Therese Coffey branded ‘heartless’ by Labour after saying she is happy with universal credit cut – Politics live news

In her speech to the SNP’s virtual conference later this morning Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, will urge the UK government to accept Scotland’s right to hold another independence referendum, urging Boris Johnson to act in a “spirit of cooperation”. In an extract from the speech released in advance this morning, she says:

Sturgeon’s appeal to the PM is worded in such a way as to suggest that her optimism has got the better of her judgment. Johnson has generally been careful not to rule out ever allowing a second independence referendum (because an unequivocal “no” polls badly in Scotland). But he has made it clear he has no interest in allowing one if he can avoid it, sometimes arguing that the 2014 poll was a once-in-a-generation event and sometimes arguing that the Covid crisis means holding one soon would be irresponsible.

(Sturgeon, of course, knows this as well as anyone. Her language is intended to expose Johnson as unreasonable.)

In her interview with Sky News this morning, Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, confirmed that she was happy with the government’s plan to cut universal credit by GBP20 from the end of this month (by removing the temporary Covid uplift).

Given that this is agreed cabinet policy, and that the cut has been defended by the prime minister and by the chancellor, she would have been taking a career risk if she had said anything else. But Labour MPs have condemned her comment.

This is from Wes Streeting, the shadow child poverty secretary.

And this is from Nadia Whittome.

The Office for National Statistics has published a report on Covid deaths in England by vaccine status between 2 January and 2 July this year. Here are the main points.

Of the 51,281 Covid deaths in this period, just 640 occurred in people who had been double-vaccinated – and just 256 occurred in people who had been double-vaccinated and who first tested positive at least 14 days after their second dose. (Some of the 640 will have been infected before they were fully vaccinated.)
During this period, just 0.8% of deaths of people fully vaccinated for more than 21 days involved Covid – compared with 37.4% of deaths of unvaccinated people. (Vaccines are not regarded as fully effective until about two or three weeks after they have been administered, which is why 21 days is used as a cut-off in the statistics.)

The 256 people who first tested positive more than 14 days after their second vaccination and who went on to die – so-called “breakthrough deaths” – were older, more likely to be male, and more likely to be immunocompromised than other people dying from Covid.

Here are some more lines from Therese Coffey‘s morning interview round.

Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, said universal credit claimants who will lose GBP20 per week from next month when the Covid uplift is removed could make up the money by working extra hours. She told BBC Breakfast:

She also said the government’s infrastructure spending might enable these people to get better paid jobs.

She claimed to be unaware of an internal government assessment by HM Revenue and Customs saying the proposed health and social care levy (the GBP12bn national insurance hike) could break up families. Asked about the analysis, which was reported in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday, she told LBC:

When asked why her team had not told her about a report that featured prominently in yesterday’s papers, she replied:

Here is an extract from the story, by the Sunday Telegraph’s Edward Malnick.

Coffey said that, if Covid cases got worse over the winter, people could be advised to resume working from home.

Good morning. Dominic Cummings calls Boris Johnson the “shopping trolley” because he says the prime minister veers all over the place when making policy – and the evolution of the government’s policy on vaccine passports for England is a good example of where Cummings has got a point.

Originally the government ruled out the idea. Then, as the final lockdown restrictions were lifted in July, Johnson made the surprise announcement that from the end of September, people going to nightclubs would need to show proof of their vaccine status. Only last week, Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said that remained the plan.

Yesterday Sajid Javid, the health secretary, told Sky News that the government was right to consider the idea. But an hour later he told the BBC that the government was not going ahead with vaccine passports.

However, as my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports, Tory MPs who hate the idea of vaccine passports fear the idea has not been killed off for good. Javid also said yesterday that they would remain an option for the future and, in interviews this morning, Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, said they were not ruled out forever. She told BBC Breakfast:

With Johnson due to announce his winter plan for Covid tomorrow, there may be more about government coronavirus plans coming out today. We also have two potentially interesting reports on coronavirus coming from the ONS.

With the TUC and SNP conferences both taking place, there is plenty of non-Covid politics around today, too. Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: The ONS publishes figures on Covid deaths by vaccination status. It is also publishing a report on the impact of coronavirus on household finances.

10am: The TUC conference resumes. Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, is speaking at 11am.

11.30am: Downing Street holds its daily lobby briefing.

11.50am: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, gives a speech wrapping up the SNP’s online conference. Earlier, at 10.30am, Shona Robison, the housing and local government secretary, speaks.

Lunchtime: Boris Johnson is expected to record a short TV interview on a trip in the Midlands.

2.30pm: Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

For further Covid coverage, do read our global coronavirus live blog.

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