Coronavirus Count

UK cumulative total of lab-confirmed cases : 108,692 ( Up from 103,093 ) .
UK cumulative total of COVID-19 associated UK deaths in hospital : 14,576 ( Up from 13,729 ) .
Latest daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases : 5,599 ( Up from 4,618 ) .
Latest daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths in hospital : 847 ( Down from 861 ) From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
DAILY NUMBER OF COVID-19 ASSOCIATED DEATHS IN HOSPITAL From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the UK .
ConHome note April 14 : Public Health England has changed its presentation of the data to make it clear that the UK cumulative and daily totals of cases are of lab-confirmed figures , and that the cumulative and daily totals of deaths exclude those outside hospitals ( i.e : in care homes ) .
It has also separated out its graph info for cases and deaths .
We will reproduce the daily figures rather than cumulative ones .
“ The risk to the UK has been raised to high ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
GOVERNMENT RULES ON STAYING AT HOME AND AWAY FROM OTHERS See here .
Published on Monday March 23 .
GUIDANCE : FURTHER BUSINESSES AND PREMISES TO CLOSE See here .
Published on Monday March 23 .
HOW EVERYONE CAN HELP STOP THE CORONAVIRUS ( SOCIAL DISTANCING ) See here .
Republished on Monday March 23 .
STAY AT HOME IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS ( SELF-DISTANCING ) See here .
Republished on Monday March 23 .
See here .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ GUIDANCE FOR WORKERS ON WHAT AND HOW THEY CAN CLAIM See here .
Published on Friday March 20 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR LANDLORDS , TENANTS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES NEW See here .
Published on Saturday March 28 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON WHAT THE CORONAVIRUS BILL WILL DO See here .
Published on Wednesday March 18 HOW TO AVOID CATCHING OR SPREADING CORONAVIRUS • Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds .
• Always wash your hands when you get home or into work .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and water are not available .
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve ( not your hands ) when you cough or sneeze .
• Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards .
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell .
The symptoms of coronavirus are : However , these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness .
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common , such as cold and flu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do .
Use this service if : • You think you might have coronavirus .
• In the last 14 days you ’ ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the coronavirus advice for travellers .
• You ’ ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus .
• In Scotland call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of hours .
• In Wales call 111 ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 0845 46 47 .
• Do not go to a GP surgery , pharmacy or hospital .
• What the coronavirus is , how it ’ s spread and how to avoid catching it – Government NHS website overview .
• Stay at home advice and how to manage self-isolation .
( All information taken from Government sources .
Updated as of 19.30 on Friday April 17th . )


conservativehome--2020-04-18--Buffoonery, suffused sex and Latinate evasion: how Johnson’s language helped him become Prime Minist

Buffoonery, suffused sex and Latinate evasion: how Johnson’s language helped him become Prime Minister

The Borisaurus : The Dictionary of Boris Johnson by Simon Walters Simon Walters has thought of an amusing pretext for collecting some of Boris Johnson ’ s most bizarre remarks .
He will tell us what the classical and other references actually mean .
Walters , who is now assistant editor of The Daily Mail , is brilliant at working out what politicians actually mean : at cutting through the verbiage and obfuscation and writing the splash , which is what for 19 years he did as political editor of The Mail on Sunday .
But he does not , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by dwelling on scoops past .
He instead remarks that in August 2008 he “ first experienced Latinate evasion ” at Johnson ’ s hands .
They were at the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games in Peking , where Johnson as Mayor of London delivered his “ ping-pong is coming home ” speech , a scene-stealing comic masterpiece which one can enjoy watching on YouTube .
The Latinate evasion had come 24 hours earlier , when Walters interviewed Johnson , and already knew , as a good journalist does , what story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get a wifi connection in order to learn that Cincinnatus was a Roman statesman of great virtue who had given up public life but returned from his farm to save Rome from invasion : Johnson puts a smile on people ’ s faces , while also producing good copy with such prodigality that long before he became Prime Minister , or even looked as if he had much chance of becoming Prime Minister , television shows yearned to have him on and journalists were anxious to interview him .
To tell the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea , but in practise can become dull .
Voters want a performance which goes beyond what the cautious careerists can provide – if you doubt that , look at Donald Trump .
Some of Johnson ’ s performances have been thoroughly disreputable .
Towards the end of 2004 , when news of his affair with Petronella Wyatt broke , Walters asked him if the story was true and Johnson dismissed it as “ an inverted pyramid of piffle ” .
This memorable expression was not , unfortunately , true , and gave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moral high ground and prove him a liar .
In this dictionary of expressions used by Johnson , Walters has an entry for “ Inverted pyramid of piffle ” , even though there is no obscurity about what it means .
We learn , however , that Johnson used the phrase on at least two previous occasions , and that it qualifies as a “ Borisism ” , the term Walters uses for what appears to be an original coinage , of which there are many .
I looked up the Telegraph article @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pyramid of piffle ” is first found , as the final flourish in a vibrant paragraph in which Johnson suggests it would be wrong to over-interpret the defeat of Michael Portillo in that year ’ s Tory leadership race .
He goes on to suggest that although the two remaining candidates , Ken Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith , disagree about Europe , the victory of either would probably leave the result of any referendum Tony Blair calls about Europe completely unaffected : That observation was proved correct 15 years later , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And here are Johnson ’ s final remarks in that piece : How free that leaves a traditional Tory statesman , such as Johnson , to pursue the pragmatic course the country requires .
Before writing my life of Johnson , first published in 2006 , I reread a great many of his articles , was impressed by how little effort was needed to get through that curious autobiographical mixture of Rabelais and P.G .
Wodehouse , and found that in most of his commentaries , however much energy he may devote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does actually say something .
A few classical terms whose meaning it is hard to hold in one ’ s head – Anaphora , Chiasmus , Ignoratio elenchi – are defined here , which is helpful .
Many other terms – Feckless , Filching , Gobsmacked , Laggard , Sclerotic , Scrumple , Scum , Snooty , to give only a few examples – need no elucidation .
But the words themselves are enjoyable words , and each is followed by a short passage in which Johnson has made striking use of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said of his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire : The same can not be said of Johnson .
Walters ’ compilation is a reminder that licentious expressions occur with remarkable frequency in his work , both in English and in about a dozen foreign languages .
In an article in 2001 for The Daily Telegraph calling for the speed limit to be raised from 70 mph , Johnson related that “ I found myself at the wheel of a Ferrari Testadicazzo , or some such name , capable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recall a model called that , and discovers it is Italian for “ dickhead ” .
The car reviews Johnson wrote for GQ are suffused with sex .
Johnson is a Chaucerian , a vulgarian , a Merry Englander who revels in his freedom to use sexual imagery whenever he feels like using it .
He delights in teasing the Puritans who , the moment they condemn him for using expressions which are in dubious taste , reveal themselves as joyless , censorious and self-important , so just the sort of people Johnson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His language puts him on the side of those who want to laugh at the powers that be : a remarkable feat , when one considers that he himself is one of the powers that be .
Dante , Molesworth and Roy Jenkins are among the influences on Johnson ’ s speech patterns which receive inadequate acknowledgement in these pages , but one of the good things about Walters is that he is not trying to be a pedant .
He says “ Johnson can recite entire Shakespearean sonnets ” , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the story of how , while working for The Daily Telegraph as a young man in Brussels , Johnson entered – after a disagreement in Strasbourg with Michael Binyon of The Times about where “ the true , the blushful Hippocrene ” comes from ( Keats ’ Ode to a Nightingale ) – a challenge to see which of them could recite 130 of the greatest poems in English .
Binyon made an alarming discovery about his opponent : “ To my horror he had a considerable knowledge of long poems .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ light-hearted book went to press before the pandemic .
Walters quotes an interview with Piers Morgan in 2007 in which , after being told by that stern figure that he must stop playing the buffoon if he aspires to lead the country , Johnson says : Johnson ’ s critics tend not to realise that it is possible for someone to be at one and the same time entranced by jokes and deeply serious .
They will not enjoy this compilation .
Other people will .

