Politics latest news: Boris Johnson warns UK is 'not out of the woods yet' despite 'encouraging' drop in Covid cases

• Unions fight virus testing plan to ease pingdemic​

• Vaccine passports being considered for the workplace

• Wine-lovers to save £130m as Brexit frees imports from red tape

• ​Police face league tables to rate performance in tackling crime

• Coronavirus latest: Students will need to be fully vaccinated to attend lectures under PM's plans

Boris Johnson has warned the UK is "not out of the woods yet" despite the "encouraging" drop in Covid cases.

The Prime Minister's deputy official spokesman said: "Throughout the pandemic we have always said it's encouraging when cases are falling".

However, the spokesman cautioned that the pandemic "is not over" and "we should still expect to see a rise in case numbers given the move to Step 4 last week".

He added: "The Prime Minister thinks we're not out of the woods yet."

It comes after the number of confirmed Covid infections fell for the fifth day in a row.

Speaking earlier today Vicky Ford, the Children's Minister, warned that while the news on the figures was good, "we all know how quickly it can go back up again".

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers, said the drop in cases could be to do with the fact that schools are closed.

He said: "We need to monitor this over the next few days to see if this is consistently going down or whether we are sort of seeing a dip because schools are closed and then maybe things might level off again, so I think it remains to be seen exactly what's going to happen."

Meanwhile, Union leaders have launched a battle against Government plans to end the pingdemic, concerned that an exemption that allows critical workers to ignore the NHS app and go to work if they are pinged, will cause further harm than good.

Leaders of the UK’s largest unions are now encouraging key workers to ignore the exemption and stay home, suggesting they could be exposed to Covid in the workplace.

​​Follow the latest updates below.

02:54 PM

'No jab -> no university = compulsory vaccination (in effect) ' - Mark Harper says

The Chairman of the Covid Recovery Group has tweeted his thoughts on university students being given compulsory jabs:

02:42 PM

Comment: Vaccine passports are a step on the road to Hell

In case you haven't got around to reading today's comment piece by Tim Stanley, he sets out why introducing Covid passports would mean heading towards big state surveillance.

"Life has become an open book. When the Stasi listened in on private conversations at the height of the Cold War, it was a key element of Western identity that we found this repugnant, yet nowadays our personal details, from qualifications to relationship status, are found easily online, and data is traded in the marketplace," he writes.

"While we denounce China as an authoritarian state, we differ only by degree and method."

01:57 PM

Labour needs to be 'lean' and 'fit'

Discussing the redundancies, Ms Rayner added: "It is very worrying for our staff who are going through that process. But we want to make sure that the Labour Party is in a very lean, fit position to go forward to win the next general election.

"We have got to be honest about the change that needs to happen. We can't go through the defeats we have gone through succession after succession and not make any changes."

01:45 PM

Labour admits voluntary redundancies are happening

The party has defended asking its own staff to apply for voluntary redundancy as Angela Rayner launched an employment rights charter described as a "fork in the road".

The party's deputy leader visited the Impact Hub co-working space in central London on Monday to unveil a "new deal for working people" which promises to "fundamentally change" the economy as the party seeks to win back traditional voters who have switched to the Conservatives.

She was forced to admit that the party is asking its own staff to consider taking voluntary redundancy due to a lack of funds.

The Labour List website reported last week that party reserves are down to one month's worth of payroll, and said general secretary David Evans had told the National Executive Committee: "We don't have any money."

Asked about the situation, Ms Rayner said: "We are in the devastating circumstances where we have lost general elections and we have lost resources as a result of that, and our organisation has to change.

"At the moment we are asking people to take voluntary redundancy and change the way we do our work like any organisation that goes through those times."

01:31 PM

More people are wearing less face masks since Freedom Day

A new poll by YouGov suggests the use of face masks among young people has slumped since "freedom day" on July 19.

The survey found 46 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they wore a face mask in a public place in the last two weeks, compared to 58 per cent on July 16 and 64 per cent on June 2.

Meanwhile, the survey of 1,742 British adults between July 21 and 22 found other age groups were still wearing face coverings at around the same rate as 69 per cent of all Britons say they wore a face mask in the last two weeks, compared to 71 per cent on July 16 and 73 per cent on June 2.

YouGov also said young people were less likely to be fully vaccinated and more likely to have disabled their NHS Covid-19 app.

