Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Matt Hancock claims test and trace ‘successful’

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Tuesday 02 June 2020 07:59 BST

Coronavirus: UK death toll increases by 111 to 39,045

The Japanese government has arranged a series of firework displays across the nation in a bid to lift people’s spirits – with hopes and prayers for the end of the pandemic written inside the pyrotechnics. Health secretary Matt Hancock launched the test and trace system with explosive fanfare last week. Yet we only have some vague hopes and prayers about how well it may or may working so far – since the government has offered no data for the all-important scheme. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter during the coronavirus crisis.

Inside the bubble

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:

Big day in Westminster as MPs return. They have been asked to turn up at 11.30am instead of 2.30pm so that they can vote (in person, in a two-metre-spaced queue) on how to vote in future – and whether MPs unable to attend will still be allowed to speak by video. There are statements in the Commons from foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Hong Kong, and health secretary Matt Hancock on coronavirus. And there is a full programme of select committee hearings, including the security of 5G, Covid in prisons and universal credit.

Daily briefing

WITHOUT A TRACE: The UK is “winning the battle against the virus”, said Matt Hancock after the nation’s death toll rose by 111 on Monday – the smallest daily figure since the lockdown began. The health secretary insisted the NHS Test and Trace system in England is “successful” and “working well” – but provided no data on the number of people contacted or their contacts then traced. When asked the latest press conference how many of the 9,000 or so infected since the launch had been contacted, Hancock said only he was confident the “vast majority” would have been identified. The health secretary said the Joint Biosecurity Centre set up to examine infection rates was still “being pulled together”. Meanwhile, The Independent has learnt that Hancock’s promise to “write off” £13.4bn of debt owed by NHS trusts could end up costing hospitals millions in annual payments back to the government.

RELAX, OR DON’T DO IT: The government is considering ways to relax the 14-day quarantine rule forcing arrivals in the UK to self-isolate from 8 June. Boris Johnson is “personally in favour” of bringing in air bridges so people from countries with low infection rates can come in hassle-free, according The Daily Telegraph. As the draft 14-day quarantine plan comes before parliament today, there is widespread scepticism about whether it’s worth doing. Sir David King, the ex-chief scientific adviser, has shared his fears that the rules are not “rigorous” enough after The Guardian reported that “tens of thousands” of people coming into the UK will be able to shop for food, use public transport and even change accommodation. Amid a Tory backlash on the issue, Tory MP Henry Smith said: “It really feels like it will bring limited public health benefit for a lot of economic pain.”

QUEUE BUSTERS: There’s a revolt brewing over the government’s insistence that MPs have to vote in person again following recent hybrid arrangements. Seven Tory chairs of committees are demanding that ministers retain remote participation and voting to prevent vulnerable MPs being “disenfranchised”. Robert Halfon, who has cerebral palsy, has accused his own government of effectively “euthanising” vulnerable MPs unable to attend debate, while Labour MP Chris Bryant said the kilometre-long queues expected (so social distancing can be maintained) would be “like Alton Towers ... we’ll look like the stupidest parliament in the world”. Meanwhile, head teachers have reported “highly variable” attendance at primary schools – ranging from 40 per cent to 70 per cent – following the return of selected years in England on Monday.

BIBLE BASHING: Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the military to “quickly solve the problem” of unrest in cities across the US if mayors and states governors fail to establish “an overwhelming law enforcement presence” on the streets. In one of the ugliest photo opportunities ever conceived, police used tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters from the streets around the White House so Trump could walk to the nearby St John’s Episcopal Church and pose by holding a bible in the air. Some members of the clergy said they had been hit by the gas. Rev. Gini Gerbasi later said: “I am now a force to be reckoned with.” Meanwhile experts have warned the protests could be a massive setback for attempts to control the coronavirus.

THE GOOD PLACE: Spain has reported no deaths due to the coronavirus in a 24-hour period for the first time since March, while just 71 new infections were recorded across the country on Monday. “We are in a very good place in the evolution of the pandemic,” health chief Fernando Simon told a news conference. “The statistics are following a trend. They are going in the right direction.” Although some restrictions have been eased, prime minister Pedro Sanchez has said he would be asking parliament for an extension of the government’s special emergency powers for another two weeks.

RECORD SPIKE: The number of cases of coronavirus in India has surpassed 190,000, the health ministry said – overtaking France to become seventh highest in the world. With a record daily spike of 8,392 new cases on Monday, India is now behind the US, Brazil, Russia, Britain, Spain and Italy, according to a Reuters tally. The government eased most curbs on movement at the end of May after a two-month-long lockdown that left millions without work. Experts warned that community transmission would only get worse as public transport opens.

On the record

“This is a fig leaf to disguise Priti Patel’s embarrassment at not having a [quarantine] policy at the outbreak’s start.”

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw on the 14-day quarantine plan.

From the Twitterati

“He holds that bible like it’s burning him.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Trump’s bible stunt.

“Let’s be honest. The Bible has been used as a prop to justify massacres and atrocities since time immemorial … Trump is just too clownish and ridiculous to pull it off smoothly.”

…and Dr Eugene Gu is not surprised.