The Borisaurus: The Dictionary of Boris Johnson by Simon Walters
Simon Walters has thought of an amusing pretext for collecting some of Boris Johnson’s most bizarre remarks. He will tell us what the classical and other references actually mean.
Walters, who is now assistant editor of The Daily Mail, is brilliant at working out what politicians actually mean: at cutting through the verbiage and obfuscation and writing the splash, which is what for 19 years he did as political editor of The Mail on Sunday.
But he does not, thank heaven, begin his brief introduction by dwelling on scoops past. He instead remarks that in August 2008 he “first experienced Latinate evasion” at Johnson’s hands.
They were at the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games in Peking, where Johnson as Mayor of London delivered his “ping-pong is coming home” speech, a scene-stealing comic masterpiece which one can enjoy watching on YouTube.
The Latinate evasion had come 24 hours earlier, when Walters interviewed Johnson, and already knew, as a good journalist does, what story he was looking for:
“With his Old Etonian rival David Cameron yet to make his mark as Tory leader, the obvious way to skewer the new mayor was to ask if his sights were now set on the Conservative leadership. “After playfully dodging the question once or twice, Johnson muttered: ‘Were I to be pulled like Cincinnatus from my plough, it would be a great privilege…’ and sauntered off.”
Walters has to get a wifi connection in order to learn that Cincinnatus was a Roman statesman of great virtue who had given up public life but returned from his farm to save Rome from invasion:
“The denarius dropped: Boris did want to oust Dave. But Johnson had couched his disloyalty in such heroic lyricism it made you want to smile, not scowl; to admire his ambition and erudition, not admonish him.”
Johnson puts a smile on people’s faces, while also producing good copy with such prodigality that long before he became Prime Minister, or even looked as if he had much chance of becoming Prime Minister, television shows yearned to have him on and journalists were anxious to interview him.
To tell the truth without adornment sounds like a good idea, but in practise can become dull. Voters want a performance which goes beyond what the cautious careerists can provide – if you doubt that, look at Donald Trump.
Some of Johnson’s performances have been thoroughly disreputable. Towards the end of 2004, when news of his affair with Petronella Wyatt broke, Walters asked him if the story was true and Johnson dismissed it as “an inverted pyramid of piffle”.
This memorable expression was not, unfortunately, true, and gave the tabloids the chance to seize the moral high ground and prove him a liar.
In this dictionary of expressions used by Johnson, Walters has an entry for “Inverted pyramid of piffle”, even though there is no obscurity about what it means.
We learn, however, that Johnson used the phrase on at least two previous occasions, and that it qualifies as a “Borisism”, the term Walters uses for what appears to be an original coinage, of which there are many.
I looked up the Telegraph article in 2001 in which “an inverted pyramid of piffle” is first found, as the final flourish in a vibrant paragraph in which Johnson suggests it would be wrong to over-interpret the defeat of Michael Portillo in that year’s Tory leadership race.
He goes on to suggest that although the two remaining candidates, Ken Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith, disagree about Europe, the victory of either would probably leave the result of any referendum Tony Blair calls about Europe completely unaffected:
“The experience of other countries’ euro-referendums is that the best way to achieve a ‘No’ is to ensure that the political establishment is in favour of a ‘Yes’, in which case the public has the exquisite pleasure of telling them all to go to hell.”
That observation was proved correct 15 years later, when Cameron held the referendum Blair had avoided. And here are Johnson’s final remarks in that piece:
“Whatever happens, let no one say that this is a struggle for the Tory party’s soul. There is no such thing. The Tory party is a vast organism animated by a few vague common principles such as tradition and love of country, and above all by the pursuit and retention of power.”
How free that leaves a traditional Tory statesman, such as Johnson, to pursue the pragmatic course the country requires.
Before writing my life of Johnson, first published in 2006, I reread a great many of his articles, was impressed by how little effort was needed to get through that curious autobiographical mixture of Rabelais and P.G. Wodehouse, and found that in most of his commentaries, however much energy he may devote to keeping the tone light, he does actually say something.
A few classical terms whose meaning it is hard to hold in one’s head – Anaphora, Chiasmus, Ignoratio elenchi – are defined here, which is helpful.
Many other terms – Feckless, Filching, Gobsmacked, Laggard, Sclerotic, Scrumple, Scum, Snooty, to give only a few examples – need no elucidation.
But the words themselves are enjoyable words, and each is followed by a short passage in which Johnson has made striking use of them.
In his Autobiography, Edward Gibbon said of his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
“My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the obscurity of a learned language.”
The same cannot be said of Johnson. Walters’ compilation is a reminder that licentious expressions occur with remarkable frequency in his work, both in English and in about a dozen foreign languages.
In an article in 2001 for The Daily Telegraph calling for the speed limit to be raised from 70 mph, Johnson related that “I found myself at the wheel of a Ferrari Testadicazzo, or some such name, capable of 220 mph.”
Walters cannot recall a model called that, and discovers it is Italian for “dickhead”. The car reviews Johnson wrote for GQ are suffused with sex.
Johnson is a Chaucerian, a vulgarian, a Merry Englander who revels in his freedom to use sexual imagery whenever he feels like using it.
He delights in teasing the Puritans who, the moment they condemn him for using expressions which are in dubious taste, reveal themselves as joyless, censorious and self-important, so just the sort of people Johnson’s voters would like to annoy.
His language puts him on the side of those who want to laugh at the powers that be: a remarkable feat, when one considers that he himself is one of the powers that be.
Dante, Molesworth and Roy Jenkins are among the influences on Johnson’s speech patterns which receive inadequate acknowledgement in these pages, but one of the good things about Walters is that he is not trying to be a pedant.
He says “Johnson can recite entire Shakespearean sonnets”, an amusing understatement.
Not mentioned here is the story of how, while working for The Daily Telegraph as a young man in Brussels, Johnson entered – after a disagreement in Strasbourg with Michael Binyon of The Times about where “the true, the blushful Hippocrene” comes from (Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale) – a challenge to see which of them could recite 130 of the greatest poems in English.
Binyon made an alarming discovery about his opponent: “To my horror he had a considerable knowledge of long poems. He could recite reams of Milton.”
This light-hearted book went to press before the pandemic. Walters quotes an interview with Piers Morgan in 2007 in which, after being told by that stern figure that he must stop playing the buffoon if he aspires to lead the country, Johnson says:
“It will get easier when there is a big job to do and I can get on and do it. These points you make about image and buffoonery will fall away.”
Johnson’s critics tend not to realise that it is possible for someone to be at one and the same time entranced by jokes and deeply serious. They will not enjoy this compilation. Other people will.


conservativehome--2020-04-19--WATCH: Government is “working as fast as we can” to put testing in place for NHS workers

# Marr : Will we be testing and contact tracing in local communities within three weeks ?
Cabinet Minister Michael @ @ @ @ @ , over the course of the next few weeks , be in a position to @ @ @ @ @ tests '' # coronavirus https : //t.co/JyKkmfe9u2 pic.twitter.com/dqMUVbEs1F

#Marr: Will we be testing and contact tracing in local communities within three weeks?
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove: "We will, over the course of the next few weeks, be in a position to increase the number of our tests"#coronavirus https://t.co/JyKkmfe9u2 pic.twitter.com/dqMUVbEs1F
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 19, 2020


conservativehome--2020-04-19--WATCH: Labour urges ministers to prepare public for their plan to end lockdown

`` The lockdown in itself is not a strategy '' Shadow Health Sec @ JonAshworth says `` we should n't @ @ @ @ @ '' , and with a vaccine as far as 18 months a way `` we @ @ @ @ @ the government 's plan '' .
# Ridge pic.twitter.com/Svyp563vt3

"The lockdown in itself is not a strategy"
Shadow Health Sec @JonAshworth says "we shouldn't be treating people like children", and with a vaccine as far as 18 months a way "we need to understand what is the government's plan".#Ridge pic.twitter.com/Svyp563vt3
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) April 19, 2020


conservativehome--2020-04-19--WATCH: Gove – ‘The idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to

WATCH: Gove – ‘The idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to the coronavirus… is grotesque’

'The idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to the # coronavirus is grotesque' @ @ @ @ @ was `` energetic , determined , focussed and strong '' in his leadership against # @ @

'The idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to the #coronavirus is grotesque'
Michael Gove insists Boris Johnson was "energetic, determined, focussed and strong" in his leadership against #COVID.
Latest: https://t.co/GM5u37D7JW #Ridge pic.twitter.com/HNrcU9tGrx
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) April 19, 2020


conservativehome--2020-04-19--We hope and expect Johnson will be back by May 8. But if he isn’t, Raab must lead in easing the lock

We hope and expect Johnson will be back by May 8. But if he isn’t, Raab must lead in easing the lockdown.

The Sunday papers are full of tales of Ministerial blunders ( real and exaggerated ) and Cabinet divisions .
But the Government has good reason to keep cool , at least for the moment .
Why ?
For an answer , look at the polls .
Last Thursday , Ipsos-MORI released news of a “ Boris Bounce ” – with 51 per cent of respondents having a favourable view of the Prime Minister , up 17 per cent since early March .
The number of those who take a similar view of the Conservatives has risen by seven points .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Government approval ratings at 50 per cent .
This supports the record-breaking Conservative poll scores reported at the end of last month by Matt Singh and others .
In short , the Government has a mass of capital stored in the bank .
But it doesn ’ t follow that this hoard will last , whatever Ministers do , or that it won ’ t be called on during the next few weeks – and suddenly at that .
Our own James Frayne has described the polls as “ a rapidly-ticking time bomb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ themselves “ heading for catastrophe ” and that others will catch up “ before too long ” .
When might that be ?
Early June will mark three months since the start of the economic contraction .
Most of the Treasury schemes were expressly announced to last for that period , though Rishi Sunak has said that they ’ ll be continued if necessary .
One might reasonably expect people ’ s patience with the full lockdown to start running lower after this quarter , as business closures and redundancies replace home working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That gives Boris Johnson and company a window of about three weeks in which to make up his mind about whether to persevere with the lockdown or ease it , and then start to implement the latter if that ’ s the decision .
In that way , he would keep ahead of public opinion – moving off a full lockdown in early-to-mid May before voters begin to defy it in growing numbers .
That suggests to us that he will announce a decision after next month ’ s unusually-placed first Bank Holiday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of today ’ s reporting says nothing that makes this timing more unlikely .
A crude summary is as follows : a quad of Dominic Raab , Rishi Sunak , Michael Gove and Matt Hancock are streamlining a lockdown wind down plan .
Sunak and Gove are apparently for an earlier lifting ; Hancock for a later one , and Raab , though staying neutral as the chairman of the quad , leans towards moving off the shutdown sooner rather than later .
Gove is in charge of drawing the streams of proposals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That ’ s no surprise given the role of the Cabinet Office .
For it is a joint Number Ten/Cabinet Office team , under Tom Shinner , that has been sifting the plans .
Shinner is a former Director of Policy and Strategy at Dexu , and before that Director of Strategy at Education under Gove .
Dominic Cummings lured him back to Downing Street from the private sector last month .
The aim is for Gove/Shinner to present the Prime Minister with a full scheme .
And it ’ s clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is for schools to open first and large sporting and cultural events to do so last , with shops in between .
The papers make much of the trade-off , in any decision , between lives lost now , if the lockdown is lifted and a “ second wave ” lifts off , and livelihoods and other lives lost later , if the shutdown continues .
But this was always the stuff of which any decision was made .
The key factor is a familiar one : whether the NHS can cope or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Government ’ s five tests that really counts .
The stage is set for Johnson to dip a toe cautiously in the water after the May Bank Holiday , and announce the re-opening of schools , perhaps on a staggered basis , and some shops .
We say this , first , because the sources of official advice given to him have now reportedly been widened to include Treasury officials ; second , because Parliament , which returns next week , will begin to build pressure for a graduated end to the shutdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own lockdown-sceptic instincts .
If he takes this path , the Prime Minister will hope that the rising number of hospital admissions will not swamp the NHS ’ s capacity to cope with them .
Hence the gradualness of any easing-off .
Readers don ’ t need us to tell them that inherent to any such move will be the risk of trial and error .
It will be rather like , to use an image sometimes applied to monetary policy , shaking a stubborn bottle of HP sauce – and hoping that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out all at once .
The Coronavirus picture is continuously changing .
And as we keep saying , reading it is an art , not a science – given the problems inherent in predicting how the public will behave , understanding the virus itself and immunity from it , getting comparable figures from abroad , and so on .
But we believe that Johnson would be right to relax , say , the lockdown provisions on primary schools and retail .
He will want to stress that some aspects of the lockdown , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and vulnerable , will be in place for the foreseeable future .
Britain won ’ t return to the status quo ante any time soon .
All this assumes that the Prime Minister will be fit and healthy enough to step up to the plate in early May .
We hope that he will be .
Nonetheless , it isn ’ t so long ago since his release from hospital – with all concerned reminding themselves and others that recuperation takes time .
Which is why if necessary he must give Raab his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him after that first May Bank Holiday if needs be .

