Ministerial direction letters authorising changes to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The first and second letters are from the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to the BEIS Secretary of State requesting the ministerial direction.

The third letter is from the BEIS Secretary of State to the Permanent Secretary setting out the ministerial direction.

Good evening, two weeks ago, I set out the progress we as a country have made against our five tests for adjusting the lockdown, and the measures we could introduce as a result.

And today, I want to update you again on those five tests and set out some further changes we can now make.

So can I have the first slide please?

The five tests are designed, as you know, to ensure that any changes to the lockdown are careful, proportionate, and safe.

They combine analysis of the latest data on the spread of the disease with assessments of how well we are placed to meet the operational challenges posed by the virus.

We must do everything in our power to avoid a second peak of infection that overwhelms the NHS – because that would lead to more lives lost, more families in mourning, and more disruption to our economy and way of life.

Next slide please.

Our first test is to protect the NHS’s ability to cope, so that we are confident that we are able to provide sufficient critical care and specialist treatment right across the UK.

It’s thanks to the efforts of those working in the NHS that we can still be confident the NHS can cope.

On 7 June, 443 people were admitted to hospital with coronavirus in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, down from 628 two weeks earlier, and down from a peak of 3,431 on 1 April.

And on 9 June, 492 patients with coronavirus were in mechanical ventilation beds in the UK, down from 848 two weeks earlier, and down from a peak of 3,301 on 12 April.

So that means we are still meeting the first test.

Next slide please.

Our second test is to see a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rates from COVID-19 so we are confident that we have moved beyond the peak.

And of those who have tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, I am sad to say that 41,128 have now died. That’s an increase of 245 fatalities since yesterday.

As measured by a 7-day rolling average, the UK daily death rate now stands at 200, down from 300 two weeks ago, and down from a peak of 943 on 14 April.

So the death rate has continued to fall, and so the second test is still being met.

Next slide please.

Our third test is to receive reliable data from SAGE showing that the rate of infection – the number of people catching Covid – is decreasing to manageable levels across the board.

In total, 290,143 people have now tested positive for coronavirus, which is an increase of 1,003 cases since yesterday.

The seven day rolling average of new positive cases found through testing is now 1,419, down from 2,416 two weeks ago, and down from a peak of 5,195 in the first week of May.

In a moment, Sir Patrick will talk us through SAGE’s latest assessment of the R and other evidence on infection rates.

Based on the various data available, the government is satisfied the third test is being met.

Next slide please.

Our fourth test is that we must be confident that the range of operational challenges, including on testing capacity and Personal Protective Equipment, are in hand, with supply able to meet future demand.

Yesterday 170,379 tests were carried out or posted out across the UK, compared to around 12,000 at the start of April. The total now stands at 6,042,622.

Tomorrow the Health Secretary will provide an update on how NHS Test and Trace is performing.

On PPE, we have secured over 150 deals with new suppliers around the world and procured 2.2 billion items of PPE to be manufactured domestically.

Despite the immensely frustrating difficulties we have faced with PPE and testing in the past, this progress means we are now satisfied that the fourth test is being met – though of course we remain vigilant.

Next slide please.

Our fifth and final test is that we must be confident that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelms the NHS.

I am grateful to the Chief Scientific Adviser and the Chief Medical Officer for their advice on the measures I am about to set out – and on this basis I can confirm the Government judges we have met the fifth test.

Therefore, the Government is satisfied that all five tests are still being met and we can proceed with the following further adjustments to the lockdown in England.

A month ago I set out our roadmap to recovery and that explained the gradual steps we would take to ease the lockdown, as the data and the evidence allows. The measures it contained were all conditional on continued progress in tackling the virus. We are continuing to follow our roadmap, while adjusting our approach as we need to, as we always said we would.

Although we are tackling this virus as one United Kingdom, it remains the case that the devolved administrations are responsible for lockdown in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And it is right that they move at the right pace for them, according to their circumstances.

For that reason, the specific measures I am about to set out apply in England only.

