Last week, Phil and his regular co-host Holly Willoughby interviewed the former health secretary about his campaign calling for children to be screened for dyslexia – a condition Hancock was diagnosed with during his time at university – before they start secondary school.
During the interview, the presenter couldn’t resist a dig at the scandal Hancock found himself in over the summer, commenting: “Was it your dyslexia that meant you misread the social distancing rules?”
It’s since been reported by Metro that a total of 626 people complained to media watchdog Ofcom about the remark.
As is standard procedure, Ofcom will assess these complaints before deciding whether to launch an investigation.
ITV had no comment on the matter when contacted by HuffPost UK last week.
Matt Hancock resigned from his position as health secretary in June, after photos of him kissing his aide were published in the media.
“And those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them, and that’s why I’ve got to resign.”
Streeting highlighted comments by Tory MP Marcus Fysh who compared Covid health passes – aimed at limiting the spread of Omicron – to atrocities in Nazi Germany.
Streeting told the Commons: “It should not be for me as the shadow secretary of state to point out that we’re not living in the 1930s and the secretary of state and his team are not Nazis.
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“On their shoulders rests the health of our nation and the responsibility to protect our NHS. Indeed, it’s a responsibility we all share.
“They need our support and they are owed better treatment than they’ve received from some on their own side in recent days and even this afternoon.”
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Mr Streeting said Labour will “act in the national interest” by supporting the motions under consideration in the Commons.
“We are not living in the 1930s and the Secretary of State and his team are not Nazis,” Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting tells Conservative MPs. pic.twitter.com/ngIsrHba2p
They include working from home when you can, face masks in certain settings and what is being dubbed “vaccine passports” for large gatherings.
However, Tory MPs have been in open revolt with some touring the airwaves and writing columns on why they will be voting against the measures.
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Fysh argued that the passes, which include being fully vaccinated or receiving a negative lateral flow test, would be “segregating society based on an unacceptable thing”.
“We are not a ‘papers please’ society. This is not Nazi Germany,” the MP told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews called his remarks “completely unacceptable” and he was criticised by a fellow Conservative rebel.
Tory MP Christian Wakeford, who plans to vote against the government alongside Fysh, responded: “Whilst I will be in the same lobby as Marcus, these types of comments are untrue, unhelpful, and truly deeply offensive to the Jewish community.
“Covid restrictions should never be compared to the darkest period in human history.”
The UK’s travel red list will be scrapped from Wednesday morning, as Sajid Javid announced that all 11 countries remaining will be removed at 4am.
People arriving from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe had been required to quarantine in a hotel when arriving in the UK, in order to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant.
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But speaking in the Commons on Tuesday afternoon, Javid said the spread of the variant in the UK and the world meant the red list was “now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad”.
It came as professor Chris Whitty warned ministers to brace for a “significant increase in hospitalisations” from Omicron, as Downing Street insisted no further coronavirus restrictions are being planned.
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England’s chief medical officer also told a virtual cabinet meeting on Tuesday that it is “too early to say how severe” the strain is after early suggestions from South Africa that it could be relatively mild.
Boris Johnson also warned his ministers that he believes a “huge spike” of cases of the variant will hit the nation, as he pressures Tory rebels to back his new Plan B restrictions during a Commons vote.
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Downing Street did not reject a suggestion that new Omicron cases could hit a million per day next week based on a “valid” estimate from the UK Health Security Agency that daily infections are currently around 200,000.
Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab insisted Plan B restrictions including mandatory mask=wearing and the use of Covid health certificates for large venues will be sufficient over Christmas, meaning families can “spend it with loved ones”.
But Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon urged people across Scotland to limit their mixing by socialising with only up to two other households indoors either side of Christmas.
And the downbeat assessment from Whitty delivered to the first cabinet meeting not to take place in person for months will raise concerns that additional measures may be needed in England in the new year.
Covid jabs will be made available on Christmas Day, Downing Street said today amid chaotic scenes as Brits rush to get their boosters.
The booster programme will run right through the festive period in a bid to meet the government’s new deadline of jabbing everyone over 18 by the new year.
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It comes as Downing Street revealed that 110,000 people booked a booster jab before 9am on Monday.
Boris Johnson announced the speed-up in an address to the nation last night, citing fears of a “tidal wave of Omicron” that could cause “very many deaths”.
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He said every adult over 18 in England who has had a second dose of a vaccine at least three months ago would be able to have their booster from Monday morning.
However, the announcement sparked a rush on vaccine centres with some people saying they have had to queue for more than three hours to get jabbed.
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Asked if vaccines were going to be offered on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the prime minister’s spokesman said: “Vaccinations will continue to be offered throughout the Christmas period.
“If there is demand on Christmas Day, then we’re confident the NHS will find a way to match it.”
