Pledge to offer Covid vaccine to all care home staff by end of January has been missed, minister admits

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron has been lambasted after claiming Northern Ireland is a separate country from the United Kingdom during the G7 Summit.

You’re reading The Waugh Zone, our daily politics briefing. Sign up now to get it by email in the evening.Just when you think you’ve got it beat, Covid-19 somehow comes back stronger. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger but without the charm, this Terminator of a virus has an “I’ll be back” menace that risks undoing all the hard work of the UK’s stunning vaccine rollout.The epic battle between the vaccines and the virus certainly has high stakes. Perhaps that’s why Boris Johnson sounded unusually nervous as he announced he would indeed be postponing ‘Freedom Day’ by another four weeks. Instead of the sunshine of Midsummer Merrie England, there was a blizzard of scary charts of projected hospitalisations.Fluffing his lines, the PM referred to “the adults of this company” (he meant “country”) and then wrongly declared the new unlocking date was July 29th (correcting it later to July 19th). Polling shows most of the public are relaxed about a delay, but Johnson is acutely aware that the 24% who are unhappy include several of his own backbenchers, and it showed.Nowhere was this more telling than in his repeated reassurance that the Freedom Day Mk II was the real deal. He was “pretty confident” that July 19 will be “the terminus date” (he said “terminal date” too). June 21 was always a “‘not before’ date”, whereas this was much firmer, he suggested. This was not a defeat for lockdown sceptics, it was a victory, he seemed to imply.That spin may or may not work on Tory MPs, but it could paint the PM into a corner for the first time in months. Ever since he bowed to Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance’s plan for a cautious roadmap, he has been able to fall back on their insistence that all four tests have to be met (the new variant test was particularly shrewd) and that “data not dates” will drive his decisions.But now with talk of “terminal” and fixed timelines, it feels like dates not data is the new approach. Steve Baker, Mark Harper and Sir Charles Walker, who will probably vote against the delay, have much more concrete evidence of a breach of faith should that July 19 date somehow slip again.Whitty and Vallance gave the PM invaluable backing at the press conference. The chief medical officer in particular pointed out that even without the Indian variant, the very restoration of unrestricted indoor mixing of “households that are unrelated” was always going to lead to an uptick in cases. He added there had to come a point where fatalities switched from “deaths averted” to deaths delayed”, as with flu.Patrick Vallance even suggested that locking down beyond July 19 would be counter-productive. And he made the case for that date containing the Goldilocks calculation of just how hot or cold to make the roadmap porridge. Giving over-18s their first jab and pushing unlockdown closer to the school holidays certainly added some sugar, as did a lifting of the cap on wedding numbers.Still, for Keir Starmer, the talk of 19 July as a “terminal” date is an opportunity for a Judgement Day on Johnson’s competence. If the vaccination programme fails to flatten the Delta variant spike, he is sure to step up his own attack line that Johnson’s failure to stop flights from India is the real culprit. Already today, the Labour leader hardened his rhetoric to say it was a “pathetic” border policy that had postponed freedoms.Starmer’s clear aim is to drive a big wedge between the excellence of the NHS vaccine rollout and the government’s wider failures. It’s unclear whether it was the PM’s desire to keep alive post-Brexit trade talks with Narendra Modi that prompted his inaction, but the suggestion that he recklessly undermined both the NHS’s programme and public sacrifices is a toxic one.Today’s failure to offer extra financial support to business added extra political risk too. Those firms which were hanging on by their fingertips will now face having to pay their share of furlough bills, with no extra income to fund them. Add in the self-employed already upset and an Opposition that was pro-enterprise could make inroads.To oversee one Covid wave is a misfortune, to allow two begins to look like carelessness. But to trigger a third wave, squandering all the good work of your own vaccine success story, could be seen as unforgivable by a public which has to date been incredibly forgiving of its prime minister.Related...Lockdown Extended For Four Weeks To Prevent 'Thousands' Of DeathsWhat The Lockdown Extension Means For YouAll Over-18s In England Offered Covid Vaccine By July 19, Says Government

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Boss Gareth Southgate called on England to retain the ‘same hunger’ as they had ahead of their opening match.

