Politics Live
5:30pm – The first week of the month done. Exactly three to go. Have a lovely weekend folks!
- MHRA: Vaccines are “extremely safe”.
- Concerns over Alex Salmond inquiry next week.
- Labour call for furlough scheme overhaul.
4:42pm – Week in Review: Getting over the flag
3:45pm – Interesting thread here on Israel, and how their vaccination programme data offers the UK hope that its vaccination rollout will lead to a sharp drop in covid-related fatalities.
NEW:
Cases & hospital admissions in Israel are falling steeply among vaccinated age groups, in the first clear sign worldwide that Covid-19 jabs are preventing illness 💉🎉
Rates are falling much more slowly (if at all) among under-vaccinated groups.https://t.co/csREaYnqYW pic.twitter.com/MQIaHAc2QB
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) February 5, 2021
2:44pm – How many can you get? Let us know!
🤩Quiz time: How many Labour MPs can you name?
☹️0-10: Living under a rock
😐10-20: Shadow cabinet ✅
🙂20-30: Very good
😁30-40: Wow
🤯50+: You're a Labour MPWe want to hear from you! Let us know your scores and we'll repost the true Labour boffins 🙋https://t.co/JIx1tgDvgR
— Politics.co.uk (@Politics_co_uk) February 5, 2021
1:50pm – Promising signs that the lockdown is working. The R number drops.
R number range for U.K. 0.7-1. Slightly lower.
— Hugh Pym (@BBCHughPym) February 5, 2021
12:58pm – Good news!
NEWS: More good news on the vaccine rollout. MHRA analysis of side effects shows vaccines are “extremely safe”.
When you get the call, get the jabhttps://t.co/IYhxppD2li
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) February 5, 2021
12:34pm – Mr Salmond himself is due to to testify at the inquiry on Tuesday.
Salmond Inquiry is in crisis and I have just called for an urgent meeting of the ctte to be held at 1pm.
We’re unable to publish a key submission of evidence from Mr Salmond, but that does not mean he is prohibited from referring to its contents on Tuesday.
— Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP🔶 (@agcolehamilton) February 5, 2021
11:43am – Labour’s big play today to get on the front foot of the agenda has centred on the furlough scheme.
Anneliese Dodds here calling for an overhaul of the current system.
The Chancellor took too long to support jobs before – and we suffered record redundancies. He can't make that mistake again.
Labour is calling for a smart extension of furlough, urgent action to fix the Kickstart youth jobs scheme and support for new jobs https://t.co/oP2881RSNE
— Anneliese Dodds 💙 (@AnnelieseDodds) February 5, 2021
10:34am – If you haven’t seen the hilarious Handforth Parish Council video that went viral, you’ve been living under a rock.
This is the sort of content we are here for.
i’ve never missed in person meetings more than i did watching this parish council meeting descend into chaos pic.twitter.com/I75zi1fIK5
— janine (@janinemas0n) February 4, 2021
.@itsanitarani landing world exclusive.
Jackie Weaver @BBCr4today
Says she's "surprised" at the interest, because "99.99 percent of council meetings are often less exciting".
"I've had nothing but really lovely positive support from people."— Kate Proctor (@Kate_M_Proctor) February 5, 2021
9:15am – The shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, has also been doing the media rounds this morning.
'I think the worst possible thing would be if government had to reimpose lockdown.'
Shadow chancellor @AnnelieseDodds says it is important govt has 'preconditions ready so we can move out from restrictions'.
Get the latest on #COVID19: https://t.co/YCfNlfTMV7 pic.twitter.com/991xyllt8e
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 5, 2021
8:30am – Ministerial media rounds:
Up this morning is the FCDO minister, James Cleverly.
Ferrari: "What about people travelling from South Africa, say via Doha?"
Mr Cleverly says he doesn't think people "should game the system", adding there will be a "degree of personal responsibility required".
— Theo Usherwood (@theousherwood) February 5, 2021
Shots (rightly) fired by Foreign Office minister James Cleverly at Twitter.
He was asked about the use racist emojis towards black footballers on Twitter.
Company said such emojis don't violate its rules. Mr Cleverly, speaking on behalf of the Government to @LBC, disagrees. https://t.co/e9z6eJVTKV
— Theo Usherwood (@theousherwood) February 5, 2021
8:15am – Here is what’s happening in UK politics this morning:
- Sir Keir Starmer looks to fight back with new economic proposals after a tough week.
- Questions build over the government’s hotel quarantine plan. The new measures won’t come into force until the 15th February.
- Mail: ‘Britain back normal by spring’/ The Times: Outdoor sport and socialising will return after schools.
8:00am – For the final time this week, good morning and welcome to Politics Live!
A reminder of what happened yesterday:
- 1 in 5 adults in the UK have now been vaccinated.
- UK increases its vaccine order to 400 million in total.
- In the House of Commons, Nusrat Ghani gives a powerful account of a Uighur woman’s harrowing experience in Xinjiang.