Meanwhile, the proportion of Britons thinking the Government is handling Covid-19 well fell from 41 per cent just before "freedom day" to 34 per cent afterwards.

Attitudes among Conservative voters tumbled 17pts this week. Prior to July 19, about three-quarters (73 per cent) of Conservative voters thought the Government was doing a good job of managing the pandemic response. According to YouGov, now only 56 per cent do, the lowest to date among Tory voters.

12:57 PM

UK floods

Boris Johnson tweeted his thanks to the emergency services and volunteers after England's south was battered by thunderstorms.

"My thoughts are with everyone affected by the flooding in London and the South East," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"A huge thank you to the emergency services and volunteers helping families and businesses through this difficult time."

12:37 PM

Downing Street have not denied reports of compulsory vaccinations for uni students

A No 10 spokesman addressed reports today that university students would need to be vaccinated in order to attend lectures when they return to their studies in the autumn.

"You have heard what the PM has said before, specifically that the pandemic is not over," he said.

"We are still looking at the scope for vaccination certifications."

Asked if there was concern about take-up of the vaccines in younger age groups, the spokesman said: "I think you continue to see more and more young people coming forward to receive the vaccine, both in terms of first doses and now second doses.

"Of course, we want to see more people come forward to receive it.

"We would like to see everybody who is invited to come forward and receive the vaccination to do so. That's the message we continue to try and give to young people."

11:47 AM

PM warns 'we're not out of the woods yet'

Downing Street said the fall in coronavirus cases was "encouraging" but numbers were still expected to rise and Boris Johnson believes "we're not out of the woods yet".

The Prime Minister's deputy official spokesman said that "throughout the pandemic we have always said it's encouraging when cases are falling", however warned the pandemic "is not over" and that "we should still expect to see a rise in case numbers given the move to Step 4 last week". "

He added: "The Prime Minister thinks we're not out of the woods yet."

11:19 AM

Travel news latest | France could be removed from 'amber plus' list next week

France could be moved back to the amber list next week, meaning double-jabbed travellers would be exempt from quarantine upon their return to the UK, Government sources have said.

It is currently the only country on the so-called 'amber plus' list, a category created last week which makes quarantine mandatory for all arrivals, including the fully vaccinated, over fears that France had too much of the beta variant that first originated in South Africa.

• Read the latest from our travel liveblog here.

11:07 AM

Government's vaccine passports plans 'unworkable', says Rayner

Labour's deputy leader has said the Government's plans for vaccine passports are "unworkable".

Speaking on a visit to co-working space Impact Hub, in central London, Angela Rayner said: "We think it is unworkable actually and we should be encouraging people to get the vaccine as soon as they possibly can, and also encouraging people to take regular tests as well. Because that is how we keep control of the virus.

"Of course, even with the two vaccines you can still get Covid, so therefore testing has got to be an important part of that scheme."

She had earlier said of vaccine passports: "The bureaucracy shouldn't fall on businesses. Many businesses, the practicalities, whether it is in hospitality or in other organisations, they have absolutely struggled during this pandemic and there is absolutely no way that these businesses can go around vetting and checking these vaccine passports are legit."

11:05 AM

Labour's charter for employment - including flexible working for all staff

Labour's deputy leader has launched a charter for employment rights at a "fork in the road" in the pandemic.

Angela Rayner said Labour's new deal for workers was "the minimum" they could expect after working through the pandemic.

She said: "Today the new deal is about - we are at a fork in the road as we come out of this pandemic - is that people in Britain shouldn't have to go to work and really struggle to feed their families and support themselves in very low-paid insecure work.

"Today is about making sure that everybody gets rights from day one in employment, can have the right to flexible working, not just for the employer but for the employees as well who have done so much adapting and working from home in this period, and making sure that everybody has at least a minimum of £10 an hour, a real living wage.

"I think that will really boost our economy but also give people some security and respect in work. We think that is the absolute minimum that people should expect."

She added the day one employment rights could include getting rid of probationary periods, adding there were "other ways" employers could deal with staff who were not "up to the job".

11:00 AM

Equatorial Guinea to close London embassy after Foreign Office sanctions

The central African state of Equatorial Guinea announced Monday it was closing its embassy in London after Britain imposed sanctions against the son of its veteran president over corruption allegations.

