Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of breaking a post-cold war policy to reduce the size of Britain’s nuclear stockpile for no obvious “strategic purposes” in a Commons debate on the integrated review of defence and foreign policy. MPs will not get a vote on the government’s plans to slash aid spending, Boris Johnson has said in the of Commons, confirming that the cut is intended to be temporary. Nicola Sturgeon has announced that Scotland’s hairdressers, car showrooms and garden centres will be allowed to reopen in three weeks time, as she forecast the country’s lockdown could be substantially lifted by June. Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, has defended controversial plans in the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill that would make it an offence to cause “serious annoyance”. Asked about the measure, he told MPs during justice questions: The particular provisions on protest are a reflection of the Law Commission’s report of 2015 and indeed a reflection of the common law in England and Wales on public nuisance, which refers to - amongst other things - annoyance, serious annoyance and other terms which are well known to law. The maximum penalty in common law for public nuisance was life imprisonment and that’s being reduced to 10 years. I really frankly do not see what the fuss is about, I rather think it is a confection designed to assist an Opposition in difficulty. There is a detailed guide to these proposals in a Commons briefing paper here (pdf). MPs are debating the bill now, and will vote on giving it a second reading at 7pm. The Northern Ireland executive has announced the easing of some Covid restrictions from April. These are from the BBC’s Darren Marshall.
Young black people are far more hesitant about being vaccinated against Covid-19 and are less likely to trust doctors than the rest of England’s population, according to researchers who found that young people were more reluctant overall about receiving a vaccination. Labour’s Mike Hill has quit the Commons, triggering a byelection in Hartlepool that will severely test the party’s performance in its traditional “red wall” heartlands. That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.