First, on retail, shops. This has been the most challenging period for shops and high streets in our history. Never before have all shops been ordered to shut in this way. It has now been 82 days since we asked these shops to close their doors and I know the toll this has taken.

Which is why I am so pleased that, as the Business Secretary confirmed yesterday, we can now allow all shops to reopen from Monday. It is vital that establishments should ensure they are meeting Covid Secure guidelines before they reopen.

That way we can keep staff and customers safe while we get retail going.

Second, on social contact. I know how difficult the past months have been for people cut off from their friends and family.

Last Monday, we relaxed the rules on meeting outdoors so that groups of up to 6 could gather, provided they are socially distant. We did so in the knowledge that transmission of the virus is much lower outdoors, so we could make this change in a safe way.

But there are still too many people, particularly those who live by themselves, who are lonely and struggling with being unable to see friends and family.

From this weekend, we will allow single adult households – so adults living alone or single parents with children under 18 – to form a “support bubble” with one other household.

All those in a support bubble will be able to act as if they live in the same household – meaning they can spend time together inside each others’ homes and do not need to stay 2 metres apart.

I want to stress that support bubbles must be exclusive – meaning you cannot switch the household you are in a bubble with or connect with multiple households. And if any member of the support bubble develops symptoms, all members of the bubble will need to follow the normal advice on household isolation.

We are making this change to support those who are particularly lonely as a result of lockdown measures. It is a targeted intervention to limit the most harmful effects of the current social restrictions. It is emphatically not designed for people who don’t qualify to start meeting inside other people’s homes – that remains against the law.

Unfortunately, we cannot advise anyone who is shielding to form a support bubble at this stage, given their particular vulnerability to the virus. However, I want to say I know how hard it is for those of you who are shielding, and we will say more next week about the arrangements that will be in place for you beyond the end of June.

Third, on outdoor attractions. Because the risk of transmission is lower outdoors, we can open up some more outdoor attractions for people to enjoy this summer.

So from Monday, we will allow outdoor attractions where people can stay in their cars, such as safari parks and drive-in cinemas to open.

I am very grateful to the zoo industry for their cooperation and forbearance, and am happy to confirm that they too can reopen from Monday, provided visitor numbers are managed and safeguards put in place. That includes keeping indoor areas such as reptile houses closed and facilitating social distancing.

Finally, we will allow places of worship to open for individual prayer this weekend. And I hope that will be of some comfort to those of faith who have been unable to go to their place of worship.

As set out in our roadmap, the next set of changes – Step 3 – will not begin until 4 July at the earliest, as the evidence allows.

I know that these changes are only incremental and that some of you, many of you, may be hoping and waiting for more.

I also know that people will once again find anomalies or apparent anomalies in what people can and cannot do.

And as I have said before, I’m afraid that is just inevitable when we are only able to give people a small amount of the freedoms that they usually enjoy.

We will continue to remain cautious and measure the effect of the changes that we make. And as I’ve always said, we won’t hesitate to apply the brakes if that is what the situation requires.

That has meant moving slower than we would have liked in some areas.

It is because the rate of infection is not yet quite low enough, and because we are not able to change our social distancing advice including smaller class sizes in schools, that we are not proceeding with our ambition to bring back all primary pupils at least for some weeks before the summer holidays. Instead we are working with teachers to bring back as many pupils as we can within those smaller class sizes.

We do fully intend to bring all children back to school in September, provided the progress we are making continues, which I hope it will. That is our focus and it is consistent with the approach that has been taken by many other countries in Europe.

In the meantime we must stick to our roadmap.

I urge everyone to continue to show restraint and respect the rules which are designed to keep us all safe. It’s only because of the restraint that everyone, you all have shown so far that we are able to move gradually out of this lockdown.

So please, to repeat what you’ve heard so many times before, stay alert, maintain social distancing and keep washing your hands.

Help control the virus by getting tested if you have symptoms and isolating if you are contacted by NHS Test and Trace.

Then, if we all do that together, we will all save lives and begin to rebuild our country.

And I’ll now hand over to Sir Patrick.