"The first decision that the government has taken is the total closure of our diplomatic mission in London," Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono told state broadcaster TVGE.

He gave no details as to when the decision would take effect.

"We do not accept interference in our country's domestic affairs," he said, describing the sanctions as "breaching the principle of international law".

On Thursday, Britain slapped sanctions on Teodorin Nguema Obiang, Equatorial Guinea's vice president and son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, for allegedly syphoning state assets into his own bank accounts.

The British Foreign Office said the younger Obiang had made corrupt contracting arrangements and solicited bribes to support his jet-setting lifestyle.

10:18 AM

Pingdemic causes travel chaos as commuters squeezed onto reduced services

On the morning that many Britons returned to the office after months of working from home, the pingdemic saw commuters squeezed onto reduced services due to rail staff self-isolating.

Train operators have been forced to slash the number of trains on the tracks on Monday morning because drivers and guards are stuck at home.

But commuters have been left with just one train an hour on busy lines into London, with reports of passengers sitting in the aisles while government advice is to maintain social distance.

• Read the full story here.

09:59 AM

Boris Johnson hails 'fantastic day' for Team GB

While Sir Keir Starmer was tearing the Prime Minister apart on LBC, it seems Boris Johnson was not tuned into the radio and instead had the Olympics on at Chequers...

09:45 AM

Police and security should have anticipated Wembley Euro 2020 chaos, says Starmer

The Labour leader told LBC: "I think that the police and security should should have anticipated what might have happened.

"It was pretty obvious there were quite a lot of people outside without tickets, they weren't there to cheer the England coach, it didn't seem to me.

"And therefore I was concerned that that had happened.

"I haven't seen a breach of security out of football for a very, very long time that come in a barn I mean as every football fan knows, we can we can go to football really not see any trouble at all."

09:26 AM

Starmer: 'PM is the master of untruths and half-truths'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he supported MP Dawn Butler when she called Boris Johnson a liar.

Labour MP Ms Butler was ordered to leave the House of Commons last week after refusing to withdraw claims that Mr Johnson has "lied to the House and the country over and over again".

Asked about the incident on LBC, Sir Keir said: "I agree with what Dawn had to say. I think the Prime Minister is the master of untruths and half-truths, and Dawn was simply giving some examples of that.

"I think there's a lot of people that feel that, you know, it's the person who's not telling the truth rather than the person who's calling it out that ought to be on the hotspot. So, I agree with Dawn on that.

"But I do want to, in fairness to the temporary speaker, Judith Cummings, who was there, she did the right thing, she followed the rules because Parliament doesn't allow you to call other parliamentarians liars in the chamber, so I don't criticise the speaker ... the deputy speaker for what she did, she was following the rules. But do I support Dawn in what she said? I absolutely do."

09:20 AM

NHS 3pc payrise 'not fair', says Starmer

Sir Keir said the proposed 3 percent increase for NHS workers was "not fair" and said he would need to see what comes out of the forthcoming negotiations.

After speaking to a psychologist from Reigate, Sir Keir told the LBC phone-in: "I don't think it's fair. Obviously, I support the fact that the unions are now consulting the workforce on what they think of it, but it's not fair and I am struck by the morale point because I've been to a lot of hospitals in the last few months, and morale is very low because it's been such a hard year and a half."

He added that the percentage point would have to be negotiated.

"15 per cent is high but I think what the unions are doing now is right, which is to say, 'we're going to go back to our workforce with the 3% of this, as it were, on the table and consultant on that. Let's see what comes out of that."

He said: "Having clapped the NHS, the government has in the end treated them very very badly, along with other frontline workers."

09:02 AM

Starmer backs pragmatic Covid passport proposals

Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to be "pragmatic" over proposals on the use of Covid passports.

The Labour leader was asked on LBC about the use of certification at mass events such as the Euros final at Wembley.

He said: "I think tests are actually more useful than double vaccinations, as the Health Secretary has shown. He, of course, got Covid just about 10 days ago now, I know he's through it now, but he had been double vaccinated. So, I actually think tests are much more useful.

"I think that the idea that we can go back to mass sporting events or other events without any checks is not one I would subscribe to."

Asked whether he would support the Government in a vote, he said Labour would "look carefully" at proposals and added: "What I don't want to see, just to be very clear about this, is I don't want to see vaccine passports used on an everyday basis for access to critical things like health, dentistry, food, etc.