Pressed on whether people would be able to book slots on the website for Christmas Day, he replied: “My understanding is that there will be appointments available on Christmas Day and obviously the NHS will monitor what the demand is.”
He pointed out that the NHS was available for vaccinations last Christmas, but added: “We didn’t see a huge demand on Christmas Day, I think it’s fair to say, NHS can confirm that.
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“Should individuals wish come forward we will make sure there is capacity.”
Meanwhile, stocks of lateral flow tests ran out today, with a message on the government website saying there were “no more home test kits available right now” and people should “try again later”.
From tomorrow, vaccinated people who are close contacts of a Covid case will be asked to swab themselves once a day and from Wednesday those attending nightclubs and large events will have to show a negative result if they are not double-jabbed.
Considering a large part of the Government’s strategy depends on access to lateral flow tests (10 days of daily testing if a contact), this is *a big problem*. pic.twitter.com/bhPmICGRwL
Vaccine centres are already warning they are low on doses and at one point the NHS booking system crashed as thousands tried to secure their boosters.
The army and thousands of volunteers are being drafted in to achieve the target of dishing out a million doses a day.
Downing Street insisted there would be enough supplies of the vaccines to speed up the booster jab delivery.
The prime minister’s spokesman also clarified that if those eligible booked in time, it was the actual jab – not just an appointment – that would be met by the end of December.
He added: “We absolutely aim to meet this commitment. It is vitally important. I think we can see the strong response from the public.”
Former vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has confirmed there are now omicron cases in hospital as he warned it would become the dominant coronavirus variant in the UK.
The latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency show there have been an additional 633 confirmed cases of the omicron variant reported across the UK, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,898.
Early data has suggested that while omicron may be more transmissible than previous variants, it could result in less severe illness.
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However, Zahawi warned that even if that were the case, the high transmissibility rate of omicron could mean that tens of thousands of people will still end up in hospital.
Zahawi said omicron — which has a doubling time of two to three days — was “so infectious that it will dominate and exponentially grow”.
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“Let’s do a mathematic exercise for a second,” he said.
“You get to a million infections by say the end of December – 1% is 10,000 severe infections that could be in hospital.
“Three days later it is two million, three days later it is four million. Three days beyond that it is eight million.
“That is the risk, that even if it is milder, say 50% milder than Delta, then the numbers are huge – it is a small percentage of a very large population.”
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The government has activated its Plan B measures to curb the spread of the virus, which includes mandatory mask-wearing in most indoor spaces and on public transport, as well as the use of vaccine passports in some settings.
The government faces a major Tory rebellion when those measures are put to the House of Commons on Tuesday, with a number of Conservative MPs openly coming out against the use of vaccine passports in particular.
However, Zahawi denied that the government was introducing a “vaccine passport” and said people were simply being asked to take a free lateral flow test or to be double-jabbed to attend “high-risk events”.
He said the government’s main focus was the “national endeavour” to ramp up the booster programme.
However, the BBC’s Andrew Marr pointed out that only 18 per cent of those aged 40-50 had had their third shot, while only 396,000 doses were being delivered each day — short of the 500,000 target.
When asked whether he was worried that not enough people were coming forward for the booster, Zahawi said: “We saw some queues yesterday at walk-in centres, and I have to say people on the whole have been behaving well.
“This is going to be a national endeavour to boost the nation as quickly as possible so we can control omicron and bring back that equilibrium that we had with the virus, as we continue to protect the economy and of course on that journey towards endemic from pandemic status.”
Priti Patel’s controversial Nationality and Borders Bill was just voted through Parliament – but what does that really mean?
The home secretary has long promised as tougher approach to immigration in the UK, particularly when it comes to people trying to enter the country through the English Channel as crossings have reached an all-time high.
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Patel rejected widespread criticism and insisted the government wasn’t “heartless” after 27 people died while trying to reach England via dinghy in November.
The home secretary has continued to press ahead with her new bill, even as it has infuriated some people, proposing to shake up the entire asylum system in the UK. One of her clauses even suggests Downing Street could strip certain people of their UK citizenship without warning.
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Here’s everything you need to know about Patel’s bill.
What is the Nationality and Borders Bill?
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The bill aims to:
Prevent illegal entry to the UK, meaning people can’t come into the country without a visa, in an attempt to scupper criminal trafficking networks.
Remove people from the UK if they have no right to be there.
Protect those who are in genuine need by creating a new asylum system.
The bill means the UK will be able to send asylum seekers to a “safe third country” and can allow for offshore processing centres overseas. Last month, justice secretary Dominic Raab did not deny that ministers were looking to put people who arrived in the UK from the Channel onto boats to Albania.
Border Force officers can turn people away from the UK while travelling to British land in a boat, without prosecution, too.
