Boris Johnson marks one year of Covid lockdowns with minute’s silence

PM offers his ‘sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones’ before an expected press conference at No 10, writes Ashley Cowburn

(PA)

Imposing some of the most severe restrictions on British life in recent history and instructing the public to “stay at home” exactly a year ago, Boris Johnson said coronavirus was the “biggest threat this country has faced for decades”. Rather than turning the tide on the coronavirus within 12 weeks – as Johnson infamously suggested in the early days of March 2020 – the public are enduring a third national lockdown, with many simple freedoms, such as visiting a family member or enjoying a drink with friends, still restricted. Hope is indeed on the horizon with the vaccination effort, but many people across the country will mark today by reflecting on the past year and remembering the 126,127 people who have died during the crisis.

Inside the bubble

Political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson is expected to hold a press conference to mark the anniversary of the UK’s first lockdown and will also chair the cabinet’s weekly meeting. Jeremy Quin, the defence minister, will make a Commons statement on defence and industrial strategy. The public administration committee will take evidence on vaccine passports from former cabinet minister David Davis and human rights group Liberty.

Daily briefing

ONE YEAR ON: Marking the one-year anniversary of Britain’s lockdown, Boris Johnson will privately reflect with a minute’s silence at noon before holding a meeting of the cabinet. In a statement, the prime minister offered his “sincere condolences to those who have lost ones”, while remembering “the great spirit shown by our nation” over the past year. But as a third wave of the virus sweeps across continental Europe, Mr Johnson also told reporters that people should be “under no illusions that previous experience has taught us that when a wave hits our friends, it washes up on our shores as well”.  But he insisted the government would “bash on” with the roadmap to unlocking the economy and the vaccination effort. In a special report today to mark one year of the crisis, experts have told The Independent that now is the time to start preparing for the “next big one” and ensure future generations are better equipped to dealing with these outbreaks. “My fear is that perception and impressions, lessons people think they’ve learned during this pandemic, will subside quite quickly,” says professor Christopher Dye. “After the experience goes away, these could be forgotten. We cannot allow this to happen.”

CHARM OFFENSIVE: After the publication of the revised Covid laws and ahead of a crucial vote in the Commons to renew the government’s emergency powers later this week, Boris Johnson will appear at a meeting of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers this evening in an attempt to convert rebels to his cause. He will need an injection of luck facing the lockdown-sceptics who are likely to be further angered by the fact that the legislation will explicitly ban holidays abroad, creating new powers for police for fine sunseekers up to £5,000.  The powers are set to expire on 30 June, though some degree of international travel could be permitted beforehand – subject to a review being published by Michael Gove into the matter next month. Reports have also suggested the government is planning to require care home workers to be vaccinated under plans agreed by both the prime minister and health secretary Matt Hancock. According to The Telegraph, if the move is approved, it would be the first law requiring vaccination since the 19th century when the government enforced compulsory smallpox vaccination for newborn babies.

NO CONFIDENCE: Nicola Sturgeon’s week just got a lot better: an independent investigation by QC James Hamilton last night cleared the first minister of knowingly breaching the ministerial code amid accusations she misled parliament over her involvement in the Alex Salmond investigation. Welcoming the findings, Ms Sturgeon described the probe as “comprehensive, evidence-based and unequivocal”. The verdict appeared to remove any threat she would lose a vote of no confidence — spearheaded by the Scottish Conservatives — that was due to be debated at Holyrood today. A separate inquiry into the long-running affair by a Scottish Parliament committee is expected to formally publish its findings today claiming she did break the ministerial code, but not knowingly. The Hamilton report stressed it was up to Holyrood “to decide” on whether MSPs were misled. However, Ms Sturgeon said the committee had decided she was “guilty” before evidence was heard.

TIT FOR TAT: While not going as far as to describe the human rights abuses by China against the Uighur Muslim minority as “genocide” in the House of Commons, Dominic Raab yesterday called out the “industrial scale” abuses in the “largest mass detention” of an ethnic group since the Second World War. The foreign secretary also announced sanctions against four Chinese officials accused of atrocities in coordinated action with the EU and US. Beijing retaliated imposing sanctions against pro-democracy politicians in Europe, with measures against UK organisations expected to follow. Meanwhile, the government narrowly avoided defeat in the Commons last night after a Conservative backbench rebellion sought to introduce an amendment that seeks to prevent trade deals with countries deemed guilty of genocide. It was defeated by 318-300 votes, but 29 Tories voted against the government, including former leader Iain Duncan Smith and former cabinet ministers David Davis and Jeremy Hunt.

HOLI: Officials in India recorded a spike of almost 47,000 cases of Covid on Monday — the highest single-day surge of infections for months. With the Hindi festival of Holi on the horizon, when families and friends traditionally come together to throw colourful powder, some state governments are said to be mulling restrictions to avoid it becoming a super-spreader event. According to The Times, the increased infections is having implications for Britain’s vaccine programme, which relies partly on supplies from the country’s Serum Institute. Due to the surge officials in India have ordered a further 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Last week, Hancock told the Commons an expected delivery from India had been delayed by four-weeks. Sir Eddie Lister, an adviser to the prime minister, is currently in India preparing the ground for Mr Johnson’s trip to the country in the and is also expected to discuss the shipment of vaccines. Meanwhile, in the United States, Kreme Kreme has sparked controversy by offering a free doughnut to anyone who has proof they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

On the record

“The last 12 months has taken a huge toll on us all, and I offer my sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones. Today, the anniversary of the first lockdown, is an opportunity to reflect on the past year – one of the most difficult in our country’s history.

Boris Johnson on the anniversary of the first lockdown

From the Twitterati

“I don’t see how the Scottish Tories will win a single extra vote at the Holyrood election with their current strategy of throwing everything at Nicola Sturgeon. Folk want a vision of a positive and upbeat future, not a scorched earth policy.”

… says the Daily Record’s political editor Paul Hutcheon

“What the hell has happened here”.

… reacts the Mail on Sunday’s columnist Dan Hodges after the publication of the Hamilton report

Essential reading

Caroline Lucas, The Independent: The appeasement of genocide in Xinjiang shames our country — and all for the sake of a trade deal

Kevin Guyan, The Independent: The census was a landmark moment for LGBTQ people — but we’ve still got to push for full inclusion

Mike Wigston, The Independent: We have a once in a generation opportunity to modernise the UK armed forces

Anand Menon, Jonathan Portes, The Guardian: Even no deal might make more sense than this unstable Brexit agreement