The UK is boosting support for 14 British Overseas Territories during the coronavirus pandemic, utilising cutting-edge technology and Britain’s talent for creative invention to help 270,000 people in some of the world’s most isolated communities fight coronavirus.

The package includes:

• former oxygen machines used for fighter jets repurposed into hospital-grade units for the Falkland Islands
• a 24/7 hotline connecting Overseas Territories (OT) medics with health experts around the globe to ensure they can access world-leading medical advice
• new testing machines to enable 6 Territories to test for coronavirus for the first time
• new technology rolled out to a further 3 Territories to bolster their existing testing capability
• funding for an Oxygen Generator Unit in the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Anguilla to provide increased capacity for future emergencies

The testing technology has been provided by the UK government to test for coronavirus, but will also provide long term local capacity to test for other viruses, such as Zika and dengue, which continue to impact communities across the Caribbean.

Previously, tests had to be shipped overseas, sometimes thousands of miles back to the UK, from OTs such as the Falkland Islands. The 13 new testing machines and extra medical equipment will now enable OT health services to receive same-day results and respond to transmissions in real time.

The UK government is working with each Overseas Territory Government to respond to their individual needs – this work has included public health support, bolstering security, keeping access routes open for vital supplies, and supporting British people who are unable to get home, as well as providing UK aid to the most vulnerable Territories.

Minister for the Overseas Territories, Baroness Sugg, said:

In times of crisis the UK family always stands together and our package of support for the Overseas Territories not only benefits communities in the fight against coronavirus, but also in the long term.

Whether that is helping them test for viruses, such as Zika and dengue, or supplying critical medical equipment to provide life-saving support to British people who live in some of the most remote locations in the world.

As part of the UK’s support, military aircraft specialists have devised a way to adapt aircraft oxygen units to provide life-saving support for the Falkland Islands.

Air Separation Units (ASUs), used previously to generate oxygen for aircrew on Tornado and Hercules operations in the Royal Air Force from the 1990s to around 2016, were identified by aircraft engineering specialists at Defence Equipment and Support as offering the potential to adapt to produce oxygen for coronavirus patients. Working with the Defence Electronics and Components Agency (DECA) and RAF personnel, the machines were sourced, customised and then quickly deployed.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin said:

Our Armed Forces have been core to the support provided to Overseas Territories during the coronavirus outbreak, from delivering vital medical supplies to dedicated military teams offering security and planning advice.

Repurposing parts originally destined for fighter jets demonstrates the versatility of what our military can offer our partners in the Overseas Territories: Air Separation Units having been turned into life-saving oxygen machines.

Personnel from 5001 Squadron at RAF Wittering were trained to operate the oxygen equipment, and deployed 2 of their own technicians to install the equipment at RAF Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands.

Meanwhile, a UK-funded Oxygen Generator Unit has been commissioned in the compound of Anguilla’s hospital, the Princess Alexandra Hospital, to provide resilience to the island and save local health authorities hundreds of thousands of pounds. The generator and storage facility will save the island around £10,000 a month and provide increased capacity during the coronavirus crisis and any future national emergencies.

The Overseas Territories have played an important part in the UK’s coronavirus crisis response, with the Falklands allowing 3 cruise ships to dock to enable hundreds of British passengers to return home, and the Cayman police helicopter delivering medicines to stranded British nationals on the MV Braemar cruise ship in April.

The further consultation into the multi-million-pound A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvement scheme, which could save commuters up to an hour and a half on their journeys every week, will outline the design refinements that include changes to the constructions methods and environmental impacts of the project.

The changes have been made following a combination of feedback received from 925 responses during the last consultation held in summer 2019, as well as new technical information and engagement with the local community and organisations.

The proposed A428 improvement scheme will see a new 10-mile dual carriageway built linking the Black Cat roundabout in Bedfordshire to the Caxton Gibbet junction in Cambridgeshire. Both roundabouts would also be upgraded into modern, free-flowing junctions and a new junction would be added at Cambridge Road near St Neots.

The project would replace the only remaining section of single carriageway between Milton Keynes and Cambridge and tackle one of the region’s most notorious congestion hotspots.

