Daily Update – May 19th

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Politics Live

5:30pm – And that’s all from us today! Join us tomorrow for more news and updates.

5:09pm – Hancock confident that the vaccine protects against the Indian variant:

"We have increasing confidence that the vaccines are effective against it [the Indian variant]" says @MattHancock

— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 19, 2021

4:22pm – Still low numbers, but concerning nonetheless:

Bolton hospital now has 25 patients with Covid, 1 up on yesterday. 23 on oxygen and five in ITU or on high dependency, an NHS source has confirmed. There were 19 Covid patients a week ago and 12 the week before that. Still very small numbers. #Covid19UK

— Shaun Lintern (@ShaunLintern) May 19, 2021

3:20pm – More places being monitored as the Indian variant crops up elsewhere:

Matt Hancock reveals, after waste water analysis that has detected the Indian variant: testing and vaccination surging now also going into 8 more areas – Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester, North Tyneside, Glasgow and Moray (on top of Bolton and Blackburn).

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) May 19, 2021

2:00pm – It was mentioned throughout PMQs and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.

1/2

No10 in a sticky spot on Hancock’s defence of India’s late addition to red list.

Hancock said passengers from Bangladesh had “three times higher” Covid positivity than India in early April.

But public NHS data says that’s not true.

— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) May 19, 2021

12:25pm – No knockout blows today. Was a surprisingly muted affair in comparison to recent weeks before the 2021 elections.

12:00pm – PMQs begins…

11:46am – There’s been significant concern from the farming community about what the proposed Australia trade deal may mean for them. The impacts of Brexit starting to show?

Senior cabinet ministers are expected to meet on Thursday morning to discuss concerns over how an Australia trade deal could affect farmers in the UK. UK farmers are concerned a possible free trade pact could make Australian food and imports cheaper, making it harder to compete.

— Ione Wells (@ionewells) May 19, 2021

11:20am – A hint at Labour’s angle in PMQs shortly?

Timeline of Tory incompetence

March 2020: Johnson prevaricates and delays lockdown 1

October 2020: Johnson prevaricates and delays lockdown 2

April 2021: Johnson prevaricates and delays adding India to red list

Too slow again and again from a PM who can’t take tough choices.

— Anneliese Dodds

(@AnnelieseDodds) May 19, 2021

9:45am – Trouble brewing in areas where local lockdowns have been touted:

Council leader: “I do think there is a danger of unrest. There is a great deal of resentment. Bolton was disproportionately affected really since July last year.”

— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) May 19, 2021

8:44am – Government’s current messaging is that while you are allowed to visit amber list countries, it should only be in emergencies. What constitutes an emergency is less clear:

Skills Minister Gillian Keegan tells @LBC you can only visit amber countries if "you've got business or a funeral or something like that to attend to, not holiday and pleasure travel".

She said people hope more countries will be added to the green list on June 21st.

— Theo Usherwood (@theousherwood) May 19, 2021

8:15am – So what’s in the news today?

• PM warns people to not holiday in amber list countries
• A report says that ministers failed to prepare for covid
• Cummings threatens to reveal covid crisis secrets

8:00am – Welcome back to another day of Politics Live!

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