Saturday papers – 13 June 2020

EU

Looks like the bloc is starting to get real, says the Express.

A SENIOR MEP has told his colleagues not to “patronise” Britain – while warning of the dire risk to the bloc if the UK becoming a tiger economy similar to Singapore.
Geert Bourgeois, trade spokesman with European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the assembly, was speaking at a time when the nature of UK/EU relations remains uncertain. EU negotiator Michel Barnier and UK opposite number David Frost have now completed a fourth round of talks aimed at thrashing out a post-Brexit trade deal, with no indication of a breakthrough in the offing.

The Express says EU politicians are panicking at the thought of ‘no deal’.

PANICKING politicians on the continent have been urged to convince EU negotiator Michel Barnier to adopt a more realistic approach to negotiations with Britain “before it is too late”.
And Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski has said the loss of  Britain as a trading partner would cause colossal damage to the bloc. Mr Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, was commenting after Geert Bourgeois, trade spokesman with European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament, warned fellow MEPs not to patronise Britain.
Belgian Mr Bourgeois also voiced his concern at the prospect of the UK becoming a low tax-driven tiger economy analogous to Singapore.

Border checks

An extension to the transition period has been formally ruled out says BBC News.

Checks on EU goods coming into the UK will be phased in next year to give firms “time to adjust”, as ministers formally ruled out extending the Brexit transition period beyond 31 December.
The UK had committed to introduce full import controls on EU goods in January.
But coronavirus has forced a rethink, with firms able to defer customs forms and tariff payments for six months and some physical checks delayed to July.

But the EU will not reciprocate, says the Times.

Ministers have abandoned plans to bring in border checks for food and goods entering the UK in January as they admitted that the coronavirus lockdown had delayed preparations for exiting the transition period.
In a move welcomed by business, Michael Gove  said customs and regulatory checks for most imports would be delayed by six months to give firms more time to prepare.
However, the European Union said it did not intend to follow suit and that UK exporters would be required to follow the new rules or face their goods being turned back at the border.

The Mirror calls it a ‘screeching u-turn’.

Downing Street has announced a screeching u-turn on Brexit border checks in order to avoid chaos during the coronavirus crisis.
Michael Gove has backtracked on plans to introduce full border checks with the EU when the Brexit transition period ends and defied warnings that it would be “extraordinarily reckless” not to request an extension.
The Cabinet Office minister formally told the EU on Friday that the UK would not ask for a delay despite concerns the departure would compound the economic chaos inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Race riots

Demonstrations in London planned for today have been scrapped, says the Star.

A Black Lives Matter protest planned for London this weekend has been called off.
Organisers feared the Saturday demonstration in Hyde Park would run into conflict with far-right counter-protesters who are planning to travel to the capital tomorrow (Saturday).
The Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA), a group of right-wing activists, has told its supporters to meet at Winston Churchill’s statue in Westminster for a “patriotic unity” event.

But demos may take place elsewhere in the UK, says the Times.

Far-right groups are set to target Black Lives Matter protests nationwide after the main demonstration in Hyde Park was cancelled due to fears of clashes.
Hundreds of football hooligans and far-right agitators had planned to travel to London today to confront anti-racism demonstrators and surround war memorials and other statues.
However, BLM’s London branch cancelled its demonstration over concerns it would be hijacked by the far right. Hope Not Hate, an anti-fascist organisation that monitors far-right groups, said the groups would instead defend statues and war memorials outside the capital.

The Sun reports that if any demos go ahead, they’ll have to finish by 5pm.

BLACK Lives Matter protesters in London have been hit with a 5pm curfew as cops promise a “robust” response to any violence this weekend.
Police made the vow amid fears of clashes between anti-racism demonstrators and far-right protesters.
Violent protesters have been warned they face being jailed within 24 hours as the Government prepares to “read the riot act”.

The PM has warned protesters to stay away, reports the Independent.

Boris Johnson has said it is “absurd and shameful” the Winston Churchill national monument is at risk of attack by protesters this weekend, and warned Black Lives Matter supporters that the responsible thing to do is “stay away from these protests”.
The prime minister went further and claimed the tearing down of statues constitutes “lying about our history”, before claiming that the demonstrations had been “hijacked by extremists intent on violence”.

The Mail reports the curfew.

Met Police have imposed a curfew on Black Lives Matter activists who are expected to march in London today amid an increasingly rancorous national debate over the proper place of statues with links to Britain’s colonial past – and despite warnings from Boris Johnson not to break social distancing rules.
Senior police officers have warned that any violence ‘will not be tolerated’ amid fears of clashes with pro-statue protesters who are also due to gather in the capital to defend’ monuments.

Statues

The grandson of our war leader has opined in the Telegraph.

British society has lost its moral compass in the wake of riots that prompted London’s mayor to order a statue of Winston Churchill to be boarded up, the war time leader’s grandson said on Friday.
Sir Nicholas Soames, a former Conservative minister, condemned the ‘unspeakable and cowardly’ actions of anarchists and far-left activists who had ‘hijacked’ the Black Lives Matter protest  movement and defaced Churchill’s statue by daubing the word ‘racist’ on it.