Lee Galloway, Highways England A428 programme lead, said:

We have been really encouraged by people’s feedback on the project so far, and this latest round of consultation reflects feedback from our consultation in 2019 and the ongoing engagement with the local community, organisations and road users.

This project will help to transform one of the East of England’s busiest sections of road, playing a vital role in creating quicker, safer and more reliable journeys which will bring communities together, create new job opportunities and support long term sustainable growth.

This consultation will be a chance for people who live, work and travel in and around Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire to have their say on the latest design.

Roads Minister Baroness Vere said:

Our roads play a critical role in keeping Britain moving and this project will help to change people’s everyday journeys across the East of England, improving vital links and helping to reduce congestion.

We encourage everyone to have their say during this consultation, and be part of the change as we continue to invest and level up across the country.

The five-week consultation will run from Wednesday 24 June 2020 to Tuesday 28 July 2020.

Highways England will be taking a whole new approach to the consultation, designed to let people find out about the plans and put their questions to the project team, while respecting the current COVID-19 guidelines. These will include:

• a virtual consultation room where people can log on from home via laptop or mobile device to hear about the changes from Highways England’s technical team, and explore maps and more details about the proposals.
• live webchats with the Highways England technical team who can answer any questions that people have about the scheme.
• telephone information events where people can dial in to hear more details about the consultation.

Anyone who would prefer printed copies of the consultation booklet can pre-register their interest now. Email info@a428.co.uk or call 0300 123 5000.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

I listened with great interest to the Rt Hon Member for Orkney and Shetland, who is a distinguished Member of this House and former holder of office in the coalition Government.

It is, of course, clear there are still some concerns about the return to physical proceedings and I am sympathetic to them: we are all trying our best to do right by our constituents at this difficult time.

I pay tribute to the work of all those across the House who have persevered despite the limitations of lockdown to help individuals and businesses in their constituencies. The Rt Hon Gentleman rightly said that Members of Parliament have been exceptionally busy in their constituencies, with a workload that for many has been higher than they have been expecting in ordinary time, but this is not an ordinary time.

We have to get the balance right between what can be done by shielding MPs and what allows Parliament to carry on doing its job. I fear that that is the key point, and I hope Members will understand that although their contributions have reflected their experiences and those of their party, it is our responsibility to consider Parliament’s work as a whole—not just the duties of individual MPs, but the duties of our Parliament to the British people.

Even the Rt Hon Member for Orkney and Shetland, who applied for and received this debate, has said that it was a sub-optimal system, and that has been the view of the Procedure Committee and it has been mentioned widely in debates. The legislative programme was running at a snail’s pace comparatively. We were not delivering on our promises to British voters, and that is the point: the most important way in which Parliament makes a real difference to the lives of our constituents is through legislation. Our democracy could not function without this essential work. It is how we translate the results of general elections into tangible change.

Legislation is how we translate the results of a general election into tangible change. In the Queen’s Speech, the Government unveiled 36 Bills—an ambitious agenda that aims to help the whole country level up. People across the United Kingdom will be affected by the laws we pass, so this House must play its part in working to ensure that these Bills are the best they can possibly be.

The Zoom Parliament allowed some scrutiny to take place, and I was an enthusiastic advocate of having it. On 21 April, the choice was a Zoom Parliament, or no Parliament. Not only did we see Ministers coming to the Despatch Box, but we were able to examine people’s homes and their bookcases. However, we also recognised its inadequacy. Hybridity was not sufficient.

Indeed, the Rt Hon Member for Orkney and Shetland accepted that there are real difficulties with the hybrid process and the stilted nature of the debate that we had in the virtual Parliament. He said that himself, so it is not as if I am the only one who thinks it did not work.

