Inside Politics: Government draws up list of countries exempted from quarantine rules

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Boris Johnson has warned that the coronavirus is “still circling like a shark in our waters”. The prime minister – whose political hero is the mayor from Jaws; the man who kept the beaches open – has had a tricky time finding the right balance between restarting the economy and keeping people on their guard. Beachgoers in search of sun, sea and sand are set to find out which countries they’re allowed to jet off to this summer, as Johnson’s government finalises quarantine exemption arrangements. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin on what to look out for today:

All eyes will be on education secretary Gavin Williamson this morning, who is set to make a statement in the Commons on exactly how the planned autumn re-opening of all schools in England will work. The Department of Health will publish the latest weekly figures on Test and Trace, while the Office for National Statistics will release some data on coronavirus and housing indicators. We’re also expecting the first Downing Street press conference in more than a week.

Daily briefing

DISTURBANCE IN THE DATA: Councils across England will now be given “postcode-level” data about coronavirus infections in their area, following a major row over damaging delays in information. Keir Starmer bemoaned a “lost week” in which Leicester didn’t have all the test results. Boris Johnson completely contradicted Leicester’s mayor by claiming relevant data had been shared. Could some councils in the north of England follow Leicester into local lockdown? Figures from Public Health England (PHE) – having finally published details of all positive cases in the week to 21 June – suggest the east Midlands city is a bit of an outlier. Leicester had 140 cases per 100,000 people, while the next highest area, Bradford, had only half that number. No 10 doesn’t seem to like PHE very much anymore. The PM’s spokesman put question marks over the future of the agency, telling reporters there could be changes coming to “strengthen our public health capabilities”.

FLYING COLOURS: The government is soon set to reveal which countries British travellers will be able to visit from 6 July without having to worry about 14-day quarantine on their return. The Telegraph reports that 75 nations will be on the list, but according to The Times it could be as many as 95 places around the world – including nearly all of the EU, Turkey, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia. The reports suggest there will be a three-colour, traffic-light system for categorising the safety of each country. Meanwhile, deputy chief medical Prof Jonathan Van-Tam has said there are enough doses of remdesivir (one of the drugs proven to help people recover from Covid-19) for UK patients. It follows news that the Trump administration secured almost all the global supply of the drug over the next few months.

WHEN THE DEAL GOES DOWN: Starmer has urged the government to extend the furlough scheme, saying it is the last chance to save “millions of jobs” across the UK. A frightening number of them are disappearing by the day. Almost 12,000 people are set to be cut from the workforce after several big high-street retailer and aviation firms announced job losses over the past 48 hours. Johnson told the Commons that chancellor Rishi Sunak would be making a speech on the UK economy on 8 July. Meanwhile, Peter Mandelson has predicted the PM will ultimately back away from a no-deal scenario because it would be too damaging for business after the coronavirus crisis. The New Labour mastermind said the Tory government had “not lost all sense of perspective … It can’t deliver a second whammy of that kind to the UK economy.”

BORDER DISORDER: Johnson has promised that nearly three million Hong Kong residents will get the chance to settle in the UK and ultimately become citizens. The PM was among many global leaders denouncing the new security law enacted by China in the semi-autonomous territory. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab is expected to set out more detail on UK citizenship for Hong Kongers with British National (Overseas) status in the Commons today. Elsewhere, Nicola Sturgeon condemned Johnson’s “absurd and ridiculous political comments” after the PM claimed there is no such thing” as a border between Scotland and England. The first minister, who is reserving the right to enforce a quarantine on visitors from England in future, said: “What there definitely is, is a geographical boundary to my powers as first minister.”

SAFE HAVEN DOWN UNDER? Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has said his government was considering an offer of safe haven to Hong Kong residents threatened by the national security law. Morrison said his cabinet would soon consider options “to provide similar opportunities” as the UK government offered. “Are we prepared to step up and provide support? The answer is yes.” China, meanwhile, has responded to Johnson’s statement in the Commons – saying it reserves “the right to take corresponding measures” if the UK does give Hong Kong residents the right to settle. The Chinese Embassy in the UK said such a move would be in breach of “basic norms governing international relations”.

COWBOY ON THE LOOSE: Despite refusing to wear one on his public outings, Donald Trump said he is “all for masks” – and claimed they make him look like the Lone Ranger (the Lone Ranger wore an eye mask). The president maintained in his Fox News interview that masks didn’t need to be made mandatory, despite the US recording a new record high of 52,000 daily coronavirus cases. He also predicted the virus would “disappear”. It came as a Wednesday opinion poll showed his disapproval rating standing at 59 per cent, just four months ahead of the US election. Elsewhere, a report released by Pentagon claims that Russia has been working alongside the Taliban to drive US troops out of Afghanistan.

On the record

“I’m not sure what [Johnson] would say if I pitched up in Newcastle and started to try to implement Scottish government policies in Newcastle.”

Nicola Sturgeon ridicules the PM’s claim there is no border between Scotland and England.

From the Twitterati

“PMQs was whack-a-mole with Johnson the smacked animal as Starmer clobbered him with a hammer.”

Kevin Maguire thinks it was another PMQs win for the Labour leader…

“Whatever you think of Starmer, he’s a f****** revelation at the dispatch box.”

…and satirist Jonathan Pie agrees it’s where Starmer does best.

Essential reading

Tom Peck, The Independent: Boris Johnson used PMQs to demand praise for his towering failures

Caroline Lucas, The Independent: The last chance to save us from a no-deal Brexit has slipped by

Patrick West, The Spectator: The rise of Britain’s new class system

Timothy McLaughlin, The Atlantic: Hong Kong is a colony once more

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