UK coronavirus live: No 10 fails to defend PM being at Tory meeting where social distancing rules ignored

Meeting of backbench 1922 Committee fuels claims that Boris Johnson guilty of hypocrisyStaffordshire school closes after Covid caseManchester Airports Group calls for urgent Covid testing of arrivalsUK flip-flopping over quarantine devastates Portuguese tourist industryPupils with special needs ‘forgotten’ as English schools reopenGlobal coronavirus updates – live 2.40pm BST The latest official published R figure for the UK is between 0.9 and 1.1, with the number of new infections somewhere between shrinking by 1% and growing by 2% every day, the latest update from the government reveals.For England alone, R is estimated to be between 0.9 and 1, with a growth rate between -2% and +1%.These estimates represent the transmission of Covid-19 from several weeks ago due to a time delay between someone being infected and needing healthcare. Sage [the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies] does not have confidence that R is currently below 1 in England. 2.21pm BST Downing Street has not disputed a claim that the prime minister thinks that the trade talks with the EU are now more likely than not to fail. In his Times column (paywall) today, the Spectator’s political editor James Forsyth says the hances of a Brexit deal have “receded significantly” recently. “Inside No 10, they now think there is only a 30 to 40% chance that there will be an agreement,” he writes. At the No 10 lobby briefing the spokesman not challenge that assessment, but he would not confirm it either. He would not comment on percentages, he said. He said the government still wanted a deal. But it needed “more realism” from the EU.In his column Forsyth says state aid rules are the key sticking point, and particularly their implications for technology companies. He says:The Johnson government wants to use the power of the state to mould and develop what it sees as the industries of the future. One figure with intimate knowledge of the negotiations and how they link to domestic policy tells me “state aid is critical if you are going to try and shape markets in technology” …The view in Downing Street is that this country needs to develop large technology companies at scale and that requires state involvement. Continue reading…
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