The Sunday papers are full of tales of Ministerial blunders (real and exaggerated) and Cabinet divisions. But the Government has good reason to keep cool, at least for the moment. Why?
For an answer, look at the polls. Last Thursday, Ipsos-MORI released news of a “Boris Bounce” – with 51 per cent of respondents having a favourable view of the Prime Minister, up 17 per cent since early March. The number of those who take a similar view of the Conservatives has risen by seven points.
Meanwhile, YouGov’s tracker finds Government approval ratings at 50 per cent. This supports the record-breaking Conservative poll scores reported at the end of last month by Matt Singh and others.
In short, the Government has a mass of capital stored in the bank. But it doesn’t follow that this hoard will last, whatever Ministers do, or that it won’t be called on during the next few weeks – and suddenly at that.
Our own James Frayne has described the polls as “a rapidly-ticking time bomb”, suggesting that employers already consider themselves “heading for catastrophe” and that others will catch up “before too long”. When might that be?
Early June will mark three months since the start of the economic contraction. Most of the Treasury schemes were expressly announced to last for that period, though Rishi Sunak has said that they’ll be continued if necessary.
One might reasonably expect people’s patience with the full lockdown to start running lower after this quarter, as business closures and redundancies replace home working and furloughs in the public consciosuness.
That gives Boris Johnson and company a window of about three weeks in which to make up his mind about whether to persevere with the lockdown or ease it, and then start to implement the latter if that’s the decision.
In that way, he would keep ahead of public opinion – moving off a full lockdown in early-to-mid May before voters begin to defy it in growing numbers.
That suggests to us that he will announce a decision after next month’s unusually-placed first Bank Holiday on Friday May 8.
The thrust of today’s reporting says nothing that makes this timing more unlikely. A crude summary is as follows: a quad of Dominic Raab, Rishi Sunak, Michael Gove and Matt Hancock are streamlining a lockdown wind down plan.
Sunak and Gove are apparently for an earlier lifting; Hancock for a later one, and Raab, though staying neutral as the chairman of the quad, leans towards moving off the shutdown sooner rather than later.
Gove is in charge of drawing the streams of proposals coming from departments into a coherent whole. That’s no surprise given the role of the Cabinet Office.
For it is a joint Number Ten/Cabinet Office team, under Tom Shinner, that has been sifting the plans. Shinner is a former Director of Policy and Strategy at Dexu, and before that Director of Strategy at Education under Gove.
Dominic Cummings lured him back to Downing Street from the private sector last month. The aim is for Gove/Shinner to present the Prime Minister with a full scheme.
And it’s clear that the general pattern of the proposals is for schools to open first and large sporting and cultural events to do so last, with shops in between.
The papers make much of the trade-off, in any decision, between lives lost now, if the lockdown is lifted and a “second wave” lifts off, and livelihoods and other lives lost later, if the shutdown continues.
But this was always the stuff of which any decision was made. The key factor is a familiar one: whether the NHS can cope or not – the only one of the Government’s five tests that really counts.
The stage is set for Johnson to dip a toe cautiously in the water after the May Bank Holiday, and announce the re-opening of schools, perhaps on a staggered basis, and some shops.
We say this, first, because the sources of official advice given to him have now reportedly been widened to include Treasury officials; second, because Parliament, which returns next week, will begin to build pressure for a graduated end to the shutdown and, third, because of his own lockdown-sceptic instincts.
If he takes this path, the Prime Minister will hope that the rising number of hospital admissions will not swamp the NHS’s capacity to cope with them. Hence the gradualness of any easing-off.
Readers don’t need us to tell them that inherent to any such move will be the risk of trial and error. It will be rather like, to use an image sometimes applied to monetary policy, shaking a stubborn bottle of HP sauce – and hoping that the liquid won’t suddenly splatter out all at once.
The Coronavirus picture is continuously changing. And as we keep saying, reading it is an art, not a science – given the problems inherent in predicting how the public will behave, understanding the virus itself and immunity from it, getting comparable figures from abroad, and so on.
But we believe that Johnson would be right to relax, say, the lockdown provisions on primary schools and retail. He will want to stress that some aspects of the lockdown, such as social distancing for the elderly and vulnerable, will be in place for the foreseeable future. Britain won’t return to the status quo ante any time soon.
All this assumes that the Prime Minister will be fit and healthy enough to step up to the plate in early May. We hope that he will be. Nonetheless, it isn’t so long ago since his release from hospital – with all concerned reminding themselves and others that recuperation takes time.
Which is why if necessary he must give Raab his full apostolic blessing to stand in for him after that first May Bank Holiday if needs be.


conservativehome--2020-04-19--Johnson, the Sunday Times and the virus. The Remainer losers have learnt nothing from the EU referen

Johnson, the Sunday Times and the virus. The Remainer losers have learnt nothing from the EU referendum and last year’s election.

“ They came on in the same old way , ” the Duke of Wellington said of the Bonaparist troops after the Battle of Waterloo , “ and we saw them off in the same old way.
” So the recuperating Boris Johnson might also say this evening .
Today ’ s Sunday Times insight probe into the Government ’ s handling of the Coronavirus is fair enough ( mostly ) , though the Government has issued a combative response .
When a vaccine becomes available and the virus has receded , the inevitable public inquiry will take place .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and this one ’ s response : masks , tests , PPE , mass immunity , lockdowns , COBRA – the lot .
We ’ ve no doubt at all that its criticisms of all concerned will be severe .
( We make only one prediction : the sources of scientific advice to government will be made public , and be widened . )
That being so , why is the Government ’ s approval rating at a record 50 per cent , according to YouGov ’ s tracker ?
True , confidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decreased slightly , but it stood at 52 per cent last Wednesday , by Opinium ’ s reckoning , which is enough credit to tide Ministers over for the time being .
Why the disconnect ?
The answer can only be that put by our columnist , David Gauke , last weekend : “ the most prevalent media bias is the bias in favour of news .
Something new must be happening .
Restrictions should be tightened .
Or…relaxed .
They certainly shouldn ’ t just stay the same , because that wouldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation demands news.
” He went on to add that he is “ not sure that the nation demands news ” , and we think he is right .
The sum of the last five years suggests that voters , having previously lost faith in politicians ( expenses ) , the churches ( child abuse ) , the banks ( the crash ) the royal family though not , repeat not , the Queen ( too many examples to list ) have also lost faith in the media – a point ruthlessly exploited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by recent research .
The public may not have grasped that newspapers are currently losing sales and advertising revenue hand over fist , that the Jewish Chronicle ‘ s sad closure looks like the shape of things to come , or that more than two thousand journalists have temporarily lost their jobs .
And it may not understand the detail of how , in the scrabble for space and sales , a lot of less than perfect comparisons of test numbers , death rates , bed numbers and so on have found their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fox will set the issues out in detail on ConservativeHome tomorrow .
But voters get the general drift .
We put our hand up and concede that this site has sometimes made the same mistake , though Charlotte Gill has been doing an excellent job of debunking some of the claims made elsewhere about death rates , the state of play in Singapore , Britain ’ s status as a so-called outlier , and testing .
Nor are we critical of our colleagues or media outlets as a whole , most of whom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the pressure of hysterical deadlines , less to tell “ truth to power ” ( which is not the main responsibility of our trade ) , but truth to their readers ( which is – or should be , at any rate ) .
But all the evidence of the last 24 hours suggests that a stubborn residue of Remainer diehards and FBPE whingeocrats has learned nothing from its mistakes in the 2016 EU referendum and in last December ’ s general election .
“ Boris Johnson missed Cobra meetings : now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
” The cry comes from the very same people who said the very same thing about him hiding in a Leeds hospital cupboard ; losing to the Supreme Court ; suffering Commons defeats ; messing up over Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ; groping Charlotte Edwards… …Boosting a bus slogan demanding £350 million a week ; writing two drafts of his key Brexit article ; dismissing his affair with Petronella Wyatt as “ an inverted pyramid of piffle ” ; publishing insults to Liverpool when he was Spectator editor .
Do we really need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most distinguished of magazines , the Economist , effectively accused Johnson recently of faking his Coronavirus illness ( a claim he later withdrew ) .
And there Johnson sits this evening in Chequers , recuperating from an illness that took him to within sight of death , with a majority of 80 in the Commons in the wake of a near-landslide last year .
Does he deserve to ?
Frankly , we flinch at some of the items in that list above .
( And we say that as a supporter of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But what we think scarcely matters .
With poll ratings like his , and a public who switched off from the latest media sensation a long time ago , the Prime Minister , Vicky Pollard-like , won ’ t be bovverred .
He won ’ t care whether Robert Peston messes up at a press conference or his old mucker Toby Young maunders on about the lockdown… …Or what Alastair Campbell , relic of a now-vanished age , has to say for himself .
Or about those loser Remainiacs on Twitter .
Let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their own tails – like Philip Hammond , Chancellor of the Exchequer last year ; now not even in Parliament .
It may be significant that one person who has not made the mistake of simply damning the Prime Minister out of hand is the new Leader of the Opposition .
Studiously , cautiously , like the careful lawyer that he is , Keir Starmer is staking out ground , setting traps : preparing for Parliament ’ s return next week , and for later .
Starmer isn ’ t wasting his time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with PPE and tests .
Whether he should or shouldn ’ t be is beside the point – which is that he knows that , if the lockdown continues as it is indefinitely , public opinion will turn on the Government .
And may do anyway .
But if it does , it will be nothing much to do with the Sunday Times ’ or other newspapers ’ disclosures .
It will be because voters are working out for themselves that home working and furloughs are about to be replaced by redundancies and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prime Minister is sedulously preparing to ease the lockdown gradually and stay ahead of his opponents .
Most of them are not as smart as Starmer .
They are carrying on in the same old way and being driven off in the same old way .
And might as well have been exiled to St Helena for all that Johnson cares .

