UK coronavirus live: Rishi Sunak unveils stamp duty cut, furlough bonus and August discount for eating out

Andrew Sparrow and Graeme Wearden (now); Matthew W

from on 2020-07-08 13:52 (#55GA0)

Chancellor delivers summer statement in the Commons on UK economic recovery from pandemic

2.46pm BST

The stamp duty holiday announced today has caused quite a stir in the property sector, with some industry figures warning it will distort the market in England and Northern Ireland.

David Westgate, CEO at consultancy Andrews Property Group, says it's a high risk' move that could drive prices sharply higher in the short-term.

'Making the much anticipated Stamp Duty cut temporary is a gamble if the economy hasn't recovered by the Spring.

It is possible that we will have a boom scenario between now and April next year when a disproportionate number of people are buying at higher prices followed by softer prices when the scheme ends and asking prices are adjusted.

I would expect more homes to come on to the market as the stamp duty cut will improve the saleability of a home.

However, this measure is unlikely to solve the inherent issues in the housing market. The cut will most help buyers in high value areas, which are mainly in London, the south east and south west of England. The average first home in northern regions is below 150,000 and around 90% of first-time buyers in England won't see any benefit from this change.

The time period of the stamp duty relief announced by the Chancellor, from now until 31 March 2021, is relatively short. It gives little opportunity for house builders to use the reduction to inform strategic decisions on construction plans beyond the next nine months.

The current fall in house prices may also encourage people to sit tight until the market recovers and there is huge uncertainty around job security. This policy will likely need extending in order to have real economic impact."

2.40pm BST

The Treasury is still working on a separate plan to help the long-term unemployed, according to a line in the Plan for Jobs document (pdf). This is from Robert Colvile from the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank.

Worth flagging this in the small print of 'A Plan for Jobs' (as spotted by my eagle-eyed colleagues). pic.twitter.com/N57AVjapbh

2.28pm BST

Business groups like the chancellor's announcement.

Here is an extract from the response from Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI director general.

Today's jobs plan is an important step forward. For young people, the kickstarter scheme will help create jobs in the short-run that can turn into opportunities for the long-run, and firms look forward to working with government to get it up and running quickly and well. It is also good to see direct support for apprenticeships and careers advice, which will help build the skills as well as the jobs of the future.

Chamber business communities all across the country have campaigned for additional support for hard-hit hospitality and tourism firms - and will welcome the reduction in VAT for these sectors to help them restart and rebuild. #minibudget

2.18pm BST

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at City firm IG, predicts that Rishi Sunak will need to produce more stimulus measures in the autumn budget. Today's announcement won't be enough to protect the economy...

9 billion for a job retention scheme and 2 billion job creation scheme for young people are two of the big ticket measures announced, but it still seems like tinkering around the edges when set against a 25% contraction in GDP.

Pubs and housebuilders have been boosted by the news of additional programmes to boost consumer spending on meals out, a cut in VAT for tourism and hospitality and a stamp duty holiday.

2.14pm BST

Labour's call for the furlough scheme to be extended beyond October has been backed by an unexpected ally - City firm JP Morgan.

Mike Bell, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, argues that the chancellor is giving with one hand, while taking away with the other".

On the one hand, the economy will be better off as a result of today's announcements. That said, they're unlikely to be enough to offset the coming hit to the economy from the scheduled winding down of the furlough scheme, potentially before activity has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Removing the furlough scheme before activity has recovered is like building three-quarters of a bridge and not finishing it because it is becoming expensive. Prematurely winding down the scheme risks having merely delayed job losses for millions of people, particularly in the worst-affected sectors such as hospitality and retail.

2.11pm BST

Angela Merkel has said the European Union should prepare for talks with the UK to end in no deal.

Speaking in the European parliament in Brussels, the German chancellor said progress in talks had been slim, to put it diplomatically". She explained:

We agreed with the United Kingdom to accelerate the pace of talks to reach an agreement by autumn, an agreement that can be ratified by the end of the year. I will continue to push for a good solution but we should also prepare for a possible no-deal scenario.

