Brexit ‘teething problems in danger of becoming permanent’ – live

Various leaders are eyeing so-called vaccine passports with temptation at the moment, with Boris Johnson telling MPs he believed “there is going to be a role” for such certification, at least for travel, and the first minister of Wales yesterday suggesting there are “definitely prizes to be won” by using such tools in venues.

But former chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walport has said that vaccine passports for leisure activities are “not inevitable” and suggested the government examines ethical and practical concerns of a possible scheme.

Michael Gove is expected to publish the findings of a review into the use of vaccine passports next month, but ministers have made clear any domestic scheme will not be used until all adults in the UK have been offered a jab.

Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the details here:

In addition to the warning in our headline that Brexit “teething problems are in danger of becoming permanent, systemic ones” – from the Federation of Small Businesses chair Mike Cherry, a similar mention of permanent damage to UK firms has come from elsewhere.

A spokesperson for the British Chambers of Commerce, is reported as telling The Guardian that its members have experienced short-term costs plus “what looks like permanent deterioration in their competitive position due to higher admin, paperwork and shipping costs”.

Following comments by Chief Constable Simon Bailey – the national police lead for child protection – suggesting that, in some instances, it would be “naive” to think that schools had not covered up sexual offences to protect their reputations, shadow justice secretary David Lammy has called for “urgent action”.

“I suspect this sits alongside the concerns that many have raised about the prolific nature of porn and young people getting access to porn,” he told Times Radio.

Mr Lammy added: “It needs urgent action. This is about child safeguarding. [It is] really really worrying to see top schools named in this way. Some of it does sound like crime. Schools should be taking that seriously and contacting police and children’s services where it comes up.

“Some of it feels like harassment and so some of this is about public education. Schools should be well placed to deal with that. There have been calls about how we are dealing with sex education in our schools.”

He also urged more regulation, telling the programme: “We need an online harms bill. We are still waiting for it. It hasn’t come forward. Why is there a delay on something that is so serious?”

Nadhim Zahawi has responded to the new ONS statistics showing the vaccine take-up rate by demographic, admitting there is “much more work to do with local communities”.

The new Office for National Statistics figures, published in the last hour, found that ethnic minorities in the UK aged 70 and over were less likely to have received a dose of coronavirus vaccine than those who identified as white British.

It follows a drive in some communities to encourage take-up of the available coronavirus vaccines after years of mistrust, which the government’s scientific advisory body Sage warned in January was linked to “structural and institutional racism and discrimination”.

Our chief political commentator highlights this less than glowing assessment of the Tories’ new Hartlepool candidate, as reported by Patrick Maguire of The Times.

One of Jill Mortimer’s prospective northern colleagues is quoted as suggesting: “CCHQ must have run the numbers and concluded it’s no longer there for the taking.”

A Tory has not won the seat since 1974. The jury is clearly still out on whether this can change at the looming 6 May by-election.

Nigel Huddleston, a minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has insisted that the long-awaited online harms bill – first floated when Theresa May was in power – will be brought to parliament in “due course”, adding that it is an “horrendously complex area”.

Pressed on Good Morning Britain over whether this meant months or years before the bill to tackle abusive behaviour online was proposed, the Tory MP was unable to give a timeframe.

But he added: “Spreading racial hatred and so on online is already illegal, and it should be reported. But you’re absolutely right, the social media companies also need to take responsibility here. It’s in their own terms and conditions that people should not be spreading this and they should be proactively taking people down and offline already, and they are doing to some degree.

“But we’ll be bringing in laws to make sure they’re compelled to do so, and if they don’t, we’ll fine them up to 10 per cent of global revenue.”

Much of the talk this morning is focused on the easing of lockdown restrictions in England.

Boris Johnson has stressed that “we must remain cautious, with cases rising across Europe and new variants threatening our vaccine rollout”.

He is expected to hammer this message home at a Downing Street press conference later today.

Boris Johnson’s racial disparities commission is reportedly poised to recommend that the term BAME should no longer be used by public bodies and companies.

The Telegraph reports that scrapping the acronym – standing for black, Asian and minority ethnic – is a key proposal in a report to be published this week by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.

The paper cites a source as saying the long-contested blanket term has become “unhelpful and redundant”, potentially masking the lived experiences of individual groups.

The prime minister announced the commission in June in response to the wave of Black Lives Matter protests. But some concerns were raised after Dr Tony Sewell – who previously said evidence of the existence of institutional racism was “flimsy” – was appointed as its chair.

Following their survey of some 1,483 small businesses finding that 26 per cent of exporters had either temporarily suspended or permanently ceased trading with the EU since the Brexit transition period ended three months ago, Federation of Small Businesses chair Mike Cherry said:

“At a moment when small firms are doing all we can to return to growth and get our economy firing on all cylinders again, those that do business internationally are being hit with some incredibly demanding, unfamiliar paperwork.

“Three months on from the end of the transition period, what we hoped would prove to be teething problems are in danger of becoming permanent, systemic ones.

“While larger firms have the resources and bandwidth to overcome them regardless, smaller traders are struggling, and considering whether exports are worth the effort any more.

“Unless more is done to ease the admin burden on those that do business overseas, and increase access to markets outside the EU, it will weigh heavy on our efforts to recover from the most severe downturn on record.”