Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Boris Johnson faces questions over leaked test and trace figures

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Wednesday 03 June 2020 08:01 BST

Coronavirus: Hancock admits that social care reform could be delayed

Scientists have discovered the universe may actually have defined structure based on the spin directions of individual galaxies – a finding that could change our understanding of everything. Matt Hancock doesn’t pretend to understand everything. But the health secretary does have a duty not to add to confusion. Hancock has vowed to work with the statistics watchdog after he was told off for spinning testing figures and failing to offer the public a clear understanding of the numbers. Newly-leaked data has also raised fresh questions over his claim the test and trace launch was “successful”. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing during the coronavirus crisis.

Inside the bubble

Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Keir Starmer will have plenty of options on the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis at PMQs. But will he opt for the right ones? Priti Patel will face some searching questions from Tory MPs when she makes a Commons statement on the proposed 14-day quarantine for arrivals to the UK. Select committees will continue their (virtual) hearings. Today’s witnesses will include Tory peer Dido Harding, who heads the test and trace programme, and a trio of former chancellors – George Osborne, Philip Hammond and Alistair Darling.

Daily briefing

WE CAN WORK IT OUT: Matt Hancock said he is “determined” to work out the reasons for Britain’s terrible health inequalities after a report by Public Health England found black and minority ethnic people are at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus than white people (it remains unclear how much of it is down to housing, occupation or other issues). The health secretary denied the report had been held back because of the protests over the police killing of George Floyd, and boldly stated: “Black lives matter.” Labour MP Tulip Siddiq said Hancock had only offered “empty rhetoric”. Another rebuke came from the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority Sir David Norgrove, who sent the health secretary a letter complaining about “inadequate” presentation of testing figures, clearly designed to show “the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding”.

WING AND A PRAYER: Hancock may have pledged to work with the statistics watchdog, but he and Boris Johnson face more scrutiny over data this morning. According to leaked figures obtained by Channel 4 News, the test and trace system Hancock claimed was “working well” and “successful” is failing to trace the contacts of at least 60 per cent of those who test positive for Covid-19. Ahead of PMQs, Keir Starmer has accused the government of “winging it” – claiming in an interview with The Guardian that public confidence in its lockdown easing strategy had “collapsed”. There is some optimism around, however. Professor Carl Heneghan of Oxford University said the UK could be on course for no Covid-19 deaths by the end of June. And several of today’s front pages go with the “hope” Brits could still get summer holidays abroad this year, as No 10 mulls whether to bring in so-called air bridges.

C’MON AND DO MOGG CONGA: There was plenty of embarrassed head-shaking and scornful tweets from MPs on Wednesday as Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg insisted they form a giant socially-distanced line to vote for an end to voting from home. Despite some dissent from Tory backbenchers, the government got their way. The lengthy queue – dubbed the “Mogg Conga” – weaved right round the Palace of Westminster. There was even a preliminary queue to join the proper queue at Portcullis House. Labour MP Jonathan Reynolds called it “genius level stuff”. His colleague Alex Davies-Jones said it was “ridiculous, dangerous and unsafe” not to allow remote voting to continue. “If I haven’t already had Covid then I’m now resigned to the fact that I definitely will.” Tory MP Steve Baker: “This is a farce. I should think we will be back to remote voting before we are all much older.” Yet Baker voted in favour of the farce.

TAKING A KNEE: Protesters in the US defied curfew orders in dozens of cities last night as the unrest sparked by George Floyd’s death continued. Protests were largely peaceful, however, and in several cities police officers and soldiers were seen kneeling in solidarity with the demonstrators. Donald Trump had a relatively quiet 24 hours. The president paid tribute to David Dorn, a 77-year-old black police chief shot dead during protests in St Louis, and attacked his rival Joe Biden on Twitter: “He pretends to have the answers. He doesn’t even know the questions.” Although largely united over the coronavirus response, New York governor Andrew Cuomo claimed New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and police “did not do their job” after Monday night’s looting – and suggested he might still send the National Guard into the city.

BENVENUTA, ONCE AGAIN: Italy lifts quarantine restrictions on travellers from most European countries from today. The country is also ending restrictions on domestic trips, with citizens now allowed to move freely between regions. “We’re facing a calculated risk in the knowledge that the contagion curve may rise again,” prime minister Giuseppe Conte said on the plan. Deaths from Covid-19 climbed by 55 in Italy on Tuesday, against 60 the day before. Encouragingly, the World Health Organisation said new coronavirus cases are declining right across western Europe – but warned they were still rising in Russia and several eastern European countries.

FAR FROM THE HERD: A study of Dutch blood donors has found that only around 5.5 per cent of them have developed antibodies against the coronavirus. The study, conducted among 7,000 donors, gives an indication of what percentage of the Dutch population may have already had the disease. “This shows that over 90 per cent of our donors have still not been in touch with the virus, assuming almost all people who have been infected develop antibodies," said head researcher Hans Zaaijer. “We are miles away from a scenario of herd immunity.”

On the record

“I am putting the prime minister on notice that he has got to get a grip and restore public confidence in the government’s handling of the epidemic.”

Keir Starmer sticks the boot in ahead of PMQs.

From the Twitterati

“Nothing like spending an hour in a queue with people saying “this is utterly ridiculous” and “what a waste of time” and then watching them vote for it.”

Labour MP Jess Phillips is appalled by the Mogg Conga farce...

“The government’s ability to find new ways of making itself seem absurd is, if viewed from the correct perspective, quite impressive.”

…while The Spectator’s Alex Massie is amazed.