UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson to give more details on blocking changes | Politics

The government will not hold a press conference this afternoon, journalists are informed. Instead Boris Johnson will only answer questions from members of the public. The daily press conference now appears to have become a daily Q&A.

We still don’t have a moment for this. It may be at 5 p.m., when press conferences generally take place, or possibly later, because Johnson is making a statement in the Commons at 3.30 p.m. about their coronavirus strategy. This will coincide with the release of the government document detailing the details of the plan Johnson announced last night.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with politicians asking questions and answers with members of the public. Sometimes they ask more difficult or interesting questions than journalists. But they usually don’t, and if you think it’s beneficial to have a media outlet that holds politicians accountable, you may be concerned that Johnson will avoid the press on the day of such a major government announcement.

Jack blanchard Politico Europe has a good summary of Johnson’s aversion to scrutiny in his London Playbook report. Blanchard writes:

A note on the count: Surprisingly, this afternoon’s session will mark the first time Johnson has made a statement in the Commons about the coronavirus, and only the second time he has appeared to make a statement about something since this year. We are also awaiting his first appearance before the Commons liaison committee, eight and a half months after his term. More urgently, the Prime Minister has refused to give a press conference or media interview for the past 11 days, and has handled only one presser since March 25, who was ill for much of April. Attendees say they will only answer prerecorded questions from the audience tonight.

Boris Johnson has been taking what has become his daily morning walk around St James Park. But he replaced the Costa mug he had last week with a porcelain mug.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today show, Raab seemed to say that people could meet their two parents in a park, as long as you stay within 2 meters of them. This not only contradicts what the prime minister said last night (that only two people from different homes could meet outside), but also contradicts what he said at the BBC breakfast earlier.

Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, President of the British Medical Association (BMA), has been talking to BBC Breakfast. He said he did not know “on what basis” the government had decided to relax the shutdown rules, as there is still “a considerable amount” of the virus in the community.

“Right now we have more people dying on Saturday than at the beginning of the shutdown,” he said. “We have also seen around 4,000 new cases every day over the weekend, and that’s only a fraction of the actual number of new cases due to limited testing, so there is a considerable amount of community circulation of the virus.”

If we now allow the public to go to local parks in an unlimited sense and go outdoors … what we haven’t heard is how the government will enforce social distancing and how it will prevent an entire neighborhood from playing in a park, with balls of soccer moving from one group to another and spreading the disease. So, I am really concerned that there is no clarity.

Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, President of the BMA Photography: Brochure

Business secretary shadow work, Ed Miliband, has tweeted about confusion over when people are encouraged to return to work.

The secretary general of a major teachers union said the profession has “very serious concerns” about children returning to school on June 1.

Patrick Roach of NASUWT, he told BBC Breakfast:

The fact is that the government has announced a date, but has not come up with a plan on how schools will ensure they are safe for students and safe for staff as of June 1.

And the Prime Minister said it would be foolish to risk a second spike regarding transmission of the virus. Well, the profession has very serious concerns about that June 1 announcement, if possible, but also how to do it safely for students and staff.

He said there is strong evidence that schools lack personal protective equipment (PPE) and that parents would like to know how the safety of schools is ensured for their children.

the National Union of EducationThe website crashed last night after being overwhelmed by apps, which is one more sign of concern among teachers.

Government sources informed the Telegraph that the Premier League could return in June. The newspaper says a government document on elite sports is expected to be released Tuesday.

This will give the green light for professional sports to return next month, including the scheduled resumption of the Premier League on June 12, subject to safety conditions being met and coronavirus infection rates not increasing. However, Boris Johnson’s go-ahead comes as up to eight Premier League clubs are expected to discuss the use of neutral venues and call for a restart of the “project restart” at a crucial meeting today.

In light of that Raab clarification, that people will be encouraged to go to work from Wednesday, not today, here is a picture of the Jubilee line on the London Underground network this morning, courtesy of the transport correspondent and BBC environment.

First secretary of state Dominic Raab He told the BBC that the new measures, which include urging people to go to work if possible, would take effect on Wednesday, despite reports that were in effect today. “That won’t start until Wednesday,” he said. “There will be orientation. We have been working with employers to make sure it can be done safely. ”

Unions and business groups have expressed alarm after yesterday’s prime minister’s speech that the orientation was changed 12 hours in advance. This was from Ed Miliband, now shadow business secretary, last night …

On the new rules about seeing people from outside his home, Raab told the BBC:

If you are in the park and you are two meters away, and you use some common sense and distance socially, you can meet other people.

He said people wanted to go outdoors for their mental health, “but we must be vigilant.”

He said you can meet multiple people every day, individually, outside, as long as you are socially estranged. But homes still can’t mix indoors. He said they had asked Sage for more advice on that topic.

Raab said that under the new regulations, you can drive as far as you can to a place of beauty, as long as it’s not across the border. He said that people would not be able to play soccer in the park, since it is difficult to stay two meters away, but that they could play a sport like tennis.

Boris Johnson doesn’t like to disappoint the people around him, writes the Guardian’s deputy political editor. Rowena Mason In this analysis.

The result is the barrage of confusing messages this weekend about whether the blockade is ending, as it tries to please both sides in the battle raging within the Tory group over how to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

On the one hand, the right-wing hawks in his cabinet have been pushing him toward a quick return to business as usual to save the economy, establishing a roadmap to lift the blockade sooner rather than later. On the other hand, more centrist pigeons, including health secretary Matt Hancock, have been pushing it in another direction, asking for caution for fear of a second peak and more lives lost.

The wisdom received is that Johnson is now on the side of the pigeons after his brush with death over a four-day period in intensive care suffering from Covid-19.