Meaningful engagement is what ministers want and it is what ministers need. Look at what has been happening in this debate. Questions are coming in at all angles, testing the Government’s view. Why? Because we are here physically. I am not closed minded as Leader of the House. If it could work, with people who are shielded and cannot be here zooming in and making interventions, I would not seek to stop that out of stubbornness, but I do not yet see how it is possible to make a debate like this, with a vibrant exchange of views. I have not counted how many interventions I have taken, but how would this debate have flowed? How could we have got the exchange of opinion with people randomly popping up? How would they have come in? Would there have been a tower of Babel as they shouted over each other? Would they have to be on mute or off mute, and how would we know when they came on? Would a list have to be prepared in advance? Would someone have to apply to Mr Speaker in advance to get on the list to intervene on what I was going to say before they knew what I was going to say? It is really difficult to make a debate work with virtual interventions.

A true Parliament of the people, in which our elected representatives come together to discuss fully and debate the Government’s agenda and their response to the events of the day, is what we need.

That covers what we are doing to fulfil the promises that we made at the general election and on which we were elected. I now turn to the question of how we conduct our proceedings in ways that lead by example.

Members of Parliament are no different from others who are unable to perform their jobs fully from home and are now returning to their workplaces. I understand that many Members will feel concerned about their particular circumstances, but they can be reassured by the significant changes made to make the parliamentary estate covid-19-secure. It is clear to anyone in Westminster that, while we have emerged from the initial stage of lockdown, we are by no means back to normal. That is why I made it clear before the Whitsun recess that I would work with the House authorities to explore ways in which those unable to come here can continue to contribute.

I have every sympathy with Members who feel that the constraints of the pandemic prevent them from being able to attend in Westminster. The work of scrutiny is so important that it is right that we have brought forward a motion to allow those affected to have their say during scrutiny proceedings, but I remain conscious of how important it is that Members who participate in the decision-making process of the House ought and need to do so in person. As we saw last week, the decision on whether to vote Aye or No is a public one, for which individual Members can often find themselves held to account. It is a decision that should only ever be taken after the kind of serious consideration and engagement which is only possible when all those concerned are in Westminster. By the time Members are asked to vote, Ministers want to have had the chance to talk through fully any specific concerns of individuals or groups. That remains my strong view.

I am grateful to the Procedure Committee for its willingness to support the Government’s desire to extend proxy voting. Last week, the House unanimously agreed to make this available to Members who are unable to attend at Westminster because they are at high risk from coronavirus because they are either clinically extremely vulnerable or clinically vulnerable. In making judgments of this kind, I have sought to balance the competing priorities of this place in a way that looks at Parliament as a whole. As I have maintained throughout, the Government are listening to Members across the House. I am—I hope this will please the Hon Member for Rhondda and the Rt Hon Member for Orkney and Shetland—giving thought to bringing forward a motion that extends proxy voting beyond what has already been agreed by the House, to include Members who are more widely affected by the pandemic.

Parliament must send a clear message to the country: we are getting on with our work as best we can during a period of great challenge, just like everyone else. That is the spirit in which I encourage all Members to view our proceedings during the pandemic. We recognise that there are difficulties, but we are showing leadership to the nation in persisting in our purpose. We are doing our duty in leading the way. Our constituents will not entertain the notion that we should ask parents to send their children back to school while we choose to remain at home.

Fortunately, that is not our approach. Rather than suffering the depredations of the muted hybrid Parliament, we are once again talking to each other in ways that were impossible when we were scattered to the four winds. Rather than wading through the treacle of the hybrid proceedings, which even the Rt Hon Member for Orkney and Shetland said were far from perfect, we are once again fleet of foot and dancing a legislative quickstep.

I have enjoyed the formalised interventions in this speech just as much as I enjoy the informal interventions of Members putting their socially distanced heads around my door. Rather like the school swot secretly delighted by extra homework, I must confess that my appetite for the opportunity of today’s debate is very great, even though some may think—and some of my hon. Friends have indicated that they do think—that talking about ourselves under the current circumstances is a little self-indulgent. For there is more to our democracy than general elections. Between polling days, it is in Parliament where the interplay between Ministers and MPs comes alive. I am delighted that that interplay, as we see today, is being restored, allowing our Parliament to scrutinise legislation properly and to get on with its core business of delivering for the British people.