The Home Secretary has said the statue should be uncovered, says the Sun.

PRITI Patel has called for the statue of Sir Winston Churchill to be “liberated” from its protective boarding.
The Home Secretary also attacked the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan for the decision to cover up the monument, accusing him caving into the mob by not condemning violence earlier.
A protective box was placed around the statue of the former premier, who led Britain during the Second World War struggle against the Nazis, after it was targeted during anti-racism protests last weekend.

And Lincoln’s statue has also been defaced, says Breitbart.

Activists defaced and scaled Abraham Lincoln’s statue in Parliament Square, London, at a Black Lives Matter rally held in defiance of Britain’s anti-coronavirus regulations.
Video from protest, estimated to be 15,000-strong at the time of publication, shows the Lincoln statue  defaced with the graffiti reading “BLM” and naming George Floyd, Mike Brown, and other individuals said to have been killed wrongfully by the police.

But is it right that some people want to change history?  The Independent reports.

Boris Johnson has said tearing down statues  amounts to “lying about our history” and that it is “absurd and shameful” for a monument to Winston Churchill to be boarded up ahead of expected protests this weekend.
The prime minister said the wartime leader’s statue in London’s Parliament Square is “a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country – and the whole of Europe – from a fascist and racist tyranny”.
“We cannot now try to edit or censor our past,” he wrote in a string of tweets. “We cannot pretend to have a different history.”

But the Guardian quotes the PM as saying the demos have been hijacked.

Boris Johnson was accused of “stoking fear and division” ahead of a weekend of Black Lives Matter demonstrations after he unequivocally condemned the removal of historic statues and claimed the protests had been “hijacked by extremists intent on violence”.
As statues – including of Winston Churchill – were boarded up to protect them ahead of planned marches, the prime minister tweeted his opposition to those calling for memorials with links to slavery and racism to be torn down.

The Times also quotes the PM.

Boris Johnson said it was “absurd and shameful” that the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was at risk of vandalism and warned: “We cannot edit or censor the past.”
The prime minister said statues “teach us about our past, with all its faults” and that tearing them down would mean lying about the nation’s history. He urged people to stay away from protests this weekend, and hit out at “indiscriminate” acts of violence, describing them as “intolerable” and “abhorrent”.

The Mail reports an accusation against the Mayor of London.

London‘s mayor was accused of caving in to mob rule last night by covering up Winston Churchill’s statue.
Sadiq Khan is shielding key public monuments – including the Cenotaph – ahead of anti-racism protests on Saturday. But Priti Patel called on the mayor to uncover the bronze sculpture immediately.
‘We should free Churchill, a hero of our nation, who fought against fascism and racism in this country and Europe,’ said the Home Secretary.
‘He has given us the freedom to live our lives the way we do today.’ Churchill’s grandson, Nicholas Soames, said covering up his statue in Parliament Square was a national humiliation.

GDP

The Mirror is one of the papers which reports that the bottom has dropped out of the economy.

The UK’s GDP plummeted by 20.4% in the first full month of lockdown, the biggest monthly fall on record.
It means the economy shrank by more than a fifth as workers were sent home from offices, shops and factories as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) April figures have been released as the country prepares for its worst recession in 300 years.
The ‘unprecedented’ fall in GDP is ten times worse than any previous drop, according to the ONS.

But ITV News has a more up-beat report.

Boris Johnson vowed that the UK will “bounce back” after the economy shrunk by more than a fifth for the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown.
The Office for National Statistics said economic activity dropped by 20.4 per cent in April – the largest drop in a single month since records began in 1997.
The fall massively outstrips the then-record 5.8 per cent drop in March gross domestic product (GDP) that the ONS reported last month.

Shopping

Shopaholics are looking forward to Monday, says the Times.

Boris Johnson will try to lead Britons back to the shops next week to help to revive the country’s battered economy.
The prime minister is planning to visit a high street  in what would be his first public appearance since the lockdown was imposed. He hopes to reassure shoppers that it is safe to get out of the house and spend as non-essential stores open from Monday.

The Mail says retail establishments are getting ready.

Hundreds of shops are busily preparing for a stampede of customers on Monday when they fling open their doors for the first time since lockdown.
Non-essential stores in England will roll up the shutters next week after Boris Johnson announced the next phase of lockdown loosening to inject some life back into the nation’s struggling high streets.
Staff at some of the best-loved brands were today pictured plastering shop floors with social distancing markings and wiping down windows.

But there could be a backlash over Sunday trading, reports the Express.

BORIS JOHNSON is facing a backlash over his plans to suspend Sunday trading laws after three Cabinet members are understood to have warned against such a move.
It is understood the plans to suspend them for a year are part of a larger coronavirus recovery plan. Britain’s Sunday Trading Act of 1994 allows large stores to open for no more than six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm. Government Chief Whip Mark Spencer, Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg and Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Evans of Bowes Park have said the move is likely to attract “strong” opposition.