“They came on in the same old way,” the Duke of Wellington said of the Bonaparist troops after the Battle of Waterloo, “and we saw them off in the same old way.” So the recuperating Boris Johnson might also say this evening.
Yesterday’s Sunday Times insight probe into the Government’s handling of the Coronavirus is fair enough (mostly), though the Government has issued a combative response. When a vaccine becomes available and the virus has receded, the inevitable public inquiry will take place.
It will probe past governments’ preparedness and this one’s response: masks, tests, PPE, mass immunity, lockdowns, COBRA – the lot. We’ve no doubt at all that its criticisms of all concerned will be severe. (We make only one specific prediction: the sources of scientific advice to government will be made public, and be widened.)
That being so, why is the Government’s approval rating at a record 50 per cent, according to YouGov’s tracker? True, confidence in its handling of the crisis has decreased slightly, but it stood at 52 per cent last Wednesday, by Opinium’s reckoning, which is enough credit to tide Ministers over for the time being. Why the disconnect?
The answer can only be that put by our columnist, David Gauke, last weekend: “the most prevalent media bias is the bias in favour of news. Something new must be happening. Restrictions should be tightened. Or…relaxed. They certainly shouldn’t just stay the same, because that wouldn’t be news. And the nation demands news.”
He went on to add that he is “not sure that the nation demands news”, and we think he is right. The sum of the last five years suggests that voters, having previously lost faith in politicians (expenses), the churches (child abuse), the banks (the crash) the royal family though not, repeat not, the Queen (too many examples to list) have also lost faith in the media – a point ruthlessly exploited in America by Donald Trump and buttressed by recent research.
The public may not have grasped that newspapers are currently losing sales and advertising revenue hand over fist, that the Jewish Chronicle‘s sad closure looks like the shape of things to come, or that more than two thousand journalists have temporarily lost their jobs.
And it may not understand the detail of how, in the scrabble for space and sales, a lot of less than perfect comparisons of test numbers, death rates, bed numbers and so on have found their way online and into print. Liam Fox sets out the issues in detail on ConservativeHome this morning. But voters get the general drift.
We put our hand up and concede that this site has sometimes made the same mistake, though Charlotte Gill has been doing an excellent job of debunking some of the claims made elsewhere about death rates, the state of play in Singapore, Britain’s status as a so-called outlier, and testing.
Nor are we critical of our colleagues or media outlets as a whole, most of whom are striving, as best they can against the pressure of hysterical deadlines, less to tell “truth to power” (which is not the main responsibility of our trade), but truth to their readers (which is – or should be, at any rate).
But all the evidence of the last 24 hours suggests that a stubborn residue of Remainer diehards and FBPE whingeocrats has learned nothing from its mistakes in the 2016 EU referendum and in last December’s general election.
“Boris Johnson missed Cobra meetings: now the British people will see the truth!” The cry comes from the very same people who said the very same thing about him hiding in a Leeds hospital cupboard; losing to the Supreme Court; suffering Commons defeats; messing up over Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe; groping Charlotte Edwards…
…Boosting a bus slogan demanding £350 million a week; writing two drafts of his key Brexit article; dismissing his affair with Petronella Wyatt as “an inverted pyramid of piffle”; publishing insults to Liverpool when he was Spectator editor. Do we really need to continue? One senior journalist on that most distinguished of magazines, the Economist, effectively accused Johnson recently of faking his Coronavirus illness (a claim he later withdrew).
And there Johnson sits this morning in Chequers, recuperating from an illness that took him to within sight of death, with a majority of 80 in the Commons in the wake of a near-landslide last year. Does he deserve to? Frankly, we flinch at some of the items in that list above. (And we say that as a supporter of his bid for the Tory leadership.)
But what we think scarcely matters. With poll ratings like his, and a public who switched off from the latest media sensation a long time ago, the Prime Minister, Vicky Pollard-like, won’t be bovverred. He won’t care whether Robert Peston messes up at a press conference or his old mucker Toby Young maunders on about the lockdown…
…Or what Alastair Campbell, relic of a now-vanished age, has to say for himself. Or about those loser Remainiacs on Twitter. Let the victims of Johnson Derangement Syndrome eat their own tails – like Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer last year; now not even in Parliament.
It may be significant that one person who has not made the mistake of simply damning the Prime Minister out of hand is the new Leader of the Opposition. Studiously, cautiously, like the careful lawyer that he is, Keir Starmer is staking out ground, setting traps: preparing for Parliament’s return next week, and for later.
Starmer isn’t wasting his time frothing into a lather about Ministerial blunders with PPE and tests. Whether he should or shouldn’t be is beside the point – which is that he knows that, if the lockdown continues as it is indefinitely, public opinion will turn on the Government. And may do anyway.
But if it does, it will be nothing much to do with the Sunday Times’ or other newspapers’ disclosures. It will be because voters are working out for themselves that home working and furloughs are about to be replaced by redundancies and business closures.
Which is why the Prime Minister is sedulously preparing to ease the lockdown gradually and stay ahead of his opponents. Most of them are not as smart as Starmer. They are carrying on in the same old way and being driven off in the same old way. And might as well have been exiled to St Helena for all that Johnson cares.


Coronavirus Count

UK cumulative total of lab-confirmed cases : 120,067 ( Up from 114,217 ) .
UK cumulative total of COVID-19 associated UK deaths in hospital : 16,060 ( Up from 15,464 ) .
Latest daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases : 5,850 ( Up from 5,526 ) .
Latest daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths in hospital : 596 ( Down from 888 ) .
From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
DAILY NUMBER OF COVID-19 ASSOCIATED DEATHS IN HOSPITAL From the Government ’ s website Number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the UK .
ConHome note April 14 : Public Health England has changed its presentation of the data to make it clear that the UK cumulative and daily totals of cases are of lab-confirmed figures , and that the cumulative and daily totals of deaths exclude those outside hospitals ( i.e : in care homes ) .
It has also separated out its graph info for cases and deaths .
We will reproduce the daily figures rather than cumulative ones .
“ The risk to the UK has been raised to high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
GOVERNMENT RULES ON STAYING AT HOME AND AWAY FROM OTHERS See here .
Published on Monday March 23 .
GUIDANCE : FURTHER BUSINESSES AND PREMISES TO CLOSE See here .
Published on Monday March 23 .
HOW EVERYONE CAN HELP STOP THE CORONAVIRUS ( SOCIAL DISTANCING ) See here .
Republished on Monday March 23 .
STAY AT HOME IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS ( SELF-DISTANCING ) See here .
Republished on Monday March 23 .
See here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR WORKERS ON WHAT AND HOW THEY CAN CLAIM See here .
Published on Friday March 20 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR LANDLORDS , TENANTS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES NEW See here .
Published on Saturday March 28 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON WHAT THE CORONAVIRUS BILL WILL DO See here .
Published on Wednesday March 18 HOW TO AVOID CATCHING OR SPREADING CORONAVIRUS • Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds .
• Always wash your hands when you get home or into work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soap and water are not available .
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve ( not your hands ) when you cough or sneeze .
• Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards .
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell .
The symptoms of coronavirus are : However , these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness .
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common , such as cold and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do .
Use this service if : • You think you might have coronavirus .
• In the last 14 days you ’ ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the coronavirus advice for travellers .
• You ’ ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus .
• In Scotland call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of hours .
• In Wales call 111 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or 0845 46 47 .
• Do not go to a GP surgery , pharmacy or hospital .
• What the coronavirus is , how it ’ s spread and how to avoid catching it – Government NHS website overview .
• Stay at home advice and how to manage self-isolation .
( All information taken from Government sources .
Updated as of 18.15 on Sunday April 19th . )

