Sunak says 'no country will be left behind' as G7 pledges 'sizeable' support

The UK and allies from the G7 have agreed to support "sizeable" IMF aid for the poorest nations hit by the Covid pandemic.

Rishi Sunak promised to ensure "no country is left behind" after hosting an online gathering with counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

"G7 finance ministers agreed to support a new and sizeable International Monetary Fund (IMF) special drawing rights (SDR) allocation, helping vulnerable countries get through the current crisis", a Treasury statement said.

"This significant milestone lays the groundwork for a potential agreement at the G20 and International Monetary and Financial Committee meetings in April."

The Chancellor added: "Today's milestone agreement among the G7 paves the way for crucial and concerted action to support the world's low-income countries, ensuring that no country is left behind in the global economic recovery from coronavirus."

03:35 PM

Labour candidates apologises for 'Tory MILF'' tweet

Labour's candidate to defend Hartlepool in an upcoming by-election has apologised for his past "inappropriate" tweets.

In one tweet sent in 2011, Dr Williams said: "Do you have a favourite Tory MILF? Mind-blowing dinner table conversation".

Separately, he compared the burglary of Conservative MP Liam Fox to a sexual harassment scene in the film Withnail & I.

In a statement, Dr Williams said: "These tweets were inappropriate and I am sorry for using such language. They were from a decade ago, which doesn't diminish the fact that they were wrong, but I want to reassure people that I wouldn't dream of making comments like this now."

Asked if use of the word milf was appropriate during a visit to Glasgow, Sir Keir Starmer said: "No it isn't and Hartlepool is obviously a very important by-election for us."

But as of right now, the tweet has not been deleted.

03:22 PM

Further 74 Covid deaths registered in England

A further 74 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 85,659, NHS England said on Friday.

Patients were aged between 39 and 96 and all except one, aged 78, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between January 5 and March 18, with the majority being on or after March 11.

There were 23 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

03:15 PM

Sir Keir Starmer calls for transparency amid 'concerning' delay in vaccines from India

Sir Keir Starmer has said a delay in supply of coronavirus vaccine from India has given "cause for concern".

During a visit to Glasgow, with his Scottish counterpart, Anas Sarwar, the Labour leader told reporters: "I think the delay in vaccines is a cause for concern.

"The vaccine rollout has been very good and all tribute to those on the front line. I hope it can be resolved and I say that in a constructive spirit - nobody wants to see this not succeed.

"So we need transparency from the government, we need clarity about what needs to go right."

03:02 PM

Tom Harris: Sturgeon will go into the election under a dark cloud of suspicion

A journalist friend was speculating yesterday whether Nicola Sturgeon would be found guilty of breaching her own government's ministerial code over her statements relating to the ongoing Salmond scandal, writes Tom Harris.

Read the rest of Tom's column here.

02:52 PM

Labour demands probe into David Cameron lobbying claims

Labour has called for an investigation into whether former prime minister David Cameron lobbied for Greensill Capital, a specialist bank that has since gone bust, to handle extra Government-backed Covid loans.

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said a probe should be undertaken to "leave no stone unturned" in getting to the bottom of why "it appears Greensill was given so much access to the Treasury".

"These revelations raise extremely serious questions about the Chancellor's priorities in the middle of a pandemic," she added.

"Taxpayers and businesses deserve answers about why it appears Greensill was given so much access to the Treasury at a time when the Chancellor was refusing to engage with groups representing the millions of people he excluded from wage support."

A Treasury spokesman said: "Treasury officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss our economic response to Covid.

"The meetings in question were primarily about broadening the scope of CCFF to enable access for providers of supply chain finance, which - following a call for evidence and discussions with several other firms within the sector - we decided against and informed the businesses concerned."

02:45 PM

Covid vaccine no-show rates rise in UK after 'scares' in Europe

GPs and pharmacists are warning of rising numbers of people cancelling vaccine appointments or failing to turn up, as a result of “scares” from Europe.

Family doctors said vaccine clinics which had previously been full had seen “no-show” rates of up to 10 per cent, and patients cancelling appointments as a result of their concerns.

Omar Hamed, from Everest Pharmacy, in Manchester, told the Pharmacist magazine: “There is a lot of fear out there now, people are very wary about the AstraZeneca vaccine. We’ve probably had about 15 cancellations per day over the last week.”