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Louis Walsh claims Britney Spears was on a lot of medication while filming The X Factor and would even slump in her seat, as he added he "felt sorry for her"

Indiana Jones actor Harrison Ford sent his fans into meltdown as he was spotted filming at Bamburgh Castle - which was previously owned by Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge's ancestors

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Spain 0-0 Sweden: Alvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno miss chances as hosts are left to rue missed chances in opening draw

The co-chairman of Manchester United faced fans for the first time in his family's 16-year ownership of the club to address concerns on investment on and off the pitch

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, 50, attend the annual symposium of the Money Wise platform in The Hague today. The mother-of-three recycled a white suit with brown accessories.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock made a statement to the Commons at 8.30pm to confirm the decision to push back the final unlock from June 21 to July 19.

Pair missed out on matchday squad for opening Euro 2020 win‘That’s a team – that’s what it’s about,’ says SouthgateGareth Southgate has praised Ben Chilwell and Jadon Sancho for responding positively to being left out of England’s squad against Croatia, saying their professionalism played a part in the team making a winning start to Euro 2020.England’s manager experienced the downside of squads being increased to 26 when he had to tell two outfield players they would not be involved against Croatia. Uefa regulations state teams must name two goalkeepers on the bench in their 23-man matchday squads and that left Southgate with some awkward decisions to make before his side’s opening game in Group D. Continue reading...

England manager Gareth Southgate claims "defensive animal" Kieran Trippier is underrated by critics who still remember the error-prone full-back from Tottenham.

John Stones and Jordan Pickford had several ding-dongs over the keeper's long ball hoofs during England's Euro 2020 opener against Croatia - which they won 1-0

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England got their Euro 2020 campaign off to a winning start against Croatia as Raheem Sterling scored the odd goal at Wembley on Sunday to set the country into Euro fever

Nick Thomas-Symonds will dub the the Delta variant of coronavirus ‘the Johnson variant’ in a speech on Tuesday.

Gareth Southgate’s continued faith in Kieran Trippier was rewarded with a composed performance at left-back as England won their opening group game of Euro 2020

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Michael and Peter Taylor tell Tokyo court of their part in spiriting away executive in musical instrument caseTwo Americans charged with helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan while he was facing accusations of financial misconduct have told a court that they took part in a scheme for him to escape the country.Statements by Michael Taylor and his son, Peter, on the opening day of their trial in Tokyo suggested the pair don’t plan to fight charges of assisting a criminal, which carry a possible penalty of up to three years in prison. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson has warned ‘thousands could die’ if he pressed ahead with the June 21 date.

Former president says American divisions ‘seem to be deeper than just differences in policy’

Editorial: The British people have been remarkably resilient in the way they have accepted the disruption to their daily lives, and now sense that the country is on the last lap of this race

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Spain 0-0 Sweden: Hosts unable to convert their dominance into goals in Group E stalemate

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‘It’s a f**king brilliant example of what he hopes will become the norm’

Hunter Biden referred to Lunden Roberts as a basketball mentor to his daughter Maisy and Barack Obama's daughter Sasha.

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A Southern Baptist governing panel has quashed for now a push to expand an investigation of its handling of sex abuse cases

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The 45-year-old was convicted at the age of 20 for the brutal torture and murder of a classmate

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill into law that would require public schools in his state to hold at least one minute of silence to allow students to meditate or pray

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In addition to the usual lifestyle factors that we're all advised to address, what other steps do the top dementia experts themselves take to ward off the disease?

‘This is a reminder of what these disgusting two people did’

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Bryn Roberts, head of Law and Governance at North Tyneside Council, allegedly removed the Union Jacks after deeming them 'not appropriate' in a message to Councillor Sean Brockbank.

BORIS JOHNSON has risked immense backlash by delaying the lifting of the final set of lockdown restrictions by four weeks. Do you think he was right to heed the scientists' warnings or should he have boldly went ahead with his original plan? Vote below.

The package of additional support will consist of surge testing, tracing, isolation support and maximising vaccine uptake.

Former president’s campaign staff has sent cease and desist letters to candidates claiming they have his support

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