HEADLINE FACTS
Total number of lab-confirmed UK cases: 292,950 (Up from 291,409).
Total number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths: 41,481 (Up from 41,279).
Daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases: 1,541 (Up from 1,266).
Daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths: 202 (Up from 151).
England total cases: 156,410 (Up from 156,018 ).
England total deaths: 37,069 (Up from 36,883).
England death rate: 279.4 (Was 278.7).
Scotland total cases: 15,709 (Up from 15,682).
Scotland total deaths: 2,439 (Up from 2,434).
Scotland death rate: 288.9 (Was 288.4).
Wales total cases: 14,658 (Up from 14,581).
Wales total deaths: 1,435 (Up from 1,425).
Wales death rate: 467.0 (Was 464.6)
Northern Ireland total cases: 4,838 (Up from 4,822)
Northern Ireland total deaths: 538 (Up from 537).
Northern Ireland death rate: 257.1 (Was 256.3).
From the Government’s website Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK.
DAILY NUMBER OF COVID-19 ASSOCIATED DEATHS BY DATE REPORTED
DAILY NUMBER OF LAB-CONFIRMED ENGLAND CASES
From the Government’s website Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK.
– – –
RISK
“The risk to the UK has been raised to high” –
From the Government’s website Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK.
– – –
NHS VOLUNTEER RESPONDER FORM
See here
(The Government’s scheme to recruit 250,000 volunteers.)
– – –
OUR PLAN TO REBUILD: THE UK GOVERNMENT’S COVID-19 RECOVERY STRATEGY
See here. New as of Monday May 11.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON THE LOCKDOWN.
See here. New as of Tuesday June 2.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON SHIELDING AND PROTECTING PEOPLE WHO ARE CLINICALLY EXTREMELY VULNERABLE FROM COVID-19
See here. New as of Tuesday June 2.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON SOCIAL DISTANCING
See here. New as of Tuesday June 2.
GOVERNMENT WEBSITE: GENERAL ADVICE
See here.
GOVERNMENT WEBSITE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. WHAT YOU CAN DO AND CAN’T DO
See here.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR LANDLORDS, TENANTS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES NEW
See here. Published on Saturday March 28.
– – –
HOW TO AVOID CATCHING OR SPREADING CORONAVIRUS
Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds .
Always wash your hands when you get home or into work .
Use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available .
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze .
Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards .
Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of coronavirus are:
A cough.
A high temperature.
Shortness of breath.
However, these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness.
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu.
USING 111
NHS 111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do.
Use this service if:
You think you might have coronavirus.
In the last 14 days you’ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the coronavirus advice for travellers.
You’ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus.
In Scotland call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of hours.
In Wales call 111 (if available in your area) or 0845 46 47.
In Northern Ireland call 111.
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
FURTHER LINKS TO GOVERNMENT ADVICE
– – –
(All information taken from Government sources.
Updated as of 19.00 on Friday June 12.)


conservativehome--2020-04-20--Johnson, the Sunday Times and the virus. The Remainer losers have learnt nothing from the EU referen

“ They came on in the same old way , ” the Duke of Wellington said of the Bonaparist troops after the Battle of Waterloo , “ and we saw them off in the same old way.
” So the recuperating Boris Johnson might also say this evening .
Yesterday ’ s Sunday Times insight probe into the Government ’ s handling of the Coronavirus is fair enough ( mostly ) , though the Government has issued a combative response .
When a vaccine becomes available and the virus has receded , the inevitable public inquiry will take place .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and this one ’ s response : masks , tests , PPE , mass immunity , lockdowns , COBRA – the lot .
We ’ ve no doubt at all that its criticisms of all concerned will be severe .
( We make only one specific prediction : the sources of scientific advice to government will be made public , and be widened . )
That being so , why is the Government ’ s approval rating at a record 50 per cent , according to YouGov ’ s tracker ?
True , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has decreased slightly , but it stood at 52 per cent last Wednesday , by Opinium ’ s reckoning , which is enough credit to tide Ministers over for the time being .
Why the disconnect ?
The answer can only be that put by our columnist , David Gauke , last weekend : “ the most prevalent media bias is the bias in favour of news .
Something new must be happening .
Restrictions should be tightened .
Or…relaxed .
They certainly shouldn ’ t just stay the same , because that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the nation demands news.
” He went on to add that he is “ not sure that the nation demands news ” , and we think he is right .
The sum of the last five years suggests that voters , having previously lost faith in politicians ( expenses ) , the churches ( child abuse ) , the banks ( the crash ) the royal family though not , repeat not , the Queen ( too many examples to list ) have also lost faith in the media – a point ruthlessly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buttressed by recent research .
The public may not have grasped that newspapers are currently losing sales and advertising revenue hand over fist , that the Jewish Chronicle ‘ s sad closure looks like the shape of things to come , or that more than two thousand journalists have temporarily lost their jobs .
And it may not understand the detail of how , in the scrabble for space and sales , a lot of less than perfect comparisons of test numbers , death rates , bed numbers and so on have found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Liam Fox sets out the issues in detail on ConservativeHome this morning .
But voters get the general drift .
We put our hand up and concede that this site has sometimes made the same mistake , though Charlotte Gill has been doing an excellent job of debunking some of the claims made elsewhere about death rates , the state of play in Singapore , Britain ’ s status as a so-called outlier , and testing .
Nor are we critical of our colleagues or media outlets as a whole , most of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can against the pressure of hysterical deadlines , less to tell “ truth to power ” ( which is not the main responsibility of our trade ) , but truth to their readers ( which is – or should be , at any rate ) .
But all the evidence of the last 24 hours suggests that a stubborn residue of Remainer diehards and FBPE whingeocrats has learned nothing from its mistakes in the 2016 EU referendum and in last December ’ s general election .
“ Boris Johnson missed Cobra meetings : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth !
” The cry comes from the very same people who said the very same thing about him hiding in a Leeds hospital cupboard ; losing to the Supreme Court ; suffering Commons defeats ; messing up over Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ; groping Charlotte Edwards… …Boosting a bus slogan demanding £350 million a week ; writing two drafts of his key Brexit article ; dismissing his affair with Petronella Wyatt as “ an inverted pyramid of piffle ” ; publishing insults to Liverpool when he was Spectator editor .
Do we really need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that most distinguished of magazines , the Economist , effectively accused Johnson recently of faking his Coronavirus illness ( a claim he later withdrew ) .
And there Johnson sits this morning in Chequers , recuperating from an illness that took him to within sight of death , with a majority of 80 in the Commons in the wake of a near-landslide last year .
Does he deserve to ?
Frankly , we flinch at some of the items in that list above .
( And we say that as a supporter of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) But what we think scarcely matters .
With poll ratings like his , and a public who switched off from the latest media sensation a long time ago , the Prime Minister , Vicky Pollard-like , won ’ t be bovverred .
He won ’ t care whether Robert Peston messes up at a press conference or his old mucker Toby Young maunders on about the lockdown… …Or what Alastair Campbell , relic of a now-vanished age , has to say for himself .
Or about those loser Remainiacs on Twitter .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ eat their own tails – like Philip Hammond , Chancellor of the Exchequer last year ; now not even in Parliament .
It may be significant that one person who has not made the mistake of simply damning the Prime Minister out of hand is the new Leader of the Opposition .
Studiously , cautiously , like the careful lawyer that he is , Keir Starmer is staking out ground , setting traps : preparing for Parliament ’ s return next week , and for later .
Starmer isn ’ t wasting his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blunders with PPE and tests .
Whether he should or shouldn ’ t be is beside the point – which is that he knows that , if the lockdown continues as it is indefinitely , public opinion will turn on the Government .
And may do anyway .
But if it does , it will be nothing much to do with the Sunday Times ’ or other newspapers ’ disclosures .
It will be because voters are working out for themselves that home working and furloughs are about to be replaced by redundancies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Prime Minister is sedulously preparing to ease the lockdown gradually and stay ahead of his opponents .
Most of them are not as smart as Starmer .
They are carrying on in the same old way and being driven off in the same old way .
And might as well have been exiled to St Helena for all that Johnson cares .


Coronavirus Count

UK cumulative total of lab-confirmed cases : 120,067 ( Up from 114,217 ) .
UK cumulative total of COVID-19 associated UK deaths in hospital : 16,060 ( Up from 15,464 ) .
Latest daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases : 5,850 ( Up from 5,526 ) .
Latest daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths in hospital : 596 ( Down from 888 ) .
From the Government ’ s website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
DAILY NUMBER OF COVID-19 ASSOCIATED DEATHS IN HOSPITAL From the Government ’ s website Number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the UK .
ConHome note April 14 : Public Health England has changed its presentation of the data to make it clear that the UK cumulative and daily totals of cases are of lab-confirmed figures , and that the cumulative and daily totals of deaths exclude those outside hospitals ( i.e : in care homes ) .
It has also separated out its graph info for cases and deaths .
We will reproduce the daily figures rather than cumulative ones .
“ The risk to the UK has been raised to high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ website Number of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases and risk in the UK .
GOVERNMENT RULES ON STAYING AT HOME AND AWAY FROM OTHERS See here .
Published on Monday March 23 .
GUIDANCE : FURTHER BUSINESSES AND PREMISES TO CLOSE See here .
Published on Monday March 23 .
HOW EVERYONE CAN HELP STOP THE CORONAVIRUS ( SOCIAL DISTANCING ) See here .
Republished on Monday March 23 .
STAY AT HOME IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS ( SELF-DISTANCING ) See here .
Republished on Monday March 23 .
See here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR WORKERS ON WHAT AND HOW THEY CAN CLAIM See here .
Published on Friday March 20 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE FOR LANDLORDS , TENANTS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES NEW See here .
Published on Saturday March 28 .
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON WHAT THE CORONAVIRUS BILL WILL DO See here .
Published on Wednesday March 18 HOW TO AVOID CATCHING OR SPREADING CORONAVIRUS • Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds .
• Always wash your hands when you get home or into work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soap and water are not available .
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve ( not your hands ) when you cough or sneeze .
• Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards .
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell .
The symptoms of coronavirus are : However , these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness .
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common , such as cold and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do .
Use this service if : • You think you might have coronavirus .
• In the last 14 days you ’ ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the coronavirus advice for travellers .
• You ’ ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus .
• In Scotland call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of hours .
• In Wales call 111 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or 0845 46 47 .
• Do not go to a GP surgery , pharmacy or hospital .
• What the coronavirus is , how it ’ s spread and how to avoid catching it – Government NHS website overview .
• Stay at home advice and how to manage self-isolation .
( All information taken from Government sources .
Updated as of 7.00 on Monday April 20th . )


conservativehome--2020-04-20--Neil O’Brien: Salvaging the economy. Could we just live with more borrowing for a bit? Maybe, maybe

Neil O’Brien: Salvaging the economy. Could we just live with more borrowing for a bit? Maybe, maybe not.