2.07pm BST

Damian McBride, a Labour adviser who used to work as a civil servant at HM Revenue and Customs and then the Treasury, thinks the VAT cut for hospitality and tourism will turn out to be less generous than implied.

If the six-month VAT cut for restaurants, pubs, hotels & attractions was widely-drawn in scope, it would cost much more than 4.1bn. That's why HMRC aren't publishing their guidance on the scope today, cos the story would rapidly become about who doesn't benefit, not who does.

The HMT document says: Further guidance on the scope of the relief will be published by HMRC in the coming days." HMRC obviously have this guidance written already - it's due to take effect in 7 days time! - so clearly the only reasons not to publish it today are presentational.

Back in 2015, David Gauke told a Westminster Hall debate it would cost 10bn p/a to do the food and drinks part of this cut, and 2bn p/a for accommodation. So even without 'attractions', that's 6bn for six months at 2015 prices, compared to the 4.1bn cost announced today. Hmm.

2.06pm BST

Rishi Sunak is trying to save Britain from a mass unemployment crisis with a turbocharged' summer statement, writes our economics editor Larry Elliott:

The first eye-catching announcement was the novel idea that anybody who eats out from Monday to Wednesday in August will receive 50% off their bill up to a maximum of 10.

Sunak called it eat out to help out", but the soundbite disguised a serious problem: after months of being told of the dangers of Covid-19, many consumers are now extremely wary of going out to cafes and bars even though restrictions are now being relaxed. The expected rush to the pub after last week's reopening in England failed to materialise.

2.02pm BST

Unions have expressed disappointment with the summer spending announcement.

Frances O'Grady, the TUC general secretary, said there should have been targeted support for manufacturing sectors most at risk. She said:

Mass unemployment is now the biggest threat facing the UK, as shown by the thousands of job losses at British Airways, Airbus and elsewhere. The government must do far more to stem the rising tide of redundancies.

The chancellor should have announced targeted support for the hardest-hit sectors like manufacturing and aviation. Struggling businesses will need more than a one-off job retention bonus to survive and save jobs in the long-term.

While there's much for young people, the energy sector and UK businesses to celebrate, there's next to nothing for public services and the workers who've kept the country going through the last few difficult months.

With extra funds, national and local public services could provide many more jobs. A much-deserved early pay rise for health workers and council staff would mean money in their pockets to be spent on local high streets.

1.55pm BST

Here is more on the summer statement from Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Surprising aspect of the jobs retention bonus is it's payable in respect of any employee furloughed at any point even if already back at work. You'd think a lot of this spending will be pure deadweight - going to employers who have already/would anyway bring workers back

Effectiveness of VAT cut and meal vouchers will depend on extent to which problem is not enough people to fill restaurants with now very limited capacity, or capacity constraints. Sure to be some of the latter so much of benefit likely to go to business rather than consumer

Given uncertainty about development of economy, jobs, virus etc feels right to me that Chancellor is clear he'll be back to do more, not trying to do everything at once. Be under no illusion - this was a big package on top of enormous interventions so far

1.55pm BST

The Labour Party has got its rebuttal line: today's plan is a meal deal' not a Rooseveltian New Deal:

Thanks for the meal deal, but we were promised a new deal. #SummerStatement pic.twitter.com/c3AOUhgdGT

1.47pm BST

The Treasury's plan for jobs document, giving all the details of the measures announced today, is now on its website here.

1.45pm BST

Fourteen-day quarantine restrictions for travellers from Spain will remain in force, Nicola Sturgeon has announced, as she confirmed that Scotland will provide air corridors with the 39 countries on the green list" already agreed by the UK government.

But Sturgeon said that she could not give air corridors to amber countries" which have higher prevalence of coronavirus than Scotland, such as Spain and Serbia. She said that she hoped to lift the exemption for Spain as soon as possible and would review the decision on July 20.

We must be aware that one of our biggest risk factors as we suppress the virus here is the importation of new cases to Scotland.

1.40pm BST

Anneliese Dodds responded to Rishi Sunak's statment in the Commons on behalf of Labour. It was her first major outing in the chambers as shadow chancellor. Here are the main points from what she said.