"So, for sporting events, I'll look at what the Government puts on the table. I want to be pragmatic because we all want all business sectors and sporting sectors to return as quickly as possible. But not for everyday use."

08:47 AM

Strike action 'not the right' thing to do

Our front page exclusive this morning revealed that Steve Hedley, senior assistant general secretary of the RMT, threatened to launch strike action over Downing Street’s exemption scheme.

However, Sir Keir said he did not believe that was the right course of action to take.

He said: "No I don't think that's the right way. I think that if it is possible to show that with a double vaccination, and a negative test, critical workers can go back to work, I would support that."

08:35 AM

Government must end 'chaos' of pingdemic

Sir Keir said the "exemptions" list needs to be looked at "in the moment" and that he wanted the schemes being rolled out to get people into work, "to work".

He told LBC: "I think we need to look at the way the exemptions work in the moment, there are now schemes as you know for critical workers who've been double vaccinated and testing to go back to work, keep an eye on those. I want those to work."

"So, if that works, data not dates, then we should support it and look again at the 16th of August, which is the day when the rules are supposed to change but I'm hoping we can do something because at the moment it's absolute chaos as you will know, in terms of keeping the economy going, keeping businesses going."

08:18 AM

Sir Keir Starmer

The Labour leader is doing a live phone in with LBC this morning.

So far he's said:

- He doesn't believe strike action is the way to resolve the pingdemic

- That he believes a higher pay rise for the NHS is needed, although he cautioned a potential 15% was "very high"

- Covid passports on their own aren't enough. It has to be "passports plus testing". He warns that these can't be used for access to everyday avenues such as health and food.

08:05 AM

University students may face compulsory vaccinations

Boris Johnson is reported to have said during zoom meetings with the Health Secretary last week that he wants university students vaccinated in order for them to return to their studies. However, this could lead to push back from the Department of Education as universities are independent.

Asked about this Ms Ford told Sky News: "We must make sure that we continue to prioritise education and if they want to be able to avoid the self-isolation such as we have said for other adults, the double-vaccinated adults by August the 16th if you have not got a positive test, if you don't have symptoms, you won't need to self-isolate."

Pressed further on the matter on the Today Programme, Ms Ford said: "I think it's really important that young people step forward for their vaccination."

She added that self isolation was challenging for students last year and that the Government has "prioritised education from the beginning".

Asked if there was a plan to make students be fully vaccinated in order to attend lectures, Ms Ford said: "We've always considered everything we can do."

07:56 AM

Fall in cases calls for cautious optimism

Dr Mike Tildesley added that it always takes a couple of weeks for dropping case numbers to be reflected in hospital admissions.

"I would say that the fact the cases have gone down for the last five days or so is ... I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm cautiously optimistic about that, but I think we're going to have to wait another couple of weeks before we see, firstly, the effect of the 19th of July relaxation and, second, whether hospital admissions will start to go down."

He told the Today programme: "I think if they do then at that point we can be much more confident that we're starting to see hopefully this wave turning round."

He said "we need to monitor this over the next few days to see if this is consistently going down or whether we are sort of seeing a dip because schools are closed and then maybe things might level off again, so I think it remains to be seen exactly what's going to happen."

07:41 AM

Falling number of new cases positive, minister says

Vicky Ford said that while the sustained drop in coronavirus cases was "very good news", she warned against complacency.
After warning how it's possible to go back up, she added: "I think it does show how important it is that we continue to take issues like self-isolation really seriously as well and continue to encourage people to get that vaccine, and the double vaccine indeed, because that's going to be the way that we get out of this longer term."

Meanwhile, Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group, which provides modelling evidence to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said he was cautiously optimistic about falling cases but wanted to see if hospital admissions also drop.

He also suggested schools breaking up for the summer could be behind the drop in cases.

07:31 AM

Politics today

Good morning.

Today hopes are rising that the UK has passed the peak of third wave as the number of new cases fell for five days in a row, however a senior minister sought to dampen excitement, warning "we all know how quickly it can go back up again".

It comes as ministers will hold a Covid O meeting today to look at whether more sectors could be exempted from isolation rules, as pingdemic continues to cause turmoil among workers. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, today marks Boris Johnson's final day of isolation at Chequers.