On a cold day in December 2006 , a Treasury official clicked a mouse , sending £54 million to the US and Canada .
And so we finally paid off our debts from the Second World War .
When we borrowed the money there was no such thing as teabags , supermarkets , motorways , sliced bread , or teenagers .
Hopefully the debts we ’ re running up fighting Coronavirus won ’ t take so long to pay .
But they ’ ll be with us a long time , and change politics .
Of course , right now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our main concern .
Today ’ s challenge is to prevent disaster , then secure a recovery .
According to the IMF , the UK is doing more than most : spending proportionally more than France , the USA or China to fight the recession .
UK policies are generous : while Germany pays two thirds of furloughed employees wages , and Canada just 10 per cent , the UK government pays 80 per cent .
Rishi Sunak is winning plaudits for his emergency actions .
The next step is to clear obstacles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Looking ahead to recovery , every country faces the same balancing act : trying to leave lockdown without overwhelming their health system .
Germany ’ s exit roadmap starts with small shops .
In France schools and nurseries will reopen first .
In Asia , things are swinging back the other way , with Singapore now forced to close schools and China to announce a Wuhan-style lockdown of the city of Suifenhe .
We ’ ll likely be stopping and starting until a vaccine or herd immunity is reached .
How can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unlike the last recession , the UK starts in good financial health – both government and businesses .
According to the IMF , in 2007 the UK ’ s cyclically adjusted deficit was the highest of any G7 country .
At 5.2 per cent it was twice the average advanced economy .
In contrast , in 2019 it was just 1.3 per cent – lower than the developed country average of 3.4 per cent .
Debts of non-financial businesses fell from 102 per cent of GDP in 2008 to 84 per cent in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other G7 country .
We ’ ve gone from worst prepared , to among the better prepared .
Despite this , many firms will run up large debts to survive Coronavirus , including loans from government .
Firms crushed by debt could clamp the brakes on recovery .
As their new bank manager , the Chancellor has a range of options .
Perhaps a long period of zero interest rates .
Perhaps offering partial debt forgiveness – maybe even full debt writeoffs for smaller businesses ?
Such a bung from taxpayers might feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need it .
Against that , were we really expecting the Dog and Duck to have insured against an unprecedented global pandemic ?
We could do other things to help firms refinance .
Put the British Business Bank on steroids to issue cheap debt and equity – perhaps turn it into a British version of Germany ’ s KFW .
We could change monetary policy to support growth .
Ever since the last recession , economists have been debating “ secular stagnation ” and whether we should have a looser monetary policy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ inflation , because limited price rises oil the wheels of economic adjustment .
We could tolerate a little extra inflation for higher growth .
“ NGDP targeting ” is one possible framework .
The US is looking seriously at another , average inflation targeting .
Faster growth would be very helpful , because the UK and other governments are going to have big debts .
The OBR produced estimates last week suggesting government will borrow about 14 per cent GDP this year : a postwar record , taking government debt levels to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beatles first LP ) .
The graph at the top of this page shows that prediction in long term context : it ’ s always a bad sign when your problems are visible even on a 300 year-long chart .
Even this OBR forecast feels like a best case scenario , and assumes the economy gets back to where we thought it would be by 2022 .
Instead , it feels more likely we ’ ll have some permanent loss of growth , meaning a persistently higher deficit .
No-one knows how big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Foundation predict that in five years we ’ ll still be borrowing £30 to £130 billion extra a year , equivalent to between 5p and 22p on the basic rate of tax .
And there ’ s lots of pressure to spend more too .
The Chancellor may struggle to take back temporary increases in welfare spending quickly ( a freeze sounds more plausible than a cut ) .
We may want to fund extra help for young people to find new jobs , and get unemployment down .
The biggest economic impact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be in bits of the North and Midlands .
So funding for the PM ’ s mission to “ level up ” is more needed than ever .
Government is already undertaking a review of social care and “ fair funding ” for councils , both of which will likely create pressure to spend more .
Above all , there ’ s the NHS .
It ’ s true there ’ s no obvious connection between health spending and Coronovirus rates .
Big spenders like France and Germany are performing very differently .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ spending has been protected , growing in real terms , from £117 billion in 2010 to £145 this year in England .
In real terms per household , we ’ re spending twice what we spent in 2000 .
But there may well still be a strong desire to spend more after Coronavirus , turning clapping into cash .
On this site last week , Andrew Gimson made the case for a German-style system and a new funding settlement .
It ’ s a compelling vision .
But German levels of health spending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a richer country and the second highest health spender in the world ( after the US ) .
Government health spending is around £1,500 higher per person there .
To fund such an increase here would mean finding about £100 billion a year .
Using only higher taxes , that ’ s roughly equivalent to increasing each of the basic rate of income tax , the higher rate and corporation tax by about 10p in the pound .
So going that far feels unlikely .
But a new settlement for health and social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
How can we possibly pay for the Coronavirus-induced deficit , and meet these pressures too ?
A second decade of tight spending on public services feels like a tough sell .
There are still opportunities to save taxpayers money .
The question is whether they ’ re enough .
Looking at the classic suggestions made in comments on this site , halving international aid would save £7-8 billion a year , but would mean breaking our manifesto promise .
Cancelling phase two of HS2 doesn ’ t save you any real money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is now under construction .
We could get high single figure billions of savings from cutting the number of low value courses at university .
There ’ s huge potential to put the locked-up value of council housing to work in building new social housing , releasing capital for other things .
But ultimately , none these ideas seem likely to add up to filling the hole .
Could we just live with a big deficit for a bit ?
Maybe , maybe not .
Things could come to a crunch fast if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as predicted by the Economist Intelligence Unit .
As every country in the world tries to borrow like crazy , there ’ s a risk shakier governments may totter or fall like dominoes , a problem the G20 are trying to preempt .
Hopefully it will be crisis averted , and we ’ ll have a bit more time to fix the hole .
But sooner or later , difficult choices on tax and spending are coming .
We didn ’ t have a party .
But we ’ ll still have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to come .