It should have been the day when the millions of British people worried about their jobs and future prospects had a load taken off of their shoulders. It should have been the day when we got the UK economy firing again.

Today, Britain should have had a back to work budget, but instead we got this summer statement with many of the big decisions put off until later as the benches opposite know full well.

Today should have been the day when our government chose to build a bridge between what has been done so far and what needs to be done to get out economy moving again.

The chancellor still needs to abandon his one-size-fits-all approach to withdrawing the job retention and self employed schemes. No one is saying those schemes should stay as they are indefinitely, we have never said that on this side of the house, but we have said that the money spent on the job retention scheme must not serve merely to postpone unemployment.

The scheme must live up to its name, supporting employment in industries that are viable in the long-term and we need a strategy for the scheme to become more flexible so it can support those businesses forced to close again because of additional localised lockdowns.

The best the government can do to boost demand is to give consumers and workers the confidence and psychological security that they can go out to work, to shop, and to socialise in safety. So please chancellor work with your colleagues so the public health response catches up with that operating in other countries.

The government's contracts with outsourcing firms amount to almost 3bn but we still haven't got test, track and isolate working properly in the UK like it is in many other countries.

1.37pm BST

The hefty cut on VAT on food, accomodation and tourist attractions runs until next January.... but Rishi Sunak could come under pressure to make it permanent.

So argues Mark Agnew, partner in the Tax practice at Baker McKenzie:

The temporary reduction in the VAT rate from 20% to 5% for the hospitality sector - covering restaurants, pubs, bars and hotels etc - is a welcome boost for a sector which has been hit badly by lockdown measures.

Many other countries in Europe have for a long time applied the reduced VAT rate to their hospitality sectors, and now the UK has followed suit there will likely be increasing pressure for it to become permanent. As with any cut in the VAT rate the key question will be the extent to which the VAT saving is passed on to the customer."

1.28pm BST

The struggling childcare sector is disappointed by the chancellor's statement, our colleague Sally Weale reports.

The chancellor today promised that the government would protect, support and create jobs', but the fact is that if parents are unable to access childcare because so many early years providers have been forced into closure, this simply won't be possible.

With the furlough scheme confirmed as ending in October, the financial pressure on childcare settings is only going to worsen over the coming months. While the new job retention bonus for unfurloughed staff kept on until at least January is a welcome policy, for those providers unsure whether or not they will survive the autumn, it will come as little comfort.

1.20pm BST

Here is some snap reaction to the announcement from economic commentators.

From Paul Johnson, director of the IFS

He skated over it but I thought most remarkable point in Chancellor's speech was that he's provided 49bn to support public services. That's 30bn more than OBR's June estimate. Huge.

Wow. 15bn of that is to purchase PPE for frontline staff. 15bn.

The scale of stimulus to protect our prosperity from #COVID19 is massive: 30bn today on top of 158.7bn since 11 March and 122.8bn of emergency loans and tax deferrals (much of which will be written off). This stimulus will end up costing taxpayers well over 200bn pic.twitter.com/FHp1uydApX

I suspect a lot of the focus will be over the Chancellor's eye-catching Eat Out to Help Out restaurant vouchers. But note they are the LEAST costly of all the fiscal measures announced today pic.twitter.com/6IpZHpWMpk

1.18pm BST

Today's measures are welcome, but they don't add up to a new major macro-economic stimulus package, tweets Torsten Bell of Resolution Foundation:

50% off meals Monday to Wednesday (up to max 10/person). Right idea. Far too small in scale to have the lasting macro impact we need

Summary: Chancellor announces 1) normal recession response (youth jobs/stamp duty/capital spend) 2) welcome sectoral focus (good news for hospitality/tourism - not for high street retail) 3) doesn't amount to a macro-economic response - he's gambling that can wait til Autumn.

1.13pm BST

The Treasury has not published a red book", the document that normally accompanies a budget with 100 pages or so of detail, but it has produced a 27-page paper summarising the announcements. It is not on the Treasury website yet.

Here is the key chart from the document, showing how much the measures announced today will cost.

1.09pm BST

The Stamp Duty holiday on properties sold for less than 500,000 is likely to support the market, and prop up house prices.