Mr Hamed was among many pharmacists who said younger people were more likely than older ones to be deterred by reports from Europe.

Dr Dave Triska, a GP partner in Surrey, told Pulse magazine: ‘About 10 per cent of our workload today has been dealing with vaccination queries.

"It’s done real damage already.”

02:40 PM

More than half of adults in England have had Covid jab

More than half of the adults in England have now had a Covid vaccination, after more than 556,000 were given yesterday.

A total of 23,757,540 jabs have been given out in England since the programme started in December 8, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses.

That is a rise of 556,074 on the previous day, and equivalent of 50.5 per cent of the population of England aged 18 and over, based on estimates by the Office for National Statistics.

NHS England said 22,337,590 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 451,465 on the previous day, while 1,419,950 were a second dose, an increase of 104,609.

02:14 PM

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Second European summer in doubt as cost of vaccine failure keeps rising

Europe risks losing its second tourist season this summer as vaccine paralysis collides with an exploding third wave of Covid-19, pushing the Club Med bloc into deeper economic crisis and debt distress.

Morgan Stanley warned that unless the EU accelerates the vaccine rollout over coming weeks it will be faced with an aborted recovery across southern Europe. This would compound the grave legacy damage from 2020 and further widen the eurozone’s corrosive North-South gap.

The US investment bank said Spain’s battered economy could face another year of contraction under its “severe bear case”, defined as failure to lift the jab-rate above the current glacial pace. This would cause the number of overnight stays in hotels to remain even lower than recorded during the dire summer of 2020.

France, Italy, Portugal and Greece would fare slightly better under this scenario but they would nevertheless struggle to eke out more than minimal growth, leaving them trailing badly as northern Europe surges back to pre-pandemic levels.

Read Ambrose Evans-Pritchard's full analysis here.

02:04 PM

Have your say: Will Nicola Sturgeon resign?

Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls to resign, after leaked details of a report into her handling of the Alex Salmond case concluded she misled Parliament.

The Scottish Tories have said she must go, and although Labour is being more cautious, the sentiment is broadly the same.

However the report does not say she did so knowingly - something which supporters have seized on. Meanwhile others have pointed to the Westminster Government's own track record when it comes to ministerial resignations.

So will Ms Sturgeon quit - or will she live to fight another day? Have your say in the poll below.

01:58 PM

French Prime Minister gets AstraZeneca jab as programme resumes

The French Prime Minister has received the AstraZeneca vaccine at a hospital near Paris this afernoon, in an event that was broadcast live on French TV as part of efforts to restore public confidence in the vaccine.

Jean Castex, 55, received the Covid jab at the Begin military hospital in Saint-Mande.

It comes as France's medical regulator Haute Autorite de Sante ruled that use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in France could resume after a suspension of several days, but said it should only be given to people aged 55 and older.

01:49 PM

UK's R-rate remains below one

The UK's R-rate is between 0.6 and 0.9, according to the latest Government figures.

The R-rate - or reproduction rate - represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.

When the figure is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially, but when it is below 1, it means the epidemic is shrinking.

An R number between 0.6 and 0.9 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between six and nine other people.

The latest growth rate is between minus 6% and minus 3%, which means the number of new infections is shrinking by between 3% and 6% every day.

01:45 PM

Police warn protesters they risk arrest ahead of weekend of demonstrations

People planning to join protests in central London this weekend in breach of coronavirus restrictions risk arrest, the Metropolitan Police said.

A number of demonstrations are expected to take place in the capital, including a rally at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park to support Piers Corbyn's mayoral bid. The brother of the former Labour leader has been at the forefront of the anti-lockdown movement since restrictions were imposed a year ago.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, said: "The Met is committed to working with groups who wish to assemble to protest or for other purposes. But these are not normal times."

"People who gather as part of the protest risk the health of Londoners. That is why we have a policing plan in place to disperse crowds and where necessary, take proportionate enforcement action.

"This will not just be organisers of the protests but participants too - by now everyone knows their part to play in stopping the spread of the virus and thousands have sacrificed much over the last 12 months to do so."

01:26 PM

Third wave in Paris a reminder that no one is 'immune' from Covid, says Welsh First Minister

The third wave of coronavirus hitting Paris is proof that 'nobody is immune' from Covid, Wales' Mark Drakeford has said.