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The bill also makes it a criminal offence to arrive in the UK without permission.
The maximum sentence for people entering the UK unlawfully will go up to four years if the proposals are passed – the maximum sentence is currently six months.
All of this will work to reduce the so-called “pull factors” of the UK’s asylum system, according to Patel.
People landing on a British beach in November after travelling across the English Channel in a dinghy
Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
Will the bill be turned into law?
The bill cleared the Commons this week by 298 votes to 231 – meaning it has now gone for a reading in the House of Lords.
It was debated for just nine minutes in the Commons, after deputy speaker Dame Eleanor Laing accused the opposition MPs of using “delaying tactics”.
However, the bill needs to be read and debated in the House of Lords before it can pass into law.
A total of 88 pages of amendments have been issued along with the bill, which the Lords will consider before sending it back to the Commons.
“This bill represents the biggest legal assault on international refugee law ever seen in the UK”
– Human rights group, Freedom From Torture
What is clause 9?
Clause 9 of the bill is causing particular controversy this week as it means six million people with dual nationality, or who were born outside the UK, could be stripped of their British citizenship without fair warning.
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At the moment, only those who pose a threat to the UK through either terrorism or war crimes, or if they obtained citizenship fraudulently, can have their citizenship removed.
Clause 9 does not change this – but it does allow citizenship to be removed without notice, if it would “not be reasonably practicable” to tell the individual first in the interests of national security or international relations.
The Home Office has claimed people will only lose their citizenship without notification if someone is in a war zone, or if telling them would reveal sensitive sources.
But clause 9 has drawn some attention this week after Conservative backbencher David Davis dubbed it “uncivilised” and “legally disputable”.
He put forward an amendment so that the home secretary could not deprive someone of their citizenship without notification.
Davis, a Conservative backbencher, said: “Not only are these excessively broad new powers not necessary to tackle terrorism, but they are counter-productive.”
Davis also pointed out that the government’s excuse that it wasn’t practicable to notify people that their citizenship is being taken away, as they only have to post a letter to their last known address.
The Nationality and Borders Bill will allow the @ukhomeoffice to strip people of their British citizenship without them being told about it.
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition to remove clause 9 from the Nationality and Borders Bill, explaining: “We believe this is unacceptable, and inconsistent with international human rights obligations.”
Parliament considers all petitions which get more than 100,000 signatures.
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This is what people had to say about it online:
Yesterday I, along with my entire family and a shit-ton of my friends from ethnic minority backgrounds, were made second-class citizens in the UK as a result of the Nationality and Borders Bill. 6 million of us can now be stripped of our nationality without being told about it.
Johnson’s team is both trying to contain the fall-out from the Christmas party, AND using it as a massive distraction as it slips through the most oppressive legislation any government has introduced in modern times: The Police Bill and The Nationality and Borders Bill
The bill has also caused fury among people from both sides of the Commons.
Labour MP Zarah Sultana tweeted: “It’s an attack on refugee rights, criminalising boats rescuing people at sea and violating our 70-year commitment to the Refugee Convention.
“I voted against it but disgracefully Conservative MPs voted it through.”
Labour MP Harriet Harman, chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, said: “Current failures in the immigration and asylum system cannot be remedied by harsher penalties and more dangerous enforcement action.”
Tory backbencher Davis called clause 9 “unworkable”. He put forward an amendment to the clause which has also been backed by Tory MPs Andrew Mitchell and Caroline Nokes.
Ian Dunt from the i pointed out: “The government has created a second-tier category of British citizenship, which applies predominantly to ethnic minorities.”
“This bill represents the biggest legal assault on international refugee law ever seen in the UK,” human rights group Freedom From Torture said.
Amnesty International claimed the bill will “create significant obstacles and harms to people seeking asylum”, alleging it would undermine the Refugee Convention too.
Immigration lawyers even said the bill breached both international and domestic law in at least 10 ways, accusing the government of “riding roughshod” over its obligations.
An emergency Cobra meeting will take place this afternoon to discuss the pandemic and spread of the Omicron variant.
Michael Gove, minister for intergovernmental relations, will chair the meeting alongside the first ministers and deputy first ministers of the devolved administrations.
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The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Cobra will discuss Covid-19 data and ongoing coordination work.”
It is expected to take place mid-afternoon and comes amid warnings from the government’s scientific advisers that Omicron could trigger the biggest wave yet.
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The UK Health Security Agency identified a further 249 Omicron cases on Thursday, almost twice the number announced the day before, bringing the UK total to 817.
Asked why Gove was holding a Cobra now after initially rejecting Nicola Sturgeon’s request for a meeting last week, the spokesman said they thought it was a “sensible time” given the ongoing situation with Omicron.