Shares in house builders Persimmon and Barratt Development have gained 1%, with London estate Foxtons up 2.5%, as City traders anticipate a pick-up in housing demand between now and next March.

Whilst the market has already been significantly busy post-lockdown, cutting stamp duty on purchases up to 500,000 really will be the catalyst get the industry flying.

The most likely impact of this measure will be a flood of buyers coming into the market who previously had sat on their hands due to political and economic uncertainty, and this flurry of activity will bring with it price rises as demand outweighs supply. However, it will also be a stimulant for those considering selling as people look to make the most of a buoyant market during the tax holiday.

The estate agent tax cut welcomed pic.twitter.com/bZ29xtBTah

1.07pm BST

Here is the Treasury news release summing up these announcements.

1.04pm BST

Sunak says he believes in values.

He says he believes in endurance.

We will not be defined by this crisis, but by our response to it.

1.03pm BST

Sunak says his final measure has never been tried in this country.

It is an eat out to help out scheme", offering customers as discount worth up to 10 per head when they eat out from Monday to Wednesday in August.

1.01pm BST

Sunak says he has two measures to get these sectors moving.

VAT on tourism and hospitality is at 20%.

12.59pm BST

Sunak says 80% of hospitality firms stopped trading in April.

The best jobs programme is to restart these sectors, he says.

12.58pm BST

Turning to housing, Sunak says house building support nearly 750,000 jobs.

But property transactions fell by 50% in May.

12.58pm BST

Conservative MPs are welcoming the chancellor's Job Retention Bonus to encourage workers to bring furloughed employees back .

Here's Milton Keynes North MP Ben Everitt:

An important announcement from @RishiSunak

Employers will receive 1,000 for each employee they retain after being furloughed pic.twitter.com/1i0ZIUvICP

We want to reward employers who successfully bring staff back from furlough.

If you bring back someone who was furloughed - and continuously employ them through to January we'll pay you a Job Retention Bonus of 1,000 per person. #PlanForJobs pic.twitter.com/MX0FkNbJI1

Jobs retention bonus looks more of a handout to firms that were already going to take back furloughed workers than job creation. Odd to retain the October cliff-edge on the furlough Scheme

12.55pm BST

Sunak confirms he will spend 2bn on a new green homes grant.

On top of this, there will be 1bn of funding to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings, he says.

12.54pm BST

Sunak says he also wants to support job creation.

That means historic investment in infrastructure.

We are double down on our ambition to level up, with better roads, better schools, better hospitals, better high streets, creating jobs in all four corners of our country.

12.53pm BST

Sunak says the number of work coaches in jobcentres is being doubled.

Other schemes to get people into work are being expanded or created.

12.52pm BST

Sunak says there will be more funding for careers advisers, and more traineeships.

And apprenticeships work too, he says. He says 91% of apprentices stay in work or do further training afterwards.

12.50pm BST

Sunak is now announcing the kickstart scheme, that was briefed overnight.

He says the government will pay young people's wages for up to six months.

12.49pm BST

Sunak says any employer who brings someone back off furlough, and keeps them in a job until January, will get a 1,000 bonus.

To get the bonus, firms must pay at least 520 each month.

12.46pm BST

Sunak is turning to the detail now.

Furlough cannot go on for ever, he says.

12.45pm BST

The Treasury has tweeted the government's progress against the Covid-19 slump so far.....

Our 160bn plan has:

Supported over 11 million people through job retention & self-employment schemes

provided billions of pounds for the most vulnerable

supported over a million businesses to protect jobs

provided over a million government-backed loans#PlanForJobs pic.twitter.com/ukai9XL8ed

We have provided 49bn to support public services, with new funding for the NHS, schools, public transport, local authorities, and rough sleepers. #PlanForJobs pic.twitter.com/zW3pMn1kIh

12.44pm BST

Sunak says the public finances must be put back on a sustainable footing in the medium term.

12.44pm BST

Sunak says the second phase, now, is about protecting jobs.

After that will come a third phase, when they need to rebuild.

