Asked if the prime minister supported a call by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, for P&O Ferries chief executive, Peter Hebblethwaite, to resign, a No 10 spokesperson replied: “Yes.” Shapps called for Hebblethwaite to quit over the sacking of 800 workers, although it later emerged he had met the DP World boss Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem last November and told him that he was “aware of the issues at P&O Ferries”. Officials from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) met with P&O this afternoon to discuss the sacking of 800 British crew. In a statement, RMT said from “the outset the full obnoxiousness and hostility of the company” towards their staff and union officials was “on display”. In a 50-minute call today, Boris Johnson had a “frank and candid discussion” with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, about a “range of issues of mutual interest” including the situation in Ukraine, Downing Street said. The two leaders “agreed to speak again soon”, it added. The number of coronavirus infections across the UK rose by an estimated 1m cases compared with the previous week, data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed. An estimated 9% of the population in Scotland had Covid in the week ending 20 March, the highest recorded by the survey since it began looking at the situation in Scotland in October 2020. More survivors of rape and modern-day slavery in England and Wales will be able to give video evidence pre-recorded outside a live trial. Under the measure known as section 28, survivors can apply to the court to be cross-examined in front of a limited number of people. It will then be played during the live trial, removing the need for them to attend in person. Conservative leaders insist they are on track for strong results in local elections across England, predicting they will seize control of one of Labour’s longest-held councils, despite more than a million people expected to be pushed into absolute poverty after Rishi Sunak’s mini-budget. Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, criticised the government over delays in processing visas for Ukrainians fleeing conflict. She called on the government to “urgently publish” more information to show the progress of the visa scheme. Leaked emails suggest that the Conservative peer Michelle Mone lobbied a health minister on behalf of a company seeking Covid contracts – five months after the point at which her lawyers said she had stopped doing anything for the firm.