Neil O’Brien is MP for Harborough.
On a cold day in December 2006, a Treasury official clicked a mouse, sending £54 million to the US and Canada. And so we finally paid off our debts from the Second World War. When we borrowed the money there was no such thing as teabags, supermarkets, motorways, sliced bread, or teenagers.
Hopefully the debts we’re running up fighting Coronavirus won’t take so long to pay. But they’ll be with us a long time, and change politics. Of course, right now, the long term isn’t our main concern. Today’s challenge is to prevent disaster, then secure a recovery.
According to the IMF, the UK is doing more than most: spending proportionally more than France, the USA or China to fight the recession. UK policies are generous: while Germany pays two thirds of furloughed employees wages, and Canada just 10 per cent, the UK government pays 80 per cent.
Rishi Sunak is winning plaudits for his emergency actions. The next step is to clear obstacles slowing issuance of government-backed loans to businesses.
Looking ahead to recovery, every country faces the same balancing act: trying to leave lockdown without overwhelming their health system. Germany’s exit roadmap starts with small shops. In France schools and nurseries will reopen first.
In Asia, things are swinging back the other way, with Singapore now forced to close schools and China to announce a Wuhan-style lockdown of the city of Suifenhe.
We’ll likely be stopping and starting until a vaccine or herd immunity is reached. How can we have economic recovery amid this?
Unlike the last recession, the UK starts in good financial health – both government and businesses. According to the IMF, in 2007 the UK’s cyclically adjusted deficit was the highest of any G7 country. At 5.2 per cent it was twice the average advanced economy. In contrast, in 2019 it was just 1.3 per cent – lower than the developed country average of 3.4 per cent. Debts of non-financial businesses fell from 102 per cent of GDP in 2008 to 84 per cent in 2018: a bigger reduction than any other G7 country.
We’ve gone from worst prepared, to among the better prepared. Despite this, many firms will run up large debts to survive Coronavirus, including loans from government.
Firms crushed by debt could clamp the brakes on recovery. As their new bank manager, the Chancellor has a range of options. Perhaps a long period of zero interest rates. Perhaps offering partial debt forgiveness – maybe even full debt writeoffs for smaller businesses?
Such a bung from taxpayers might feel unfair on those who didn’t need it. Against that, were we really expecting the Dog and Duck to have insured against an unprecedented global pandemic?
We could do other things to help firms refinance. Put the British Business Bank on steroids to issue cheap debt and equity – perhaps turn it into a British version of Germany’s KFW. We could change monetary policy to support growth. Ever since the last recession, economists have been debating “secular stagnation” and whether we should have a looser monetary policy.
We don’t aim for zero inflation, because limited price rises oil the wheels of economic adjustment. We could tolerate a little extra inflation for higher growth. “NGDP targeting” is one possible framework. The US is looking seriously at another, average inflation targeting.
Faster growth would be very helpful, because the UK and other governments are going to have big debts. The OBR produced estimates last week suggesting government will borrow about 14 per cent GDP this year: a postwar record, taking government debt levels to the highest since 1963 (year of the Beatles first LP).
The graph at the top of this page shows that prediction in long term context: it’s always a bad sign when your problems are visible even on a 300 year-long chart. Even this OBR forecast feels like a best case scenario, and assumes the economy gets back to where we thought it would be by 2022. Instead, it feels more likely we’ll have some permanent loss of growth, meaning a persistently higher deficit.
No-one knows how big the hole will be. The Resolution Foundation predict that in five years we’ll still be borrowing £30 to £130 billion extra a year, equivalent to between 5p and 22p on the basic rate of tax. And there’s lots of pressure to spend more too.
The Chancellor may struggle to take back temporary increases in welfare spending quickly (a freeze sounds more plausible than a cut). We may want to fund extra help for young people to find new jobs, and get unemployment down.
The biggest economic impact of the COVID-19 recession seems likely to be in bits of the North and Midlands. So funding for the PM’s mission to “level up” is more needed than ever. Government is already undertaking a review of social care and “fair funding” for councils, both of which will likely create pressure to spend more.
Above all, there’s the NHS. It’s true there’s no obvious connection between health spending and Coronovirus rates. Big spenders like France and Germany are performing very differently. It’s also true that health spending has been protected, growing in real terms, from £117 billion in 2010 to £145 this year in England. In real terms per household, we’re spending twice what we spent in 2000.
But there may well still be a strong desire to spend more after Coronavirus, turning clapping into cash. On this site last week, Andrew Gimson made the case for a German-style system and a new funding settlement. It’s a compelling vision.
But German levels of health spending would be expensive. Germany is both a richer country and the second highest health spender in the world (after the US). Government health spending is around £1,500 higher per person there.
To fund such an increase here would mean finding about £100 billion a year. Using only higher taxes, that’s roughly equivalent to increasing each of the basic rate of income tax, the higher rate and corporation tax by about 10p in the pound. So going that far feels unlikely. But a new settlement for health and social care may well be on the agenda.
How can we possibly pay for the Coronavirus-induced deficit, and meet these pressures too? A second decade of tight spending on public services feels like a tough sell. There are still opportunities to save taxpayers money. The question is whether they’re enough.
Looking at the classic suggestions made in comments on this site, halving international aid would save £7-8 billion a year, but would mean breaking our manifesto promise.
Cancelling phase two of HS2 doesn’t save you any real money until the 2030s, and phase one is now under construction.
We could get high single figure billions of savings from cutting the number of low value courses at university.
There’s huge potential to put the locked-up value of council housing to work in building new social housing, releasing capital for other things.
But ultimately, none these ideas seem likely to add up to filling the hole. Could we just live with a big deficit for a bit? Maybe, maybe not.
Things could come to a crunch fast if viral contagion is followed by financial contagion, as predicted by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
As every country in the world tries to borrow like crazy, there’s a risk shakier governments may totter or fall like dominoes, a problem the G20 are trying to preempt. Hopefully it will be crisis averted, and we’ll have a bit more time to fix the hole. But sooner or later, difficult choices on tax and spending are coming. We didn’t have a party. But we’ll still have a hell of a hangover for years to come.


conservativehome--2020-04-20--Mimi Harker: Small businesses in Amersham are adapting – we need to support them

As Mother Earth heals and replenishes , as fish miraculously appear in the now crystal clear waters in Venice , and as pollution levels plummet across the planet , the world is gripped by the feeling of helplessness as community after community is ravaged by an unknown terror .
Covid-19 appeared from nowhere for the ordinary people going about their every day lives .
Continents , countries , counties , towns , and villages locked down and locked away from this new enemy , whose presence only becomes visible when you are in the grips of the horrendous virus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help .
It is terrifying .
It has and is changing our lives completely .
Who knows what the economy will look like at the end of all of this ?
How will our high streets survive ?
Small businesses ?
The self employed – the most vulnerable in the workplace economy .
The coronavirus pandemic has brought out the best and the worst – a clip from Facebook : “ Keep an eye out for a shoplifter in Amersham .
I was behind him in the supermarket queue just now .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and out again with wine .
He may be trying all shops now ” .
Then there are the incredible frontline workers who are risking their own lives to save ours .
The least we can do is absolutely everything to avoid contracting a disease that will create untold havoc within the health system .
Local authorities have responded and risen to the challenge but more than that , from my experience as a community volunteer , I see the incredible army of ordinary people who have stepped away from their everyday lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vulnerable and self isolating .
In my local area , within a three mile radius , there are at least three voluntary groups reaching out to people who may need help with shopping and prescriptions , helping people who are lonely and isolated – “ please let me know if you would like me to call you ” it says on the cards that we have put through every door .
Single points of contact ( SPOC ) have been set up for every road .
I am the SPOC for my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the offers of support from the rest of the road .
WhatsApp groups to keep everyone informed – and offers of shopping , the Skype chats , the yoga class on Zoom I participated in this morning… The teams of volunteers that have responded to the NHS call for help , over 750,000 of us , to supermarkets trying to help the community , to help the individual stuck indoors without anyone , what an amazing community heart and spirit has been brought out , shining , strong and reliable .
As chairman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organisation for the voluntary , community , and charity sector in Buckinghamshire , I was delighted to host the board meeting on Team , and interviewing potential new trustees with fellow board members as well .
A local garage offered a nurse their courtesy car so she could carry on travelling to and from work , when her car broke down – no charge , just thank you for saving our lives .
The local churches are conducting services online .
The family running the local fruit and veg stall are currently doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isolating .
Local restaurants are running takeaway only services .
Small businesses are being entrepreneurial and changing their offer to meet the demand by the public for their creature comforts like coffee and bread – who would ever have thought they would be luxury items .
Let ’ s support them .
If you can afford it , please let ’ s treat the family to a takeaway once a week , let ’ s put a down payment on a haircut .
Let ’ s help deliver the food parcels to people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collect them .
Let ’ s all do whatever we can to support without endangering lives .
The fear , the intense disruption , the clouded crystal ball , where the future is shrouded in the unknown consequences of trying to save human lives , there is a sliver of hope .
This will pass .
We will get through this .
We have seen some incredible acts of kindness , help and support .
I hope we have learnt some valuable lessons never to be forgotten .
I hope we remember that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mental health issues , health problems , stress , strain , and an inability to really appreciate our world , may not be as essential as we thought it was .
Through the horror of this unexpected nightmare , we must remember the beauty of the time we spent with our families , whether blood or community , and the pleasure in simple conversation with our fellow human beings .
Despite the direness of the circumstance we now find ourselves in , it is refreshing to witness this reawakening of the human spirit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the collective responsibility .
The community we thought we didn ’ t have is alive and kicking – it has been there all this time .
We just needed something like this to show us it was always there .

Cllr Mimi Harker is a councillor on Chiltern District Council.
As Mother Earth heals and replenishes, as fish miraculously appear in the now crystal clear waters in Venice, and as pollution levels plummet across the planet, the world is gripped by the feeling of helplessness as community after community is ravaged by an unknown terror. Covid-19 appeared from nowhere for the ordinary people going about their every day lives. Continents, countries, counties, towns, and villages locked down and locked away from this new enemy, whose presence only becomes visible when you are in the grips of the horrendous virus, in severe cases unable to breathe without help. It is terrifying. It has and is changing our lives completely. Who knows what the economy will look like at the end of all of this? How will our high streets survive? Small businesses? The self employed – the most vulnerable in the workplace economy.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought out the best and the worst – a clip from Facebook: “Keep an eye out for a shoplifter in Amersham. I was behind him in the supermarket queue just now. He has a mask on. Runs in and out again with wine. He may be trying all shops now”. Then there are the incredible frontline workers who are risking their own lives to save ours.
The least we can do is absolutely everything to avoid contracting a disease that will create untold havoc within the health system. Local authorities have responded and risen to the challenge but more than that, from my experience as a community volunteer, I see the incredible army of ordinary people who have stepped away from their everyday lives and who have become the lifeline for the vulnerable and self isolating. In my local area, within a three mile radius, there are at least three voluntary groups reaching out to people who may need help with shopping and prescriptions, helping people who are lonely and isolated – “please let me know if you would like me to call you” it says on the cards that we have put through every door.
Single points of contact (SPOC) have been set up for every road. I am the SPOC for my road and have been blown away by the offers of support from the rest of the road. WhatsApp groups to keep everyone informed – and offers of shopping, the Skype chats, the yoga class on Zoom I participated in this morning…
The teams of volunteers that have responded to the NHS call for help, over 750,000 of us, to supermarkets trying to help the community, to help the individual stuck indoors without anyone, what an amazing community heart and spirit has been brought out, shining, strong and reliable. As chairman of Community Impact Bucks, the umbrella organisation for the voluntary, community, and charity sector in Buckinghamshire, I was delighted to host the board meeting on Team, and interviewing potential new trustees with fellow board members as well. A local garage offered a nurse their courtesy car so she could carry on travelling to and from work, when her car broke down – no charge, just thank you for saving our lives. The local churches are conducting services online. The family running the local fruit and veg stall are currently doing home deliveries to the vulnerable and self isolating. Local restaurants are running takeaway only services. Small businesses are being entrepreneurial and changing their offer to meet the demand by the public for their creature comforts like coffee and bread – who would ever have thought they would be luxury items. Let’s support them. If you can afford it, please let’s treat the family to a takeaway once a week, let’s put a down payment on a haircut.
Let’s help deliver the food parcels to people who can’t get out to collect them. Let’s all do whatever we can to support without endangering lives.
The fear, the intense disruption, the clouded crystal ball, where the future is shrouded in the unknown consequences of trying to save human lives, there is a sliver of hope. This will pass. We will get through this. We have seen some incredible acts of kindness, help and support. I hope we have learnt some valuable lessons never to be forgotten. I hope we remember that the frantic relentless pace of life creating mental health issues, health problems, stress, strain, and an inability to really appreciate our world, may not be as essential as we thought it was. Through the horror of this unexpected nightmare, we must remember the beauty of the time we spent with our families, whether blood or community, and the pleasure in simple conversation with our fellow human beings.
Despite the direness of the circumstance we now find ourselves in, it is refreshing to witness this reawakening of the human spirit, the caring of our fellow man, and the collective responsibility. The community we thought we didn’t have is alive and kicking – it has been there all this time. We just needed something like this to show us it was always there.