12.43pm BST

Sunak says the economy contracted by 25% - the same amount it grew over the past 18 years.

He says he will never accept unemployment as an unavoidable outcome".

12.43pm BST

Sunak says nationalists cannot ignore the truth that Scotland was only able to benefit from this because we are a united kingdom".

12.42pm BST

Sunak says the economic response is moving through three phases.

In the first stage the lockdown was announced.

12.39pm BST

Rishi Sunak starts by saying in March, when he delivered his budget, he knew people were worried. They are worried still.

They are anxious about unemployment rising.

We will do all we can to give everyone the opportunity of good and secure work.

12.37pm BST

The summer economic update is about to start.

12.34pm BST

Steve Baker, a Conservative, says we must get Brexit done. Can the PM confirm the Northern Irish protocol won't stop the UK applying whole-UK tariffs?

Johnson says the protocol won't lead to anything hindering GB/NI trade.

12.33pm BST

Labour's John Spellar says blue passports are being produced by a French company in a Polish factory. Will the PM instruct councils and government to buy British?

Johnson says the government will actively buy British. But it will not turn its face against international free trade, he says.

12.31pm BST

Johnson says the government remains committed to building 40 new hospitals.

12.31pm BST

Labour's Catherine West asks the PM to legislate to protect people at risk of homelessness.

Johnson says the way the government was able to help the homeless was one of the best features of the crisis.

12.29pm BST

Danny Kruger, a Conservative, asks what the PM will do to strengthen community spirit.

Johnson says he thinks there is a chance to build on the way the nation came together during the coronavirus crisis.

12.28pm BST

Labour's Mohammad Yasin asks the PM to apologise to care workers.

Johnson restates the tribute he paid to care workers earlier.

12.27pm BST

Johnson says the government will be saying more later this week about the timetable for premises not currently allowed to open to open.

12.27pm BST

Labour's Alex Norris asks if the PM will change the law to protect shop workers from assault.

Johnson says there should be zero tolerance of this.

12.26pm BST

Simon Fell, a Conservative, asks about a plan for a bridge in Cumbria.

Johnson says he will give what support he can.

12.25pm BST

Rachel Hopkins says Luton council faces having to make cuts worth 22m. Will the PM help?

Johnson says the aviation sector has been badly hit. And the government is supporting councils too. He says the government is supporting the aviation industry, which will help provide revenue for Luton council.

12.24pm BST

Nick Fletcher, a Conservative, says Doncaster needs a new hospital.

Johnson says he will be visiting Doncaster very soon to discuss this.

12.23pm BST

The SNP's Angela Crawley says many self-employed people cannot access the furlough scheme for the self-employed. Will the government extend it? This group has just been told to apply for loans?

Johnson says the government has massively increased universal credit, which may benefit this group.

12.22pm BST

Johnson says the summer statement will say more about jobs for young people.

12.21pm BST

The SDLP's Colum Eastwood asks if the PM will back a free port in Derry.

Johnson says he will study plans for this.

12.20pm BST

Johnson says he has been amazed" to hear that Labour is proposing a wealth tax, a tax on homes.

They want to tax, tax, tax, we want jobs, jobs, jobs.

12.19pm BST

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, starts by referring to the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre on Saturday.

He says millions of people could be out of work when the furlough scheme ends. Will the government continue it?

12.15pm BST

Mark Pawsey, a Conservative, asks about funding for hospices.

Johnson thanks hospices for the work they do.

12.14pm BST

Starmer asks about free hospital parking for NHS staff. If they lose this, NHS staff may have to pay hundreds of pounds more a month.

Johnson says hospital car parks are free now for NHS staff. And the government will make them free for patients. That never happened under Labour. Starmer should take his latest bandwagon and park it somewhere else. He says Starmer takes one brief one week, one brief another. He is consistent only in his opportunism", he says.

12.12pm BST

Starmer says the PM continues to insult people in this sector by not taking this issue seriously. He says he raised concerns about care homes several weeks ago. Johnson denied what had happened.

Johnson says the understanding of the disease changed dramatically" over time. Government measures have helped get the incidence down to record levels, he says.