With intensive care units close to overflowing, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that Parisians can now only leave home for essential trips or exercise, and non-essential travel to other parts of the country was banned.

Today, the First Minister told a press conference that despite hopes coronavirus will be "completely behind us during this calendar year", it was not "responsible to say to people that is a guarantee".

He added: "Coronavirus has been full of unpleasant surprises, just as we have seen in Paris over the last few days. France was doing incredibly well only a few weeks ago and are now finding a sudden and significant flare up.

"Nobody should think that we are immune from that, nobody should think we can drop our guard and plan on the basis that coronavirus has gone away. That will not be the approach taken by the Welsh Government."

01:06 PM

Nicola Sturgeon facing mounting pressure to resign amid claims she was not 'truthful' to Scottish people

Nicola Sturgeon is facing an uphill battle to save her career, after a leaked report into her handling of the Alex Salmond affair suggests she misled Scottish Parliament.

The Holyrood inquiry is due to publish its report next week, however last night a leaked version concluded she had committed a "potential breach" of the ministerial code but stopped short of saying she did so "knowingly" – the normal threshold for resignation.

The Leader of Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross told BBC's Newsnight: "The evidence to that committee was very clear - she misled parliament and she has not been truthful to the people of Scotland.. That is a resignation matter."

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he would not prejudge the publication of the full report, but noted "if there has been a misleading of parliament you would expect the First Minister to resign."

Sir Keir Starmer said: "[Sturgeon] set herself high standards, and now she needs to live up to those high standards."

01:05 PM

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi gets the jab

You wait for one ministerial vaccination and then three turn up at once.

Hot on the heels of Foreign Office minister James Cleverly (see below), vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has now had the jab.

It comes ahead of Boris Johnson's trip, which is expected later today.

01:02 PM

Lobby latest: No 10 distances PM from Jacob Rees-Mogg's attack on journalist

No 10 has distanced Boris Johnson from comments made by Jacob Rees-Mogg in which he called a journalist "cheap" and accused him of "a cheat" to "distort" the Foreign Secretary's comments.

The Commons leader accused HuffPost of selectively editing a recording of Dominic Raab in which he said that the UK could not exclude countries committing human rights abuses in trad deals. The claims have not been backed up with evidence and denied by the reporter Arj Singh and his editors.

A No 10 spokesman said: "The PM is a staunch believer in the value of the free press and the important role journalists play in our democracy.

"These are not comments that the PM would've made.

"These comments were made by Jacob Rees-Mogg and I'm confident that he can explain their intended meaning."

The spokesman declined to say whether Mr Rees-Mogg would be told to retract the comments or apologise.

12:58 PM

Lobby latest: UK's borders sufficiently 'strong and robust' to keep South African variant out

Downing Street has played down concerns that a third wave of coronavirus across Europe could result in case being imported into the UK, saying our borders are "strong and robust".

Professor Neil Ferguson this morning warned that a "significant fraction" of European cases were likely to be of the South African variant, which the vaccines are believed to be less effective against (see posts below).

Asked about Prof Ferguson's remarks, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "We already have strong measures in place at the border as you will be aware. It is currently illegal to go on holiday and anyone arriving in England has to self-isolate, take two mandatory PCR tests on day two and day eight of their 10-day isolation period, and have a negative test before travel as well.

"A combination of specific policy options such as pre-departure testing and isolation are effective measures for mitigating the public health risk."

Pressed on whether some EU countries could be placed on the "red list", the No 10 spokesman said existing measures were "strong and robust."

12:55 PM

Lobby latest: UK in 'constant contact' with India over vaccines, says No 10

The UK Government is in "constant contact" with vaccine suppliers following a delay of a shipment from India, Number 10 has said.

Reports have suggested that ministers are in secret talks with India in a bid to release the doses to avoid a supply drop next month.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "I would say we are in constant contact with all manufacturers to understand and address potential variations in supply.

"I would reiterate the point about the words from the Prime Minister where he was very clear that the Indian government hasn't stopped any export of the vaccine and any delay ...is very frequent in vaccine rollout programmes."

12:51 PM

Nicola Sturgeon 'not the first woman let down by a man', claims spokesperson

A spokesperson for Nicola Sturgeon has said she "told the truth", dismissing growing calls for her resignation as "only ever about politics".