Social distancing

The two-metre rule could be relaxed, says the Times.

Compulsory face coverings could be a way of easing the two-metre rule, scientists have suggested as they insist any change is up to ministers.
Boris Johnson has said that he wants to reduce the rule amid pressure from hospitality and other business groups who fear it could make reopening impossible. He asked the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to review the issue again and last week it reaffirmed previous conclusions  that standing or sitting farther apart was safer.

The PM is keen, says the Mail.

Boris Johnson said yesterday he was ‘looking for the moment’ to relax the two-metre social distancing rule.
It raised hopes that the Prime Minister could switch to a one-metre rule within weeks after a combination of ‘frightening’ economic statistics and a fall in the number of coronavirus infections.
Despite their reservations, government scientists believe any decision to cut the recommended distance is a political one, giving Mr Johnson the green light to reduce it.

The Telegraph says there are other ways to keep the virus down.

The two-metre social distancing rule can be abandoned by businesses reopening after lockdown if they introduce other measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus, Government scientists have told ministers.
Following a political backlash against the two-metre rule, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) published a paper on Friday which set out protocols – such as regular breaks, and getting workers to sit side by side – that would make it much safer for people to be within one metre of each other.

But the Times reports that in the US, infection rates are rising.

As Boris Johnson faced mounting calls this week from cabinet ministers, backbenchers and industry to lift the two-metre rule, his thoughts were focused on events on the other side of the Atlantic.
States such as California, Florida and Texas that are among those to have lifted lockdown measures the most are starting to see infection rates climb.
“We can get the prevalence right down but it won’t much matter if it all comes roaring back,” a senior government figure said.

Education

Summer camps are examined in the Times.

Ministers are drawing up plans to offer summer camps for schoolchildren so working parents can have a break, but the big academic “catch-up” will not begin until September.
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, is due to announce the plans for summer next week, alongside the thinking on how all schools can reopen in September. That is when the “catch up” promised by Boris Johnson is actually likely to begin with a national tutoring programme put in place for the most disadvantaged children.

Huffington Post claims that schools are trying to cut corners.

Some schools in England “cut corners” on Covid-19  safety guidelines by running larger class sizes when they reopened to more pupils, a new survey suggests.
The survey by trade union Unison found that more than one in five (22%) of support staff reported their primary schools operating classes of greater than 15 pupils, the cap recommended by public health experts.
In a bid to meet the government’s June 1 deadline to take in extra children, nursery school class sizes of eight children were also breached, according to nearly half (48%) of those surveyed.

Quarantine

Holidaymakers will be able to travel freely across the continent, says the Mail.

Europeans can look forward to quarantine-free trips across the continent as lockdown rules are relaxed – but British holiday makers remain trapped in isolation.
Tourists from Germany, France and Italy are among those who will shortly be able to go on holiday to dozens of resort locations in foreign countries, and can crucially return unhindered afterwards.
While British holidaymakers are welcome on the beaches of certain nations, Boris Johnson’s government has scuppered the holiday plans of millions by insisting on two weeks of quarantine on their return to the UK.

But a legal case has been started, reports City AM.

The UK’s three largest airlines have today launched legal action against the government’s plan to make all incoming travellers to the UK quarantine for 14 days.
Rivals British Airways, Ryanair and Easyjet have come together to see a legal review of the plan as soon as possible.
In a joint statement, they said the measures would “have a devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy and destroy thousands of jobs”.

Hospitals

In an exclusive report, the Telegraph claims that a significant number of Covid patients were infected in hospitals.

One in five hospital patients with coronavirus caught it while on wards, papers by Government scientists have revealed.
The findings come alongside orders to all hospitals to enforce social distancing between staff in order to stop doctors and nurses from “congregating” and fuelling the spread of the virus.
An investigation by The Telegraph reveals that it was not until May 18 – nearly two months after Britain entered lockdown – that health chiefs finally issued guidance on how hospital workers should implement social distancing.

Fawlty Towers

A much-watched episode of a comedy show has been reinstated, says the Mail.

An episode of Fawlty Towers which featured racist language has been put back on UKTV after the streaming site took it down yesterday.
The episode titled The Germans – fondly remembered for the line ‘don’t mention the War’ – will return to the platform with warnings highlighting ‘potentially offensive content and language’, a statement from the organisation said.

The Sun also has the story.

AN episode of the 1970s comedy Fawlty Towers is to be reinstated after it was removed for containing racial slurs.
The move comes after the show’s creator and star John Cleese blasted the “stupid” decision to drop the classic “Germans” episode from TV over its use of the n-word.
The much-loved episode first aired in 1975 shows manic hotel owner Basil Fawlty goose stepping in front of German guests and whispering “Don’t mention the war”.
But it also features a scene in which bumbling guest The Major uses the “n-word” three times while talking about Indian test cricketers.