Surge testing is to take place in Battersea and Putney in south-west London following the discovery of the South African variant in the area, the government has said. (See 4.59pm.) Labour has written to Boris Johnson asking him to correct the record after Downing Street repeatedly refused to acknowledge that the prime minister was mistaken when he said the party had voted against an NHS pay deal.
The government is coming under mounting pressure to produce a targeted women’s strategy to tackle the unequal economic and domestic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, as official data exposes the stark differences between the experience of men and women. The EU has conceded that the UK did not ban vaccine exports, as Boris Johnson waded into a row with Brussels by publicly “correcting” the European council president over his claims about British policy. The failure to properly investigate allegations against ministers risks damaging public confidence, Boris Johnson’s former independent adviser on the ministerial code has said. Andy Burnham has criticised the focus of the government’s levelling up strategy, accusing it of adopting a politicised agenda, rather than “needs-led”. As my colleague Maya Wolfe-Robinson reports, the mayor of Greater Manchester warned that the “levelling up” promise was “beginning to lose its way” and could lose support from the public. Describing himself as a “willing partner” to level up Greater Manchester, he told a Lords committee he was willing to work cross-party but feared the government were retreating from the “levelling up” agenda, despite stating it was their defining mission. He said that the prioritisation from the chancellor in his budget last week showed that many towns with high levels of deprivation had been overlooked. The ban on children playing together outdoors in England must be lifted as it is discriminatory and potentially unlawful, lawyers and children’s groups have said. That’s all from me for today. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.