Ms Sturgeon did not appear at the Scottish Government's regular Covid briefing, and health secretary Jeane Freeman defended her boss, insisting that the report has not been published in full.

A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “The latest leak from the committee, suggesting they find it ‘hard to believe’ that the First Minister did not previously know about inappropriate behaviour on the part of Alex Salmond is not supported by a single shred of evidence.

"Sadly, she is not the first woman let down by a man she once trusted to face that charge, and regrettably she is unlikely to be the last."

The committee has "resorted to baseless assertion, supposition and smear", the spokesperson added, and "deliberately ignored and suppressed evidence" supporting Ms Sturgeon's claim that she had made it clear to her predecessor that she would not intervene on his behalf.

12:31 PM

Wales has 'flexible plans' to deal wit vaccine delays

First Minister Mark Drakeford said Wales had "flexible plans" to deal with a delay in vaccine supplies to the UK from India.

"Over the last few days, we've been vaccinating more than 1% of the population every day," Mr Drakeford said.

"This is testament to the hard work of hundreds of people across Wales working in more than 600 vaccination centres.

"But we could do even more if we had more vaccine.

"Unfortunately, there has been a delay in the supply of vaccines - a four-week hold-up in a shipment of vaccines to the UK from India."

12:19 PM

Some bus driver deaths 'would not have happened' with earlier lockdown, study finds

An earlier lockdown would have saved the lives of London bus drivers, an independent review has concluded.

The University College London (UCL) study found that some of the deaths of workers infected by Covid-19 in March 2020 "would not have happened" if movement restrictions and measures to stop the spread of the virus were imposed sooner.

The research, commissioned by Transport for London (TfL), focused on the 27 London bus drivers who had been working in February 2020 and died from coronavirus between March and May.

Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown on May 23 2020, with people only allowed to leave home for limited reasons such as to work or buy food.

UCL's report found that London bus drivers were three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than the UK average. It also noted that safety measures such as hand sanitisers, enhanced cleaning and covering holes in protective screens were introduced too late for many of those who died.

11:56 AM

Travel corridors may have spread Covid in UK last summer, says PHE

Allowing quarantine-free travel to Greece last summer may have had a significant contribution to the spread of coronavirus, according to a Public Health England study.

Travel corridors, which exempted people from needing to self-isolate when returning, were linked to higher rates of onward transition of imported cases, the researchers said.

Travel from the European countries accounted for 86 per cent of imported cases between May and September, according to the study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed.

Greece, which had quarantine-less travel for the entire period, was "the source of greatest imported" Covid-19 cases, accounting for 21 per cent of travel-linked cases, or 882 infections in the study of 4,207 cases.

The next highest were Croatia, which was taken off the exemption list on August 22 and accounted for 16 per cent, and Spain, removed on July 26 and accounting for 14 per cent.

"This highlights the need for active surveillance of imported cases of Sars-CoV-2 for the introduction of travel corridors in a timely manner," the study, worked on by academics from PHE, Cambridge University and the Covid-19 Genomics UK consortium, said.

11:50 AM

Have your say: Will Nicola Sturgeon resign?

Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls to resign, after leaked details of a report into her handling of the Alex Salmond case concluded she misled Parliament.

The Scottish Tories have said she must go, and although Labour is being more cautious, the sentiment is broadly the same.

However the report does not say she did so knowingly - something which supporters have seized on. Meanwhile others have pointed to the Westminster Government's own track record when it comes to ministerial resignations.

So will Ms Sturgeon quit - or will she live to fight another day? Have your say in the poll below.

11:28 AM

James Cleverly beats Boris Johnson to the punch on Covid jab

Boris Johnson is due to get his Covid vaccine today - but it seems Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has beaten him to the punch.

Naturally, he has had an Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, saying: "It’s safe, it’s effective, and it’s saving lives."

11:17 AM

Scots Tories leader defends party from hypocrisy charges over calls for Sturgeon to resign

Douglas Ross has defended his calls for Nicola Sturgeon to resign, despite several Conservative ministers having kept their jobs in similar situations.

During an interview with Sky News, it was put to him that Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick and Boris Johnson himself had been guilty of actions in the past that had eroded the party's "moral high ground".

