Boris Johnson marries Carrie Symonds in ‘secret ceremony’ – follow live

Boris Johnson and his ministers are too busy “covering their own backs” to properly counter the threat posed by the Indian coronavirus variant, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Following Dominic Cummings’ explosive evidence about the prime minister’s handling of the pandemic, Sir Keir said “mistakes are being repeated” as the government considers whether to further ease restrictions.

“Weak, slow decisions on border policy let the Indian variant take hold,” he said. “Lack of self-isolation support and confused local guidance failed to contain it. We all want to unlock on 21 June but the single biggest threat to that is the government’s incompetence.”

A new national flagship and successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997, will promote British trade and industry, Boris Johnson has said.

The vessel – expected to be built in the UK at a reported cost of up to £200m – will be used to host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks as the UK seeks to build links and boost exports after Brexit.

A name for the vessel has not been announced, but the PM has faced pressure from Tory MPs to name it after the Duke of Edinburgh, who played a role in designing Britannia.

But a senior royal source put something of a pin in this proposal, telling The Sunday Times that it was considered “too grand” a symbol for use by the monarchy in the modern age, adding: “It is not something we have asked for.”

Douglas Chapman, the MP in charge of the SNP’s finances, has quit the role – claiming he was not given enough support or information to do the job.

The MP for Dunfermline and West Fife announced he had resigned as national treasurer of the party on Saturday evening, having taken over in the role last year on a mandate to “ introduce more transparency into the party’s finances”.

It is not clear what led to Mr Chapman’s decision, but SNP business convener and fellow MP Kirsten Oswald said she “fundamentally disagrees” with Mr Chapman’s assessment.

The latest polling from Opinium suggests that public approval of Boris Johnson has plunged 12 points to -6, while the Tory party’s lead over Labour has also been cut from 44-31 to 42-36.

The survey also found some 58 per cent of respondents said they had little to no trust in Matt Hancock, with 44 per cent saying he should resign as health secretary, compared to 30 per cent who said he should stay.

It comes after Mr Johnson’s former chief aide Dominic Cummings gave a seven-hour testimony filled with allegations against his former allies and their joint handling of the Covid pandemic – notably claiming that Mr Johnson is “unfit” to be prime minister and that Mr Hancock should have been sacked on 15 to 20 occasions.

My colleague Conrad Duncan has the details on our leading story this morning – that of the prime minister’s reported marriage to his fiance Carrie Symonds in a top-secret ceremony on Saturday.

It is the prime minister’s third marriage, having finalised his divorce from his second wife Marina Wheeler in 2020.

A witness told The Sun that the cathedral was forced to go into lockdown for the wedding service.

“It was closed for about half an hour and they all came out after,” they said. “It’s not very often we have weddings here, and when they came out they were all bungled into a car.”