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He said the variant had some “significantly concerning characteristics” and added: “We are confident that it spreads much faster than Delta and there is growing evidence of vaccine escape, which is of concern and potentially means that we are going to see increasing hospitalisation rates and sadly deaths.
“We are taking action early to slow the growth of this variant.”
It comes as the government’s fresh covid measures came into force in England today, with masks mandatory in cinemas, theatres, museums and churches.
Health secretary Sajid Javid has warned that the number of UK Omicron infections could hit one million by the end of the month and insisted the new measures are necessary to “build our collective defences”.
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Friday’s measures come ahead of a return to working from home on Monday and mandatory Covid passports for large venues from Wednesday as part of the government’s “Plan B”.
However, the tougher measures have sparked anger from Conservative MPs and fuelled allegations that the restrictions were introduced as an attempt to distract from the prime minister’s troubles over an alleged staff party in Downing Street during last December’s lockdown.
Meanwhile, some reports suggest that care homes could be slapped with fresh restrictions in the run up to Christmas and masks made compulsory in pubs and restaurants under a tougher ‘Plan C’ being considered by ministers.
The Daily Telegraph cited an anonymous government source saying it was “very likely” social care visitors will be limited to only three designated people.
Separately, Public Health Scotland urged people to cancel their Christmas parties, in a bid to slow the spread of the latest coronavirus variant.
However, the message contradicts Boris Johnson’s suggestion that parties in England should still go ahead despite a call for to work from home.
Sturgeon also warned today of a potential “tsunami” of infections as the Omicron cases rise rapidly north of the border.
Referring to ITV’s leaked video of Boris Johnson’s former adviser Allegra Stratton laughing over having a party while the rest of the country was in lockdown, the statement continued: “All the correspondence has been considered by detectives in detail, as well as footage published by ITV News.”
The Met added: “The correspondence and footage does not provide evidence of a breach fo the Health Protection Regulations, but restates allegations made in the media.
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“Based on the absence of evidence and in line with our policy not to investigate retrospective breaches of such regulations, the Met will not commence an investigation at this time.”
The Met said it had also spoken to the Cabinet Office about a government inquiry into the party, and added: “If any evidence is found as a result of that investigation, it will be passed to the Met for further consideration.”
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It’s worth noting that the policing minister Kit Malthouse was not even able to say whether or not the Met should investigate the alleged party on Monday as well.
There has been a public outcry since the reports about a No.10 party first came to light last week – so this news from the Met did not exactly soothe people.
Some people hit out by claiming the Met investigate other people who breached lockdown rules, so why not Downing Street?
The Met Police have charged some of the most powerless people for breaking lockdown rules, and now won’t even investigate the most powerful people when the whole country knows they broke the rules https://t.co/O1Aqj9xcTV
@metpoliceuk So video footage of senior Downing Street staff joking about the Christmas party they went to, admitting “there was no social distancing” is not evidence of them going to a Christmas party ???
Weird how the @metpoliceuk keeps finding reasons not to do its job when it comes to the Conservatives, whether it is the corrupt funding of Jennifer Acuri, or illegal parties.
And a handful of Twitter accounts questioned the rules around policing itself…
So the Met are saying: 1) They can’t investigate a crime unless they have an official letter of complaint and 2) They can’t investigate crimes which took place in the past 3) They cannot gather nor consider any presented evidence as part of an investigation. What do they DO?
Downing Street is standing by Allegra Stratton despite Boris Johnson’s claim he was furious at leaked footage that shows her laughing about a No.10 staff Christmas party with colleagues.
No.10 today confirmed that Stratton was still employed by government and that the prime minister had full confidence in her, despite her role in an exchange that showed staff making light of lockdown rules the public was asked to follow.
Johnson told an angry and hostile House of Commons he had ordered an investigation in light of the video, which he said had made him personally “furious”.
He told MPs he had asked Cabinet Secretary Simon Case “to establish all the facts and to report back as soon as possible – and it goes without saying that if those rules were broken then there will be disciplinary action for all those involved”.
However, he insisted he had been “repeatedly assured” since the allegations emerged that there was “no party and that no Covid rules were broken”.
The government has been engulfed in a scandal overnight by the emergence of the video, which has strengthened allegations that aides flouted lockdown rules by attending a Christmas party on December 18 during last year’s lockdown.
The leaked footage shows senior members of staff joking about whether the event broke lockdown rules at the time.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said Johnson’s apology “raises more questions than answers”.
“The prime minister, the government, spent the week telling the British public there was no party. All guidance was followed completely.
“Millions of people now think the prime minister was taking them for fools, that they were lied to. They are right aren’t they?”
Johnson repeated his apology, adding that he was “sickened”.
Downing Street said it hoped the cabinet secretary’s investigation would be finalised “as soon as possible” but is facing questions over whether the public can have any confidence in the probe.
