Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: No 10 touts antibody test as ‘game-changer’

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Friday 15 May 2020 07:57 BST

Tory minister asked if hell help people buy a car now were supposed to avoid public transport

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has said the coronavirus crisis is like “the world has reached into my head and stolen my nightmare fuel”. If it sometimes feels like we have arrived in a dystopian future, there is hope the darkest days may soon be over. A new antibody test – letting us know if we’ve previously been infected with the virus – could be rolled out across the UK within weeks. Amid the growing excitement, No 10 suggested it might even mean “health certificates” so more of us can get back to work and put the nightmare behind us. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing during the coronavirus pandemic.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson faces questions of his handling of the crisis from Tory backbenchers at the 1922 committee meeting (via Zoom) this afternoon. Elsewhere, Commons’ committee inquiries tend to take centre stage on Fridays, and this time the focus will be on the economic disaster following hard-on-the-heels of the health catastrophe. The Treasury committee will take evidence from leading economists, while the environment committee will hear evidence on rising food bank use.

Daily briefing

ANTIBODY OF EVIDENCE: The new antibody test developed by the Swiss company Roche could be rolled out in the UK the “days and weeks to come”, according to the deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam. Public Health England called it a “very positive development”, while Boris Johnson’s official spokesman added to the optimism by saying it could lead to “some kind of health certificate”. Are officials getting a little too excited? Independent experts have raised doubts over the scale of the potential benefit from the “game-changer”, calling for more transparency over the test’s accuracy. Elsewhere, Johnson reportedly wants a more “interventionist” approach to tackling obesity after his own scare with Covid-19. According to The Times, the PM remarked “it’s all right for you thinnies” when talking about the link between weight and the disease at No 10.

TUNNEL VISION: Thankfully, Transport for London managed to secure a rescue deal with the government last night. London mayor Sadiq Khan had warned on Thursday that TfL would effectively go bust if emergency funding could not be agreed by the end of the day. But in return for the money, Khan has reluctantly agreed to hike bus and Tube fares by 1 per cent above inflation. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said it was “our civic duty” to avoid public transport right now, recommending you use a car to get to work instead (if you have a car, of course). Elsewhere, the National Association of Headteachers said schools will be unable to achieve the government’s target for primaries to return before the summer holidays. One headteacher told The Independent: “I don’t think you can social distance in schools with young children.”

ILL-SUITED AND BOOTED: Boots has now withdrawn adverts calling for unpaid volunteers to spend 32 hours a week carrying out coronavirus tests at centres across the country. The unions had criticised the government-backed recruitment drive as stretching the definition of volunteering a bit too far, while legal experts also warned that the high street chemist could be risking investigation. Elsewhere, Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish government was “not ruling out” taking a regional approach to easing the lockdown, since the statistics show there are very few cases in places like Orkney, Shetland and Dumfries and Galloway. The latest Public Health England and Cambridge University analysis estimates the ‘R’ rate of transmission in London has fallen to 0.4. Tory MP Bim Afolami said it showed why: “Within England, we should consider regional approaches too.”

LET’S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF: Donald Trump has many enemies he enjoys railing against, but China has become his favourite. He threatened to end relations with Beijing over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak in an interview with Fox News. “There are many things we could do. We could cut off the whole relationship.” The president also poured scorn on the testimony of a top US doctor, removed from his role in charge of the vaccination agency last month. Dr Rick Bright told Congress that America could face its “darkest winter in modern history” because of its unpreparedness for the pandemic. Trump said Dr Bright “looks like an angry, disgruntled employee”.

VERY FRENCH PLEASURE: France’s prime minister Edouard Philippe has announced a rescue package for the country’s tourism industry worth around £16bn. Describing the sector as “one of the crown jewels of the French economy”, Philippe said: “This very French pleasure, which is at the heart of our identity, to meet up, eat well and have a chat, has been compromised by the lockdown.” Meanwhile, France’s deputy finance minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said it would be “unacceptable” if the French company Sanofi treated the US market as top priority should it develop an effective coronavirus vaccine. Sanofi’s CEO Paul Hudson had said the US government “has the right to the largest pre-order”.

NEW NORMAL IN NIPPON: Japan has lifted 39 of the country’s 47 prefectures out of “state of emergency” measures imposed to contain the coronavirus. Prime minister Shinzo Abe said the cities of Tokyo and Osaka and six other areas will remain under tight restrictions. Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike asked for patience: “We need to solidify a new normal in view of a long fight against the virus.” In Australia, pubs, restaurants, cafes and shops can now re-open in New South Wales, the country’s most populous state. The pub landlords in Sydney will be pretty happy, but strict social distancing rules means only 10 customers at any one time.

On the record

“Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history.”

Former top US health official Rick Bright offers a warning.

From the Twitterati

“A great national effort reaching 126,064 coronavirus tests yesterday – hugely proud of all those involved in ramping up testing.”

Matt Hancock is hugely proud...

“I get the idea that Health Secretary Matt Hancock thinks he’s a lot more intelligent than he actually is. Always very smug and slippery. Excuse me but Matt you’ve had a major howler here and it’s about time you handed facts out.”

…but ex-One Direction star Niall Horan is hugely suspicious.