But the Scots Tories leader pointed to "my own resignation from Government" over Dominic Cummings' infamous trip to Durham, breaking lockdown rules.

"I took a principled decision last year to stand down from Government because I didn't agree with actions of the Prime Minister's chief adviser," he said.

He was now tasked with ensuring "the standards we expect the First Minister to uphold are met, and in this case they have not been upheld," he added.

11:12 AM

Nicola Sturgeon has 'no option' but to resign, says Scots Tories leader

Douglas Ross has said Nicola Sturgeon has "no option" but to resign in the wake of leaked report that appears to conclude she misled Parliament.

The Scottish Conservatives leader said he had been calling for the First Minister to resign "for a number of weeks now... because the evidence has been clear... she has misled Parliament and not been truthful with the people of Scotland. She must resign."

Mr Ross told Sky News: "This is more than an internal row within the SNP, damaging though that may be.

"At the heart of this women have been let down... we have seen Scottish taxpayer had to pay up almost half a million pounds for a legal challenge that the Scottish government was told would fail and the First Minister misleading parliament."

Individually they would make her continuing in the role doubtful, but "combined, it leaves her with no option but to leave office", he said.

11:06 AM

Give right to protest 'same footing' as right to worship, say senior MPs

A group of senior MPs have called on the Government to ensure protests can take place during lockdown by putting on the "same footing" as the right to take part in communal worship.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has urged ministers to amend the law to make it clear that protest is permitted, as long as public health risks are managed. The report includes draft legislation which would have this affect.

Committee chair and veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman said: "The law on the right to protest during the pandemic has been a mess and the right to protest has not been protected.... While the Government has rightly protected the right to assemble for religion, they have not properly protected the right to protest. The right to protests should have no less protection than the right to religious assembly."

She added: "The events of last weekend show clearly how the lack of clarity and level of uncertainty in the law is unacceptable and must be remedied as a matter of urgency. "

10:53 AM

How Boris Johnson's hospitalisation sparked a 'jostling for position' in No10

Ever since his near-deadly bout of coronavirus last year, debate has raged about the extent to which the experience changed Boris Johnson's approach to tackling the pandemic.

His most loyal aides have always insisted it did not change him at all – but some allies now privately concede that he emerged from his hospital stay a different man.

"That whole near-death experience made him look at this through a different lens," said one. "After he came out of hospital... he started talking about how we could lose more people to Covid than we lost in the Second World War."

Irrespective of the effect his illness had on him, Mr Johnson's stay in intensive care was almost certainly the closest Britain has come to losing a Prime Minister in office since Margaret Thatcher in 1984.

Now, for the first time, some of those who were closest to the centre of power while Mr Johnson's life hung in the balance have spoken about both the moment they feared they might lose him and the Cabinet in-fighting his absence prompted.

Read Gordon Rayner's story here.

10:38 AM

London Mayor warns of 'longer lockdown' if people stop following Covid rules

Sadiq Khan has urged Londoners not to "take any risks" this weekend, warning it could lead to a "longer lockdown" if they do.

Amid a surge in cases on the Continent, the Mayor of London: "Please remember what’s at stake. I don’t need to remind you that we could face a longer lockdown if our cases start to rise, which is why it’s so important to keep following the rules."

10:15 AM

UK worst country in Europe for excess deaths among under-65s

The UK ended 2020 with one of the highest levels of excess mortality for people aged under 65 among countries in Europe, according to new analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

By the week ending December 18, the cumulative excess mortality rate for this age group was 7.7 per cent higher than the average mortality rate in 2015 to 2019, second only to Bulgaria on 12.3 per cent.

The individual rate for England stood at 8.7 per cent, higher than the figures for Scotland (7.7 per cent), Wales (five per cent) and Northern Ireland (4.1 per cent).

For deaths among all ages, Poland ended 2020 with the highest cumulative excess mortality rate (11.6 per cent), followed by Spain (10.6 per cent) and Belgium (9.7 per cent). England ranked seventh on this list (7.8 per cent) with the UK eighth (7.2 per cent).

The ONS compared 22 countries where data was available.

10:04 AM

Nicola Sturgeon must 'live up to high standards she set', says Sir Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer has waded into the drama engulfing Nicola Sturgeon, saying that the ministerial code "is clear that if the code has been breached, the individual should resign".