12.11pm BST

Starmer says of course he will join in plans for reform. But this government has been in power for 10 years.

He says one in 20 care home residents died. Will the PM accept that his government is responsible.

12.09pm BST

Starmer says by refusing to apologise the PM is rubbing salt in the wounds for people they clap. He quotes a care worker saying she was livid with what he said. What would the PM say to her?

Johnson says he would like to say he appreciates the incredible work care workers have done.

12.07pm BST

Starmer says that was not an apology. It just won't wash", he says. He quotes a care home boss saying what the PM said was appalling. Will the PM apologise to care workers, yes or no?

Johnson says it is simply not the case" that he tried to blame care workers. He says it is just the case that people did not know about asymptomatic transmission. The procedures had to be changed, he says. He says he wants to thank care workers.

12.06pm BST

Sir Keir Starmer says the PM's comment on care homes on Monday caused huge offence. Will the PM apologise?

Johnson says the last thing he wanted to do was to blame care workers, or for them to think he was. He says he takes full responsibility for what happened.

12.04pm BST

Johnson says Lichfield will benefit from the arts bailout.

12.04pm BST

Labour's Anna McMorrin says she is shocked by how a firm like Boohoo can treat their workers. What will the PM do about it?

Boris Johnson says the government has introduced protections for workers. He says the Labour mayor of Leicester should be protecting workers in the city.

11.56am BST

PMQs is starting soon

Here is the call list (pdf) showing which MPs are down to ask a question.

11.52am BST

Hillingdon hospital, which is in Boris Johnson's west London constituency, has had to close for emergency admissions after an outbreak of coronavirus amongst staff, the Evening Standard has revealed.

A spokesman for Hillingdon hospitals NHS foundation trust said:

An outbreak of Covid-19 was declared on Friday, July 3, 2020.

As of Tuesday, July 7, 70 members of staff are now isolating, a number of whom have tested positive for Covid-19.

11.48am BST

11.42am BST

Ombudsman services are bracing themselves to be inundated with complaints as a result of Covid-19, MPs have heard. As PA Media reports, Anthony Arter, who is the pensions ombudsman and pension protection fund ombudsman, told the Commons work and pensions committee:

I had a meeting about a month ago with other public sector ombudsmen. And everyone is agreed that public sector ombudsmen will be inundated with complaints as a result of Covid.

I don't think pensions will be any exception to that. If you look at the financial strain that people are going to be suffering, going forward, and they've got a pot of money there in their pension scheme, the big concern is the fraudsters coming in to say: We can help you get that money.'

11.32am BST

As my colleague Kate Proctor reports, quite what is going to happen to free hospital parking for NHS staff in England remains unclear, but we have had one bona fide Treasury U-turn today.

Yesterday it emerged that the Treasury was planning to make workers pay income tax on Covid-19 tests purchased by their employers.

It would not have been right to increase the tax bill for workers every time that they had a coronavirus test. I'm glad that common sense has prevailed. And I'm grateful that the chancellor has listened to the Treasury committee and reversed this decision so swiftly.

11.16am BST

Here is the Mirror's Dan Bloom on the similarities between Labour's future jobs fund from 2009 and the kickstart scheme" being announced by Rishi Sunak this afternoon.

Looking at Labour's Future Jobs Fund (set up in 2009, scrapped by David Cameron) and wow people weren't kidding when they said Rishi Sunak's new scheme is similar... pic.twitter.com/PMYod3sCP7

11.11am BST

Turning away from the summer statement for a moment, Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, has apologised to the black athlete Bianca Williams for the way she was handcuffed during a stop and search.

Giving evidence to the Commons home affairs committee, Dick said:

We apologised yesterday to Ms Williams and I apologise again for the distress this stop clearly caused her.

Yesterday two of my officers spoke on our behalf to Ms Williams, and I think all of us watching could empathise with somebody who is stopped in a vehicle, who has a young child in the back, who does not probably know what exactly is going on, and is subsequently found, together with her partner, not to be carrying anything illicit.

If there are lessons to be learned from it, we will learn them, and I'm looking at handcuffing as a specific issue.