conservativehome--2020-04-20--Calling Conservatives: New public appointments announced. Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct A

Calling Conservatives: New public appointments announced. Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority – and more

Eight years ago , the TaxPayers ’ Alliance reported that “ in the last year , five times more Labour people were appointed to public bodies than Tories ” .
It currently reports that almost half of avowedly political appointees last year owed their allegiance to Labour Party , compared to less than a third for the Conservatives .
Despite the selection of some Party members or supporters to fill important posts , over time , the Conservatives have punched beneath their weight when it comes to public appointments .
One of the reasons seems to be that Tories simply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number as Labour supporters .
To help remedy this , each week we put up links to some of the main public appointments vacancies , so that qualified Conservatives can be aware of the opportunities presented .
“ This is an opportunity to take on an intellectually demanding role at the heart of international financial services , leading a sizeable and complex organisation .
There is a requirement for strong leadership in a challenging environment to undertake a critically important role .
Under Andrew Bailey , the FCA has formulated a transformation programme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next phase of its development : a data strategy and enhanced analytical skills to rapidly identify harm across an exceptionally broad range of firms of all sizes exploiting fast-moving changes in technology and distribution to target consumers ; enhance employee capabilities and processes to act swiftly on the harms identified ; [ and ] and with a regulatory framework which is appropriate following the completion of EU withdrawal , and which takes advantage of the opportunities for better and more efficient regulation brought by technology and behavioural science.
” “ UnLtd is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Millennium Awards Trust ( MAT ) .
The Millennium Awards Trust was established by the Millennium Commission which founded it with a permanent endowment of £100 million of National Lottery funds .
The MAT is governed by a Trust Deed which defines the framework within which the MAT should operate .
This Deed provides for the appointment of a Protector of the Trust ( the Protector ) who has a fiduciary duty to ensure the integrity of the administration of the Trust and the propriety of its procedures .
The Protector is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Secretary of State for Digital , Culture , Media and Sport .
We are now looking to identify a suitably qualified individual to succeed the incumbent who is coming to the end of their term .
We are looking to formally appoint a successor in Summer 2020.
” “ This is an exciting opportunity to join the Board of an organisation which keeps Britain moving .
You would be joining the DVSA at an exciting time , with the opportunity to help shape the future of the agency and ensure its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the executive team in developing the organisation to be equipped for a future where technological transformation will significantly influence mobility .
The DVSA is now seeking to appoint two Non-Executive Directors to the Board who will embrace technological disruption , possess an entrepreneurial spirit and have a passion for harnessing the possibilities that digital transformation plays in driving greater customer insight and intimacy .
We seek a Non-Executive Director who will be expected to provide thought leadership in digital transformation and keep abreast of digital transformation trends and innovative approaches to operational excellence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who will have the necessary skills required to chair the audit and risk committee.
” Time : Up to 36 days per annum .
“ Led by the Non-Executive Chair , the Crown Commercial Service ( CCS ) Board is responsible for the oversight of the operation of CCS , with emphasis on its strategic direction , management control , and corporate governance .
All Non-Executive Board Members are expected to contribute to decisions covering the strategy for the organisation and the overall direction of the business , adding value by offering counsel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeking an exceptional individual to join our Board as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Technology and Digital Transformation Committee to support progression of our transformation journey… To complement our existing Board we are particularly interested in hearing from individuals who bring recent experience in leading large scale digital transformation in either the private or public sector.
” “ As a non-executive director , you will play an active role on the board of SLC , supporting the SLC Executive Team and SLC Chair to deliver the company ’ s portfolio of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including the continued growth of its customer base , delivery of recommendations from the Tailored Review ( Annex 3 ) and implementation of the Review of Post-18 Education .
A key element of the role will be to work with the board to ensure that the resources and skills available to the Company are commensurate with and focussed on its delivery obligations .
The SLC administers the data underpinning one of Government ’ s major assets : the Student Loan book .
This data supports the sale of tranches of loans to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the exchequer and taxpayers ( £3.6bn raised to date ) .
There may be other opportunities to realise the value , in the widest sense , of the SLC ’ s data in the future .
”

Eight years ago, the TaxPayers’ Alliance reported that “in the last year, five times more Labour people were appointed to public bodies than Tories”.
It currently reports that almost half of avowedly political appointees last year owed their allegiance to Labour Party, compared to less than a third for the Conservatives.
Despite the selection of some Party members or supporters to fill important posts, over time, the Conservatives have punched beneath their weight when it comes to public appointments. One of the reasons seems to be that Tories simply don’t apply in the same number as Labour supporters.
To help remedy this, each week we put up links to some of the main public appointments vacancies, so that qualified Conservatives can be aware of the opportunities presented.
– – – – – – – – – –
Financial Conduct Authority – Chief Executive
“This is an opportunity to take on an intellectually demanding role at the heart of international financial services, leading a sizeable and complex organisation. There is a requirement for strong leadership in a challenging environment to undertake a critically important role. Under Andrew Bailey, the FCA has formulated a transformation programme, to equip the organisation for the next phase of its development: a data strategy and enhanced analytical skills to rapidly identify harm across an exceptionally broad range of firms of all sizes exploiting fast-moving changes in technology and distribution to target consumers; enhance employee capabilities and processes to act swiftly on the harms identified; [and] and with a regulatory framework which is appropriate following the completion of EU withdrawal, and which takes advantage of the opportunities for better and more efficient regulation brought by technology and behavioural science.”
Time: Full-time.
Remuneration: Competitive.
Closes: 24 April
– – – – – – – – – –
UnLtd – Protector of the Millennium Awards Trust
“UnLtd is a registered charity and the sole trustee of the Millennium Awards Trust (MAT). The Millennium Awards Trust was established by the Millennium Commission which founded it with a permanent endowment of £100 million of National Lottery funds. The MAT is governed by a Trust Deed which defines the framework within which the MAT should operate. This Deed provides for the appointment of a Protector of the Trust (the Protector) who has a fiduciary duty to ensure the integrity of the administration of the Trust and the propriety of its procedures. The Protector is appointed for a term of three years by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. We are now looking to identify a suitably qualified individual to succeed the incumbent who is coming to the end of their term. We are looking to formally appoint a successor in Summer 2020.”
Time: 3-4 hours per quarter.
Remuneration: £5,000 per annum honorarium.
Closes: 24 April
– – – – – – – – – –
Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – Non-Executive Directors
“This is an exciting opportunity to join the Board of an organisation which keeps Britain moving. You would be joining the DVSA at an exciting time, with the opportunity to help shape the future of the agency and ensure its continued success. This will mean supporting the executive team in developing the organisation to be equipped for a future where technological transformation will significantly influence mobility. The DVSA is now seeking to appoint two Non-Executive Directors to the Board who will embrace technological disruption, possess an entrepreneurial spirit and have a passion for harnessing the possibilities that digital transformation plays in driving greater customer insight and intimacy. We seek a Non-Executive Director who will be expected to provide thought leadership in digital transformation and keep abreast of digital transformation trends and innovative approaches to operational excellence, as well as a Non-Executive Director who will have the necessary skills required to chair the audit and risk committee.”
Time: Up to 36 days per annum.
Remuneration: £15,000.
Closes: 28 April
– – – – – – – – – –
Crown Commercial Service – Non-Executive Directors
“Led by the Non-Executive Chair, the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Board is responsible for the oversight of the operation of CCS, with emphasis on its strategic direction, management control, and corporate governance. All Non-Executive Board Members are expected to contribute to decisions covering the strategy for the organisation and the overall direction of the business, adding value by offering counsel, advice and challenge. We are seeking an exceptional individual to join our Board as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Technology and Digital Transformation Committee to support progression of our transformation journey… To complement our existing Board we are particularly interested in hearing from individuals who bring recent experience in leading large scale digital transformation in either the private or public sector.”
Time: Approx 2-3 days per month.
Remuneration: £15,000 per annum.
Closes: 17 May
– – – – – – – – – –
Student Loans Company Board – Non-Executive Directors
“As a non-executive director, you will play an active role on the board of SLC, supporting the SLC Executive Team and SLC Chair to deliver the company’s portfolio of priorities, overcome challenges and exploit opportunities, including the continued growth of its customer base, delivery of recommendations from the Tailored Review (Annex 3) and implementation of the Review of Post-18 Education. A key element of the role will be to work with the board to ensure that the resources and skills available to the Company are commensurate with and focussed on its delivery obligations. The SLC administers the data underpinning one of Government’s major assets: the Student Loan book. This data supports the sale of tranches of loans to monetise that asset for the benefit of the exchequer and taxpayers (£3.6bn raised to date). There may be other opportunities to realise the value, in the widest sense, of the SLC’s data in the future.”
Time: Two days per month.
Remuneration: £12,000, up to £17,000.
Closes: 19 May