The Labour leader told the BBC: "It's more than just about Nicola Sturgeon, it's about the integrity of the Scottish Parliament, the integrity of the office of the First Minister and standards in public life.

"The First Minister wrote the foreword to the Scottish ministerial code and she said, and these were her words: 'I will lead by example in following the letter and the spirit of this code.'

"So she set herself high standards, and now she needs to live up to those high standards.

09:58 AM

Conservative MP tells BBC presenter to resign over flag posts

A Conservative MP has called for BBC presenter Naga Munchetty to resign after she 'liked' a series of Tweets that were disparaging about the British flag.

During yesterday's BBC Breakfast, colleague Charle Stayt told Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick ""your flag is not up to standard size, government interview measurements.

He added: "I think it’s just a little bit small, but that’s your department really."

Ms Munchetty was filmed laughing into her hand and added: “There’s always a flag. They had the picture of the Queen, though.” She went on to like several posts that viewers had put on Twitter, including one about "flag shaggers".

After being reminded of the BBC's new impartiality rules on social media, Ms Munchetty issued an apology - however that was not enough for Blackpool MP Scott Benton.

09:52 AM

Choppers Politics: One year of lockdown chaos in 26 minutes

The Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner has spent recent weeks deconstructing the government’s actions in the crucial early stages of the pandemic.

He’s been given the inside track from Cabinet ministers, sat down with members of Sage and grilled government advisers to find out what really happened this time last year - or more accurately, what went wrong.

On this week’s Chopper’s Politics podcast, he lets chief political correspondent and podcast host Christopher Hope into those conversations, and decides whether more could have been done, or if hindsight really is 20/20.

Listen below.

09:41 AM

Former MP to stand for Labour in hotly contested Red Wall race

Former Stockton South MP Paul Williams was unveiled as Labour’s candidate in the Hartlepool by-election last night.

It might not sound like a big deal but this hotly contested Red Wall race will be the first real test of Sir Keir Starmer's leadership. Richard Tice, the leader of the Reform Party, has been calling on the Tories not to stand a candidate - a plea which has so far fallen on deaf ears.

Mr Williams, who is a doctor who has been working on the frontline during the pandemic, has the backing of many in the party - but his selection through a longlist of one has angered women in the party, according to Labour List.

09:24 AM

German health minister: We do not have enough vaccines to stop third wave

While the UK is looking ahead to greater freedoms, over on the Continent it is looking increasingly likely that countries will have to endure further restrictions.

German health minister Jens Spahn told a weekly news conference: "The rising case numbers may mean that we cannot take further opening steps in the weeks to come. On the contrary, we may even have to take steps backwards."

He noted that there was not enough vaccine available to stop a third wave.

"It is very possible that we will have a similar situation over Easter to the one we had before Christmas, with very high case numbers, many severe cases and deaths, and hospitals that are overwhelmed," the vice president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases, Lars Schaade, told reporters.

09:12 AM

Government hoping for 'permanent reopening' for theatres and stadiums, says minister

The Government is hoping to make the return to large events a "permanent reopening", despite concerns about a possible third wave later this year, the Culture Secretary has said.

Asked about warnings of a resurgence of Covid in the autumn or winter, and whether that might see theatres and stadiums shut once again, Oliver Dowden told Sky News: "That's why we are proceeding with caution, because we really want these to be a permanent reopening.

"This terrible disease has changed over time, but we will be doing everything we can to ensure that it is permanent.

"I'm sure you'll appreciate that we can't foresee every last eventuality but what we are doing is trying to get the conditions right so that this will be a permanent reopening."

09:00 AM

Scottish Conservatives 'making it easy for Sturgeon', says Labour leader

The Scottish Labour leader has criticised the Conservatives for "making a decision two weeks ago that Nicola Sturgeon needed to resign".

"What they actually did by doing that lower the bar that Nicola Sturgeon had to pass in her evidence session, rather than raise it," Anas Sarwar told the Today programme.

"I don't support the SNP, I don't support the First Minister, but I accept she deserves due process, the right to answer questions at her inquiry....

"But I stand by the principle on order to protect the office of First Minister and the integrity of Parliament, if there is a beach of ministerial code, if there has been a misleading of parliament you would expect the First Minister to resign."