11.00am BST

Downing Street has just sent out its read-out from this morning's cabinet, where Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, briefed ministers on what would be in the summer economic update. It is not at all revealing but, for the record, here it is anyway.

[The chancellor] said that we have moved through the first phase of the crisis where we supported closed sectors, businesses and families and the challenge now is to support the economy opening up. Crucially, this means protecting as many jobs as possible in the face of a very challenging outlook, with the OBR and Bank of England both predicting significant increases in unemployment.

The chancellor outlined that young people were particularly vulnerable because they are two and a half times more likely to work in the sectors that have been closed. The chancellor emphasised that we don't want that generation left behind and that is what today's economic update will focus upon.

10.44am BST

Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, has used an overnight statement about the summer economic update to clarify that Labour is not proposing a wealth tax, or indeed any sort of tax increase, now.

The issue has arisen because, at the end of last week, Dodds said that the government should be considering the case of a wealth tax. She confirmed this again in weekend TV interviews, and on Monday Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said she was right to raise the idea. After the Dodds interviews on Sunday the Conservative party issued a critical press release, with co-chairman Amanda Milling saying:

Keir Starmer needs to come clean about his plan for painful new taxes on homes and savings. This tax raid on ordinary families is the same disastrous economic policy proposed by Jeremy Corbyn at the last election.

I say to the government, if it does increase taxes during the recovery, and cuts back on the public services we all rely on, this will damage demand and inhibit our recovery.

Labour is not calling for tax rises - we are calling for growth.

10.12am BST

More than 100,000 people have now signed a petition started by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group calling for an immediate inquiry into the coronavirus crisis. People are still being infected and still dying every day," Matt Fowler, a co-founder of the group said. It is critically important that this is thoroughly investigated and stopped now."

Petitions on the parliamentary website that attract more than 100,000 signatures are considered for a debate in parliament, but this is a change.org petition.

10.04am BST

From the Spectator's James Forsyth

Understand the UK will nominate Liam Fox to be Director General of the World Trade Organization

We had one candidate who might have been acceptable to Europe but was unacceptable to Downing Street, and another candidate acceptable to Number 10 but not to the EU.

9.50am BST

Here is Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, on the plan to scale back free hospital parking for NHS staff. (See 9.34am.)

From clapping carers to clamping carers...

Yesterday the Tories tried to blame care homes today they take away free car parking for NHS staff.

Labour will always stand up for our hard working NHS and care staff. pic.twitter.com/uFfmJHCVDg

From clap for carers, to clamp for carers the government needs to think again. Keep in free like Wales and most of Scotland. pic.twitter.com/qMzSAvKfz7

9.34am BST

It sounds like we might be getting a U-turn of sorts today over hospital parking charges for NHS staff.

The i published a story last night saying that NHS workers will have to start paying for parking at their own hospitals again as the Covid-19 crisis starts to ease". The reporter, Hugo Gye, had a good source. He had actually read the reply to a Commons written question on this topic provided by the health minister Edward Argar, who said:

The provision of free parking for National Health Service staff by NHS trusts has not ended and nothing has changed since the announcement on 25 March. However, free parking for staff has only been made possible by support from local authorities and independent providers and this support cannot continue indefinitely.

We also want the NHS to deliver on the government's commitment on free hospital parking for those in greatest need, the disabled, frequent outpatient attendees, parents who have sick children that are staying overnight in hospital and staff working nightshifts. Implementation of this commitment has been on hold whilst the NHS has been managing the Covid-19 pandemic and devoting its hospital parking capacity to staff and other facilities necessary for managing the pandemic.

Nicky Morgan saying "no decision has been taken" on the car parking fees for NHS staff. She'd previously told Sky it was a "strange decision". Words have been had.

We want to make sure NHS staff can travel safely to work during the pandemic, which is why we requested that the NHS make parking free for staff, and that local authorities do the same with their car parks.

When the pandemic begins to ease, the NHS will continue to provide free hospital car parking to key patient groups and NHS staff in certain circumstances. We will provide further updates on this in due course.