He added: "The Conservatives are making this easy for First Minister by making it a political football."

08:55 AM

'A breach is a breach': Scots Labour leader rejects Sturgeon's 'inadvertent' defence

Anas Sarwar has said the First Minister could have to resign regardless of whether she misled Parliament inadvertently or not.

The Scottish Labour leader told Radio 4's Today programme: "There is no distinction made in the code about inadvertent or not. If there is a breach, a breach is a breach.

Pressed on this, he said it was "one person's word against three people's word.

"There are three people who were present at that meeting saying this took place and one person saying it didn't. So I think around corroboration, and balance of evidence, a judgement can be made."

08:49 AM

First Minister should resign on 'principle of integrity', says Scots Labour leader

The leader of Scottish Labour has said Nicola Sturgeon should resign if the independent Hamilton inquiry finds she misled Parliament.

The Holyrood inquiry report has been leaked, showing MSPs voted along party lines on the matter, however a separate inquiry is yet to reveal its findings.

Anas Sarwar told Radio 4's Today programme that if the leak was found to be correct "that is very, very serious for the First Minister", although stressed "she deserves due process" in both instances.

He added: "If you remove party, remove personality and go back to principles of integrity of the office, the First Minister and Parliament you would expect that first minister to resign."

08:44 AM

Some European countries holding out on AstraZeneca jab

Several European countries will resume the AstraZeneca vaccine today, after the European Medicines Agency gave it the green light.

France, Italy, Germany, Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania will resume rollout of the Oxford shot today, while Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands will follow suit next week, although Spain said it could exclude certain groups.

However Norway, Sweden and Denmark have said they will continue their hold on the AstraZeneca jab, despite the EMA's ruling, while they conduct their own independent reviews of the jab's safety.

"We want to thoroughly review the situation before we make a conclusion," said Geir Bukholm, director of the Division of Infection Control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. "This will take some time, and we will provide an update at the end of next week."

French prime minister Jean Castex is expected to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday.

This morning Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford vaccine group told Radio 4's Today programme there was "much more vaccine hesitancy in Europe" than in the UK.

08:32 AM

MHRA: UK protected from third wave - but EU at risk after pausing vaccine

The UK is likely to be protected from a third Covid-19 wave but the EU is at risk due to the pause in their vaccination rollout, the former chief executive of the MHRA has claimed.

Sir Kent Woods said it was "very unfortunate" that countries including Germany and France had delayed the delivery of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine over unfounded concerns about blood clots.

His comments come as sixteen regions of France - including Paris - have entered a new lockdown.

"It may have contributed to a third wave," said Sir Kent. "I think the wave was probably on its way but nevertheless it's very unfortunate that there was the pause for two reasons.

"Firstly, it loses time. The second aspect is public confidence. Will people now be willing to get their vaccine as quickly as possible? That's the way these successive waves are going to be stamped out."

Discussing the UK's vaccine rollout, he added: "I have great hopes that as the proportion of the population who have been vaccinated increases, we will be able to protect ourselves from a third wave."

08:30 AM

India 'not withholding vaccines', minister insists

India is not "withholding vaccines" from the UK following issues with supply, the Culture Secretary has insisted.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute, told The Telegraph that the decision had been made “solely” by the Indian government, which he claimed was temporarily holding exports to combat a domestic surge in cases.

But Oliver Dowden told LBC: "No, India is not withholding vaccines, and I pay tribute to the work of the Serum Institute.

"They have had some supply issues with five million doses, as the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary outlined yesterday.

"But we always knew that there would be ups and downs and that is part of our planning assumptions, that's why we have been relatively cautious, for example with the road map for getting out of lockdown."

08:28 AM

UK must keep South African variant out as cases in France rise

A senior scientific adviser warned the UK must keep out the South African Covid-19 variant as some European countries report a third wave of infections.

Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, said a group of European countries are seeing increasing levels of cases, albeit driven by the Kent variant.

"Perhaps more concern for the UK though is that some countries are notably seeing a significant fraction, 5-10% of cases, of the South African variant," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"When infection levels go up in France, 30,000 cases a day, that implies there's at least 1,500-2,000 cases a day of the South African variant.

"That is the variant we really do want to keep out of the UK."

08:27 AM

France's third wave raising questions about UK travel, says Prof Ferguson

The looming third wave in France will raise questions about the extent to which the UK can relax travel restrictions to the Continent, Professor Neil Ferguson has said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the senior scientific adviser said: "I think there are important decisions coming up, and it's always a balancing act.

"How much we relax the current ban on international travel except for essential services.

"As a lot of essential travel between ourselves and France for business, commerce and trade, how can we reduce the risks associated with that travel.

"Those are policy decisions, I'm just raising the issue that we are doing so well with the vaccination campaign, we are driving down deaths at a faster rate than I ever thought was possible and that will allow us to open up."

When asked whether he thought France should be added to the red list, he said: "I don't think that's necessarily a practical issue given the amount of trade."

08:24 AM

Drop in UK vaccine supply won't have 'enormous effect', says Prof Ferguson

The anticipated drop in the UK's vaccine supply will not have an 'enormous effect' on the UK's rollout, Professor Neil Ferguson has said.

The senior scientific adviser told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the delay was "slightly disappointing", but added: "I don't think the delay will have an enormous effect.

"We'll still have enough vaccine to largely continue with the programme."

He said of bigger concern was the South African variant of Covid-19, adding: "Overall, I'm optimistic with this one caveat that we do need to keep these variants of concern at bay.

"Until we can update the vaccine, rolled out the vaccine and really hopefully the whole adult population which will be this summer, at that point we'll be in a much safer position."

08:21 AM

UK debt surge continues with £19.1bn of borrowing last month

Government borrowing hit £19.1 billion last month, pushing debt levels to a fresh high.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the public sector had borrowed more last month than during any other February since 1993. The UK's net debt now stands at £2.131 trillion.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, said: "Coronavirus has caused one of the largest economic shocks this country has ever faced, which is why we responded with our £352 billion package of support to protect lives and livelihoods.

"This was the fiscally responsible thing to do and the best way to support the public finances in the medium-term.

"But I have always said that we should look to return the public finances to a more sustainable path once the economy has recovered and at the Budget I set out how we will begin to do just that, providing families and businesses with certainty."

08:18 AM

Government will use 'vaccine certificates' in sports and culture pilots, confirms minister

Coronavirus "certificates" are to be piloted in the hope of getting people back to larger events "in significant numbers", the Culture Secretary has confirmed.

Oliver Dowden insisted they were not vaccine passports - although did not explain the difference between the two concepts.

He told Sky News the team was running a series of pilots for sports and cultural events including using certificates for vaccines and negative tests.

"We will be testing these things, things like one-way systems, things like masks, things like hand hygiene and everything else," he explained. "Another thing that we are considering is a Covid certification, and we will be testing whether we can use Covid certification to help facilitate the return of sports."

He added that final decisions had not yet been made and that he was working with Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who is leading the review.

08:13 AM

Boris Johnson to be vaccinated today as he tells country to 'get the jab done'

Boris Johnson is to get his jab today, as he presses the case for the country to remain confident in its safety, telling the country last night: "The Oxford jab is safe and the Pfizer jab is safe."

He added: "The thing that isn't safe is catching Covid, which is why it is so important that we all get our jabs as soon as our turn comes.

"As it happens, I'm getting mine tomorrow, and the centre where I'm getting jabbed is currently using the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for those receiving their first dose – and that is the one I'll be having.

"We remain on track to reclaim the things we love, to see our families and friends again, to return to our local pubs, our gyms and sports facilities and of course our shops, all as long as the data continue to go in the right direction and we meet our four tests. And the way to ensure this happens is to get that jab when your turn comes."

Sir Keir Starmer revealed yesterday he has had his already, as has Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford.

07:56 AM

Sturgeon faces fight to save career over finding she misled parliament

Nicola Sturgeon was facing a fight for her political career on Thursday night after MSPs concluded that she had misled a Holyrood inquiry investigating her handling of the Alex Salmond affair.

A cross-party committee examining how the Scottish Government dealt with harassment complaints against the former First Minister is to find that Ms Sturgeon had given "an inaccurate account" on oath of a crucial meeting with Mr Salmond in April 2018.

According to a leaked section of its report, which was still being finalised on Thursday night ahead of publication next week, the inquiry concluded she had committed a "potential breach" of the ministerial code but stopped short of saying she did so "knowingly" – the normal threshold for resignation.