The Tory government must follow Scotland's lead and scrap hospital car parking charges.@theSNP government was right to scrap them back in 2008. The Tories must U-turn on their decision to charge. It's not fair to expect patients and NHS staff to pay when they come to hospital. https://t.co/IhSQ4FXBnt

9.12am BST

Good morning. I'm Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Matthew Weaver.

Today we will be focusing mostly on what is being described as the chancellor's summer economic update" - a quasi budget that will set out a range of coronavirus economic recovery measures. (Although technically not a budget, which means that it won't be accompanied by the normal set of forecasts from the OBR, in spending terms it will dwarf a routine budget.)

8.43am BST

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has urged the government to guarantee a real living wage for the lowest paid workers.

Speaking on Sky News he challenged Rishi Sunak to show a genuine commitment to the Conservative's promise to level up" society. He said:

There are millions of people in the north of England on low paid insecure contracts. And I keep hearing that, if they have symptoms, or if they get a message from the test and trace system, they can't go off work, because they know they won't be paid.

Two million people in our country have no access to statutory sick pay. And for those who do it's 95 a week. This virus has hit the poorest communities hardest because of the really poor nature of people's work up and down the country. This is why I'm a bit worried about this statement today from a chancellor. I don't hear proper measures to level up the country here. If it was really going to do that, he would say the people who've been out running the country for the last three months, we're going to make sure they all have a real living wage'. That is levelling up.

8.21am BST

The online fashion retailer Boohoo has announced it will launch an independent review of its UK supply chain after recent allegations that some factories in Leicester that sell clothes to Boohoo pay workers below the minimum wage and failed to protect them from coronavirus.

Boohoo, which owns brands including PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal, said the review will be led by Alison Levitt QC, and said it would initially invest 10m towards eradicating malpractice" in its supply chain.

8.14am BST

Greenpeace activists have replaced the destinations on the road signs around parliament to read Green Recovery".

BREAKING:
A small team of socially distance activists got creative with roads signs around Westminster this morning.

We're here reminding @RishiSunak that the only recovery is a #GreenRecovery ahead of his big speech today.#BuildBackBetter pic.twitter.com/6EUikxh32j

7.58am BST

That report about hospital parking charges resuming for NHS staff appears to be causing unease in Tory ranks.

.@NickyMorgan01 on parking charges for NHS staff, tells @KayBurley

I'm sure that's something that'll need to be looked at very much again"

It does seem very strange given how hard our NHS & care wkers have worked over last few mths that this is a decision that's been taken"

The Government want to scrap free parking for NHS staff, which many thousands rely on. It also helps stop the spread of infection.

We have just a few hours to force them to change its plans.

Retweet and tell the Government to give NHS staff a break. pic.twitter.com/Ke9qbigys2

Many of our NHS staff are still struggling financially and the #coronavirus hasn't disappeared, why on earth is the government so quick to make our NHS heroes cough up again for excessive parking charges? So insensitive (l could have used stronger language) give them some leeway! pic.twitter.com/ZRNP52mR07

7.54am BST

Many of today's papers lead on the chancellor's jobs plan. But the I's splash focuses on the end of free parking for NHS staff.

Top story: @hendopolis: 'I: free parking for NHS staff will be scrapped #TomorrowsPapersToday ' pic.twitter.com/CBxBFClmzI, see more https://t.co/hLkliPrnCS

Tomorrow's Telegraph front page: Stamp Duty holiday to kickstart economy"#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/gb6kkvugpY

Tomorrow's front page:
'2bn jobs fund to help young beat virus crisis'#Tomorrowspaperstoday
Read more here: https://t.co/SAkx9By8P5 pic.twitter.com/bmCMKVWynM

Wednesday's FT: "Sunak devises 2bn jobs scheme to arrest blight on 'Covid generation'" #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday (via @hendopolis) pic.twitter.com/Ng2xTzb0Df

Guardian front page, Wednesday 8 July: Sunak stakes 2bn on job creation plan for under-25s pic.twitter.com/U0TC2BF4wI

7.22am BST

Welcome to live coverage of the UK's coronavirus crisis and the chancellor's summer statement.

Rishi Sunak is set to put a job creation plan for under-25s at the centre of his statement, which is expected at about 12.30pm.

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